Redrafting Yankees' worst modern draft class (highlighted by two bullpen nightmares)

The New York Yankees are about to embark on another MLB Draft journey on Sunday night — and when they do, they'll mostly be selecting players who never see the light of day.

Exceptional drafts are remembered by their singular star power. Poor drafts are remembered by their unfulfilled bets. Most drafts? Feature solid role players and a couple of 'pen arms. If an eighth-rounder ever debuts in MLB, you can chalk that up as a win.

Still ... it's hard to get through a draft in New York City, under the microscope, worse than the Yankees did in 2016. Even if you're devoid of standout contributors when the dust settles, you at least hope you'll be able to flip a few of the mid-round chips in exchange for trade deadline game-changers before they've lost their shine.

Nah. Nope. Not this time. The Yankees' biggest selected "star" was Greg Weissert, now in the Red Sox bullpen. Blake Rutherford, their first-rounder, was thankfully flipped in the bombshell Todd Frazier/David Robertson/Tommy Kahnle trade that injected life into the 2017 season, so that was a major win.

Beyond that ... the Nicks, Solak and Nelson? Brooks Kriske, responsible for the Yankees' foremost bullpen nightmare in recent seasons? Taylor Widener, dealt for a third baseman with debilitating headaches who couldn't function in pinstripes? Exceedingly bleak.

Redrafting the Yankees' 2016 draft nightmare: Who could they have ended up with?

Where else could the Yankees have gone here? The pivots are most obvious in the first round, where the Yankees took Rutherford relatively early at 18th overall, two picks ahead of ... Gavin Lux at No. 20 to the Dodgers! Never would've had to entertain a trade for him this offseason if you'd just drafted him out of high school.

The Yankees' next selection of Solak was far more egregious. With the 62nd pick, New York's braintrust selected a speedy, versatile infielder whose bat never developed beyond his Louisville days. He's a .250 career batter with a 90 career MLB OPS+, but did his best work as a rookie with the juiced ball in 2019 with the Rangers before regressing.

Anyway, selected 64th overall? Pete Alonso, New York Mets. 66th overall? Bo Bichette, Toronto Blue Jays.

Two rivals. Two clustered selections. Two chances for the Yankees to change history. They took Solak. Brutal.

Even more painful? Zac Gallen was chosen in the third round, while Corbin Burnes and Shane Bieber were both selected in the fourth. The Yankees' 98th overall selection (Nolan Martinez) would've been a perfect opportunity to grab any of the three, though they just missed out on Jesus Luzardo at No. 94. Gallen, who went 106th, would've been the lightest reach.

You're going to be able to find whiffs comparable to these in any draft, but they're not usually clustered so close to the second-round pick you botched. That one should haunt Yankee fans in retrospect, though hindsight is 20/20. Coincidentally, that's exactly the type of season Solak was supposed to provide, but never could.