New York Yankees Lose Corona, Jones, Kroenke in Rule-V Draft

Las Vegas, Nevada—Today is the final day of the baseball winter meetings, which means it is time for the Rule-V draft. The three-phase drafted began at noon with the Washington Nationals selecting Terrell Young from the Cincinnati Reds. In the following 18 picks the New York Yankees lost three prospects to three different organizations.

With the second overall pick in the Rule-V draft the Seattle Mariners selected Yankees infield prospect Reegie Corona. Corona spent the 2008 season with the Eastern League Champion Trenton Thunder posting a .274 average with three home runs, three triples, and 27 doubles over 457 at bats in 129 games. This winter he has been successful for the Navegantes del Magallanes in the Venezuela Winter League batting .293 in 29 games.

The Florida Marlins selected left-handed relief pitcher Zach Kroenke with the 12th overall selection. The lefty reliever split the 2008 season between the Trenton Thunder and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees posting a combined 2.85 ERA in 41 relief appearances.

The once Nebraska ace struck out a total of 54 batters in 53.2 innings and had a perfect 7-0 record. It is no surprise to see the lefty selected in the draft especially with the numbers he put up this past season. However he has been surpassed in the organization by converted position players Wilkins DeLaRosa and Michael Dunn who were both added to the Yankees 40-man roster to protect them from the draft.

The final ex-Staten Island Yankee pitcher to be selected in the major league portion was right-handed starter Jason Jones. Jones spent the past two seasons in the rotation of the Trenton Thunder, earning two championship rings in the process. He is a guy that could do well out of the bullpen for the Twins in 2009. The right-hander was the holder of a 13-8 record between Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Trenton with a 3.36 ERA and a .251 average against.

Also going in the Major League portion of the draft was Ivan Nova who spent 2008 with the Tampa Yankees going 8-3 with a 4.36. Nova was selected by the San Diego Padres who could stick him in the bullpen this season and give him some big league experience before sending him to the minors for 2010, similar to what was done with Johan Santana.

In the minor league portion the Yankees lost lefty Andres Santos to the Pirates and righty Josue Selenes to the A’s. Andres Santos has been with the Yankees since 2005 but has not debut in the United States. In 2008 he was 3-2 with a 1.85 ERA in 13 games with the Dominican Summer League Yankees2 striking out 49 in 48.2 innings.

He looks to be a good addition to the Pirates minor league roster and could make his debut States-side in 2009 with the State College Spikes. Selenes posted a 2.55 ERA between Staten Island and Tampa in 2008 with hitters batting only .218 against him.