Compilation Board Update: Early May Addition

There's been a barrage of rankings that have come out this week, enough to update the comp board for the moment.  I think I'll update one more time just prior to the draft.

Rnk	Name	Pos	School
1	Mark Appel	SP	Stanford
2	Jonathan Gray	SP	Oklahoma
3	Kris Bryant	3B	San Diego
4	Clint Frazier	OF	H.S.
5	Austin Meadows	OF	H.S.
6	Kohl Stewart	SP	H.S.
7	Colin Moran	3B	UNC
8	Sean Manaea	SP	Ind St
9	Braden Shipley	SP	Nevada
10	Trey Ball	P/OF	H.S.
11	Ryne Stanek	SP	Arkansas
12	Reese McGuire	C	H.S.
13	Dominic Smith	1B	H.S.
14	JP Crawford	SS	H.S.
15	Jonathan Denney	C	H.S.
16	Austin Wilson	OF	Stanford
17	Hunter Renfroe	OF	Miss St.
18	DJ Peterson	1B	New Mex
19	Hunter Harvey	SP	H.S.
20	Nick Ciuffo	C	H.S.
21	Aaron Judge	OF	Fresno St
22	Ryan Eades	SP	LSU
23	Chris Anderson	SP	Jack'ville
24	Marco Gonzales	SP	Gonzaga
25	Eric Jagielo	3B/OF	N Dame
26	Billy McKinney	OF	H.S.
27	Jonathan Crawford	SP	Florida
28	Andrew Thurman	SP	UC Irvine
29	Phillip Ervin	OF	Samford
30	Tim Anderson	SS	East C CC
31	Ian Clarkin	SP	H.S.
32	Rob Kaminsky	SP	H.S.
33	Aaron Blair	SP	Marshall
34	Matt Krook	SP	H.S.
35	Connor Jones	SP	H.S.
36	Ryan Boldt	OF	H.S.
37	Phil Bickford	SP	H.S.
38	Bobby Wahl	SP	Ole Miss
39	Andrew Mitchell	SP	TCU
40	Tom Windle	SP	Minn.
41	Michael Lorenzen	OF/RP	CS Fuler.
42	Alex Gonzalez	SP	Oral Rob
43	Trevor Williams	SP	Arz St.
44	Josh Hart	OF	H.S.
45	Kevin Ziomek	SP	Vandy
46	Jason Hursh	SP	Okl St.
47	Travis DeMerritte	3B	H.S.
48	Blake Taylor	SP	H.S.
49	Hunter Green	SP	H.S.
50	Alex Balog	SP	San Fran.
51	Dustin Peterson	3B	H.S.
52	Cord Sandberg	OF	H.S.
53	Chad Pinder	SS	Va. Tech
54	Oscar Mercado	SS	H.S.
55	Kyle Serrano	SP	H.S.
56	Garrett Williams	SP	H.S.
57	Cavan Biggio	3B/2B	H.S.
58	Devin Williams	SP	H.S.
59	Trey Masek	SP	Tex Tech
60	JaCoby Jones	2B/OF	LSU
61	Andrew Knapp	C	California
62	Jacob Brentz	SP	H.S.
63	Ryan McMahon	3B	H.S.
64	Dustin Driver	SP	H.S.
65	Carlos Salazar	SP	H.S.
66	Andy McGuire	SS	H.S.
67	Corey Knebel	RP	Texas
68	Hunter Dozier	3B	SF Austin
69	Riley Unroe	SS	H.S.
70	Chris Okey	C	H.S.
71	Clinton Hollon	SP	H.S.
72	Colby Suggs	RP	Arkansas
73	Kent Emanuel	SP	UNC
74	Scott Frazier	SP	Pepper.
75	Teddy Stankiewicz	SP	JUCO
76	Justin Williams	OF	H.S.
77	Jordan Paroubeck	OF	H.S.
78	Matt McPhearson	OF	H.S.
79	Dillon Overton	SP	Oklahoma
80	Wil Crowe	SP	H.S.
81	Michael O'Neill	OF	Michigan
82	Cody Reed	SP	JUCO
83	AJ Puk	SP	H.S.
84	Robert Tyler	SP	H.S.
85	Terry McClure	OF	H.S.
86	Stephen Gonsalves	SP	H.S.
87	Jan Hernandez	SS	H.S.
88	Chris Rivera	SS	H.S.
89	Logan Shore	SP	H.S.
90	Dylan Covey	SP	San Diego
91	Rowdy Tellez	1B	H.S.
92	Jared King	OF	K State
93	Rob Zastryzny	P	Missouri
94	Brian Ragira	1B	Stanford
95	Andrew Church	SP	H.S.
96	AJ Vanegas	RP	Stanford
97	Myles Smith	P	Lee
98	Michael Wagner	RP	San Diego
99	Drew Ward	1B	H.S.
100	Brian Navarreto	C	H.S.
101	Jake Johansen	SP	H.S.
102	Dom Nunez	C	H.S.
103	Mason Smith	OF	H.S.
104	Kyle Finnegan	SP	Texas St
105	Chris Kohler	SP	H.S.
106	Stephen Tarpley	SP	JUCO
107	Tyler O'Neill	C	H.S.
108	DJ Snelten	SP	Minn.
109	Stephen Wrenn	OF	H.S.
110	Garrett Hampson	2B	H.S.
111	Stuart Turner	C	Ole Miss
112	Chandler Eden	SP	H.S.
113	Tyler Skulina	P	Kent St
114	Adam Plutko	SP	UCLA
115	Tony Rizzotti	RP	Tulane
116	Buck Farmer	SP	Ga Tech
117	Austin Nicely	SP	H.S.
118	Matt Boyd	SP	Ore St.
119	Aaron Brown	RP	Pepper.
120	Jeremy Martinez	C	H.S.
121	Tucker Neuhaus	SS	H.S.
122	Tyler Danish	SP/3B	H.S.
123	Trey Michalczewski	3B	H.S.
124	Jonah Wesely	SP	H.S.
125	Ivan Wilson	OF	H.S.
126	Brett Morales	SP	H.S.
127	Casey Shane	SP	H.S.
128	Matt Oberste	1B	Oklahoma
129	Ryon Healy	1B	Oregon
130	Austin Kubitza	SP	Rice
131	Zach Collins	1B/C	H.S.
132	Trey Williams	3B	JUCO
133	Konner Wade	SP	Arizona
134	Cody Bellinger	1B	H.S.
135	Dace Kime	P	Louisville
136	Jimmie Sherfy	P	Oregon
137	Keegan Thompson	SP	H.S.
138	Victor Caratini	3B	JUCO
139	Jacob May	OF	Coast Car
140	Cal Quantrill	P	H.S.
141	Casey Meisner	SP	H.S.
142	Jake Sweaney	C	H.S.
143	Chris Oakley	SP	H.S.
144	Derick Beauprez	SP	H.S.
145	Corey Ray	OF	H.S.
146	Daniel Gibson	P	Florida
147	Zane Evans	C	Ga Tech
148	Akeem Bostick	SP	H.S.
149	Kevin Davis	SP	H.S.
150	William Abreu	OF	H.S.

