Baseball’s amateur draft has quickly become a highly competitive marketplace for talent. Just a few seasons ago only a handful of teams really flexed their financial muscles to acquire top talent in the draft, but as young players have taken over the game clubs have revamped their focus on the annual talent drive. Case in point: The Royals spent $11.1M on the draft last year, a new record, while other traditional tightwads like the A’s ($6.5M), Brewers ($8.4M), and Pirates ($9.8M) also ramped up their spending from recent years. The Yankees are no longer the only team digging for late round bargains, but that doesn’t mean they still can’t uncover talent in the late rounds.
One thing Damon Oppenheimer has shown in recent years is that he’s willing to gamble on players with questionable medical dossiers. Both Andrew Brackman and Mark Melancon were drafted knowing that it was extremely likely they would need Tommy John surgery, Damon Sublett was selected after an injury riddled junior year, and Joba Chamberlain was taken despite concerns about his knee, triceps and weight. Perhaps the best example of a player being drafted while he was injured is the late Nick Adenhart, who was the top high school pitcher in 2004 before blowing out his elbow just days before the draft. The Angels gambled on his upside and TJ’s success rate, handing him a $710,000 bonus as a 14th rounder before watching him grow into one of the best young pitchers in the game.
Here’s some players that are either hurt, or have another negative mark on their resume that could cause them to fall into the later rounds, an avenue a team like the Yankees could explore to land extra talent. Fun starts after the jump.