Yankees’ late-round draft steal teasing fans with Twitter activity

The New York Yankees made some particularly interesting picks along the way following their selection of Trey Sweeney as a first-round centerpiece.

From 2019 Cape Cod League home run leader Tyler Hardman in the fifth (Luke Voit comps!) to sinking Auburn ace Richard Fitts a few rounds later, the Yanks mixed in a few collegiate stars among their prep selections.

Perhaps the most interesting of all, though, was their 19th-round pick Dominic Keegan out of Vanderbilt.

Keegan served as the most potent bat on Vandy’s near-College World Series champions, playing first base and triple-slashing .345/.427/.638 despite being announced as a catcher when the Yanks took him off the board on Tuesday afternoon.

So … what’s the situation? Does Austin Wells have a new catching counterpart in the suddenly-reloaded Yankees system?

Not quite. According to Keegan himself just after the selection was made, he’s headed back to school.

Vanderbilt star Dominic Keegan won’t be joining the Yankees … or will he?

Makes sense! Being selected by the Yankees has got to be a fairly cool moment for any prospect, and even if said prospect has no intention of signing, there are worse things than laying the groundwork for a future draft choice (though it didn’t do any good when the Yanks took Jack Leiter late in the 2019 draft…).

Keegan has a very good reason for going back to school — who wouldn’t want to win a title for Tim Corbin? — as well as some extremely specific things to work on. He’ll thrive at Vanderbilt and probably be selected far higher next year, as long as he stays among their brightest stars.

All that being said, he certainly milked the moment a little bit, retweeting numerous Vandy-created graphics celebrating his selection, as well as his landing spot in the Bronx.

In fact, when we wished Keegan well and tweaked him for teasing us, he liked those, too.

We like this guy, as both a player and an agitator, and hope the Yankees will consider drafting him again the next time his name appears on the board.

In the meantime, enjoy Yarmouth-Dennis. The Cape is beautiful this time of year.

Just don’t get too used to those Red Sox jerseys.

Yankees: 3 first-rounders NYY should’ve chosen over Trey Sweeney

The New York Yankees should've selected these first-rounders instead of bat-first Trey Sweeney in the 2021 MLB Draft on Sunday.