Tim Fuller-USA Today Sports
With the MLB Amateur Draft set to begin tonight, New York Yankees fans have reason to pay extra attention in 2013. After having 21 first round picks total in his first 15 years as Yankee GM, Brian Cashman comes into the 2013 draft with three first-rounders thanks to the departures of Nick Swisher and Rafael Soriano.
As Cashman is accustomed to doing, with these three picks being no. 26, no. 32 and no. 33, the longtime Yankee GM will be picking at the back end of the first round. Regardless, he’ll have the opportunity to better the Yankees’ farm system more than he’s ever had the chance of doing in the past.
Naturally, this bring us to the next question. What direction will Cashman go with these picks? Is he leaning towards pitchers or position players? Will he take a raw 18-year-old right out of high school or instead grab a more polished 20-something collegiate player?
Out of Cashman’s past 21 first round selections as Yankees GM since 1998, 12 have been pitchers and nine have been position players. However, eight of the last 12 have been arms. To me, it seems likely that at least two of the three picks will go that route, with the organization putting more of a premium on pitching and starting pitching in particular over the last few seasons.
Of course, it’ll depend how the draft is shaping up and what is left on the Yankees’ draft board when they come up at pick 26, but they’ll be leaning pitching, you can count on that. Several mock drafts have the Yankees selecting left-handed pitcher Robert Kaminsky out of St. Joseph Regional High School in nearby New Jersey.
Here are a few other arms who could find themselves with an “NY” on their hat later tonight:
Hunter Harvey, RHP North Carolina HS
Bobby Wahl, RHP Mississippi
Sean Manaea, LHP Indiana State
Matt Krook, LHP California HS
Devin Wlliams, RHP Missouri HS
Cody Reed, LHP Northwest Mississippi CC
Marco Gonzales, LHP Gonzaga
Matthew Cermola is a New York Yankees and MLB writer for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @MCermolaRantMLB and add him to your network on Google.
