Thoughts following the 2023 Draft

No. 21? Can’t wear that here, George.

The 2023 MLB Draft is complete and 614 picks were made across 20 rounds. The Yankees made 18 picks after surrendering their 2nd and 5th round selections to sign Carlos Rodón, and 14 of the 18 picks were college players. They drafted four high schoolers this year after drafting three high schoolers total from 2020-22, including zero high schoolers in 2022.

I wouldn’t say drafting four high schoolers signals a philosophy shift. It may just be how the board shook out this year. The shorter 20-round draft and increasing reliance on analytical data favors college players because they have longer track records and are more ready to jump into full season minor leagues. I think high schoolers are undervalued right now, particularly pitchers, but I will assume four high schoolers this year is a one-off until further notice.

With the intro out of the way, let’s dive into the Yankees’ 2023 draft class with the understanding many of these players will look a lot different next year, particularly the pitchers.

1st round: Florida HS SS George Lombard Jr.

After taking three lefty hitting college players with their last three 1st round picks, the Yankees went in the other direction this year, and took a righty hitting high schooler with their top selection. Lombard is their first 1st round high schooler since Anthony Volpe in 2019, and only their third in the last 12 drafts. Here’s my pre-draft profile.

“George has a number of physical attributes and is an elite athlete with all five tools and skills to play shortstop,” scouting director Damon Oppenheimer said in a statement. “He has ability to impact the ball and use the whole field for power, alongside good contact skills. The makeup is a separator. He is focused on every pitch with an unquestioned work ethic. All of that from a young man with Major League bloodlines and a mom that was also a high-end collegiate athlete. We really see potential for a high-ceiling middle of the field player.”

Lombard’s father, George Sr., was an up and down outfielder from 1998-2006 and is a longtime coach. He has been the Tigers’ bench coach since 2021 and was the Dodgers’ first base coach when they won the 2020 World Series. Here are the Lombards in 2020, with George Jr. holding the commissioner's trophy:

“We had a lot of people on this one who were on board with George,” Oppenheimer told Bryan Hoch. “There was no dissension at all in terms of picking him, so that worked out pretty good.”

Lombard grew up around the game and has the baseball smarts and instincts you expect from the son of a big leaguer. Here’s video and here’s a snippet of Baseball America’s scouting report (subs. req’d):

Unsurprisingly given his background, Lombard Jr. is a savvy, fundamentally sound player with strong all-around instincts for the game. He’s also one of the younger players in the class and only turned 18 in early June. Lombard Jr. showed more strength last summer than he had in the past, which translated to more power and better run times during the showcase circuit, where he hit .365/.435/.554 with a pair of home runs and eight doubles in 29 logged games. He slows the game down on both sides of the ball and at the plate and has a controlled and balanced but powerful swing that starts with a slow leg kick. There’s a bit of swing and miss in his game, but Lombard has done a nice job handling velocity, handling spin and doesn’t have any obvious holes at the plate. Previously a fringy runner, Lombard now turns in above-average and plus run times, and is a solid 55-grade runner with a fringy first step but good speed underway. He has solid actions in the middle infield and should have a chance to stick at shortstop with average arm strength, but as he fills out a 6-foot-3, 190-pound frame perhaps he fits better at third base.

In my pre-draft profile, I noted I’ve heard Lombard has some swing sequence stuff (specifically the way his hips and torso sync up) teams believe they can clean up to unlock more power and get him on time more often. I don’t know if the Yankees are one of those teams! It’s just a thing that’s out there. You can see here Lombard's hips are a little bit ahead of everything else:

Lombard is a right-handed hitter who is “geared for oppo gap contact,” according to FanGraphs, and a righty hitter who uses right field will have success in Yankee Stadium. Keith Law (subs. req'd) called him "one of the more intriguing upside plays among high school hitters this year."

The Yankees were heavily connected to New York HS SS Sammy Stafura (No. 43 to Reds) this spring and Stafura got a lot of Volpe comps as kind of a not very flashy good all-around shortstop, and that worried me. Volpe the 2019 draft prospect and Volpe now are very different players. He re-engineered his swing with a private hitting coach during the lost pandemic season to become the hitter he is today.

