Grading Yankees' four Day 1 2026 MLB Draft picks after tone-setting steal

The New York Yankees started Saturday's MLB Draft relying on a lot of outside help to be able to accomplish their agenda. When you pick 35th overall, it's hard to have any concrete idea of how things are about to go down.

When the dust settled on Saturday, the Yankees had to have been ... thrilled. And that would've been the case if Arkansas' Hunter Dietz had been the only selection they'd made.

A borderline Top 10 overall prospect with a Clayton Kershaw-style wipeout breaker, the Yankees took a chance on a sliding Dietz at 35 and will now take aim at swaying him away from a fourth year in Fayetteville (and the NIL money that comes with it). He barely pitched in his first two collegiate seasons, and rode his third into a lower-than-expected selection (but an organization that knows how to handle projects like him.

Beyond Dietz, the Yankees came away with an injured left-hander with first-round upside (after a lot of smoke in the final days) and TK. The process of grading draft picks instantly can be complex, but we'll keep it simple for their top selection.

Instant Yankees Draft Grades: Hunter Dietz is an A+ Pick

Let's not mince words: If the Yankees sign Dietz, he's the exact kind of upside play you dream of at the slot where the Yankees made their first selection. If he doesn't sign, the risk was still worth it; the pick only gets downgraded to an A-.

Sure, catcher Daniel Jackson - the Golden Spikes Winner and an oft-mocked Yankees choice - went to the Rockies two picks later, but even that smells nice. Maybe it means Hunter Goodman is a little more available at this summer's trade deadline!

Draft Grade for Yankees' Second-Round Pick LHP Sean Duncan (63rd Overall): A-

Every time I feel a little too generous in these grades, I think about my 2025 trade deadline assessment and mentally downgrade just a bit (though I kinda nailed the Jake Bird grade). The risk on Duncan, a Canadian lefty who plenty of Yankees people thought would be seriously on their radar, comes in injury recovery.

Duncan has barely begun his Tommy John surgery rehab after undergoing the procedure in June, and MLB's 66th-ranked prospect with the plus changeup was taken just about where experts believed he would be before the injury. If he bounces back and continues to build strength in the way most expect him to, this is another solid selection, especially given the Yankees' constraints. Downgraded slightly for the forthcoming recovery and the fact that he's not an offensive presence.

And oh, yeah, he's a Vanderbilt commit. No kidding.

Draft Grade for Yankees' Third-Round Pick C Brendan Brock (99th Overall): B+

Did the Yankees just solve their right-handed catching problem? Not so fast. According to his scouting report, Brock's excellent bat may slow down if he stays behind the plate, and he could be deployed in the outfield to save his legs.

For now, though, the Yankees passed on Jackson and added the catcher who outfoxed him in the College World Series and led Oklahoma to the title instead. Not a bad consolation prize! According to MLB Pipeline, he's got second-round tools if maximized. Now, that's the Yankees' job.

Draft Grade for Yankees' Fourth-Round Pick OF Paul Gutierrez-Contreras (127th Overall): B

With their fourth, semi-buried selection late in the evening, the Yankees took a collegiate outfielder (junior) out of Cal State Fullerton who won Big West Co-Player of the Year last season as a righty masher in a 6'3", 205 pound frame. Most notably for the Yankees' sake, he's still just 20 years old with additional room to grow. Think Jace Avina. These are the types of players the Yankees usually find in the eighth or 10th round. It's a bit earlier than we would've expected them to chase this archetype.

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