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Prospect Profile: Ian Clarkin

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(San Diego Union-Tribune)
(San Diego Union-Tribune)

Ian Clarkin | LHP

Background
A Southern California kid from San Diego, Clarkin struck out 133 batters and posted a 0.95 ERA as a senior at James Madison High School this spring, which earned him a third consecutive All-California Interscholastic Federation Baseball Player of the Year selection. Clarkin led USA Baseball’s 18-and-under team to the International Baseball Federation 18U World Championship in South Korea last year with six strong innings in the gold medal game. He committed to the University of San Diego.

Prior to the draft, Baseball America (no subs. req’d) ranked Clarkin as the fifth best draft prospect in California and the 17th best draft prospect overall. The Yankees selected him with the third of their three first round picks, the 33rd overall selection. That’s the pick the team received as compensation for losing Rafael Soriano as a free agent. Clarkin infamously said he hated the Yankees in a pre-recorded video aired during the draft broadcast, but the team changed his mind with a $1,650,100 signing bonus. He took exactly slot money roughly two weeks after the draft.

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2013 Draft: Yankees sign supplemental first rounder Ian Clarkin

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Wednesday: The Yankees have officially announced the signing, so it’s a done deal. Clarkin passed his physical and will soon begin his pro career.

Monday: Via Jon Heyman: The Yankees and supplemental first round pick Ian Clarkin have agreed to a $1,650,100 signing bonus, which is exactly slot money for the 33rd overall pick. This was the pick the team received as compensation for losing Rafael Soriano to free agency. The deal is still pending a physical, which he will take today.

Clarkin, 18, is a left-hander out of a San Diego high school. He sits in the low-90s with his fastball and also offered one of the very best curveballs in the draft class. His changeup is advanced for a prepster. Read more about him right here. As you probably remember, Clarkin declared his hatred for the Yankees in a pre-recorded video that was aired during the draft broadcast before saying he would need “life-changing money” to sign. Unsurprisingly, $1.65M has a way of changing minds. I’m pleasantly surprised the Yankees got him signed for slot this quickly.

Keep tabs on the team’s draft pool with our 2013 Draft Pool page.

2013 Draft: Ian Clarkin

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The 2013 amateur draft is less than one week away, so between now and then I’m going to highlight some prospects individually rather than lump them together into larger posts.

Ian Clarkin | LHP

Background
A San Diego kid out of Madison High School, Clarkin has played exceptionally well on the showcase circuit over the last year. He’s committed to San Diego.

Scouting Report
Clarkin is listed at 6-foot-2 and 190 lbs., and a 90-94 mph fastball highlights his quality three-pitch mix. A hellacious power curveball he can drop in for strikes or bury in the dirt for swings and misses is his top secondary pitch, and his changeup is solid but far from a finished product. He pitches to both sides of the plate with the fastball and curve, and he isn’t afraid to stand hitters up with some heat inside even though his command wavers. Clarkin has a a big exaggerated leg kick but otherwise clean mechanics. He’s more polished than the average prepster but still needs to do a better job of repeating his delivery to improve his command and the quality of his pitches. There are a bunch of videos of YouTube.

Miscellany
Baseball America and Keith Law (subs. req’d) ranked Clarkin as the 17th and 64th best prospect in their latest rankings, respectively. That’s a pretty big spread, obviously. Lefties with some projection left, low-90s velocity, and an out-pitch curveball always get drafted high and Clarkin should be no different. The Yankees have been connected to all sorts of high school arms recently — not Clarkin, however — and scouting director Damon Oppenheimer definitely favors polished pitchers. He seems like someone right in their wheelhouse.