The Red Sox used the 17th pick in Wednesday’s first round on high school second baseman Nick Yorke, and it appears the two will reach an agreement. It’s “expected” that Yorke will sign for less than the $3.61MM slot value of his selection, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe tweets. The Red Sox have a bonus pool of $5,129,900, but they’re working without a second-rounder after losing it as a result of a sign-stealing scandal.
As Matt Eddy of Baseball America notes, Yorke became the first high school second baseman to come off the board in the opening round since LeVon Washington (a former Rays pick who didn’t sign) in 2009. Otherwise, only Rich Puig (1971), Terry Lee (1974) and Blake DeWitt (2004) have done it.
The California-born Yorke came into the draft “as one of the best pure hitters on the West Coast thanks to a well-balanced swing and excellent timing,” J.J. Cooper of Baseball America writes. However, MLB.com only placed Yorke in the No. 139 spot among this year’s draft prospects, citing concerns with his defense and a past shoulder surgery.
Solid draft pick in my book
agreed
Agreed
Is there anything more insane than giving $3.6M to an 18 year old who has done nothing other than having success against other teenagers?
You new to sports? This is how prospects work.
Seriously? Am I new to sports? I know how it works. It’s sarcasm yet still mind boggling.
Not really relatively speaking. The Red Sox gave a 19 year old Moncada 30M
It is not mind boggling at all
It’s mind bottling. Like your mind is trapped in a bottle
Don’t quit your day jobs guys…if you even have one?
You can’t be serious….
Pretty sure ImAdud is new to sports.
Yes, it is mind blowing, because 97 percent of draftees will never play a single game in the MLB and the majority will not get above AA. So all the unproductive money spent on minor leaguers…..should that come out of the owner 50 percent or the players 50 percent that they can not agree on???????
….cost for minor league AAA, AA, A+, A, short season A, rookie league, players, coaches, trainers, and other expenses…..does that expenses get covered in the players or owners half?
Average author gets 15 percent of book price….
when a guy pans out to be a star the teams can get $200 million plus worth of production for a fraction of that in the 6-7 pre FA years so the money spent on amateurs is well worth it
Don’t get defensive dude.
Jonny – it is obvious that it is worth it when the 1 percent has a meaningful career in the MLB, but that does not answer the question of who covers how much of the expense. Say you cover all the expenses and wife buys jewelry and purses ….
It is like saying the drug company can not recoup the $2 billion it spent on research and development to come up with anew drug as part of the price it charges for the drug.
I would think giving $3.6 million to a 45 year old that played high school ball might be more insane. Why didn’t anyone question why the guy was there in the first place?
But as stated below, that’s literally what happens every year.
The article says it’s expected he’ll sign for below slot value. The team likely has eyes on others and they must see this as value. I loved DD’s aggressive now style but given Tampa’s continued ability to find obscure gems, I’m giving CB the benefit here.
yes. thinking Jon Jay was never a valuable MLB player.
I looked up “mediocre” in the dictionary. There was a picture of Jon Jay.
Ah yes, a sarcastic “witty” comeback without evidence to back it up. Jay was no all-star but every year there are solid role players on every team including every WS winner. Travis Iskikawa 2014 Giants, Alcides Escobar 2015 Royals, David Ross 2016 Cubbies, etc. etc. and each has there moments or seasons. I’d say Jay has put together a solidly above average career with a couple of solid seasons. Not everyone is Mike Trout but that doesn’t mean they are mediocre.
I’ll never understand people who defend mediocre players. 10 years. 13 WAR. 1.3 avg. That is SUB level. MEDIOCRE
Forget WAR. Means nothing to those who use their eyes. Teams are made up with more than stars. Look at Brock Holt’s importance in 2018 or Benny Agbayani for the Mets in 2000.
Agreed…and I’m not even close to being over losing Holt.
The sting is gone because so is the season.
You actually took his total lifetime WAR and divided it by the nominal number of years he played, without any consideration of the number of plate appearances in any year. Wow, that’s some bad analysis; Total misuse of the numbers. It’s like using a hammer to remove screws. I looked the guy up on Baseball Reference, and the stats say he was a dead average MLB player. “Average MLB player” is pretty good. Note: Not a Jon Jay fan, or fan of any team he ever played on.
1.3
Replacement = mediocre.
Negative WAR = worse than mediocre.
Positive WAR = better than mediocre.
13 WAR over 10 seasons =better than mediocre.
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
He is signing for less than slot so probably 1 million less & it’s a nice gamble. It’s peanuts for the Sox anyway & as they say, “ain’t your dough”
I love Nick Yorke. I watched some of his prospect videos after they picked him, and he has a terrific stance, bat path, and launch angle. IDK why he was ranked so low, probably defense, but I didn’t look to far into defense. Great pick by the Sox. I would’ve rather the Rangers picked Yorke than Foscue.
This guy was ranked 139 by MLB scouting and 96 by Baseball America and you say it is a great pick?? Back to tidily winks for you buddy.
Says the guy who only listens to only what their told by those groups. Nothing wrong woth doing your own research and basing your own logical opinion.
The guy STINKS as a first round pick. Geez call me stupid but I thought Mr Bloom was selling us on Jeter Downs at 2B after the Mookie SELL-OFF !!!
I agree on being sold that Jeter downs was supposed to be something. And maybe he will. But he hasn’t done anything in MLB yet so nothing is guaranteed.
