Yesterday’s draft action completed the Yankees’ draft class, and there are now 40 new draftees to overanalyze and agonize about for the near future.  Although some of the excitement was taken out of the middle and later rounds by the new draft rules, it was still interesting to follow (even more so because a guy from my tiny alma mater was drafted in the 40th round, albeit by the Red Sox).  EJ and I have already profiled the Yankees 1st 3 picks, high school RHP Ty Hensley (who apparently almost went at #10 to the Rockies), high school outfielder Austin Aune, and Miami catcher Peter O’Brien.  Here are some of the more intriguing selections that the Yankees made in the 3rd-40th rounds.

High School hitters

3rd-round outfielder Nathan Mikolas is one of the more intriguing high school bats in the Yankee class, a plus pure hitter with good power potential.  23rd-rounder Vincent Jackson, a potential tough sign with a Tennesse commitment, is a big kid (6’4″) and a bit raw, but has impressive athleticism and strong raw power.  He’s likely a rightfielder long term  Ty Moore, a tough sign in the 25th round (UCLA commit), is another bat-first prospect with above average power.  DJ Stewart is another late-round pick with a Florida State commitment and good power potential.  He is currently an outfielder, but intrigues some as a potential catcher convert, and is somewhat raw due to previous focus on football.

College hitters

5th-rounder Rob Refsnyder is a 2nd baseman from Arizona who looks like an excellent pure hitter in the David Adams mold.  Outfielder Taylor Dugas is Alabama’s all-time hits leader, and offers above-average speed along with his strong hit tool.  10th-rounder Matt Snyder, 1b from Mississippi, is a big strong masher who won’t bring a ton of defensive value to the table.

High school pitchers

Canadian RHP Dayton Dawe, taken in the 15th round, works in the high 80′s but can touch the low 90′s, and has good movement on both his 2-seam and 4-seam fastballs and features a curve and change.  With better competition and coaching, he could add a few ticks to the fastball while maintaining his solid command of the pitch.  18th-rounder RHP Brady Lail is reportedly a tough sign who has a similar repertoire to Dawe.  Like Dawe, he comes from an area that’s not exactly a baseball hotbed in Utah.  They also added Jr, son of the former Indians closer, a big physical kid who touches 91 with his fastball and shows signs of developing 2 breaking pitches.

College pitchers

The Yankees went reliever-heavy in their college pitching class.  Corey Black represents the highest-drafted college pitcher in this Yankee class.  A righty from Faulkner University, Black can sit in the mid-90′s and feature a solid changeup and promising slider.  He’s a bit small (5’11″) and may profile best as a reliever.  They grabbed several other promising relievers including LSU’s Nick Goody, who works in the low-90′s with good command, San Diego lefty James Pazos (low-90′s FB and slider), and SE Louisiana’s Stefan Lopez (touches 94 with the fastball).  There weren’t really any college starters of consequence drafted (that I noticed), but maybe some of these guys will surprise me.

Overall, it looks like another solid Yankee draft class, though obviously, a lot depends on who actually signs.  I assume most of the early selections are going to sign, but the big questions are the later round guys like Jackson, Moore, Stewart, and Lail.  The Yankees did seem to go heavy on bat-first corner guys from high school and college relievers this year, though I’m not sure if that was a matter of strategy or circumstance.

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