The top 10 had some minor shuffling with Kris Bryant moving into third and the Georgia prep OF flip-flopping.  Chris Anderson fell 12 spots due to declining velocity and loss of command while Hunter Renfroe's break out season has him climbing up 24 spots.  Ryan Boldt's injury led to his 18-spot decline and Alex Balog's season has pushed him up 20 spots.  Oscar Mercado slid 23 spots and to 54, which would put him squarely in the second round, though I've heard Texas is showing interest at the back of the first.  There are several new names on the list thanks to some writers expanding their lists to 100 players.  New to the comp board are Jared King, Rob Zastryzny, Andrew Church, Myles Smith, and Dom Nunez among others.

Draft Countdown: 4 Weeks

Quick Draft notes:

 

We’re 4 weeks from the draft and the buzz is really heating up.  At the top of the draft, Stanford pitcher Mark Appel has claimed the consensus #1 position thanks to a dominant start against Arizona State on national television.  Oklahoma pitcher Jon Gray is the clear #2 player and San Diego 3B Kris Bryant has settled into the #3 position.  After that it gets quite muddled.  My compilation board as of today rounds the top 10 out like this: HS OF Clint Frazier, HS OF Austin Meadows, HS pitcher Kohl Stewart, Indiana State pitcher Sean Manaea, North Carolina 3B Colin Moran, Nevada pitcher Braden Shipley, and HS catcher Reese McGuire.  Some fresh buzz makes me think Meadows and Manaea will be taking a dive and Moran and HS SS JP Crawford will rise up as soon as Baseball America release their rankings tomorrow.  The bloom has really come off the rose for Meadows and Manaea; both considered possible 1-1 selections last fall are now in danger of falling out of the Top 10.  The same can be said for Arkansas pitcher Ryne Stanek, who was also a possible 1-1 player coming into the season but mediocre performances lately have him in the middle of the first.  Until I hear his name called, I’ll be pulling for him to fall to the Yanks at 26.

