Hoping yanks either take a college arm and start him right in triple A as a 22 year old, lefty hitting first baseman or outfielder, or a shortstop, one that can actually play as their other shortstop picks lately have been shit! Please don’t draft another pitcher that needs immediate tommy John surgery for Christ’s sake!
Looking into Sweeney further he was the 55th rated prospect taken number 20 by the genius Yankees (Always think their smarter then everyone else). The kid looks like a good hitter, and he’s lefty. Scouting reports I’ve seen say not terrific rangers or athletic which Means he’ll fit in defensively with the current bunch. Shortstop for Now but could see him moving to an infield or outfield corner. If this guy doesn’t turn out Oppenheimer and the scouting staff need to go with cashman and the idiot Boone!
I know, that's why I said I was glad he was already out of HS and had already faced and faired well vs college talent. What I was getting at is that doing well in HS is OK but not as impressive as doing well vs college teams...he'll obviously have to make another big jump from college to the Pros.
He plays in a crappy conference though, so his stats are worthless. He’s a SS but has very limited range, so I don’t know what this franchise was looking at taking him. He will likely never make it to the bigs, meanwhile the Cubs take a pitcher right after us that peoples are projecting could battle for a spot in the rotation within the next 2-3 years. Good thing we were focused on the draft and not making trades. I can’t even with this lack of brain trust ruining this once great franchise. Every year they fuck yo the draft moves us further away from being legit and more dependent upon overpaying for free agents.
The "experts" (the media as well as scouting reports) are generally wrong more often than they are right... and what a prospect "projects" to be versus what he ends up being, don't usually parallel each other. But IMO, the bigger problem with the Yanx in recent years has not been as much to do with the draft but instead, has more to do with player development. And unfortunately, the Yanx have relied way too heavily on opening up the checkbook and simply signing FAs to ridiculously inane contracts rather than grooming their own kids on the farm. 80% of draftees never make it to the Majors...Most #1 draft picks don't become stars and conversely, many drafted in the later rounds have become superstars. (Mattingly, Pujols, Piazza, Winfield, Scherzer, Saberhagen, Pettitte, Sandberg, and Smoltz, just to name a few.
I get all that, but to me it’s stupid to draft a kid who plays SS but already has limited range and likely won’t be able to play that spot. He will have to be moved, and that means that he’s a project. Meanwhile, there were other options that were a better fit for us. I like that he’s a lefty bat, but other than that I think we way over reached for a clear mid second rounder. Hopefully I’m wrong as I’d like to see us be able to get young guys up through the farm and stop signing free agents and giving no trade clauses (I know we didn’t sign Stanton, but he’s the PERFECT example why we can’t give a NTC to Judge).
Sweeney's idol was another SS with limited range and mediocre defense; https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ml...challenge-e2-80-99/ar-AAM7gyj?ocid=uxbndlbing Yankees No. 1 pick Trey Sweeney wants to be another Derek Jeter: ‘I’m up for the challenge’ Yankees top draft pick Trey Sweeney grew up in Louisville idolizing Derek Jeter. Jeter was a tall shortstop at 6-foot-3, and Sweeney always was a tall shortstop who grew to 6-4. Jeter hit for average, power and was great situationally, so that’s what Sweeney tried to do. Jeter took defense seriously, as did Sweeney. Jeter became a Yankees legend (and soon-to-be-inducted Hall of Famer) after being picked sixth overall in the 1992 draft, and Sweeney is shooting for the stars, too, after being selected 20th overall by the Bombers on Sunday night as a redshirt sophomore out of Eastern Illinois. “There’s nobody like the captain and it’s definitely some big shoes to fill, but it’s my honor to try to do that in any way I can and try to follow in his footsteps and be a great Yankee,” Sweeney said Tuesday in a media conference call. “I’m up for the challenge and I’m really excited for it.” This was no prediction from Sweeney that’s he’s going to be the next Jeter, but that’s the goal. “Derek Jeter being one of the greats, he was very fun to watch defensively and offensively,” Sweeney added. “If I can be anything like him, that’d be awesome.” Sweeney, 21, added an intense hunger to go with his skillset while he was in high school. “I played on a top level travel team in high school and it was a little adversity seeing all these guys get recruited by big schools and commit, and then there’s me with one Division I offer,” Sweeney said. Sweeney accepted his offer, then went to Eastern Illinois and kept getting better. Eventually scouts noticed. “I got there, and I knew this was still my dream to play professional baseball and eventually end up in the big leagues,” Sweeney said. “So I took it seriously and hit the weight room hard and did whatever I could to work on my game. It’s taken a lot of time, but my game has progressed and my hard work’s paid off, and that’s all I can ask for. I’m just thankful that I was able to progress my game enough to be wanted by the New York Yankees.” Sweeney still probably has a little chip on his shoulder hearing people say the Yankees reached picking him at No. 20 because he’d been ranked the 55th-best prospect in the draft by Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. “I saw that and it’s OK, but thankfully the Yankees thought a little bit higher of me,” Sweeney said. “I’m happy to prove the Yankees right and work hard for their organization.” Once Sweeney signs, his next mission will be to prove wrong all the draftniks who are predicting he will have to change positions as a pro due to his quickness. “I would like to play shortstop,” Sweeney said. “I feel confidence sticking at shortstop and playing at the highest level, but I know there are some things I need to work on, including my speed, to be able to do that. “I’m confident in myself to play short, but I’ve also had experience around the rest of the infield, so it wouldn’t be a problem either way. Whatever I have to do to help the Yankees organization is what I’ll do.” One thing Sweeney always has done is rake, although he does it a differently than Jeter did being a left-handed hitter. This year, Sweeney hit for average, power and showed plate discipline batting .382 with 14 homers, 58 RBI and a single-season school record 46 walks in 48 games. He also turned most everything coming his way at shortstop into outs committing just five errors in 200 chances for a .975 fielding percentage that was just a tad below Jeter’s career .976. “I would just say I’m a reliable player,” Sweeney said. “I can play on both sides of the ball really well. I can hit for power or hit situationally. I can hit singles for average or hit some doubles and get some out of the park for home runs and provide a little spark. I think overall I just do my job at the plate in any way that I can help my team, whether it’s moving runners or driving them in. “Defensively, I trust my hands and my footwork. I think any pitcher that pitches in front of me is comfortable having me behind them. So overall I’m just a diverse player and someone who’s going to work hard and play hard every day.” Sweeney also is thrilled to be a Yankees prospect. He realized that he was on their radar last winter when he did a Zoom call with them, then again recently when he worked out for the Yankees in Cleveland. “Ever since that point, we started talking a little bit more and I knew they’d be an option for me draft night,” Sweeney said. “I didn’t know for sure, but I thought pick 20 might be a possibility and I couldn’t be more happy with where I ended up.”
