Yankees 2024 5-Round Mock

26th Overall Pick- Wyatt Sanford, SS — Independence (Texas) HS

Slot Value: $3,332,900

Signing Bonus: $3,332,900

The Yankees haven’t selected a pitcher in the first round since 2019 (or 2017 if considering the fact that T.J Sikkema was a competitive balance pick). The organization went over-slot last year when selecting shortstop George Lombard Jr., so I believe they will follow both trends. Wyatt Sanford is a lefty-hitting, defensive first shortstop. His bat isn’t too far behind due to his excellent plate discipline, above average contact ability and speed. The Texas high schooler rarely swings and misses. Being one of the best defenders in the draft, he can easily stick at shortstop and has the athleticism to move around the diamond. Whichever organization that selects him will have to unlock his power-ability if he ends up moving over to 3B. Sanford is ranked 35th according to MLB Pipeline, and 31st in my big board. Other publications haven’t updated their draft boards recently, making it difficult to find a general consensus. I may need to update this after publishing it. For now, let’s just say he is between 30 and 40. He is 18 years old and is committed to play at Texas A&M, at the moment.

53rd Overall Pick- Bryce Cunningham, RHP — Vanderbilt

Slot Value: $1,721,200

Signing Bonus: $1,700,500

Cunningham flourished in his first full season as a starter, thanks to developing his changeup into a “plus” pitch. Hitters hit .300 against the offering in 2023, but he added about 4" of arm side run to his changeup and limited hitters to a .192 batting average against and a .274 xWOBA against. His changeup has the “ideal” velocity separation from his average fastball velocity. Across his entire arsenal, he was able to register a 128 stuff+ on my model. His fastball averages 19.3 inches of Induced Vertical Break. His slider grades out well but expectedly struggles with it against lefties. I think developing a “bridge pitch”, like a cutter, can alleviate some of his growing pains, and the Yankees have done a great job in pitching development by incorporating that pitch in a pitcher’s arsenal. He has good command, improving his K% to 27.8% and lowering his BB% to 9.8%. He has the opportunity to start once he begins and can stick in the middle-of-the rotation. The 6'5 right-handed Junior is ranked 63rd according to MLB pipeline and 58th on my big board.

89th Overall Pick- Connor Foley, RHP — Indiana

Slot Value: $838,900

Signing Bonus: $860,000

You can never have enough pitching, and with the 89th overall pick, I mock them going over-the-slot and selecting right-handed pitcher, Connor Foley. He will sign for over-the-slot on an account of him being a draft-eligible Sophomore. He had reverse splits, pitching better against lefties than righties, which usually entails that his off-speed is better than his breaking ball. This could benefit him for organizations to preview him as a starter as he breaks into pro baseball. Foley’s best pitch is his 4-Seam fastball, averaging 19.9 inches of Induced Vertical Break reaching up to 99 MPH. His fastball measures out to a 146 stuff+. He imposes reliever risk because he doesn’t have a convincing breaking ball yet as well as he isn’t adjusted to a starter workload. His fastball averages 94.7 in the first inning but drops to 92.6 by the fifth inning. In innings 5 through 7, his walk rate was an unsettling 19.1%. He has a “dream body” for a starter, listed at 6'5 and 235 pounds, with great swing and miss traits. He throws from a high 3/4 slot and is pretty close to a straight up over-the-top slot. Perhaps trying to obtain a breaking ball that gets more downard depth could push him towards becoming a starter down the road. He is ranked 106th by MLB Pipeline and 96th on my big board.

119th Overall Pick- Harrison Didawick, OF— Virginia

Slot Value: $606,700

Signing Bonus: $606,700

To be frank, I’m not in love with MLB teams drafting for needs, especially with their first few picks. However, the Yankees might lose a significant amount of outfielders after this year’s trade deadline and off-season, so that is why I have them selecting an outfielder here. Didawick was part of a high-octane offense at Virginia, mashing 23 home runs in his Sophomore campaign. The lefty hitter wasn’t overmatched against lefties, still producing a .420 wOBA and a 66% Hard Hit rate against southpaws. He’s a power over contact hitter having his 90th percentile exit velocity at 106.2 and has a pulled fly ball rate of 13.18%. His defensive ability is… manageable? in centerfield, but he will more than likely find a home in a corner outfield spot because of his power hitting frame. He is susceptible to swing and miss, running a 31.2 whiff rate, 7.5% more than average. However, in 2-strike counts, his whiff rate lowers to 26.3% compared to the 25.4% league average, less than 1% above the league average. I believe he has an excellent approach, searching for power early in counts, dealing with whiffs, and then toning it down when he’s in danger. He has mixed-results with spin, hitting .294 against sliders but .167 against curveballs. Using his RAW_Adjusted (statistic that I created that measures a college hitter’s offensive game), he finished with a 124, 24% better than league average. He ranks 125th according to MLB Pipeline and 131st on my big board.

152nd Overall Pick- Dennis Colleran, RHP— Northeastern

Slot Value: $440,100

Signing Bonus: $270,000

Dennis Colleran returned to the mound after recovering from Tommy John surgery. Colleran mostly came out of the bullpen for Northeastern, making 4 starts in 20 appearances, but showed a lot of life in his arm. The right-hander displays a fastball acquiring nearly 10" of arm-side run and throws his slider hard 87.7 mph. Colleran excels in commanding his gyro-slider, getting it in the zone 52% of the time, inducing hitters to chase at a 30.7% clip, and achieving a whiff rate of 34.1%. With a running fastball and great slider command, righties are no match, making him a potential serious weapon out of the bullpen. The need to develop his changeup, or any off-speed pitch, to handle lefties, as they posted a .453 wOBA against him. His changeup data is hopeful, finding a good velocity separation from his fastball, and gets 27 inches of depth. He might not fully trust the pitch yet, and may not have needed it in some of his dominant outings out of the ‘pen. If he can find a third pitch, he has the potential as a spot starter/swingman/reliever. He is ranked 207th by MLB Pipeline.

Results

The Yankees have a draft bonus pool of $8,134,500. Although I only covered the first five rounds, I wanted to build a big board, see how the draft might shake out, and evaluate my picks. I saved $169,700 in the first five rounds for the Yankees to use on their subsequent picks. As we get sooner to the draft, the potential draftees slot values may become clearer.

Thank you for reading!

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