Lombard is not cut from the Volpe cloth, though he is said to have a high baseball IQ like Volpe. He has more present power and is just a different type of hitter. I got a little worried the Yankees were going to try to recreate their Volpe success with Stafura (or someone like that) and ehhh. Not sure that’s something I’d try to recreate, a kid turning himself into an entirely different hitter, and there’s no need for that with Lombard.

(The internet is already giving Lombard the “he reminds me of Aaron Judge!” treatment, which is of course nonsense and unfair to Lombard. We don’t have to compare the 1st round pick to Judge every year. Just let these guys be themselves.)

Among the 1st round caliber high school shortstops, Lombard and Pennsylvania HS SS Kevin McGonigle (No. 37 to Tigers) were generally considered to have the “safest” bats. Lombard just turned 18 last month, so he’s young for the draft class, and there’s a lot of room to add muscle to his 6-foot-3 and 190 lb. frame. He’s got a chance to grow into serious juice. Lombard’s also a multi-sport guy (soccer) who will now focus fully on baseball.

With the caveat I know nothing about anything, I like the Lombard pick, and am glad the Yankees went with a player who has real upside in the bat and the sort of baseball smarts that will help him make adjustments. And if Lombard winds up moving to third base (I’ve heard the outfield is also possible), that’s okay too. Wouldn’t shock me if he’s a relatively quick riser despite being a young high schooler, meaning 3-4 years in the minors rather than 4-5.

(I’m curious to see how the Yankees divvy up playing time once Lombard signs and is ready to get into games. SS Roderick Arias, 2B Keiner Delgado, and sleeper 2B/3B Enmanuel Tejada are all in the Florida Complex League and legit prospects. Add Lombard to the mix and you’ve got four middle infielders who need regular at-bats and defensive reps.)

3rd round: California JuCo LHP Kyle Carr

The Yankees did not have a 2nd (or 5th) round pick this year because of the Rodón signing, so their 3rd round pick was their second selection, and they used it on one of the best junior college players in the draft class. And also a player with one of the longest injury histories in the draft class. Carr’s known injury history:

• Oct. 2020: Tommy John surgery
• Feb. 2022: Broken hand
• March 2023: Torn right (non-throwing) labrum

Carr didn’t play much at San Diego last year and transferred to Palomar College this year, where he hit .500/.596/.976 in 52 plate appearances before hurting his shoulder on a swing. As a pitcher Carr threw 78 innings with a 2.31 ERA and great strikeout (35.2%) and walk (6.0%) rates. Carr’s considered a much better prospect on the mound and the Yankees announced him as a pitcher.

“He’s an athletic left-hander that has also been an outfielder,” Oppenheimer told Hoch. “He could do both, but has leaned toward being a pitcher only. He’s a guy who (throws) 92-96 from the left side and throws strikes. He’s got a good, easy slider. The really exciting thing about  him is, there’s no effort to the way he does it. He just looks like he’s playing catch.”

A wiry 6-foot-1 and 175 lbs., Carr is said to be an excellent athlete, which makes sense given the whole two-way college player thing. Word I’ve received is his spin rates are above-average but not elite. Here’s video and here’s part of Baseball America’s scouting report (subs. req’d):

His fastball sits 92-95 mph and touches 97 out of an easy, athletic delivery. He holds his velocity deep into starts and often dials up his fastball to throw harder late in games … Carr’s best secondary is a slider that flashes average with late bite when he stays on top of it, although he sometimes gets around it and it gets sweepy. He rarely throws his below-average, mid-80s changeup … He pitches from the third-base side of the rubber and occasionally opens up in his delivery, but his athleticism allows him to throw strikes with average control.

