New York Yankees news and notes from Seattle

The New York Yankees have won four games in a row and after they hit a rough spot for a couple of weeks seem to have themselves back in shape and back near the top of the division. They have a long tough west coast trip but if it is a good one they will come back home in good position.

Robinson Cano is batting 301 with eight homeruns on the road this season. He is tied for the fourth most road homeruns in the AL this season. He had 11 away from home all of last season.

The Yankees are looking for their season high fifth win in a row. They also accomplished that between May 8-12. This is their fourth winning streak of at least four games this season. The Yankees have scored at least six runs in three of the four games after reaching that mark just three times over the last 18 games.

Chien-Ming Wang opted out of his minor league contract with the Yankees today. He is going to sign a major league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. He had good numbers but the Yankees just didn’t think they would translate to the major leagues. The Yankees also have very good pitching and really didn’t have a spot for him. Michael Pineda will begin a 30-day rehab assignment tomorrow with A Tampa. They will have to decide after the 30 days if they will activate him and put him on the major league roster or have him down in the minor leagues. This could be interesting, as he has looked good so far. He could be a good option down the road for the Yankees depending on their needs.

Eric Jagielo out of Notre Dame a third base prospect was the Yankees first draft pick yesterday. He was talking confidently saying he sees an opportunity in New York. He said in the next few years he sees an opportunity, I don’t think he is wrong and the Yankees were looking at him as a lefty power hitter at a position of need. Alex Rodriguez is on the decline and has the steroids stuff hanging over him and David Adams has done a good job over there this season but isn’t really a third baseman and they don’t have much else at the hot corner.

Ian Clarkin was their third pick out of high school. He made it pretty clear he wants a big signing bonus not to go to college. It will be interesting to see if they have problems signing him like Gerrit Cole a couple of years ago who could be making his debut with the Pirates this upcoming week. Clarkin also drew some criticism for a pre draft video of him saying he hated the Yankees and was so happy when they lost the 2001 World Series. He is just a kid and I think they are making too big of a deal out of it. He apologized today and said it was taken out of context.

The Yankees also signed outfielder Michael O’Neill today. He is the nephew of Yankees announcer and former fan favorite and right fielder for them Paul O’Neill. Paul tweeted today congrats to my nephew who was drafted by the New York Yankees. This will be fun to follow.

Yankees Draft

I don't want to really get into this without researching it more but the Yankees took a lot of pitchers again, a lot of lefthanders. I will get all the names and some stats about them up as soon as I can but this will take some work. I am not sure if too many people really care but I am one who likes to follow the minors and see up and coming guys. I am going to Scranton over the 4th of July weekend and can't wait to see Austin Jackson. I will get the information up as soon as possible hopefully at some point tomorrow so stay tuned for that.

Yankees Draft Picks

The Yankees first round selection was Zachary Heathcott a high school outfielder. They consider him a 5 tool prospect. He is only 18 and comitted to LSU but the Yankees should get him signed. They have stocked the system with pitching so it will be nice to get some good position players in the mix also. The Yankees selected a prep catcher with the second pick. His name is John Murphy. I will have more on these guys tomorrow but it is good to see some position players. I do think they are pretty stacked at catcher though with Cervelli, Montero and Romine but hey you never know.

MLB Draft today

Today is the MLB amateur draft. The Washington Nationals select first and will pick Steven Strasburg, the only concern is negotiating with Scott Boras who has already floated 50 million around. It will be interesting to see what happens there. The Yankees pick 27th and it looks like they may go with an outfielder from CAL. The draft will be live on MLB network, at least the first round. The thing about the baseball draft is that unlike the other sports you usually don't know about guys for at least a couple years, even longer for some, for every Joba Chamberlain there could be a CJ Henry or Eric Duncan. It is very hard to know in baseball, so enjoy the draft but really don't get too crazy, just watch to see where they may end up and have fun following them in the minors and hopefully one day they will be playing in the major leagues. I know the Yankees have gotten criticized but lately they have done a much better job, does anyone notice Robinson Cano, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Dave Robertson, Phil Coke, Alfredo Aceves, yes some are international signings but hey they have a lot of guys. What about Brett Gardner, Melky Cabrera, Ramiro Pena and Francisco Cervelli, all of these guys have had some impact on this season and it is fun to watch.