3 Yankees college baseball draft targets to watch during MLB lockout

2. Blade Tidwell, University of Tennessee

If it’s a top collegiate arm who’s not injured the Yankees are after, the target could be Blade Tidwell. The Tennessee Volunteers star has rocketed up MLB Pipeline’s big board to No. 13, but Baseball America foresees him still being available when the Yanks select at 25.

Focusing on something other than how awesome Tidwell’s name is remains a Herculean task, but there’s a lot to like about his profile, too.

Amateur arms are particularly difficult to project, but Tidwell’s rock-solid, 6-4, 240-pound frame seems easier to forecast than a high schooler who’s still growing/gaining control of his breaking stuff. As a freshman, Tidwell started the clinching game that sent the Vols to their first College World Series berth in Omaha in 16 seasons, showing unique poise for his age. He also paired well with fellow top pick Ryan Weathers back in his high school rotation; Weathers (son of David, if you’re looking for Yankees ties) has since ascended to the big leagues at an extremely young age with the Padres.

This might shock you (it won’t), but Tidwell is also among the many amateur pitching prospects battling an injury right now. His shoulder soreness has caused him to miss the start of the season, but he will reportedly not need surgery to solve the issue, like so many of his other cohorts.

If and when Tidwell returns, the Yankees should cross their fingers that he slipped just enough to get to them as a draft-eligible sophomore, especially since there are so many other heavy-hitters at the back end of the first round (and you know Tidwell could be a Dodgers or Red Sox risk).

1. Logan Tanner, Mississippi State

If the Yankees do draft for need … there’s no need greater than behind the plate, and it’s much easier to project a catcher moving forward (in both tangibles and intangibles) than it is to figure out what a pitcher will eventually become.

Logan Tanner, projected by Baseball America to head to the Red Sox (eesh) and slotted 19th overall by MLB Pipeline, is exactly the kind of high-upside and high floor catcher the Yankees could prioritize at 25. He’d be both an appropriate value and a need-filler, as long as everything goes right in his developmental path.

In 2021, Tanner led the Mississippi State Bulldogs with 15 homers and led them to a College World Series title, neatly completing his full resume in just a single season. Projected for 55 power (on an 80-max scouting scale) and equipped with a rocket 70 arm (he was once a two-way prospect and logged some mound time), the slugging catcher already has both championship experience and counting numbers on his ledger — not to mention guiding Miss State’s extremely talented 2021 pitching staff, led by 2021 Giants first-rounder Will Bednar and closer-turned-first-round-starter prospect Landon Sims.

Tanner has started off 2022 hitting .280 with a bomb in seven games, and thanks to the pedigree of the team he’s leading, Yankee fans will have ample opportunity to watch him this season as compared with similar prospects.

If you’re dreaming of a 6-0, 215-pound force behind home plate, Tanner might be your ideal (and attainable) selection — as long as the Sox don’t swipe him one pick early.

Hey, come to think of it … why exactly do the Sox pick ahead of the Yankees when they won the tiebreaker and hosted the Wild Card Game?!

3 free agents Yankees must sign day after MLB lockout ends

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