Grading the Yankees' last 6 first round draft picks

The 2023 MLB Draft begins on Sunday, July 9 and the New York Yankees will hopefully be able to use it to add to their strong stable of prospects down in the minor leagues. It is going to be a challenge to add high-level talent this year, given that this draft class is not particularly deep.

First, let's run down what we know for sure. The Yankees pick 26th overall in the first round of the draft with their draft position being based solely on where they finished last year (the Yankees weren't bad enough to be in the draft's brand new lottery system, nor did they get penalized for luxury tax spending). They also have the second lowest draft bonus pool in 2023 at $5,299,400, which is going to really limit their ability to do any overslot signing shenanigans.

The last time the Yankees really crushed a pick in the first round, it was when they picked Aaron Judge in 2013. Oddly enough, they also picked Gerrit Cole out of high school in the first round back in 2008 with the 28th overall pick, but he did not sign with the team. Fortunately, that worked out in the long run, although Cole was significantly more expensive to bring into the fold the second time around. If one turns their gaze to the Yankees' more recent first round picks, the results have been decidedly more mixed.

Here is how the Yankees' last 6 first round picks are doing

To figure out exactly how well the Yankees have done in the first round lately, we decided to go back and grade their last six picks with the benefit of hindsight. Given how recent these picks are, their grades could change dramatically even over the next few months if any of these guys go wild, fall off, or get hurt. Also, these grades are not scientific in any way. We will leave the statistical projections to those that can actually do the math.

Without further delay, let's take a look at the Yankees' last six first round picks in the MLB draft.