The New York Yankees are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in The Bronx, New York. They play in the American League East division. Since the institution of Major League Baseball's Rule 4 Draft, the Yankees have selected 46 players in the first round. Officially known as the "First-Year Player Draft", [1] the Rule 4 Draft is Major League Baseball's primary mechanism for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings, with the team possessing the worst record receiving the first pick. [1] In addition, teams which lost free agents in the previous off-season may be awarded compensatory or supplementary picks. [2]
Of the 48 players the Yankees have selected in the first round, 23 were pitchers. Of these, 18 were right-handed and 5 were left-handed. The Yankees have drafted ten outfielders, six shortstops, three catchers, three first basemen, and three third basemen. The team has never drafted a player at second base. [3] The Yankees drafted 29 players out of high school, and drafted 18 players out of college. [3] Eleven of the players came from high schools or colleges in the state of California, and Florida follows with five players. [3]
Four first-round picks have won championships with the franchise: Thurman Munson (1977 and 1978), Derek Jeter (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009), Phil Hughes (2009), and Joba Chamberlain (2009). Munson and Jeter have both also served as team captains for the Yankees. [4] Derek Jeter is the only one of the Yankees' first-round picks to have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Two of the Yankees' picks have won the MLB Rookie of the Year award; Munson won the award in 1970, and Jeter won the award in 1996. [5]
The Yankees have made 11 selections in the supplemental round of the draft and 19 compensatory picks since the institution of the First-Year Player Draft in 1965. [3] These additional picks are provided when a team loses a particularly valuable free agent in the previous off-season, [2] [6] [V] or, more recently, if a team fails to sign a draft pick from the previous year. [7] The Yankees have been awarded compensatory draft choices for failing to sign first round picks Tyrell Godwin (1997) and Gerrit Cole (2008). [3] Though the Yankees also failed to sign Mark Prior (1998), they were not awarded a compensatory pick, as Prior was chosen with the pick received for Godwin, and compensatory rules only allow for one compensation pick for failing to sign a player. [1] The Yankees have also surrendered 10 first round picks due to free agent signings. [3]
Year | Each year links to an article about that year's Major League Baseball Draft. |
Position | Indicates the secondary/collegiate position at which the player was drafted, rather than the professional position the player may have gone on to play |
Pick | Indicates the number of the pick within the first round |
† | Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame |
* | Player did not sign with the Yankees |
§ | Indicates a supplemental pick |