The Failure Of The Yankees First Round Draft Picks
June 12, 2009
Slade Heathcott became the latest Yankees first round pick when he was selected 29th overall in the MLB draft.
Let’s hope he doesn’t turn into almost all of the other Yankees first round picks.
Here is the past decade of first rounders the Yankees have selected: (the links are from ESPN.com and the comments are mine)
| 2009 | Slade Heathcott | OF | - | |
| 2008 | Gerrit Cole | RHP | -Chose to go to UCLA instead of sign | |
| 2007 | Andrew Brackman | RHP | -Can’t throw a strike in A ball | |
| 2006 | Ian Kennedy | RHP |
-Just had surgery to fix an aneurysm, but never showed much promise on the major league level | |
| 2005 | Carl Henry | SS |
-Left the minor leagues to go play basketball at Memphis. He was once quoted as saying “I spent my off-seasons from baseball working on my basketball skills” | |
| 2004 | Philip Hughes | RHP | -Could be the future ace, he is the one guy who isn’t a failure on this list | |
| 2003 | Eric Duncan | 3B | Has a good glove, but is currently hitting .225 at AAA Scranton | |
| 2001 | John-Ford Griffin | OF | Got a couple of stints in the majors with the Blue Jays, now in the Dodgers minor league system | |
| 2000 | David Parrish | C | Son of former Major Leaguer Lance Parrish, David never did anything for the Yanks | |
| 1999 | David Walling | RHP |
Walling got the Knoblauch/Ankiel syndrome and just couldn’t be an effective pitcher anymore | |
As you can see, the only good fist round pick in the past decade has been Phil Hughes, who has shown flashes of what he can become with some solid, high- strikeout performances. He still has time, and so does Andrew Brackman, who had arm problems. If Brackman can throw strikes, the 6-10 pitcher will see the Majors sooner rather than later.
Let’s hope Slade Heathcott doesn’t turn into the the lastest edition to this unenviable list.