Carr has a more traditional over-the-top arm slot rather than the low three-quarters slot we often see with Yankees pitchers (think Mike King) who get the sinker/sweeper treatment. Not everyone needs the organizational stamp though. There’s reliever risk here because Carr’s changeup isn’t all that good, but it’s the 3rd round, and lefties who can bump 97 mph are worth a dice roll.

I’m curious to see what the Yankees do with Carr’s slider because he doesn’t have the usual sweeper arm slot. His arm slot is more conducive to a “gyro” slider, which is what they’re calling a traditional non-sweeper slider these days. If anything, the Yankees might teach him a curveball. Maybe even a cutter to tie up righties inside since the changeup isn’t so good right now.

The best predictor of future injury is past injury and Carr’s injury history is long, though it is just one pitching arm injury. Granted, it’s Tommy John surgery, but it’s not like he’s had a series of arm problems, and he’s three years out from elbow reconstruction now. Tommy John surgery is no joke. Still, the injury history isn’t quite as scary as it appears at first glance.

“I’m ready to sign,” Carr told John Maffei. “I pretty much expected this. After the first day (of the draft) my adviser called and said the Yankees liked me in the 3rd round. Troy Afenir is the Yankees area scout. He saw me pitch quite a bit. So I wasn’t surprised.”

4th round: Oklahoma State 2B Roc Riggio

The Yankees sure do love taking college second basemen who can bang but may not stay at second base in rounds 2-5. Riggio joins a group that includes Rob Refsnyder (2012 5th round), Nick Solak (2016 6th round), Josh Smith (2019 2nd round), and Trevor Hauver (2020 3rd round). He hit .333/.459/.676 (160 wRC+) with 18 homers this spring. Here’s video.

Riggio is on the small side (listed at 5-foot-9 and 180 lbs.) and he’s said to fit the stereotype as a high energy grinder, albeit one with real power to the pull side as a lefty hitter. His chase and contact rates were good for the Big 12, and he walked (16.4%) nearly as much as he struck out (17.1%) this spring. Also, Riggio will do stuff like this to get under the other team’s skin:

“I like having a target on my back. I like when guys go at me, I like people when people talk shit to me. I love all that,” Riggio told Jacob Unruh in February. “Let me hear it. Give it to me because I know I can handle it. It’s different for other guys who can’t handle it, but I know whatever you throw at me, I can handle.”

Baseball America (subs. req’d) says Riggio “managed an average exit velocity of 86-87 mph in 2023, but his peak velocities neared 110 mph and he does a nice job maximizing the power he has by getting the ball in the air at good angles consistently.” The offensive profile is power and plate discipline more than batting average, and Kiley McDaniel (subs. req’d) says teams “are almost certain he's a big leaguer.”

(Oklahoma State’s head coach is Josh Holliday, Matt’s brother, and Matt is on staff as a volunteer coach. Riggio’s had a pretty good hitting mentor in Stillwater.)

Where Riggio winds up defensively is uncertain. He’s not particularly rangy at second and his arm is below average, so short and third are probably off the table. I guess first base and the corner outfield spots are the fallback plans? Not sure. There’s no reason to move Riggio off second yet, though he might be headed into positionless territory like Refsnyder and Hauver.

This draft was loaded with quality college hitters, kids who were squeezed out of the five-round 2020 draft as high schoolers, and college middle infielders who hit 18 home runs usually don’t make it to the 4th round. The deep draft allowed the Yankees to get a good bat with a “pain in the ass to play against” quality to him in the 4th round. Just gotta find Riggio someplace to play.

“He is a guy that the opposing team and the opposing fans are probably going to dislike, and his own teammates are going to love him because of how hard he plays the game, how intense he is and how much he wants to win,” Oppenheimer told Hoch. “It’s just his style, and I don’t think you take away from a guy’s style. He’s a good player, and he can back it up.”

(I should note Riggio was not one of the high schoolers who got squeezed out of the 2020 draft. He’s a draft-eligible sophomore who came out of high school a year later and have that extra remaining college-eligibility gives him a little more leverage than the typical 4th rounder. Riggio might get an overslot bonus.

