Two keys for the Yankees' approach to the 2018 draft

The Yankees come into draft day with an already top tier farm system in the majors and a plethora of recently graduated prospects performing well in the game’s highest level. Combine this with their talent at the lower levels of the farm system, their knack for acquiring top international talent, and their wealth, and the Yankees are pretty well off franchise. With that being said, the Yankees do not need to absolutely knock it out of the park in this year’s draft as their future would not be jeopardized if a few of the team’s top picks don’t pan out. Here are two things the Yankees should take into account when they approach this year’s draft:

 

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Take risks

The Yanks can take a few risks in the draft and try to improve specific positional depth, without settling for the best available option on the surface. The Yankees took this approach in the past as their first-round pick of last year’s draft, Clarke Schmidt, was considered an elite first round talent, but fell all the way to the Yankees at number 16 due to his recovery from Tommy John surgery. The Yankees do not need an immediate superstar talent or a 19-year-old that could be a major league impact next season, so they can focus on someone they feel like has a lot of untapped potential or a player that could have amazing talent, but is recovering from an injury.

Focus on offense

23 of the Yankees’ top 30 prospects according to MLB.com are pitchers. The Yankees’ system is stacked from Charleston to Scranton with electric, young pitchers and the Yankees are in good hands in terms of pitching depth in the minors. Where they are lacking is on the position player side. With Andujar, Wade, Frazier, Torres, Judge, Bird, Sanchez, Austin, etc. all graduated from prospect status the Yankees’ offensive prospects are less than stellar. The top names, outside of Florial, right now include: Billy McKinney, Thairo Estrada, Dermis Garcia, Everson Pereira, Canaan Smith, and Isiah Gilliam. The casual Yankees’ fan has likely only heard of two of these players at best, and only Florial, McKinney and Estrada are considered among the Yankees top 20 prospects. The Yankees do not lack young offensive superstars, as a bulk of them are on the big league squad, but their lack of talent in the lower minors, is quite concerning and should be addressed in this draft.

The 2018 MLB draft will start tonight at 7pm, and we will be covering it in great detail.

Article by: Ryan Thoms

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