Derek E. Hingle-USA Today Sports
The New York Yankees had three first round picks in the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft, the most out of any team in baseball. Those were picks No. 26, 32 and 33, the last two being compensatory picks for parting ways with free agents Nick Swisher and Rafael Soriano.
With the pick No. 26, the Yankees took Eric Jagielo, a junior third baseman from Notre Dame. Jagielo hit .388 with nine homers this year. His bat is ahead of his glove at this point, and some scouts think he might have to move across the field to first base at some point, but he should be able to move quickly through the minors strictly from his hitting prowess.
With pick No. 32, the Yankees chose outfielder Aaron Judge from Fresno State. Judge hit .345 with 18 home runs his junior year, and according to scouts, has the possibility of hitting 30 homers in the big leagues some day. What is unusual about Judge is his size; he is 6’7’’ and 255 pounds. Because of his size, his power output should be above average, but this also limits his range in the outfield and translates to a right fielder at the Major League level, having a great throwing arm as well.
With the next and final pick of the first round, the Yanks selected Ian Clarkin, a left-handed high school pitcher from Madison High School in San Diego, Ca. He is a 6’2’’, 190 pound lefty with a fastball that can reach 94 mph. He has the best curveball out of all the 2013 high school prospects. He finished his senior year with an ERA of 0.95 and 133 strikeouts in 73 1/3 innings. In a predraft interview, Clarkin actually said, “I cannot stand the Yankees so I was actually in tears cause I was so happy” referring to Louis Gonzalez’s walk-off bloop single in Game 7 between the Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2001 World Series. Ironically, the team that he despised in his childhood decided that he was too talented to pass on, despite his overt contempt of them.
So, with the Yanks first pick in the first round, they picked a corner infielder with a good stick who could possibly be the heir to either Mark Texiera or Alex Rodriguez. With the second pick in the first round, they got a corner outfielder who won the TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby in July of 2012. With their final pick, they chose a left-handed pitching prospect who hates the Yankees and more recently said he will only sign if he gets life-changing money. It’s also worth noting that he has apologized to Yankees fans and said that his mother is a die-hard Yankees fan.
