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Baseball America’s 2014 Draft Report Cards: Yankees edition

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Baseball America published their 2014 Draft Report Card for the Yankees earlier this week, though it is behind the paywall. It’s fairly straight forward anyway. LHP Jacob Lindgren (2nd round) has the best secondary pitch (his slider) and is closest to the big leagues. RHP Austin DeCarr (3) has the best fastball, OF Mark Payton (7) is the best pure hitter, and 1B Chris Gittens (12) is the best power hitter. No real surprises there.

In a free companion piece, Clint Longenecker broke down some recent draft spending trends from around the league. The Yankees exceeded their $3.2M pool and were only $70k away from a 5% overage this summer, which would have forced them to forfeit their first round pick in 2015. Thankfully that didn’t happen. They were also one of three teams to sign just one high school player (DeCarr). The Astros and Phillies did it as well. You can see all of New York’s draft picks right here and their draft pool situation right here. (My numbers are approximate.)

Yankees sign 15th round pick LHP Andrew Chin

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The Yankees have signed 15th round pick Boston College LHP Andrew Chin, the school announced. No word on his bonus, but it’s unlikely it was more than the $100k slot for post-tenth round selections. Chin had a 3.49 ERA with a 20/14 K/BB in 28.1 innings for the Chatham Anglers in the Cape Cod League over the last few weeks. The Yankees probably saw something they liked this summer and made an offer (or a better one).

Chin, 21, was a fifth round pick out of high school back in 2011 (Blue Jays), though the scouting report isn’t terribly exciting: high-80s sinker with an okay breaking ball and a changeup. He pitched to a 3.10 ERA with a 52/32 K/BB in 14 starts and 78.1 innings for the Eagles this spring. The signing deadline was yesterday afternoon and this morning the Yankees released an official list of their signed picks. They did not sign either Florida HS RHP Garrett Cave (17th round) or Connecticut HS 3B Will Toffey (23rd), their two shot in the dark signability picks. They also didn’t sign Iona RHP Mariano Rivera Jr. (29th). As our 2014 Draft Pool Tracker shows, the team exceeded its $3.2M draft pool by roughly $120k, so they’ll have to pay a small tax.

Callis: Yankees sign ninth rounder SS Vince Conde

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Via Jim Callis: The Yankees have signed ninth round pick Vanderbilt SS Vince Conde for $155,000. Slot money for the 272nd overall pick is $146,500. Conde actually played for Short Season Staten Island last night, going 2-for-4 with a walk in his pro debut. He signed so late because Vanderbilt was playing in the College World Series.

Conde, 21, hit .284/.397/.379 with four homers, 15 steals, 41 walks, and 42 strikeouts in 72 games for the Commodores this spring. He’s a no-doubt shortstop long-term with a very good glove, but he doesn’t project to be much of a hitter in pro ball. As you can see at our 2014 Draft Pool Tracker, Conde’s over-slot bonus pushes the Yankees over their spending pool by roughly $120,000. They’ll have to pay approximately $90,000 in tax, assuming no more over-slot signings. The signing deadline is this coming Friday and it doesn’t appear the team will sign Florida HS RHP Garrett Cave (17th round) or Connecticut HS 3B Will Toffey (23rd round), their two late round signability fliers.

2014 Draft: Yankees sign eighth rounder 1B Connor Spencer

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Via Jim Callis: The Yankees have signed eighth round pick UC Irvine 1B Connor Spencer to a a full slot $157,000 bonus. The team’s only remaining unsigned player in the top ten rounds is ninth rounder Vanderbilt SS Vince Conde, who is still playing in the College World Series. You can see all of New York’s picks at Baseball America and keep tabs on the draft pool situation with our 2014 Draft Pool Tracker.

Spencer, 21, hit .364/.451/.476 with 15 doubles and one homerun in 66 games this spring. That’s the only homer he hit in three years with Irvine. In their pre-draft scouting report, Baseball America said Spencer is “simply a hitting machine” and his “sweet lefthanded swing is tailored to use the opposite field and the middle of the diamond.” They also say he controls the strike zone well and is a solid defender at first who has seen some time in left.

Yankees sign 7th rounder Mark Payton, 12th rounder Chris Gittens

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The Yankees have signed seventh round pick Texas OF Mark Payton to a below-slot $45k bonus, according to Max Wildstein and Chris Cotillo. Slot for the 212th overall pick was $212,300 $178,300, so the Yankees saved approximately $133k against the draft pool. Payton, a senior, hit .315/.453/.444 with 57 walks and 27 strikeouts in 67 games for the Longhorns this spring. He’s a little guy (listed a 5-foot-8 and 190 lbs.) with no power but some speed and defense.

In other draft news, the Yankees have also signed 12th round pick Texas JuCo 1B Chris Gittens, according to his Twitter feed. Jim Callis says he received a $125k bonus, and since everything over $100k given to a player drafted after the tenth round counts against the draft pool, $25k of that counts against their spending limit. Gittens hit .404/.463/.532 with nine doubles and three homers in 41 games this spring. He’s a big guy who has had some conditioning issues in the past, but Callis says his bat is promising. You can see all of the team’s draft picks at Baseball America and keep tabs on the draft pool situation with our 2014 Draft Pool Tracker.

Yankees sign 4th rounder Jordan Montgomery, 6th rounder Jonathan Holder

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The Yankees have signed fourth round pick LHP Jordan Montgomery, according to Jim Callis. The southpaw from South Carolina received the full $424,000 slot bonus for the 122nd overall pick. Montgomery is a classic pitchability lefty who complements his low-90s fastball with a curveball, a cutter, and a very good changeup. He is cut from the David Phelps/Adam Warren cloth and should carve up the low minors after three years in an SEC rotation.

In other news, the Yankees announced the signing of sixth round pick RHP Jonathan Holder. MLB.com says he received a $170,000 bonus, below the $237,600 slot value for the 182nd overall pick. Holder, who was second round pick LHP Jacob Lindgren’s teammate at Mississippi State, is a pure reliever with a low-90s fastball and big breaking curveball in the low-70s. Lots of separation between his two pitches. Like Montgomery, he’s an SEC tested guy who should climb to Double-A fairly quickly, likely in the middle of next season.

You can see all of the team’s draft picks at Baseball America and keep tabs on the draft pool situation with our 2014 Draft Pool Tracker. The Yankees’ only unsigned picks in the top ten rounds are Texas OF Mark Payton (7th round), UC Irvine 1B Connor Spencer (8th), and Vanderbilt SS Vince Conde (8th). All three are still playing in the College World Series and can’t sign just yet. They also figure to receive a below-slot bonuses and it appears the Yankees will some extra pool money left over for an above-slot payout for a player(s) taken after the tenth round.

Yankees sign second round pick LHP Jacob Lindgren

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The Yankees have officially signed second round pick LHP Jacob Lindgren, according to George King. His father Stephen posted a photo of Jacob actually signing the contract on Twitter, if you’re looking for more confirmation. King says he received the full $1,018,700 slot value for the 55th overall selection. Keep tabs on the draft pool situation with our 2014 Draft Order Tracker.

Lindgren, 21, was in Tampa to take his physical earlier this week. Brian Cashman has already confirmed they plan to assign him to Low-A Charleston once he’s ready to pitch in game. Mississippi State’s season ended early last week, so Lindgren hasn’t been sitting idle for all that long. The consensus is that he could work out of the big league bullpen in the second half, but it remains to be seen whether the Yankees will let him. Everything you need to know about Lindgren is right here.