2013 Draft: Reviewing Day Three
By · CommentsAfter three days and 1,216 total picks, the 2013 draft is over. The Yankees selected 42 players overall, including the final 30 on Saturday afternoon. As expected, most of those final 30 picks are fringy prospects and organizational types, though the Bombers also squeezed in a few long shot high-end high schoolers and nepotism picks. All of the team’s picks can be seen at Baseball America.
Go Big Or Go Home
It’s no secret the Yankees love physically huge players, specifically on the mound. They drafted 16 pitchers on Day Three, and those 16 guys average 6-foot-3 and 207 lbs. The 11 college pitchers average 6-foot-4 and 219 lbs. They weren’t messing around; size is the sixth tool for New York.
The biggest of the big is Oklahoma Christian RHP Cale Coshow (13th round), who is listed at 6-foot-5 and 270 lbs. on the school’s website. Obviously keeping his weigh in check has been an issue, but Coshow also sits in the mid-90s as a starter and will also throw a curveball and changeup. He spent two years at Oklahoma as a scarcely used spare pitcher before transferring to Oklahoma Christian, so his arm has very few miles on it. Coshow can start and offers sneaky good upside, but the Yankees are going to have to work hard with him on his conditioning.
San Diego State RHP Phil Walby (12), Sam Houston State LHP Caleb Smith (14), and UNLV RHP Andy Beresford (19) highlight the rest of the large pitcher crop. Walby (6-foot-3 and 215 lbs.) and Beresford (6-foot-6 and 200 lbs) are pure arm strength guys who run their fastballs into the mid-90s. Both lack secondary pitches and are destined for the bullpen, especially Walby given his violent and occasionally out-of-control delivery. The 6-foot-3 and 200 lb. Smith will sit in the low-90s with a very good changeup, but a stiff delivery and lack of a breaking ball make him a long-term reliever.
Say Hi To Your Father For Me
As you already know, the Yankees selected Texas HS LHP Josh Pettitte (37) yesterday. He was actually with his father Andy and the team in Seattle yesterday, telling reporters he fully intends to follow through on his commitment to Baylor even though it was an honor to be drafted by the Yankees. That’s no surprise, Josh stands to benefit from college (like his father once upon a time) and his selection was more of a thank you to his family than anything.
A few rounds earlier, the club selected Canada HS RHP Cal Quantrill (26), son of the former Yankee and long-time big leaguer Paul Quantrill. Cal is a legitimate top three rounds talent with a low-90s fastball and a knockout changeup in his four-pitch mix. He’s highly regarded for his pitching acumen and aggressiveness as well, but like Pettitte he will be heading to college in a few months. Quantrill is committed to Stanford — the Cardinal almost never lose a significant commit — and teams knew he was borderline unsignable heading into the draft, hence his availability on Day Three.
Power In The Corners
High school first basemen and left fielders are hardly a hot commodity on draft day, but the Yankees took bat over glove with Texas HS OF Kendall Coleman (11) and Missouri HS 1B Drew Bridges (20). Both guys are left-handed hitters with bat speed and above-average power, but their defensive issues are major turnoffs. Bridges will get a shot to stick at the hot corner if he signs, but that’s pretty much doomed to fail. New York picked the bats here, not the gloves. Both guys can hit and not much else.
The Unsignables
In addition to Quantrill and Pettitte, the Yankees also selected Kansas HS LHP Jordan Floyd (25), Texas HS OF Cody Thomas (30), and Florida HS LHP Nestor Cortes (36). Thomas is a big time football prospect and will wind up at Oklahoma, where he will play both sports. Cortes is an undersized three-pitch lefty with low-90s heat and strong offspeed pitches, but he’ll be with Florida International next spring. Floyd is very raw after splitting time between baseball and football in high school. He’s committed to Kansas State.
These three aren’t high-end prep prospects like Quantrill, but they all have strong college commitments and are unlikely to turn pro given the team’s draft pool situation and their draft slots. They were backup plans, basically. If there happens to be some extra draft pool money lying around and one of three changes their mind about going to school, hey it might work out. Otherwise Floyd, Thomas, and Cortes are prospects for show.
Organizational Depth
Every year, every team stocks up on good college players who don’t profile well in pro ball to fill out minor league rosters around the actual prospects. Adelphi RHP Dillon McNamara (27), Fresno State C Trent Garrison (28), Hawaii Pacific 3B Chaunsey Sumner (32), Washington State SS Ty Afenir (39), and Appalachian State RHP Sam Agnew-Wieland (24) and 2B Hector Crespo (34) all fit the minor league roster depth bill. Garrison is the twin brother of RHP Taylor Garrison, who has become one of the New York’s better bullpen prospects since being drafted last year.
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As usual, the Yankees snuck in a few interesting players around the Day Three clutter on Saturday afternoon. Coshow and the other big pitchers really stand out from the pack of players who might actually sign (figuratively and literally!), ditto Coleman and Bridges. Obviously Pettitte and Quantrill are the headliners for their names as much as their unsignability. Regardless of what happened on Day Two and Day Three, those three first rounders are the focal point of this draft for the Yankees. That was going to be true no matter what thanks to the new system.
