MLB Draft Deep Dive: New York Yankees

In order to satisfy my innate curiosity as it pertains to the MLB Draft, I have taken a comprehensive look at the 2018 draft for each of the 30 MLB organizations. But I also wanted to get an idea of what each of the teams had done for the 20 years prior so that is included as a prelude to the 2018 information. I'll be looking first at each team in each division, starting with the National League East, and then I'll follow up with a an overall look at both the historical draft results to date and the early 2018 results.

My goal is to get a better idea of the big picture as to how the systems compare in terms of draft results, as well as how a good or bad draft class affects a system, the overall impact of the draft on the baseball talent pool and the circuitous ways in which draft picks are used to bolster a system for which they may never even play. This project is just a first step. I intend to expand on this information over time (including a later revisit of the 2018 class and the addition of the 2019 class next offseason) and I will share my findings as I do so.

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST

NEW YORK YANKEES

Historical Draft Results from 1998 through 2017 (TO DATE)
Drafted 947 | Signed 562 | Pitchers Signed 303 | Position Players Signed 259
Total WAR 187.9
Total Players to MLB 97

Note: The following players are listed at the position at which they were originally drafted.

1998 | 4 to MLB | WAR (1.5) | High WAR 0.3, LHP Brandon Claussen, 34th rd
1999 | 3 to MLB | WAR (0.4) | High WAR 0.4, 3B Andy Phillips, 7th rd
2000 | 4 to MLB | WAR (0.9) | High WAR 0.6, LHP Matt Smith, 4th rd
2001 | 7 to MLB | WAR 0.5 | High WAR 1.0, OF Shelley Duncan, 2nd rd
2002 | 5 to MLB | WAR 3.0 | High WAR 2.0, LHP Phil Coke, 26th rd
2003 | 4 to MLB | WAR 17.2 | High WAR 13.7, RHP Tyler Clippard, 9th rd
2004 | 4 to MLB | WAR 13.9 | High WAR 10.7, RHP Phil Hughes, 1st rd
2005 | 4 to MLB | WAR 59.2 | High WAR 37.5, OF Brett Gardner, 3rd rd
2006 | 10 to MLB | WAR 67.2 | High WAR 16.0, RHP David Robertson, 17th rd
2007 | 3 to MLB | WAR (0.7) | High WAR 0.1, RHP Andrew Brackman, 1st rd
2008 | 9 to MLB | WAR 3.0 | High WAR 4.8, RHP David Phelps, 14th rd
2009 | 6 to MLB | WAR 5.6 | High WAR 7.0, RHP Adam Warren, 4th rd
2010 | 9 to MLB | WAR 2.5 | High WAR 1.2, OF Ben Gamel, 10th rd
2011 | 6 to MLB | WAR 3.0 | High WAR 1.6, RHP Jon Brebbia, 30th rd
2012 | 6 to MLB | WAR 1.2 | High WAR 0.9, RHP Nick Goody, 6th rd
2013 | 7 to MLB | WAR 11.0 | High WAR 13.2, OF Aaron Judge, 1st rd
2014 | 3 to MLB | WAR 5.0 | High WAR 3.5, LHP Jordan Montgomery, 4th rd
2015 | 3 to MLB | WAR (0.9) | High WAR (0.2), RHP Chance Adams, 5th rd
2016 | 0 to MLB | WAR 0.0 | High WAR N/A
2017 | 0 to MLB | WAR 0.0 | High WAR N/A

The highest WAR to date goes to OF Brett Gardner (2005, 3rd round, 37.5 WAR) with 2006 representing the high total WAR. Gardner has played for the Yankees for 11 seasons so far and has one Gold Glove, one All-Star nod and one World Series ring to show for it. Out of the Yankees 2006 Draft class, the top five contributors are RHP David Robertson (17th round, 16.0 WAR), RHP Ian Kennedy (1st round, 15.4 WAR), RHP Dellin Betances (8th round, 11.6 WAR), RHP Mark Melancon (9th round, 10.0 WAR) and RHP Joba Chamberlain (1st round, 7.6 WAR). Robertson has spent parts of nine seasons with the Yankees, including his one All-Star year in 2011. Prior to reaching his prime, Kennedy was sent to the Diamondbacks in a three-team trade (December 2009) that netted the Yankees OF Curtis Granderson. Betances has been a life-long Yankee thus far, with four All-Star appearances to his name. Melancon was traded early in his career to Houston for one subpar season of 1B Lance Berkman. And Chamberlain was with the Yankees for seven seasons before leaving via free agency in 2013.

