2016 Draft Archives - Page 9 of 9

2016 Draft: Yankees hold 22nd overall pick

October 15, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

Now that the 2015 regular season is over, the order for the 2016 amateur draft it set. The Phillies have the first overall pick for the second time in franchise history — they took Pat Burrell first overall in 1998 — and they’ll be followed by the Reds, Braves, Rockies, and Brewers. Here is the full draft order.

The Yankees had the ninth best record in baseball this season at 87-75, so they hold the 22nd overall pick in next June’s draft. That will be their second highest pick since taking Ian Kennedy with the 21st overall selection in 2006. The Yankees took UCLA RHP James Kaprielian with the 16th overall pick earlier this year.

Obviously the draft order is not final and won’t be for a while. Draft picks can and inevitably will move around as free agent compensation this offseason. I think the only free agent the Yankees would be willing to surrender their first rounder to sign is Jason Heyward, and that’s only because he’s so young. Here’s my qualifying offer primer for CBS.

It’s a bit too early to discuss who the Yankees may target with that 22nd pick. Heck, it’s not even clear who the favorite to go first overall is right now. Kiley McDaniel, who recently joined the Braves front office, put together a 2016 draft board at FanGraphs with notable prospects. He also wrote up some draft notes as well, so check those out.

The Yankees have leaned towards college players in recent years because they simply haven’t had a ton of luck developing high school kids into big league players. Maybe they’ll change course now that Greg Bird and Luis Severino, two teenagers they developed successfully, had MLB success. We’ll see.

I’ll put together our annual Draft Order Tracker page in a few weeks, once we get closer to the offseason and see who receives a qualifying offer.

Saturday Links: Waiver Trades, Eppler, 2016 Draft, YES

September 5, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

The Yankees and Rays continue their Labor Day weekend series a little later this afternoon. Here are some morning links to help you pass the time.

Yankees were blocked in attempts to add pitching

During the waiver trade period in August, the Yankees were “blocked in every attempt” to add pitching, reports Nick Cafardo. Well, that should say “almost every attempt,” because they did claim David Robertson, only to have the White Sox pull him back. Getting blocked on trade waivers simply means a team with a lower waiver priority (i.e. a worse record) placed a claim on a player. In August, players can only be dealt to the team that claims them off trade waivers. They can be dealt to any team if they go unclaimed.

The Yankees were in first place for 18 of 31 days in August, so I’m guessing the Blue Jays did most of the blocking. Wildcard hopefuls like the Twins, Rangers, Angels, Rays, and Orioles were probably in on the act as well. The only pitchers traded in August were Fernando Rodney, Neal Cotts, Randy Wolf, Oliver Perez, and Eric O’Flaherty. Cotts and Perez are useful left-on-left matchup guys, but otherwise the Yankees don’t have much use for those players. Any attempt to add significant pitching was likely blocked. Aside from Robertson, of course.

Eppler continues to be linked to Angels

Yankees assistant GM Billy Eppler continues to be linked to the Angels, who will hire a new GM in the offseason following Jerry Dipoto’s midseason resignation. Dipoto lost a power struggle when owner Arte Moreno sided with manager Mike Scioscia. Bob Nightengale heard from one “high-ranking Angels executive” that Eppler is considered the front-runner for the job while Alden Gonzalez notes Eppler’s name comes up “frequently” in Angels discussions Ken Rosenthal reports the Angels have not yet asked the Yankees for permission to speak to Eppler, for what it’s worth. Eppler interviewed for the Angels job back in 2011 and was reportedly the runner-up to Dipoto. There are a few GM jobs open right now (Angels, Mariners, Red Sox) and I’m guessing this won’t be the last time we hear Eppler connected to one of them.

2016 draft set for June 9th

The 2016 amateur draft has been scheduled for June 9th, reports John Manuel. That’s a Thursday. The draft has historically been held on the first Tuesday of June, but in recent years the start date has moved around due to MLB Network. The draft started on a Monday in both 2012 and 2015, and on a Thursday in 2013 and 2014. As usual, it will be a three-day event next summer.

Manuel says there has been talk of moving the draft broadcast to Omaha to coincide with the College World Series, which would allow some more prospects to attend, but that won’t happen next year. The College World Series usually doesn’t start until mid-June, which would mean delaying the draft two weeks or so. Not ideal. Teams want to get their players, get them signed, and get their careers started.

YES ratings up 31% in the second half

Apparently the thrill of a postseason race has more people watching the Yankees down the stretch. YES Network ratings are up a whopping 31% in the second half, the network announced. Ratings are up even more in certain demographics, and YES is “delivering the best demo viewership” since 2012, whatever that means. Also, nine of the eleven highest rated game broadcasts have come within the last month. If you win, people will watch. If you lose, many will still watch.

2016 Draft: MLB announces Competitive Balance Lottery results

July 22, 2015 by Mike 64 Comments

Earlier today, MLB announced the Competitive Balance Lottery results for the 2016 Draft. In a nutshell, small market and low payroll teams are given extra draft picks each year for the sake of, ahem, competitive balance. Joey Nowak has a good primer if you’re unfamiliar with the system.

Here are the results from Wednesday’s lottery drawing:

The Yankees are neither a small market nor a low payroll team, so they weren’t eligible for a Competitive Balance Lottery pick. Haven’t been since the system was implemented a few years ago and won’t be anytime soon. At least the Cardinals didn’t get a pick this year. They have the last few drafts.

Anyway, these Competitive Balance Lottery picks can be traded! Just not during the offseason for some reason. (What a silly system.) The picks can be traded right away — the Astros received a 2015 Competitive Balance Lottery pick from the Marlins at the trade deadline last summer in the Jarred Cosart deal, for example — so that’s more ammo for those teams at the trade deadline.

The Reds (Johnny Cueto, Aroldis Chapman), Athletics (Ben Zobrist, Scott Kazmir, Tyler Clippard), Marlins (Mat Latos, Dan Haren, Martin Prado), and Padres (Ian Kennedy, Tyson Ross, Andrew Cashner) are all realistic trade partners for the Yankees prior to the trade deadline, so perhaps the draft picks get involved in a deal somehow. Otherwise this doesn’t have much to do with the Bombers.