O’Brien doubles twice in River Dogs win
By · CommentsLHP Vidal Nuno was not placed on the DL today, reports Donnie Collins. The left-hander left last night’s Triple-A Scranton start with a groin injury and Joe Girardi indicated a DL stint was likely.
Triple-A Scranton (10-4 loss to Buffalo)
- LF Zoilo Almonte: 1-4, 1 R
- CF Melky Mesa: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K
- 3B Ronnie Mustelier: 0-4, 2 K
- RF Thomas Neal: 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K
- RHP Brett Marshall: 5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 WP, 8/2 GB/FB — 58 of 100 pitches were strikes … it’s June 8th, and he’s sitting on a 7.45 ERA and 6.2 BB/9
Saturday Night Open Thread
By · CommentsHere is your open thread for this fine evening. The Mets and Marlins are still playing, believe it or not. They’re in the 18th inning (!) as I write this. The Red Sox and Angels are the FOX game in the Tri-State Area (Buchholz vs. Wilson), though those of you scattered elsewhere will see a different game depending on where you live. There’s also some NHL playoff action. You folks know how this stuff works, so have at it.
ByMichael Pineda unable to make today’s scheduled rehab start… … because High-A Tampa’s game in Lakeland was rained out. What, were you worried it was something else? Sorry.
The weather isn’t looking too promising for tomorrow either, so I don’t know what the plan is for his rehab going forward. The 30-day rehab window doesn’t officially begin until he actually appears in a game, so that’s not an issue. I’m sure we’ll find out the plan eventually. · (24) ·
Game 62: Bats
By · CommentsThe Yankees’ offense has disappeared since hanging six runs on Aaron Harang some 15 innings ago, scoring just one run off the combination of Blake Beavan, Jeremy Bonderman, and various relievers. That’s kind of annoying. Knock it off. Here’s the lineup that will face southpaw Joe Saunders…
- CF Brett Gardner
- SS Jayson Nix
- DH Mark Teixeira
- 2B Robinson Cano
- LF Vernon Wells
- 1B Kevin Youkilis
- RF Ichiro Suzuki
- 3B David Adams
- C Chris Stewart
And on the mound is the 594th overall pick in the 1990 draft, left-hander Andy Pettitte. This afternoon’s game is scheduled to begin a little after 4pm ET and can be seen on YES. Enjoy.
ByVidal Nuno likely headed to Triple-A DL with groin injury Left-hander Vidal Nuno left last night’s start with Triple-A Scranton due to a groin injury, Joe Girardi confirmed. He is likely headed to the DL and there is no word on the severity of the injury.
While Nuno is clearly the team’s sixth starter at the moment, they still have Ivan Nova in Triple-A and Michael Pineda due to start his rehab assignment today. The Yankees still have enough rotation depth despite cutting Chien-Ming Wang loose yesterday. Hopefully Nuno makes it back soon, but groins can be tricky. · (3) ·
2013 Draft: Day Three Open Thread
By · Comments
Welcome to Day Three, the last gasp of the 2013 draft. Rounds 11-40 will be chosen today, and none of those picks are directly tied to the draft pool. No pool money will be lost if these guys do not sign. Expect to see some/all of the last remaining high-end high school players chosen at some point this afternoon as super deep backup plans. None are expected to sign but it’s worth a shot.
The Yankees landed three true first round talents with their free first round picks on Day One, and Day Two brought a mix of interesting prospects and draft pool-saving selections. Day Three will be a smorgasbord — interesting prospects, nepotism picks, organization filler, pretty much the works. Here are some quick links before we proceed:
- Our 2013 Draft Order Tracker is now up and running. It’s available at all times under the Resources tab, right under the street sign in the banner. We’ll keep track of the Yankees’ draft pool situation between now and signing deadline there, so check back often.
- In other draft pool news, scouting director Damon Oppenheimer told K. Levine-Flandrup he does not expect to have any trouble signing the team’s Day One selections. Sandwich rounder LHP Ian Clarkin told reporters he wants “life-changing money” to turn pro, and I’m guessing he’ll find something a bit over the $1.65M slot value to be pretty damn life-changing.
- “The Yankees nailed their first three picks,” wrote Keith Law in his AL breakdown (subs. req’d). He also notes they took some interesting bullpen options on Day Two and Clarkin “was inconsistent this spring in command, but his velocity was strong at year end and he would have gone in the teens had he performed better.”
- Here are the best remaining players heading into Day Three, according to Baseball America. The first seven are essentially unsignable high schoolers.
The draft resumes this afternoon at 1pm ET with a rapid fire conference call that will be broadcast on MLB.com. You can also follow all the picks live with the Draft Tracker. There won’t be a liveblog today, so use this thread to talk about any and all picks.
