Yankee Draft `13: Speed

You may have already noticed, but the Yanks drafted a who lotta speed last week.   Before we get into the list of speedy guy, did they need it?   I guess.  But speed is the most overrated tool.    Everyone loves to see a player who gets on base an immediately starts disrupting things.   But too often teams have paid for the speed and forgotten the part about getting on base.  That's how you end up with Mickey Rivers batting first with his low OBP instead of Willie Randolph leading off with his high OBP.  Mickey was a bit faster, but Willie got on more!      This is also why some teams keep hiring Juan Pierre.   Cant use your speed if you can't get to first.

This brings me to a second issue about the Yankees development staff.   And before I go into this let me assure you I hate small ball bunting as much as anyone else with a working brain.   However; I do not hate the bunt as a way of getting on base and shaking up a defense.   Mickey Mantle was a super powerful on base machine, but because he was also faster the Brett Gardner and would use both the bunt and the drag bunt to get on base and supplement his value to the team.   So why can't Brett Gardner bunt well?  How did he graduate the system and not be able to bunt?

Brett Butler was a lot more like Brett Gardner than Mickey was, but Brett Butler was also a master of the bunt. And it's staggering that teams aren't absolutely terrified of a Brett Gardner bunt by now, but they're not.    Now Brett is a great defensive player and has a ton of value that way, but he shouldn't be leading off with an OBP in the .320's and he should be able to bunt.

So those are my two demands now that the Yanks have drafted all of these fast guys:  Make sure they take their walks and make sure they know how the bunt for a base hit.

Editorial Over.

Outside of Eric Jagielo, and I would assume Drew Bridges, almost all of the other Yankee position picks can run, including big guys Judge and Coleman.   But the really fast guys are:

2. Gosuke Katoh
3. Michael O'Neill
4. Tyler Wade
6. John Murphy (who seems to have already signed)
8. Brandon Thomas
15. Jordan Barnes
18. Dustin Fowler
22. Derek Toadvine - may be an 80
27. Charles White
28. Cody Thomas
29. Kevin Cornelius
34. Hector Crespo
40. Kyle Buchanan

That's a full 13 guys who are fast, and two more who run well for there size from the 1st and 11th.  So 15 guys who can run for their size or just run really fast 60-80 or so, so plus run tools.  My only hope is that they all learn to take their walks, if they haven't already, and they all learn to bunt something other than foul balls and pop ups as an on base tool.  Otherwise the speed is overrated. Still it should be fun to hear about how fast they are when short season ball starts.