Yankees’ Draft Recap: Rounds 26-30

The Son of Sandman, Mariano Rivera, Jr. Mandatory Credit: nhpr.org

After piling up on pitching in previous rounds, the Yankees went into round 26 looking to snag a position player which they did. With the 782nd pick of the 2014 draft, the Yankees selected Collin Slaybaugh, a catcher from Washington State.

The left-handed hitter has put together some nice numbers for the Washington State Cougars. Slaybaugh has hit at least .295 in his three years in college ball including a .317 average in 2013 which was his most impressive season. He also drove in 16 runs tieing his college high. The most impressive stat of them all however, is the fact he had 18 multi-hit games in just 48 games played.

The Yankees snagged another position player the following round by selecting outfielder Griffin Gordon. How good is this guy? How about hitting .403 his freshman year and .415 his sophomore year at Jacksonville State. His college career came out to a staggering .410 average,  along with 67 RBI. It’s hard to imagine why he wasn’t drafted earlier.

The Yankees went back to their pitching trend in the 28th round or did they? They drafted Lee Casas who is listed as a RHP but played first base at Saddleback College in the Orange Empire League. He impressed as an offensive force hitting .350 with one home run, 27 RBI, and 20 runs in 36 games played last year. However, he is now listed and has been drafted as a pitcher. Casas does have pitching potential and has pitched before, but did not pitch one inning for Saddleback interestingly enough.

MARIANO RIVERA IS BACK WITH THE YANKEES! Well, kind of. A very cool moment in the 2014 draft came in the 29th round when the Yankees selected a familiar name, Mariano Rivera, Jr. who of course is the son of the greatest closer of all time. Unfortunately, the young draftee has struggled at Iona College posting a 7.25 ERA in 2013 and a 5.40 ERA so far in 2014. What a story it would be if he ever cracks the Yankees’ Major League roster.

Finally, the Yankees picked Jorge Perez as their 30th round pick. He is a RHP for Grand Canyon University. He is having a good year this year thus far posting an ERA under three for Grand Canyon University. His two biggest years were his 2012 and 2013 campaigns. In 2012, Perez posted a 2.48 ERA with a 3-3 record. 2013 was an even better year. In 16 games (15 starts), the youngster went 8-4 and gave up just 34 earned runs in 107 innings which translated to a 2.86 ERA.