The build-a-pitcher prospects

A few weeks ago I took a stab at identifying college pitchers the Yankees could target on Day 2. Those mid-round guys the Yankees could coach up like Ken Waldichuk (2019 5th round), Hayden Wesneski (2019 6th round), Will Warren (2021 8th round), and Chase Hampton (2022 6th round). They shared common trades and it was a fun exercise looking for possible targets in this draft class. I’ll give it a try again next year.

The Yankees did not draft any of the five pitchers I wrote about but – BUT! – they did draft one of the guys I listed as other possible targets. I listed those last few players for two specific reasons: “I’m listing these guys here because a) they fit the criteria, and b) I want to be able to come back and toot my own horn in the event the Yankees draft one or two of ‘em.”

Here I am, tooting my horn, because the Yankees did select Louisiana-Monroe RHP Nick Judice in the 8th round. Judice is a big dude (6-foot-8 and 230 lbs.) who lacks the starting experience most Day 2 guys the Yankees draft have (he was a reliever most of his college career), though he really popped this spring. Here is MLB.com’s free scouting report:

After averaging 87 mph with his fastball last year, Judice has worked at 91-95 and reached 100 this spring and his average velocity actually went up 1 mph in his first three starts. His huge frame creates angle and extension that enable his heater to get on hitters quicker than they expect. His No. 2 pitch is a solid mid-80s slider with horizontal and vertical action. The athletic Judice has learned to keep his long limbs in sync and provide strikes. He rarely uses his low-80s changeup with modest fade … It's more likely that he'll be fast-tracked as a two-pitch reliever who offers a combination of stuff and deception.

Judice had a tough time in the Cape Cod League in his pre-draft showcase (12.1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 11 BB, 16 K), though he pitched out of the rotation, and I imagine the Yankees will start him next year. They typically give anyone who has a chance to start a chance to start. I can’t imagine a 6-foot-8 pitcher touching 100 mph is a comfortable at-bat.

Two rounds before Judice, the Yankees selected Mississippi State RHP Cade Smith (7th round). Smith had a breakout sophomore season in 2022 and was unable to repeat it in 2023, primarily because he missed five weeks with an undisclosed injury. He walked six batters in three innings in the start prior to the injury, and he was never quite himself when he returned in April.

"Velocity was back, he commanded the ball good, so that's huge for us going forward,” Bulldogs catcher Luke Hancock told Jack Byers following Smith’s first start back from the injury. That his velocity was down and his control vanish certainly suggests an arm injury. Here’s a chunk of Baseball America’s scouting report (subs. req’d):

Smith has loud pure stuff, with a 92-95 mph fastball that has been up to 97 that has great carry and around 20 inches of induced vertical break. He also gets plenty of misses with a mid-80s slider that has hard, late biting action and consistently sneaks under barrels and elicits chases out of the zone. On top of an electric fastball/slider duo that headlines the arsenal, Smith has some feel to spin a power curve in the low 80s and has also mixed in a tumbling, mid-80s changeup. He’s struggled to consistently command the ball dating back to his prep days, and without any huge improvements in that area, carries significant reliever risk.

Smith was healthy enough to return late in the season and I’m sure the Yankees are aware of the injury risk, which is why they took him in the 6th round and not the 3rd or 4th. When Smith is healthy though, a mid-90s fastball with 20 (!) inches of induced vertical break is no joke. That’s a Cristian Javier fastball. A fastball that explodes at the top of the zone. Slider sounds pretty good too.

In the 11th round the Yankees grabbed East Carolina RHP Josh Grosz, who is most famous for getting ejected and being suspended one game in May because he fed a teammate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich after a home run, and the umpire didn’t like it. He didn’t even make a big show of it! Here’s the video. "That's the new rules, I guess. No fun baseball," East Carolina head coach Cliff Godwin said after the game. Man, lighten up. It’s baseball.

Anyway, Grosz is a pretty standard early Day 3 college arm. He pitched well this spring (3.66 ERA and 24.1% strikeouts in 76.1 innings) and works with a low-90s four-seamer, an upper-80s changeup, and a low-80s slider. Grosz seems like a prime “get on a weighted ball program to boost velocity, and here’s how to throw a sweeper” candidate.

