2018 Yankees Draft

[jacksonianmarch]

1. Seigler C- switch hitting catcher with a great arm, projects to stay at the position. Solid hitter with power potential. He’s a good pick. I liked Casas better just due to the pure power, but this kid is a more rounded prospect. High school catchers take awhile to develop, so I anticipate he stays in the short season leagues maybe for two seasons before we see him in Tampa or Charleston.

2. Breaulx C- I really like this pick. Power proven in the Cape Cod league. Big time hit tool. Can throw 100mph off a mound. Projects to be an average receiver and a clear threat to base stealers with his arm. He fell due to the fact that he doesn’t have Seigler’s athleticism and may end up at 1b long term.

[jacksonianmarch]

3. Ryder Green- OF. Love this pick. He's an overslot 3rd rounder, which is why the rest of our top 10 will likely be senior or junior signs. He has legit power and showed good contact this year. Has a cannon for an arm, and while he's not fast enough to be a true CFer, he profiles well as a power hitting RFer.

4. Frank German RHP- Finalist for the golden spikes award. Deep arsenal, tops out at 94mph for now. Just the kind of guy the Yankees sign. High spin rate with deeper arsenal to develop into a starter

5. Brandon Lockridge OF- coming off a down year, he had some helium going into this season as a contact hitter with good OBP skills and he can fly. The kid grades out either 70 or 80 on the speed scale. Projects to stay in CF or to shift back to 2b. Rare to get a guy with a plus plus tool in the 5th round, but he needs the hit tool to develop to use it offensively

6. Rodney Hutchinson RHP- middle reliever with UNC who isn't having a good season in college but dominated in the Cape last year. 3/4 arm slot, tops out at 95, two other projectable pitches. Big frame and capable with a good arm. This is what the Yanks do in these rounds.

7. Daniel Bies RHP- Bies is humongous, 6'8" 245lbs out of Gonzaga. Tops out mid 90s, good enough slider. Has the frame to start, but Callis likes him in the pen. He is the kind of giant who the Yanks will try in the rotation and work on a change. The rare projectable college player

[jacksonianmarch]

8. Conner Van Hoose RHP- low 90s, high K rates in the Patriots league. Not a big framed guy, I expect him to be a middle reliever

[jacksonianmarch]

9. Mick Vorhof RHP- low 90s heater with high K rates. Not a big frame.

10. Josh Maciejewski LHP- tall lefty, low 90s, change better than breaking ball. Crafty, good location. Very high K rate.

[jacksonianmarch]

The first ten are in the books and it went how I predicted. We needed position player talent in the worst way as our 2014 INTL class has mostly flopped and we have seen a lot of graduations of top prospects to the majors. The first 3 picks and our 5th rounder to some extent should add some serious tools to the system.

Seigler looks to be a true plus defender with a solid arm who should stick behind the plate. He is a switch hitter (and pitcher btw) with solid above average hit tools and power projection but not current raw power. He could move quickly depending on his bat. Typically HS catchers lead with their bat and their receiving skills keep them back. That shouldn't be the case with Seigler. Breaulx looks to be a power toolshed. Light tower power with good eye, but a trailing hit tool. Has an absolute cannon behind the dish capable of hitting 100mph off the mound. There are questions about his ability to stay behind the dish, but this season he looked to have the potential to stick at C. His bat may necessitate a change of position and if offense doesnt work, his arm could also work for him off the mound. Green is the big ticket overslot guy here. Big power, big arm, athletic enough to man RF and be a reasonable part timer in CF. This kid has power for days which seems to be the story with our 2nd and 3rd rounders. Lockridge, the 5th rounder may not be a power hitter, but he has unique speed, sitting somewhere in the 70-80 speed range. Down season this year, but has shown the ability to hit for average, some power and high OBP. If he can carry that over to wood bat, with his speed, he could be a steal in the 5th round. Rare to find a guy in the 80 range of any skill in the 5th, let alone a guy who should sign under slot.

Onto the pitchers. This is what the Yankees do best. Between the 3rd and 10th round almost on a yearly basis, we stack RHP's with high spin rates and mold them into dynamite weapons on the mound. This year is no different. German, Hutchinson, Bies, Van Hoose, and Vorhof all throw low to mid 90s, but all have high spin rates and very high K rates in their college time. Out of these 5 guys, I anticipate 2 of them will separate themselves a la Otto, Stephan and Lehnan from last yr. Maciejewski is a change of pace selection, still a high K rate guy, but more a crafty lefty type than a high spin power guy like the RHP's. I love the top 3 in tandem, I thought we might have passed on some better offensive guys for our first selection, but that is made up for with 2 and 3. Like the pitching selections mostly due to the team's prior success with the same types of pitchers. Intrigued by the speed demon. I like the top 10 this year. No major reaches, no major give away picks