 A lot of the names around that 26^th pick on my board are the following: HS catcher Nick Ciuffo, Fresno State OF Aaron Judge, Jacksonville pitcher Chris Anderson, Mississippi State OF Hunter Renfroe, HS OF Billy McKinney, HS OF Ryan Boldt, Gonzaga pitcher Marco Gonzales, and UC Irvine pitcher Andrew Thurman.  I think Gonzales will be moving down soon and Renfroe will be moving up based on some buzz I’m hearing.  At picks 32 and 33, I have the names Samford OF Philip Ervin, Florida pitcher Jon Crawford, JUCO SS Tim Anderson, Cal State Fullerton OF/reliever Michael Lorenzen, Notre Dame 3B Eric Jagielo, Marshall pitcher Aaron Blair, HS pitcher Rob Kaminsky, and HS pitcher Ian Clarkin.  I’ve been hearing the names of Judge, McKinney, Ervin, Anderson, Lorenzen, Jagielo and Kaminsky connected with the Yanks so far as well as Minnesota pitcher Tom Windle.  I have to say I’m not excited about some of those names *cough* Windle *cough* but in all reality you’ve got to give these guys a chance.  I’ve got Windle at #43 and if the Yanks definitely think he’s their guy, they’ve got to jump on him with when of those picks because there is little chance he’s available when they pick again at #66.  If they take Tom Windle, I’m sure I’ll have myself talked into the pick by the time I wake up the next day.

 Team Needs

Before you can know what you need, you need to know what you have.  The following table is a list of players that have value to the Yankees.  As in: “We’ve got [player x], so we’re good there.”  In my mind, College players, especially those taken early in the draft, are comparable to a player in A or better and high schoolers are rookie level.  Pretty straight forward there.  Let’s look at the table:

	A - AAA	Rookie
P	Banuelos	Hensley
P	de Paula	O. Rodriguez
P	J. Ramirez
P	Campos
P
C	Sanchez	Torrens
1B	Bird
2B	Refsnyder
SS		Baez
3B
OF	Williams	Palma
OF	Austin
Of	Heathcott

The yellow shaded cells are team needs.  Based on this, they are: P, 3B, 1B [HS], 2B [HS], SS [C], OF [HS].  I’d definitely like to see New York add pitching because I think that’s weak right now.  You’ll also notice a lot of yellow under that rookie column.  I think you can say that about any given year.  Teams should add young talent IMO.  I’ll take it a step further… if I were the scouting director I’d be going for as many young, high upside kids as I could sign.  How quickly they could make it to the bigs would have NO relevance to me at all.  It would be all about upside…  the higher the better.  That would probably mean picking a lot of high school kids where the % chance of them eventually graduating to the majors is slim but the ones that do should be stars.

Here’s the rationale: New York’s core competency is not player development.  It’s buying proven, big league talent.  Sorry, it’s true.  They’re never going to be Atlanta or Tampa because they don’t have to be.  Would I love for that to happen, for my team to be 90% home-grown talent?  You betcha.  But New York’s going to do what they’ve always done: sign All-Stars to big $ deals and SOMETIMES fill the holes around them with kids from their farm system.  So I say shoot for the moon with every pick you have and the occasional kid that pays off could possibly pay off BIG TIME.  Before the current CBA deal, that could have been easy.  Throw hella cash at kids… “Oh you want $3 million?  Here ya go.  Yeah, you had 1^st round talent but just didn’t happen to get picked and once the 2^nd round rolled around, teams passed because you were too expense.  But not for us!!”  Unfortunately, NY didn’t do that and now they can’t.  Oh well…

Who knows what Oppenheimer & Co. will do come June 6^th.  I’m hoping for the best.  Based on my board, I’d take McKinney at #26, Kaminsky at #32, and Clarkin at #33.  I’ll be watching and tweeting and blogging the whole time.   If you see me despair in the moment, don’t worry, I’m not going to jump off the roof.  The following day I’ll drink the Kool-Aid and jump in line, biting my nails until they sign the kid who I wasn’t excited about originally but came to love.  Until then, follow me on twitter (@thebronxempire) and watch my blog for updates because I’m sure I’ll write about the draft a few more times before the big day.