Yankees, Mets stock up on college players in MLB Draft
The glove is in the baseball rack before the start of Game 1 of the ALDS between the Yankees and Twins on Oct. 5, 2019. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
The Yankees gave it the ol’ college try in the MLB draft that concluded on Tuesday with rounds 11-20. All 20 Yankees picks over the past three days were college players. Fifteen were pitchers with 13 of them righthanders.
The Mets, who had two more picks than the Yankees, selected 16 college players and six high schoolers among their 13 pitchers and nine position players.
Only time will tell if either team drafted well. Not surprisingly, Mets vice president of amateur and international scouting Tommy Tanous was pleased with his club’s haul.
“We obviously we feel like we did very well,” Tanous said. “Very happy with the players that were available. Some were unexpected. I think we're leaving here in a really positive frame of mind. I would say one thing that's stuck out a little bit – the amount of position players that we have a lot of love for. I think we took nine position players out of 22 overall picks, which is a little (higher) than expected, but it's tough when you have players you like on the board that are still there.”
Mets director of amateur scouting Marc Tramuta said Tuesday’s first two picks stood out for him. In the 11th round, the Mets selected USC outfielder Rhylan Thomas. On Monday, the Mets had picked Thomas’ USC teammate D’Andre Smith, a shortstop, in the fifth round.
In the 12th round, the Mets picked 6-10 sidearming righthander Paul Gervase out of LSU.
“A unique guy,” Tramuta said, “I got a chance to see him. He's up to 95 depending on the (arm) slot. It was from anywhere from three-quarter to low three-quarter to sidearm . . . When you're looking for relievers -- which he did at LSU -- you're looking for a little bit of unique guys, which I think that he is.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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