The Pinstriped Baseball Lane

Well, its been almost three months since MLB vanished from the baseball diamond, but a five-round draft is here in an atmosphere that hopefully the world will never have to confront again. This evening via video, the first round will be held and televised by MLB and ESPN. The following four rounds are set for Thursday.

Here’s the latest on what will probably go down for the New York Yankees and other possible moves that other teams may make:

Per Bryan Hoch, “Under normal circumstances, the Yankees’ talent evaluators prepare for the MLB Draft by visiting countless diamonds across the nation, setting their eyes upon the brightest high school and collegiate talent. For Damon Oppenheimer, the club’s vice president and director of domestic amateur scouting, this will be the first time that most of that work has been performed digitally.”

Hoch also pointed to the fact that, “With radar guns and frequent-flyer accounts having been holstered for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, Oppenheimer’s department pivoted, scouring hours of available game video and polishing previous written reports in hopes of identifying the next group of top-level Yankees prospects.”

This year, due to virus, the draft will mostly focus upon what talent comes out of the college class, with a hint of high school stars.

Day 1 of the 2020 Draft airs tonight on MLB Network and ESPN at 7 p.m. ET, and includes the first 37 picks. Day 2 begins at 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 11, on MLB Network and ESPN2, and spans the remainder of the 160 picks. So who exactly do the Yankees have their eyes set on?

Well according to bleacherreport.com’s Adam Wells, “Of the 37 selections that will be made on Wednesday, New York has just one at No. 28 overall. The Bronx Bombers certainly have some idea of what direction they will go with that pick, but there could be some internal debate as names start to come off the board….” Continuing Wells said, “…Even in a draft heavy on college pitching, the Yankees are reportedly keeping an eye on position players on Day 1…”

Answering to some extent the question of which individuals exactly the Yankees have their eyes set on certain pieces. With the Yankees having forfeited their second- and fifth-round selections as compensation for signing free agent Gerrit Cole, experts believe the club will target a quality position player in the first round before seeking pitchers later.

Recent mock MLB Pipeline Drafts put the Yankees in connection with  shortstop Nick Loftin from Baylor University. Among other names linked to the Yankees, there is shortstop Ed Howard from Mount Carmel HS (Chicago), shortstop Carson Tucker (brother of the Pirates’ Cole Tucker) from Mountain Pointe HS (Phoenix), right-hander Clayton Beeter from Texas Tech University and catcher Austin Wells from the University of Arizona.

The Matter of MONEY

Each team gets an allotted bonus pool equal to the sum of the values of its selections in the Draft. The more picks a team has, and the earlier it picks, the larger the pool. This year, with a five-round Draft, all signing bonuses of drafted players will apply toward the bonus pool total.

So with the draft taking a different direction this year, there will be a $20,000 limit on bonuses for non-drafted free agents. There is no limit to the number of undrafted players teams may sign, but they cannot go over $20,000 per player.

I am hoping the Yankees can capitalize on talent that could contribute to multiple championship season, especially with the chemistry of veteran and youth already at the major league level.

General manager Brian Cashman has frequently said that he subscribes to the organizational mindset of featuring “a strong spine” up the middle, a belief that was instilled in him by the legendary Gene Michael. That means focusing on catchers, middle infielders and center fielders, as well as strong pitching.

If you follow the Yankees’ farm system, you know that right now Jason Dominguez is their top prospect and he has already garnered staggering comparisons to the likes of Mickey Mantle and Mike Trout. As for the rest of the Bombers’ top 20 prospects, per MLB Pipeline, is comprised of 11 pitchers (all but one right-handed), four shortstops, three outfielders and a catcher).

Trends To Keep An Eye On

According to Hoch, “Last year, 31 of the Yankees’ 41 selections were from the collegiate ranks, with the club taking 10 high school players. Twenty-five of those 41 selections were pitchers, nine of them left-handed. The remaining picks were used on two catchers, nine infielders and five outfielders…” Hoch also brought up a excellent point by saying, “In 2018, the Yankees used 31 of 40 picks on catchers and pitchers, including seven backstops. Thirty-one of their 40 selections were from colleges. Oppenheimer views that trend as a product of a system where teams generally opt to spend allotted dollars on high school players near the top of the Draft….”

My Final Thoughts Before The 2020 Draft Gets Underway

With a possibility that the team continues on the same trend, I know the Yankees have a great minor league system and hopefully we get the guys on Cashman’s list. I trust in the my team’s development team, as every other fanbase does with their club. Hopefully with this group of youths, baseball will continue to draw new fans to the game and this draft should help baseball inject some more pop to the game.