I’m ok with grabbing more 2Bs in the meantime, but I do question the move until I hear how much underslot he signs for, and, where the savings go.
Another option here is they offer him really low money and take the 18th 1st rd pick in 2021….
Its underslot for a high schooler which allows them to potentially go over slot for players that some might think wouldn’t sign in the next few rounds. You can’t look at one guy for a teams draft, the collective of a teams drafted players is what you need to look at. Whose to say he wouldnt be a legit full slot first rounder later. Teams need to think moves ahead and sometimes that means years at a time.
Comment of the day Randy. I was going to drop the classic “thanks Johnny Super Scout”, but you have that covered. Nice work, and a public upvote for you.
Tampa leadership has been better than most at turning lemons into lemonade. Depends on what he signs for and how they spend the rest of their allocation money.
There’s no way I’d pick Yorke over forscue yorke’s defense is below average I do love his hit tool who has the potential of a 300 batter and give it take 15 homeruns, while on the other hand forscue is more of a finished product who can be an everyday starter and with a first round pick I’m picking a sure thing over a lottery ticket that’s why guys like this fall to the second third and even fourth round in the MLB draft because teams want sure things
Does your keyboard have a comma?
Perfect draft pick for John Henry. Guy is going to sign for LESS than his slot value. Another GREAT move by Mr Bloom !!
Any time you hear a team goes under slot value, it just means they’re going over slot on another player. They’re probably still going to spend all of their designated pool money.
JDGoat, I love your consistent balanced viewpoints. I know you’re a Jays fan but you always come in here fair and square.
I think Yorke was ranked so low because really you only have up to his junior year of high school to look at. Plus a few coronavirus senior season high school games. What is there to look at, not much. Then, he’s totally committed to school in Arizona. No wonder he’s ranked low, with those two factors he’s easy to skip over and focus on someone else.
I understand that generally lots of other sox fans are scratching their heads here.
I don’t think Yorke counts as best talent on the board type of pick by anyone’s standard.
With the return for Mookie, I’m not sure York counts as top organizational need either. Yes, 2b has been an issue in the post pedroia world… but a questionable defense 18 yr old doesn’t fit that notch either.
I’ll reserve complete condemnation of the strategy until exactly how far under slot the kid is willing to sign for comes out, and until we see what they do with that savings.
If he signs for 1.2-1.8m and they flip the rest into something that really builds the system in the 3rd-5th? Maybe it’s ok.
But for a kid that was rumored unlikely to sign unless it was 1st rd money, I question how much savings there is.
Let’s hope he’s nothing like there past 5 first round (-AB) picks they need all the help they can get on prospect market
Hopefully for a lot under slot! He would have been available for 20k on Friday.
No, he would go to college instead. For me, the initial disappointment here had to do with using the first pick on a middle infielder following last year’s stiff Cameron Cannon. But it’s clear the Sox had done a lot of work with Yorke, and Corbin of Vanderbilt said how much he and his people had pursued Yorke for Vandy, so it’s clear the kid has something. As another commenter wrote, you judge the draft overall, especially when the first pick is clearly designed to support stronger-than-slot picks later on. Add some deep picks among the non-draftee FAs and it’s a draft!
I do not understand how fans can judge high school draft picks they have never seen play. Especially in a year without games. Red Sox scouts have a solid track record. Most non pitchers on the roster were drafted by the team. If they like this guy then I’m fine with it. Who cares if mock drafters have him down their lists? You don’t win championships by following groupthink.
Indeed!
“Fun Fact: The Pirates would have drafted Mike Trout at #4 if they hadn’t already cut an underslot deal with ________.”
I read that in an Eric Longenhagen chat once.
No peeking, does anyone remember the name that goes in that ______?
Sometimes it’s best to not get cute and outsmart yourself.
Tony Sanchez
….and then you have the Daniel Moskos pick. What in THE hell was that? A projected bullpen arm going first round…..
If you want some stomach nausia, read this list….(not all draft pics, just bad lineup choices, any day)
Chad Hermansen
Mike Benjamin
Pat Mears
Bobby Hill
John Van Benschotten
Bryan Bullington
Warren Morris
Brian Boheringer
Jeromy NoHitz
Derrick Bell
….the list goes on and on. Makes me sick.
Todd Van Poppel
Guys, we need a comment with lots of negativity. Quick, someone call Clepto !!
Gary – agreed! If clepto’s favorite team won a record 150 games in a year and the World Series he would still have nothing, but complaints. Lol
guess the Sox are just cheap now, quite the start to the post Mookie rebuild. but I’m sure they will hold a presser and tell everyone this wasn’t financially motivated just he was too good and they see more than everyone else.
I’m a little more comfortable with the pick after hearing one scout claim that he was the best hitting prospect on the West Coast. I’m sure he can play passable defense as well, but it all comes down to what they do in rounds 3-5. If they can save a $1M+ by signing Yorke then they will be able to get very aggressive in Rounds 3-5 tonight. We’ll just have to wait and see.
With no 2nd round pick, if the sox truly wanted this guy, they had to pick him here. So throw out the rankings and the talk about reaching, red sox got their guy!
The most ‘OVERRATED’ word in sports/life……….POTENTIAL !!!!
Choose fully developed certainty at age 34. Costs vs benefits.