Of the 48 players the Yankees have selected in the first round, 23 were pitchers. Of these, 18 were right-handed and 5 were left-handed. The Yankees have drafted ten outfielders, six shortstops, three catchers, three first basemen, and three third basemen. The team has never drafted a player at second base.[3] The Yankees drafted 29 players out of high school, and drafted 18 players out of college.[3] Eleven of the players came from high schools or universities in the state of California, and Florida follows with five players.[3] Four first-round picks have won championships with the franchise: Thurman Munson (1977 and 1978), Derek Jeter (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009), Phil Hughes (2009), and Joba Chamberlain (2009). Munson and Jeter have both also served as team captains for the Yankees.[4] None of the Yankees' first-round picks have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Two of the Yankees' picks have won the MLB Rookie of the Year award; Munson won the award in 1970, and Jeter won the award in 1996.[5] The Yankees have made 11 selections in the supplemental round of the draft and 19 compensatory picks since the institution of the First-Year Player Draft in 1965.[3] These additional picks are provided when a team loses a particularly valuable free agent in the previous off-season,[2][6][V] or, more recently, if a team fails to sign a draft pick from the previous year.[7] The Yankees have been awarded compensatory draft choices for failing to sign first round picks Tyrell Godwin (1997) and Gerrit Cole (2008).[3] Though the Yankees also failed to sign Mark Prior (1998), they were not awarded a compensatory pick, as Prior was chosen with the pick received for Godwin, and compensatory rules only allow for one compensation pick for failing to sign a player.[1] The Yankees have also surrendered 10 first round picks due to free agent signings.[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_York_Yankees_first-round_draft_picks
Monday, June 10, 2013 Through The Years: The Yankees & The First Year Player Draft On Saturday, the Yankees' 22nd round draft pick from over 20 years ago notched his 250th career win. That same year Pettitte was drafted, the first round pick was Carl Everett. He didn't turn out to be as likable or successful as Pettitte, but had a respectable 14 year career in the big leagues, including two all star appearances and one world championship. As the Yankees were trying to hold on to the lead Saturday night, Pettitte's son was himself drafted by the Yankees in the 37th round. This year's draft saw the Houston Astros take pitcher Mark Appel as the first pick overall, while the Yankees managed to score two compensatory first round picks. Although the draft is followed closely by the average fan now more than ever, I'll have to admit, I paid it no mind this year. I've had my share of prospect adoration and, through that, realized how the draft is much more irrelevant than it is a predictor of any one team's future success. Unless you score the rare phenoms like Jeter, Harper, or Strasburg, it will be the players drafted in later rounds that will make an impact on a team, or players that were not in the draft at all. Present day MLB leaders like Robinson Cano, Mariano Rivera, Miguel Cabrera, Felix Hernandez, and Jean Segura were amateur free agent signings. In 1996, when the Yankees started their most recent run of championships, less than a quarter of the everyday guys were home grown. Four of those players were not from the draft; they were amateur free agent signings: Bernie Williams, Jim Leyritz, Ramiro Mendoza, and Mariano Rivera. As the frequency of championships has dwindled and fans are seeing the Yankees having to grind out late season wins to make it to the post season, interestingly, there has been an increased presence of Yankee farm hands among the active rosters. By the 2000 championship, over a third of the roster was made up of players that were drafted by the Yankees and had made their way through the farm system--from core players like Jeter, Rivera, and Pettitte to memorable youngsters like Shane Spencer and Ricky Ledee. In 2009, over half of the everyday players were Yankee bred. Aside from the "Core Four", we saw utility players like Francisco Cervelli, Ramiro Pena, and Brett Gardner perform key roles in getting the Yankees their 27th World Series Championship. In the process of winning four championships in five seasons, that accomplishment only needed one first round draft pick--Derek Jeter. We didn't see game changing first round draft picks on the active roster again until Hughes and Joba came on the scene. Now that almost half of today's active roster is made up of Yankees farm system alumni, it's still not the first rounders making it to the bigs. In yesterday's win over the Mariners, a 2008 14th rounder gave up only 3 hits in 6 innings (David Phelps), a 2005 3rd rounder went 4 for 5 (Gardner), a 2006 17th rounder got the win (David Robertson), and a player that wasn't even part of the draft the year he was signed got the save (Mariano Rivera). High draft picks like Andrew Brackman, CJ Henry, Jeffrey Marquez, or Eric Duncan were nowhere to be found. Proof positive that the MLB draft is, indeed, more of an irrelevant event than a predictor of future success
That was my point, the attached article below from June really drives home what we all know but puts it in perspective.