2013 Draft: Reviewing Day Two
By · CommentsThanks to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, Day Two is the least exciting day of the draft. It covers rounds three through ten, and like many teams, the Yankees use those rounds to stock up on college seniors — who have no leverage and sign for far-below-slot bonuses — to save draft pool money. The savings then go towards over-slot bonuses in the really early and really late rounds. It’s one of the few ways to game the system.
That is precisely the strategy the Yankees employed on Friday, at least to a certain extent — three of their eight Day Two selections were college seniors. Their Day Two haul started with a very familiar surname.
More Than Bloodlines
Three years ago, the Yankees selected OF Mike O’Neill out of an Ohio high school in the 42nd round. He didn’t sign and instead followed through on his commitment to Michigan. Yesterday afternoon, they drafted him again with their third round pick.
O’Neill, of course, is the nephew of former Yankee Paul O’Neill. He is much more than a nepotism pick though, in fact he was expected to come off the board late in the second round. The Yankees nabbed him in the third following a strong year with the Wolverines. “Michael is an athletic outfielder with some hand and wrist strength at the plate … (he’s) a plus runner with a fringy arm who at least should get a year or so in center in the minors to see if he can be an above-average defender or better there,” wrote Keith Law (subs. req’d).
Uncle O’Neill and nephew O’Neill have very different styles of play despite a similar hard-on-themselves attitude. Michael’s plate discipline is a big concern — 106/33 K/BB in 148 college games — and if he can’t play center he’ll be a ‘tweener without enough power for a corner. Then again, we are talking about a third round pick here. There are going to be warts. While the bloodlines grab the most attention, O’Neill can hit and run a bit. He wasn’t drafted as a favor.
Senior Steal
The Pirates drafted OF Brandon Thomas in the fourth round last year, but he returned to Georgia Tech for his senior season. Rather than improve his stock, he missed a whole bunch of time with mono and was very rarely at 100% for the Yellow Jackets. The Yankees nabbed him in the eighth round yesterday.
When healthy, Thomas has a contact-oriented line drive swing with enough pop to hit mistakes out of the park. He also runs well and is a capable center field defender. Thomas was considered the second best college senior in the draft class behind only first overall pick Mark Appel when the spring opened, but teams never really got to see him at full strength. New York pounced late on Day Two and walked away with a cheap college senior who is way more than the typical draft pool-saving pick.
Size & Stuff
Supplemental first rounder Aaron Judge is listed at 6-foot-7, but he is only the second tallest player the Yankees have draft this year. Howard College RHP David Palladino (5th round) is listed at 6-foot-9 and 230 lbs., and the four-pitch pitcher uses his size to pitch downhill with a low-90s fastball. His command is fine and he has enough pitches to start.
With their final pick of Day Two, the Yankees nabbed South Carolina LHP Tyler Webb (10) and his 6-foot-6, 225 lb. frame. He had Tommy John surgery in high school but spent four years as a workhorse reliever for the Gamecocks. Webb will sit in the low-90s with his fastball and throw three offspeed pitches, and he draws rave reviews his bulldog mentality and incredibly aggressive approach. It’s a lefty specialist profile at best, but like Palladino he offers both size and decent stuff as a later round selection.
Growth Potential
It’s no secret the Yankees have an affinity for physically large players, but they grabbed the wiry high school 2B Gosuke Katoh in the second round and doubled up with California HS SS Tyler Wade (4) on Day Two. He’s listed at 6-foot-2 and 170 lbs. with a game that fits the frame: speed, contact, and defense. Wade is a pro-level defender and a rare lefty hitting shortstop, but he has zero present power. It’s unclear if he’ll ever grow into any either. Legit shortstops are hard to find though, and the Yankees found one in the fourth round.
Out-Pitch
Aside from anything thrown by supplemental first rounder LHP Ian Clarkin, the best individual pitch the Yankees have drafted so far this year belongs to LSU RHP Nick Rumbelow (7). His hard curveball is a true swing-and-miss pitch, which is a pretty great starting point for a short reliever. Rumbelow’s low-90s fastball is pretty straight and his rough delivery makes some think he’ll spend a decent amount of time on the DL, but digging up a true out-pitch more than 220 picks into the draft is not easy to accomplish.
Impacting The Draft Pool
Sacred Heart SS John Murphy (6) and Auburn LHP Kendrick Conner (9) are the fringiest of fringe prospects who were likely selected as part of the team’s draft pool-saving strategy more than anything. Murphy, a senior, has a good swing but is a utility man at best according to Nathan Rode. Conner, a junior, is a finesse college swing-man and the kind of arm New York can bounce around from role to role and level to level to fill any roster holes for a year or three. Neither will have much on-field impact, but they serve a purpose by allowing the team to manipulate its league-regulated budget.
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The current draft setup doesn’t really enable a team picking late in each round to land impact talent in the middle rounds — even though the Yankees had extra picks and draft pool money this year, it’s not a huge amount they can legitimately spread around — so the Bombers can only do so much on Day Two of the draft. They got two nice players in O’Neill and Thomas and two interesting prospects in Wade and Rumbelow, but otherwise their Day Two selections were gearing towards optimizing the draft pool.












