Yankees News and Notes – June 4, 2012: Draft Day and Chamberlain

As the New York Yankees head home after a successful nine-game road trip the focus shifts off the field today for Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft.

The draft is held at the MLB Network  headquarters in Secaucus, NJ. Live coverage begins with a one-hour preview show at 6:00 PM ET on MLB Network and streamed live on MLB.com.

The Yankees have 11 picks in the first ten rounds of the draft, with their first pick coming at number 30. They will endure a long wait until their second pick (89th) and will be back up quickly with the 94th pick. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is very familiar with the waiting game.

"Because we’ve had as much success as we’ve had on a regular basis, we’re always picking at the back end. It’s difficult. There’s a lot of waiting, and it puts us at the back of the boat in every round, but the philosophy is the same no matter what, which is to take the best player on the board. – Cashman (MLB.com)"

Damon Oppenheimer, the Yankees Vice President of Amateur Scouting, controls the draft for the Yankees. While, the Yanks will go after the best player available on the board, Oppenheimer also suggests the selection has to be someone they feel will be able to handle the additional pressures of playing for the New York Yankees. So, it is more like the best player available who they feel has the mental capacity, in addition to the on field talents, required to play for the Yankees.

Cashman adds that the Yankees would be looking at “…power arms and premium position players up the middle; catchers, middle infield, center field. That’s your recipe for success, long-term.”

This is the first draft in which the new bonus pool structure will be used. The Yankees have a total bonus pool allotment of $4,192,200 for the draft. The pool is the amount the Yankees are allowed to spend on bonuses for players they sign from the first ten rounds of the draft and includes any players after the tenth round who receives a bonus of $100K or more. If a team goes over their allotment they are assessed a heavy tax penalty. If a team overshoots the margin by more than 5%, they would forfeit a 1st round pick in the subsequent draft. The higher the overage the larger the tax penalty and the team suffers additional draft pick losses.

For more on the draft visit Seedlings to Stars’ draft coverage by following this link. You’ll find links to their latest mock draft which were published today, as well as two previous mock drafts. They will be breaking down 1st round selections throughout the week.

CHAMBERLAIN PROGRESSING QUICKLY

Much of the recent rehab news surrounding the Yankees has centered around Brett Gardner and David Robertson recently. Gardner could be back as early as this coming weekend and Robertson will likely don the pinstripes again in the latter part of this month. Manager Joe Girardi gave somewhat surprising news to members of the media when he stated that Joba Chamberlain (Tommy John surgery and open dislocated ankle) could be back sometime after the All-Star break. Chamberlain is throwing now from halfway up the mound and not at 100%, but this is way ahead of the anticipated schedule. Many felt the injury was going to sideline Chamberlain for the entire season.

NOTEWORTHY

• Derek Jeter‘s leadoff homer in the first inning of Sunday’s game was the 27th time he’s done it in his career.
• Curtis Granderson has played in every inning (469) of every game this season.
• Despite Sunday’s win the absence of success with RISP continued as the Yankees went 1-for-11 in that situation during the game.

LATER TODAY

Jimmy Kraft will discuss Hiroki Kuroda‘s numbers thus far this season and explain why he’s performed better than the stats indicate. We’ll also provide the Yanks Go Yard Recap this evening.