Yankees lose four solid prospects in Rule 5 Draft

Whoever said you can never have too much of a good thing, didn’t know how the MLB Rule 5 Draft works. On Thursday morning, the Yankees said goodbye to four prospects.

The final day of the Winter Meetings began with MLB’s annual Rule 5 Draft. As expected, the Yankees lost a number of prospects — right-handed relief pitchers Anyelo Gomez (Braves) and Jose Mesa (Orioles), left-hander Nestor Cortes (Orioles) and first baseman Mike Ford (Mariners).

After protecting as many minor leaguers as the 40-man roster would allow for, players down on the farm are eligible to be drafted depending on the amount of time they have already spent in the minors without being called up to the big leagues.

Each of the players selected must then remain on the subsequent 25-man roster of their new team for the duration of the season, or risk being waived and offered back to their original club. 

As for the players surrendered, Ford, 25, is the most recognizable name of the bunch. After spending the majority of the 2017 season at Double-A Trenton, where he slashed .272./410/.451 with 13 home runs and 65 RBI , Ford got the call to Triple-A Scranton for the final 25 games, hitting another seven homers and driving in 21 runs.

The biggest knock against the five-year minor leaguer, prior to ’17 were his high strikeout totals. However, he seemed to right the ship last season, combining to walk (94) more than whiff (72).

More from Yankees News

• Yankees analyst Cameron Maybin projects surprise landing spot for Gary Sánchez
• Yankees swipe intriguing minor-league FA lefty flamethrower from Braves
• What does Carlos Rodón’s new jersey number mean for Domingo Germán?
• Red Sox living in different financial ‘galaxy’ than Yankees Killer Rafael Devers
• Yankees slice surprising fan favorite off roster to make room for Tommy Kahnle

Though the Mariners only recently acquired Ryon Healy from the A’s, they’re expected to give Ford every opportunity to break camp with the major league team.

Cortes, 21, was a name many fans wanted the Yankees to protect — instead, one of the final 40-man roster slots when to hard-throwing right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga.

Drawing comparisons to former Yankee Vidal Nuno, Cortes acted mostly as a swingman for the Thunder and Railriders in ’17.

Over the course of 104.2 innings pitched, Cortes compiled a 7-2 record, 2.06 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and struck out 105 batters as opposed to only walking 32. The soft-throwing southpaw tends to invoke weak contact, while continuing to defy the odds of his increased strikeout totals.

As for Mesa, the son of a former big league closer, he largely pitched out of the bullpen for High-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton in ’17.

In 84 innings on the hill, the 24-year-old went 5-1 with a 1.93 ERA and 10.8 K/9.

The last prospect plundered was Gomez, also 24. After toiling through the lower level of the Yanks’ system, Gomez finally began to find himself, especially while with the Thunder. In total, Gomez pitched at four different levels in ’17, including a brief stint as closer for Triple-A Scranton.

Next: Why the Giancarlo Stanton trade works

In 70.1 innings pitched, Gomez amassed a 1.92 ERA and 87:31 K:BB ratio (striking out 31 percent of all hitters). Holding the opposition to a .199 batting average, scouts believe Gomez has a real chance of sticking with the Braves for the duration of the ’18 season.