The draft is now just one day away. The three-day event starts tomorrow night with a live MLB Network broadcast of the first 74 picks. That is the first round, the supplemental first round, the second round, and the two competitive balance lottery rounds. I could have sworn only the first and supplemental first rounds were broadcast in the past. Either way, the Yankees have one selection tomorrow night, in the second round (55th overall).
Before we get to the miscellaneous draft links and notes, here’s a great piece on former Yankees farmhand Brien Taylor by Andrew Marchand. Taylor, as you know, was the first overall pick in the 1991 draft, but he never reached the big leagues after blowing out his shoulder in a fight. The article is an oral history featuring those involved in the process of drafting and developing Taylor (Gene Michael, Scott Boras, etc.), and they all seem to agree he was the best pitching prospect they’ve ever seen. Check it out. Now here are the spare links:
- Mock Drafts: Here are the latest mock drafts from Keith Law (subs. req’d), MLB.com, and Baseball America. Baseball America also posted their best tools list. All have the Astros taking San Diego LHP Brady Aiken first overall. The mock drafts only cover the first round, so the Yankees are not featured, though Law says he has heard them linked to a bunch of high school catchers (surprise surprise) and Indiana 1B Sam Travis. He’s a righty hitter with some power and crazy good plate discipline.
- Meanwhile, over at MLB Draft Insider, Chris Crawford has the Yankees taking Louisiana HS C Chase Vallot with their top pick. Here’s the profile I wrote about him. Crawford isn’t some dolt like me, he has connections and his mock draft is informed. Vallot certainly makes sense for New York given their reported interest in various prep backstops.
- Arkansas RHP Chris Oliver was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated yesterday, according to the Associated Press. Probably not the best thing for the ol’ career. Oliver ranked 66th on Baseball America’s top 500 draft prospects list and was a projected late-second/early-third rounder. No idea what this does to his draft stock, but this class is so deep with righty pitching that he might slide a bit.
- According to his Twitter feed, Butler LHP Eric Stout has a workout with the Yankees in Tampa today. He’s a junior and draft-eligible, but his numbers are terrible (7.17 ERA from 2013-14) and he isn’t included in Baseball America’s top 500 list. Stout is left-handed though, so maybe he has a nasty breaking ball the Yankees want to see up close.
- Matt Eddy put together a recap of the five best players drafted by each team. Like, ever. Since the draft was implemented in 1965. Derek Jeter sits atop the Yankees’ list and duh. I’m not spoiling anything there. The next four names aren’t really surprises either.
- I don’t know if this is new or what, but Baseball Reference has a neat Draft Preview tool with the cumulative WAR and five best historical picks for each draft slot in the top three rounds. Best player taken 55th overall? Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven. (Also, players drafted 77th overall have combined for 1 WAR. One!)
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