The success of guys like Hampton and Waldichuk and Warren and Wesneski forces us to pay attention to these mid-round college pitchers who, in their current state, may not sound all that exciting. Recent history suggests these guys are gonna look a lot different next year. Revamped arsenals, cleaned up mechanics, etc. Smith comes with health concerns, but I’m certain the Yankees already have a plan in place for him. They’ve earned the benefit of the doubt.

13th round: Arizona HS 3B/RHP Josh Tiedemann

A two-way player! An honest-to-goodness two-way player. The Yankees announced Tiedemann as a two-way player, so they’re doing it. He’s going to hit and pitch. This isn’t some high school kid who was simply his team’s best hitter and pitcher. Tiedemann has pro potential on both sides of the ball and the Yankees are apparently giving him a chance to do both. Neat.

Tiedemann, who went to the same high school as Brock Selvidge (my No. 25 prospect), is a better prospect as a position player. He’s power-over-hit with what was described to me as a “handsy” swing, whatever that means. Tiedemann is lean (6-foot-2 and 160 lbs.) and he has the hands and arm for third base, though maybe not the quick reactions. Contact ability and plate discipline are the biggest questions.

On the mound, Tiedemann is a bit of a short-armer who has touched 94 mph. He also has both a slider and a curveball, as well as a changeup. None of the secondary pitches stand out though. Here’s video of him pitching and hitting. To make this two-way player thing work, Tiedemann will have to get the bat on the ball more consistently so his power plays, and improve his non-fastballs.

With all due respect, Tiedemann is not a high level prospect. He’s a Day 3 guy on both sides of the ball. It just so happens he can do both. I’m not sure playing third base and pitching is doable. That’s a lot to put on his arm. Maybe he goes to first base? Or DH? I’m gonna be a wet blanket and guess Tiedemann is a one-way player within two years.

That said, why not try it? Tiedemann is a 14th round pick, so it’s not a significant investment, and they’re going about it the right way, meaning working on it from Day 1 of his pro career instead of converting later. The guys who try becoming a two-way player late (Ronald Guzmán, etc.) never work out. Too many lost reps they can’t get back. Tiedemann will get those reps from the start. I’m looking forward to following his career. Should be fun for a bit.

Late round notables

I’m sure it’s happened at some point, though I don’t ever remember the Yankees drafting a player as old as Arkansas OF Jared Wegner (9th round). He spent four years at Creighton, then headed to Arkansas as a graduate student. He turns 24 on July 25th. Wegner was the oldest player drafted this year and I count only 11 other draft picks with a 1999 birthday.

The thing is, Wegner’s a legit prospect. He hit .313/.457/.673 (158 wRC+) with 15 home runs this season, and Baseball America (subs. req’d) ranked him No. 309 on their top 500 draft prospects list (the Yankees took Wegner at No. 282 and I wouldn’t sweat the gap between No. 282 and No. 309 even a tiny little bit). A snippet of their scouting report:

His exit velocities rank near the top of the country, with a 93 mph average and 110 mph 90th percentile mark, and that power has shown up to all fields in games. Wegner is a limited defender and a well below-average runner who will need to hit to profile … (For teams) who believe his 2023 power is more than just playing against younger competition he could be an intriguing option late on day two.

The Yankees did not draft a soon-to-be 24-year-old fifth year senior in the 9th round to pay him slot. This is pretty clearly a money saving pick, though not in the usual “senior reliever we're probably gonna release at the end of the season” way. Wegner has real pop in his bat and maybe he’ll prove useful in some way. If nothing else, there will be bonus pool savings here. Likely a good amount.

