New York Yankees Mock Draft: Last Minute Picks and Predictions
June 5, 2014 · Anthony Maimone · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
Mock drafts are always a fun experiment to do in any professional sport. However, trying to predict who your favorite team will select is beyond challenging.
It gets even trickier when said team does not own a pick in the first round. That is exactly the case for the New York Yankees.
The Yankees will not make their first selection during the June 5th MLB Draft until the second round, at pick No. 55.
General manager Brian Cashman’s offseason spending spree on free agents cost the Yankees their first round pick in this year’s draft.
The Yankees typically take risks on prep talents but saw a flip of the switch last year. Two of their three first round choices were college players.
I expect the team to go back to its traditional drafting methods and target high school athletes with their second round pick.
With that being said, the following are three players who have been rumored to be potential targets for the Yankees.
All three are coming out of high school and the good news is only one of the three names below were chosen in ESPN’s Keith Law’s latest mock draft.
That means the likelihood of these players wearing pinstripes is positive.
Justus Sheffield, LHP
Justus Sheffield might be the long shot for the Yankees of this list. Law currently has him projected as the last pick of the first round to the St. Louis Cardinals.
The fact that the Cardinals have an interest in him makes me hope the Yankees can land him because the Cardinals rarely miss on the guys they draft.
Sheffield is an athletic lefty out of Tennessee and has committed to Vanderbilt.
His fastball sits in the low-90s. According to Baseball America, he features a high leg kick and throws from a three-quarter slot.
Lefties are always a desire for the Yankees and the farm system is bare of top level pitching.
The hopes are he drops closer to where Baseball America has him ranked in their top 200, which is at 49, to give the Yanks a fighting chance at snagging him.
Kodi Medeiros, LHP
Kodi Medeiros is the highest ranked player on this list according to Baseball America’s top 200.
Projected as the 32nd best player, Medeiros is a first round talent.
ESPN’s Christopher Crawford (subscription required) believes there is a chance Medeiros could slip to the Yankees because of a concern over his arm slot.
That would be great news for the Yankees as he is exactly the type of high risk, high reward high school athlete they like to target.
According to Big League Futures, Medeiros has a live fastball that sits around 94 with some extra pop.
Once again, with a focus on top-level pitching, Medeiros would be a steal at pick No. 55.
Sam Travis, 1B
Though the Yankees would probably like to grab a front-line pitcher, Keith Law reports that the Yankees have been linked to Indiana first baseman Sam Travis.
A quick look at Baseball America’s rankings shows Travis would be proper value as they have him ranked 56th.
Travis is a short, yet strong right-handed power bat. His stock rises being one of only a few top college bats available in this year’s draft.
The hopes here would be that he could develop quickly enough to replace Mark Teixeira at first when his contract finally runs out after the 2016 season.
The Yankees do not have many right-handed power bats in their lineup these days. Travis could be the guy to balance out the lineup in the near future.
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