Hard to believe there’s still 44 rounds left in the draft, huh? The draft starts back up at noon (I think), and you can follow along all day via MLB’s Draft Tracker. I’m not going to blog all of the Yanks’ picks today, just the signability guys and any other ones I feel like chiming in on. Here’s some quick notes:

• Lane Meyer of NoMaas fame dug up some good info on 6th rounder Brett Marshall. Brett’s father Eddie said it’ll take around $1M to sign his son away from Rice, and to that I say: Fuck the heck dad, pay your own mortgage! Seriously though, the Yanks wouldn’t have taken the kid this high if they didn’t have the intention of signing him.
• I’m a pitching guy for whatever reason, I’ve always tended to gravitate towards the guys on the mound more than the guys in the box, especially high schoolers. That said, there’s some great pitching left available, led by Pepperdine RHP Brett Hunter, prep RHP’s Alex Meyer & Danny Webb, and prep LHP’s Nick Maronde & Brett Mooneyham. All five are signability guys at this point, and I want Maronde more than any of the other three. Taking him right out of the chute in the 7th round would already be a steal.
• The best hitters left on the board are Pepperdine LF/DH Eric Thames, and prep 3B’s Zach Cox and Harold Martinez. Thames missed the end of the season with a quad injury, Cox is a signability guy at this point, and Martinez just had a terrible draft year. Any of the three is a coup regardless of where they are drafted at this point.
• John Manuel and JJ Cooper of Baseball America wrapped up the first and sandwich rounds in a great 15-minute podcast. Manuel raved about the Jeremy Bleich pick, noting that he has first round talent but fell off the radar because of a minor elbow injury.
• KLaw wrapped up the first round best pick/worst pick style.
• Paul DePodesta live blogged each of the Padres’ picks. DePo’s blog has become a must read, make sure you don’t miss it.

Finally, I just wanted to mention that we shattered all sort of records yesteday (and by we, I mean you). Over 25,000 readers checked in, more than double a typical game day. I guess a walk-off win and the draft will do that. Over 720 comments were left on the draft posts alone, and that oblierated the RAB single day record by like, 300 comments. Thanks for making us part of your daily rotation, and if you just found the site yesterday, thanks for sticking around in the future.

With their 6th round pick, the Yanks’ picked Brett Marshall, RHP, Sterling HS (Tx.)

(can’t find a pic)

Scouting Report: The first “signability” guy the Yanks grabbed, Marshall works at 91-94 with his fastball and has a knockout slider when right. Struggles to the throw trikes because he’s inconsistent with his delivery. Only 6’0″, 185 lbs, but Baseball America rated him the 87th best prospect in the entire draft class. Here’s his draft video.

My Take: Love it. Time to start flexing those financial muscles.

Outlook: If they sign him (committed to Rice), it’ll probably go down to the wire, so he may not get into any games this season. More than likely he’d head to Instructional League where they can work on his delivery.

They’re done picking for the day. Rock Solid haul with some intriguing prep position players and two stud high school arms. Back at it tomorrow.

With their 5th round pick, the Yanks’ selected Chris Smith, LF, Centennial HS (Ca.)

(not finding a picture with a name like that)

Scouting Report: Can’t find anything on him. Baseball America rated him the 105th best prospect in the state of California though. Here’s his scouting video.

My Take: Dunno enough to say. Maybe he’s a tooled up uber-athlete like Austin Jackson. Seems like a little bit of an overdraft.

Outlook: Rookie level GCL I guess.

Looks like they’re going one more round. Those cooky front office execs.

Update: This boy can hit. His line this year: .708-.744-1.361-2.105.

With their 4th round pick, the Yanks’ choose Corban Joseph, SS, Franklin HS (Tn.)

Scouting Report: Hits for power and average to all fields, but he’s an offense first shortstop and will likely have to change positions. He’s got a big wiry frame, so there’s plenty of room to add strength. Fast, but not a burner. Here’s his scouting video.

My Take: I’m intrigued. If the kid can hit then the kid can hit. Like I said for the Adams’ pick, the Yanks need middle infielders.

Outlook: Not sure how his signability looks, but if they lock him up he’ll head to the Rookie level GCL.

With their third round pick, the Yanks selected David Adams, 2B, Virginia

Scouting Report: He’s a grinder, gritty, hard-nosed, all that stuff. Decent pop (10-15 homers a year), but he excels at making contact. Not fast for a middle infielder but he can still steal some bags. Great makeup, kind of guy who just gets the job done. Here’s his scouting video.

My Take: I like the pick, good value in this round. The Yanks desperately need some middle infielders.

Outlook: I’m guessing he’ll head to Staten Island later in the month. Shouldn’t be tough to sign.

With their second round pick, the Yanks’ selected Scott Bittle, RHP, Mississippi

Scouting Report: Wrote him up here, so I’ll refer you to that (scroll all the way to the bottom). Here’s his scouting video.

My Take: I like the pick. Should move very fast as a power reliever. The cutter should eat wood bats alive.

Outlook: If the Yanks choose to be aggressive with him, they’ll send him to High-A Tampa for the rest of the year. Otherwise he’ll torment the NY-Penn League with Staten Island.

With their second pick, the Yanks selected Jeremy Bleich, LHP, Stanford

Scouting Report: Neither BA nor Keith Law nor MLB have a report on the guy, so we’re out of luck. Here’s his video.

My Take: Don’t like the pick, it’s an overdraft. Can’t even find the kid on BA’s top 200 list.

Outlook: Bah. Staten Island I guess.

The site’s a bit overloaded right now, apparently walkoffs and draft broadcasts don’t mix well. Please be patient if the site loads slow, don’t hit refresh over and over, it only makes it worse. Use this thread until the next post is up.

Update: Got a scouting report: 88-91 with movement, good change and curve. Missed a good chunk of the season with an elbow strain.