1990 – The Best Draft In Yankees History?

With The 2014 MLB Draft happening this week, it´s worth taking a look at The New York Yankees’ 1990 draft, which is arguably the best in recent team history. There are three reasons why.

Those reasons are Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera. Alright, Rivera was technically signed as an amateur free agent, but as an international signing, we are going to include him.

In terms of results, it is hard to argue against these three members of The Core Four. Between them, they totaled 14 World Series championships. Add to this five more championships won by two other draftees, Ricky Ledee and Shane Spencer, and that makes 19 rings from 1990 draft picks.

Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte. Mandatory Credit: bleacherreport.com

And if team success is not enough, just take a look at their individual accomplishments. Posada was a five-time All-Star.  He won the Silver Slugger Award as the top hitting catcher five times. And he was the first Yankee catcher since Yogi Berra to hit 30 home runs in a season when he did it in 2003.

As for Pettitte, he is the Yankees all-time strike out leader with 2,020. Andy is tied with Whitey Ford for the most career starts as a Yankee with 438. In 2001, he won the ALCS MVP with two wins, including the decisive game five.

So that brings us to Rivera. Mo was a 13-time All-Star, five-time Rolaids Relief Man winner, and the MLB career save leader with 652 saves. According to The Baseball Almanac, General Manager Brian Cashman said of Rivera, “Without question we’re talking about the best reliever, in my opinion, in the history of baseball. This guy has become branded with the Yankee logo. People are going to remember this man for so long for what he’s done.”

So it´s hard to argue against the 1990 draft success, and its impact on the Yankees’ franchise. Any time you get three players like Posada, Pettitte and Rivera, you know your scouting department has done its job. Don’t forget who drafted and signed these players: Gene Michael.

On the field, the Yankees struggled that year, going 67-95. In one of the saddest events in team history, Billy Martin died on December 25,1989  in a pick up truck accident. The words on Martin´s headstone read, according to Baseball Almanac: “I may not have been the greatest Yankee to put on the uniform but I was the proudest.”