During the last three days we’ve taken a look at what happened to the draft picks the Yankees forfeited as free agent compensation from 1979 to 1985, 1986 to 1991, 1992 to 2001, and today we’ll wrap up the series by looking at the picks surrendered between 2002 and 2009. Remember to let me know if there’s any missing/incorrect info in any of the posts in this series.

2002 First Round Pick
Free Agent: Jason Giambi, 1B
Forfeited Pick: Joe Blanton, RHP (Athletics)
Fresh off two MVP caliber seasons, Giambi signed the first nine figure contract in Yankees’ history, and promptly slammed 41 homers with a .314-.435-.598 batting line in his maiden season in New York. Overall, he hit .260-.404-.521 with 209 homers in his seven seasons with the Yankees, though his tenure was dogged by steroid revelations and injury. Despite the troubles, Giambi was a fan favorite and extremely productive during his time in the Bronx.

As compensation for losing Giambi, Oakland received the Yanks’ first round pick, selecting University of Kentucky righthander Joe Blanton 24th overall. He spent the first four-plus seasons of his career with the A’s, posting a 4.25 ERA and a 431-202 K/BB ratio in 162 starts and four relief appearances. He was dealt to the Phillies during the 2008 season, and helped them to a World Championship. Against the Yankees in the 2009 World Series, Blanton allowed four runs in six innings in his lone start. For his career, he owns a 63-54 record with a 4.21 ERA and has a deserved reputation as a workhorse starter.

Oakland also received a supplemental first round pick, taking University of Alabama catcher Jeremy Brown 35th overall. Famous for his role in Moneyball, Brown retired after the 2007 season with three hits in eleven career big league plate appearances.

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During the last two days we’ve taken a look at what happened to the draft picks the Yankees forfeited as free agent compensation from 1979 to 1985 and 1986 to 1991, and today we’ll continue the series by looking at the picks surrendered between 1992 and 2001. Remember to let me know if there’s any missing/incorrect info in any of the posts in this series.

1992 Second Round Pick
Free Agent: Danny Tartabull, OF
Forfeited Pick: Jon Lieber, RHP (Royals)
Coming into New York with a .287-.372-.514 career batting line, Tartabull’s power took a slight dip in pinstripes, though he hit .252-.372-.473 in three-and-a-half years with the Yanks before being traded to Oakland in 1995. As compensation for losing Tartabull, the Royals received the 44th overall pick in the draft, and used it to take University of South Alabama righty Jon Lieber.

Lieber reached the big leagues less than two years after being drafted, and carved out a 14 season career as a league average (or slightly better) starter. A 20 game winner with the Cubs in 2001, he finished fourth in the NL Cy Young voting and made the All Star Team. The Yankees signed Lieber as a free agent coming off Tommy John surgery in 2003, and watched him put up a 4.33 ERA with a 102-18 K/BB ratio in 27 starts. In the only three playoff starts of his career, Lieber posted a a 3.43 ERA for the Yanks in 2004. He last appeared in a big league game in 2008, and retired with a 103 ERA+.

Kansas City also received a supplemental first round pick, taking Purdue righty Sherard Clinkscales 31st overall. He was out of baseball by 1995, having put up a 6.36 ERA and a 131-152 K/BB ratio in 140 minor league innings, none above A-ball.

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Yesterday we took a look at what happened to the draft picks the Yankees forfeited as free agent compensation from 1979 to 1985, and today we’ll continue the series by looking at the picks surrendered between 1986 and 1991. Remember to let me know if there’s any missing/incorrect info in any of the posts in this series.

1986 First Round Pick
Free Agent: Al Holland, LHP
Forfeited Pick: Terry Carr, OF (Angels)
Looking to upgrade their bullpen, the Yankees imported Holland from the Angels, who had a 2.72 ERA in eight previous seasons in the big leagues. Unfortunately, he didn’t produce as expected, putting up a 6.32 ERA in 47 innings in pinstripes. As compensation for losing Holland, the Angels received the 25th overall pick in the 1986 draft, and used it to selected Maryland high school outfielder Terry Carr. Carr never made it out of A-ball, retiring from baseball in 1990 with a .217 AVG and a .284 SLG in 1,510 career minor league plate appearances.

The Halos also received a supplemental first round pick, taking Texas high school righty Daryl Green 28th overall. Like Carr, Green never made it out of A-ball, and was out of the game by 1992 after posting a 4.09 ERA in 105 starts and 68 relief appearances.

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One of baseball’s weird little quirks is draft pick compensation. If a team signs a free agent considered to be among the top 20% at his position based on outdated methods, they’ll send their top pick to the team that lost him. Last year we saw free agent compensation limit the markets for Juan Cruz and Jason Varitek (among others), and already this year we’ve seen one high profile Type-A free agent accept arbitration (Rafael Soriano) in lieu of a potential multi-year deal for fear of having his market limited. As the game has shifted towards younger (and cheaper) players, draft pick compensation has become a major consideration when targeting free agents.

From what I’ve been able to find, MLB starting handing out draft picks as compensation for losing free agents back in 1979, fifteen years after it instituted the draft. The rules regarding draft pick compensation have changed over the years; there wasn’t always a supplemental first round, the first 15 picks weren’t always protected, and some other stuff as well. As you can imagine, the Yankees have surrendered a ton of draft picks as a result of their free spending ways, 38 picks in 30 years in fact. In the compensation pick era, the Bombers have kept their true first round pick just 12 times in those 30 years.

Surely some of these forfeited picks turned into decent players, right? Well, that’s what we’re here to find out. In part one of the series today, we’ll take a look at the players the Yankees signed as free agents from 1979 to 1985, as well as what happened to the draft picks the Yankees forfeited to sign those players. If there’s any missing/incorrect info in any of these posts, let me know. It was tough to research some of the older players.

Fun starts after the jump.

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