The Draft

This Years' Choice

That's Gerrit Cole above...
I couldn't cover this last year, but every year I sort of take some time out to check out the Rule 4 draft, if only to see who the Yankees are picking. It's been more interesting since 2004 when they picked Phil Hughes in the first round because the Yankees have basically broken the piggy bank to sign talent that drops to them for signability issues. No more of this John-Ford Griffin business. (Gee I can remember that was considered a *good* signing.. *ugh*)

The Yankees took:

1. Gerrit Cole - HS RHP. 6'3" with a high 90's fastball
1-Supp. Jeremy Bleich - College LHP from Stanford. The word i that he's like Andy Pettitte. Low 90s fastball with a curve and change-up.
2. Scott Bittle - A Reliever with a very good Cutter. He throws a 90-91 FB, an a good change-up.
3. David Adams - College 2B from UVA. Apparently not a high-ceiling choice, but he seems to be a very polished player.
4. Corban Joseph - HS SS, from Tennessee. Lefty Bat that hits for both power and Average. Good contact hitter who struck out only 5 times this season.
5. Chris Smith - Toolsy Outfielder with insane stats. Try, Ave:.708 and an OPS of 2.105.
6. Brett Marshall - 6'0" RHP A FB in the 94-96 range. High-ceiling HS pitcher.

There's plenty to like there. The scuttlebutt is that Jeremy Bleich was the big surprise, but the Yankees kind of were desperate for serious LHP talent. Corban Joseph and Chri Smith look interesting, as they're position players with some weirdly-good stats in their backgrounds; and the rest fits the the trend of RHP with monster FBs that we've seen in the last few years.

It's always the case that with these names and descriptions, it's hard to say what the Yanks have got. Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain were both 'WTF?' kind of picks, but they've screamed up to the MLB level. I don't think I even commented on Chamberlain at the time of the draft, but he quickly hit the radar screen when started to deal in 100mph FBs in Tampa. The onslaught of RHPs has been interesting in as much as even the vaunted Trio this year have not been anywhere near as good as hoped, and yet the Yankee system has more of where they came from.

Given that wealth, I'm sort for waiting for a position player to emerge from the drafted players, but that doesn't seem likely this year. The most likely would be Brett Gardner, but there is a big logjam in the Yankee outfield this year. Eric Duncan needs to get a little more consistent, and if he can hit for an OPS of about .850, he could be a September call up. Beyond that, we're looking at Austin Jackson from the 2006 draft.