[jacksonianmarch]

Yankees 18th round HS catcher Alex Guerrero intends to sign with NY. Good defensive catcher with a solid left handed swing. Limited power currently, but can project to hit for some. Good get later in the draft

[Meh]

The #Yankees have signed six of their top 10 @MLBDraft picks, including 1st rd pick C Anthony Seigler (23rd overall)… others include RHP Frank German (rd. 4), OF Brandon Lockridge (rd. 5), RHP Connor Van Hoose (rd. 8), RHP Mick Vorhof (rd. 9) and LHP Josh Maciejewski (rd. 10).

https://twitter.com/BryanHoch/status...054985728?s=19

I think after Seigler, we didn't grab anyone could be an all star type, but we got some nice depth pieces. German looks interesting. As does Green. I tihnk Siegler will be in our top 5. "Bro" and Green might be in the tail end of the top 30, in a still deep system.

[jacksonianmarch]

Meh, I’ll tell you right now that some of these guys will ascend quickly. Cash and Opp hit homeruns in the 4-10 section of the draft almost yearly with pitchers. Last year, Stephan at 3, Otto at 5 and Lehnen at 6 is looking like a trio of steals. I think German and Hutchinson end up ascending the top 15 by end of 2019 and possibly by the end of this year as Stephan and Otto did last year. They’re both high spin rate guys with better arsenals than pure velocity. These are the guys we tweak and they’re all of a sudden sitting mid 90s with command.

Also, Breaulx makes the top 15. He’s a light tower power, hit first kind of guy. He’ll move fast if moved off catcher.

[jacksonianmarch]

Brealx and Ryder Green signed above slot. This probably means the Yanks wont be popping any major players after the 10th round.

[jacksonianmarch]

One month to go in the short season leagues

Anthony Seigler has hit well in his 35ABs, although he missed a month with an undisclosed injury. .314/.415/.457

Josh Breaux only has 19ABs and hasn't done much with them.

Ryder Green has shown some power (.203 IsoP) but not a good hit tool with 32K's in 64ABs

Frank German has dominated. 16.1IP 0.86WHIP 1.26ERA 20/3 K:BB ratio.

Brandon Lockridge has been real good over his first 25 games. .282/.383/.462 triple slash, although down from that with his promotion to the NYP. Only 3 steals, though

Rodney Hutchison has had a solid debut. In 4 outings, 11IP 1.64ERA 1.00WHIP 12/3 K:BB

Daniel Bies has been absolutely dominant. The 6'8" Gonzaga product has mowed down 24 in 14.2IP with a 0.95WHIP and a 1.23ERA.

Van Hoose threw only 3IP before going on the 60 day DL. That's not a good thing

Mick Vorhof hasn't thrown a pitch and is on the 60 day DL

Josh Maciejewski has been solid in his debut. 16.2IP 20:4 K/BB ratio. 1.26WHIP 4.32ERA

[jacksonianmarch]

Update one year later.

1. Anthony Seigler- Dominated the GCL after being drafted. Struggled upon promotion to the Appy League. Likely headed for SI in the NYP. He is a catcher and will stay at catcher, so they will take their time with him. Considered a top 5 prospect for the Yankees
2. Josh Breaux- Was hit or miss after being drafted in 2018. Made the jump to long season leagues and has been killing it in his first year. .295/..323/.500 with 7HR in 30games before hitting the DL 2 weeks ago.
3. Ryder Green- struggled in his first action after being drafted in 2018. Will likely debut in the Appy league this year after the draft as he was a HS draftee
4. Frank German- dominated in his taste of the minors in 2018. Jumped up to A+ ball and is holding his own. His command has taken a hit against advanced hitters, but he still has the high 90s heat and is still striking out batters at a high rate
5. Brandon Lockridge- Showing a power and speed combo in his first taste of the long season with 8HR and 10 steals and a .801OPS.
6. Rodney Hutchison- dominated short season in 2018 upon drafting. Was abysmal in his debut in long season and was reassigned to minor league camp. Will be in SI once the season opens
7. Daniel Bies- enormous human being who has dominated the minors and had a 50/12 K/BB ratio in 39.2IP. Unfortunately, he is on the DL
8. Connor Van Hoose- he retired this offseason. Not sure why
9. Mick Vorhof- on the 60 day DL, has yet to debut
10. Josh Maciejewski- held his own in his debut last year. Going to be a mainstay in SI this year
11. Tanner Myatt- might be the best player in this draft and it isn't a slight to the guys above. High velocity, big movement pitcher likely headed to the pen. Only 4 hits in 14.2IP and 16K's, albeit poor command with 12BB.