2018 DRAFT
40 Drafted | 34 Signed | 19 Pitchers | 15 Position Players
29 College | 28 Signed | 18 Pitchers | 10 Position Players
2 JC/CC | 2 Signed | 1 Pitcher | 1 Position Player
9 HS/NS | 4 Signed | 0 Pitchers | 4 Position Players

Notable: The Yankees signed all of their first 30 picks.

PITCHERS
All but three of the 19 pitchers signed (18 RHP, 1 LHP) logged at least some playing time. None of the players were promoted beyond the Short Season A* level. One of the pitchers debuted on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospect list for the Yankees.

Top Prospects

RHP Frank German, 4th round, University of North Florida, SSA
30.1 IP | 11 G / 5 GS | 2.08 ERA | 0.923 WHIP | 6 BB : 41 K

Noteworthy Debut

RHP Rodney Hutchison, 6th round, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, SSA
32 IP | 9 G / 6 GS | 1.97 ERA | 1.000 WHIP | 6 BB : 31 K

In total, the Boston 2018 Draft pitchers combined for a 3.85 ERA and a 1.274 WHIP over 301.1 innings as compared to the 3.67 ERA and 1.299 WHIP (average of 376.2 innings per affiliate) compiled by the total 2018 Draft class in 2018.

POSITION PLAYERS
All of the 15 position players signed (1B, 3 2B, 3B, 2 SS, 4 OF, 4 C) logged at least some playing time. Three players were promoted beyond the Short Season A* level (one to Full Season A and two to Advanced A). Three players debuted on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospect list for the Yankees, one as a Top 10 prospect. In addition, 2018 draft pick OF Josh Stowers who was obtained by the Yankees in a January 2019 trade with the Mariners is also a Top 30 prospect for the team.

Top Prospects

🔟 C Anthony Seigler (S/R), 1st round, Cartersville HS (GA), Rk
24 G | .266/.379/.342/.721 | 14 BB : 12 K

C Josh Breaux (R/R), 2nd round, McLennan Community College, SSA
30 G | .269/.289/.352/.641 | 4 BB : 21 K

OF Ryder Green (R/R), 3rd round, Karns HS (TN), Rk
26 G | .203/.316/.392/.708 | 11 BB : 35 K

🔟 Top 10 Prospect

Noteworthy Debut

1B Mickey Gasper (S/R), 27th round, Bryant College, A
43 G | .257/.393/.493/.886 | 30 BB : 21 K

In total, the Yankees 2018 Draft position players combined to hit .237/.335/.363/.698 as compared to .261/.349/.386/.735 batting line compiled by the total 2018 Draft class in 2018.

*Notes on players include the highest level achieved for the 2018 season using the following abbreviations:
Rk = Rookie
SSA = Short Season A
A = Full Season A
A+ = Full Season A Advanced

GENERAL NOTES: Information was obtained from Baseball-Reference and the MLB Draft History site. The occasional discrepancy in historical information was resolved to the best of my ability by delving into the player information available on B-R. On the historical information, the player position in the totals reflects the position at which the player was drafted (and not any subsequent change of position). On the 2018 information, the player position reflects the primary position played in 2018 for all players who were signed and the position at which the player was drafted for those who did not sign. Prospect listings on MLB Pipeline were as of early January and may not reflect any subsequent changes to that site.

PREVIOUSLY

NL EAST
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals
NL East 2018 Draft Summary

NL CENTRAL
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
NL Central 2018 Draft Summary

NL WEST
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
NL West 2018 Draft Summary

AL EAST
Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox

COMING NEXT
Tampa Bay Rays