Riggio’s teammate, Oklahoma State RHP Brian Hendry (10th round), both started and relieved in college. The results weren’t good this season (6.63 ERA and 4.86 FIP in 36.2 innings), though it was his first year back from Tommy John surgery, and he did strike out 30.5% of the batters he faced. Hendry has a big honkin’ curveball …

… and it’s power stuff. Mid-90s fastball, mid-80s slider, low-80s curveball, and everything has high spin (the curve has been up to 2,900 rpm). Hendry has the kinda arm the Yankees have been able to maximize lately, plus elbow reconstruction is further in the rear-view mirror now. I think they’ll give Hendry a chance to start, but he could really take off as a short reliever.

(Hendry is one of those 11 picks other than Wegner with a 1999 birthday. He turns 24 in October. For reference, he’s older than Yoendrys Gómez, who feels like he’s been in the system for three decades. This is another bonus pool saving pick with interesting enough ability.)

South Carolina HS RHP Danny Flatt (14th round) is a classic high school projection pick. He’s listed at 6-foot-4 and 190 lbs. and is mostly upper-80s/low-90s with the fastball. Flatt also works with a very high spin breaking ball (we’re talking 3,000 rpm) that is inconsistent and he doesn’t locate well. He also has a changeup. Reminds me a bit of Sean Hermann, my No. 28 prospect. Pretty straightforward long-term project with developmental needs all over the place.

Cal Poly RHP Bryce Warrecker (20th round) was on my radar for the Day 2 college pitchers post and he might be an insurance pick, meaning the Yankees intend to go overslot for someone after the 10th round (Tiedemann?), and if they don’t get that player, they’ll give the money to Warrecker instead. He was a projected 7th or 8th rounder. Not sure he’s signable at the $125,000 post-10th round slot. Here’s video and here’s part of Baseball America’s scouting report (video):

Warrecker is a massively imposing righthander who stands 6-foot-8, 240 pounds … Warrecker sits in the upper 80s and has been up to 92 with his fastball this spring, though there are scouts who believe he has more velocity in the tank and can get to an above-average fastball in the future in a bullpen role. He has thrown a changeup in the low 80s that is a fringe-average pitch now that could get to average, and the same is true for a slider in the 78-82 mph range that has around eight inches of horizontal break.

Warrecker threw 81 innings with a 4.89 ERA (5.49 FIP) and 21.4% strikeouts this spring, though he chewed up good hitters in the Cape Cod League last summer and was named the circuit's Most Outstanding Pitcher. Perhaps I’m misreading things and Warrecker really is a 20th round talent. Not sure I buy it though. The Wegner and Hendry picks suggest there are bonus pool gymnastics going on, and Warrecker seems like a candidate to get the savings.

The rest of the class

Arizona 1B Kiko Romero (7th round) hit .343/.439/.721 (159 wRC+) with 21 homers this year. He was the Junior College World Series MVP in 2022 and this spring had a “90th percentile exit velocity of 108-109 mph (and he) shows his power in-game to all fields,” per Baseball America (subs. req’d). Romero’s on the small side for a first baseman (5-foot-11 and 185 lbs.) and should wreck Single-A pitching … Dallas Baptist LHP Brady Rose (12th round) is a career reliever who struck out 40.0% of the batters he faced this spring. He does it with funk and a low-90s fastball … North Carolina C Tomas Frick (14th round) has a short track record as a hitter (130 wRC+ in 2023 after a 79 wRC+ from 2021-22) and is a good catch-and-throw guy behind the plate … Southeastern Louisiana RHP Andrew Landry (15th round) is a low-90s guy with some ability to spin the ball. He’s neither missed bats (16.8% strikeouts) nor limited walks (10.5%) in his career. Landry went to Will Warren’s alma mater. Maybe the Yankees saw him as a freshman when they were scouting Warren in 2021, and liked him enough then to roll the dice now? … Puerto Rico HS OF Wilson Rodriguez (16th round) is a mystery. Very little public info on him. All I got from one of my inside people (not with the Yankees) is that he’s a slash-and-dash type … Washington OF Coby Morales (18th round) went from .237/.296/.333 (62 wRC+) and four homers last year to a .320/.429/.543 (129 wRC+) with 12 homers this year. It’s a ‘tweener profile. Probably not enough bat for a corner nor enough defense for center … South Carolina RHP Cade Austin (19th round) is a low-90s fastball/breaking ball reliever who struck out 30.4% of the batters he faced this spring.

