10 Yankees Farm System Standouts in 2014

Mark Payton– Outfielder,  22-years-old; Bats-Left  Throws-Left  Height: 5’7″ Weight: 165 lbs;  Drafted in 7th round of 2014 MLB Amateur Draft; Highest Level Reached to date: Single-A Tampa Yankees

2014 Combined Statistics:  .326 BA 2 home runs, 13 RBI

Call this a little premature, but when you draft a guy in the 7th round you don’t exactly expect him to be Mike Trout. But Payton has done clubbed his way to into the Yankees’ eyes since joining the organization. A solid player at the University of Texas, Payton was previously drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 2010 (31st Round) and the Cleveland Indians in 2013 (16th Round) and his stock rose significantly each time around. While he’s struggled in his first 4 games since being promoted to Tampa (.091 batting average), he was promoted for a reason, and he’s expected to pick it up quickly. He’s a very solid defensive player, and he’ll move through the ranks rather quickly if he keeps up his overall impressive play.

While he’s obviously not the biggest player, standing just 5’7″ and weighing in at 165 pounds, the Yankees have a great track record with smaller-to-mid sized players like current star Brett Gardner who is only 5′ 10″. While Payton’s career is in it’s infancy, those numbers aren’t there by accident, and the organization should be very happy with the production coming out of their 7th round pick. Payton could develop into a very solid player at the big league level in the not so distant future.