About the money

Here’s where I say the Yankees made every single pick in the top 10 rounds knowing exactly what it will take to sign these players, and planned accordingly. But again, the Yankees didn’t take two soon-to-be 24-year-olds in the 9th and 10th rounds to pay them slot. Someone(s) is getting an overslot bonus. Maybe Lombard, maybe Tiedemann, maybe Warrecker, I dunno.

The Yankees have never failed to sign a pick in the top 10 rounds in the bonus pool era (since 2012) and that’s unlikely to change. If they fail to sign a top 10 rounds pick this year, it will be a surprise and likely the result of something popping up in the player’s physical. Here are the slot values for the top 10 rounds, the rounds tied directly to the bonus pools:

1st round: Florida HS SS George Lombard Jr. ($3,065,000)
3rd round: California JuCo LHP Kyle Carr ($692,000)
4th round: Oklahoma State 2B Roc Riggio ($506,800)
6th round: Mississippi State RHP Cade Smith ($285,400)
7th round: Arizona 1B Kiko Romero ($224,700)
8th round: Louisiana-Monroe RHP Nick Judice ($188,000)
9th round: Arkansas OF Jared Wegner ($173,100)
10th round: Oklahoma State RHP Brian Hendry ($164,400)

Slot for rounds 11-20 is $125,000 and anything over that counts against the bonus pool. Including the 5% overage, the Yankees have a $5,564,370 bonus pool this year. They’ve spent the additional 5% just about every year of the bonus pool era and there’s no reason to think they won’t do it this year. They’ll spend that $5,564,370. The only question is how they distribute it.

College seniors like Wegner and Hendry typically receive well below slow bonuses. Sometimes as little as $1,000, though the Yankees rarely go lower than $10,000. Where the Yankees will spend the savings, I do not know, but Lombard is committed to Vanderbilt and that’s typically a difficult commitment to break. He might want more than his $3.065M slot. We’ll find out where the money is going soon enough. The signing deadline is Tuesday, July 25th, and I'll do a full roundup afterward.

“We’re in a pretty good spot so far with most of our guys right now,” Oppenheimer told Hoch. “It’s just a matter of crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s on some of the contracts.”

About the farm system

The top of the farm system looks a lot different now than it did in February. Anthony Volpe has graduated to the big leagues, technically Oswald Peraza too (through service time, not at-bats), plus Chase Hampton has broken out. In last year’s draft recap I said Hampton is an “arrow up player and there’s a lot to work with.” Look at him now.

With the caveat that I haven’t put more than a few minutes of thought into this, here are my updated top 10 Yankees prospects, assuming every 2023 draftee signs:

1. OF Jasson Domínguez
2. SS Oswald Peraza (I use at-bats and innings to determine prospect-eligibility, not service time)
3. OF Spencer Jones
4. RHP Will Warren
5. RHP Chase Hampton
6. OF Everson Pereira
7. C Austin Wells
8. RHP Drew Thorpe
9. SS Roderick Arias
10. SS George Lombard Jr.

Even without Volpe, I think the top 10 now is stronger than it was in February. Warren is building on last year, Hampton is breaking out, Thorpe really hit his stride a few weeks ago, and Arias is looking good. I wish Domínguez and Jones were having better seasons (not that Jones has been bad) and Wells was in Triple-A, but there’s still more than two months to play. We’ll see.

Carr and Riggio are clear-cut top 30 prospects for me, likely in the 21-30 range rather than the 11-20 range. Once I sit down and really think about this in the offseason, and get more intel from people smarter than me, I could see someone like Judice sneaking into the top 30 as well. The Yankees could only do so much without 2nd and 5th round picks, though I really like Lombard’s offensive upside, and they got some interesting arms on Days 2 and 3. A standard Yankees draft, really.

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