Add The New York Post on Google PHILADELPHIA — The Yankees are accustomed to not selecting in the top half (not since 1993) or even the middle (no pick in the teens since 2017) of the first round of the MLB draft.
But landing early round talent is only growing in difficulty, with the club now getting used to selecting in slots kicked so far back that they are only technically first-rounders.
For a second consecutive year, the Yankees’ top pick was docked 10 slots because of their previous season’s salary.
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So after sitting around for about 2 1/2 hours as other clubs made their first selections — and the White Sox, Giants, Rays, Cardinals, Royals and Diamondbacks picked twice — the Yankees used No. 35 to select lefty Hunter Dietz from the University of Arkansas.
The selection came minutes after the Mets drafted Dietz’s staff-mate, Carson Wiggins, with the Razorbacks.
Dietz is 6-foot-6 — another big body for an organization that values them — and pitched to a 3.57 ERA with 131 strikeouts in 85 ⅔ innings this season, during which he was a redshirt sophomore.
The Yankees will hope that Dietz grows into a late find after their original No. 25 pick was punted back for exceeding the second threshold of the competitive balance tax.
Hunter Dietz of the Arkansas Razorbacks throws a pitch during the game against the LSU Tigers at Baum-Walker Stadium at George Cole Field on March 30, 2024 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Getty Images The Yankees’ pick was penalized last year, too, when they selected high school infielder Dax Kilby at No. 39. Kilby shined in his taste of Low-A Tampa last year but has barely played this season because of injury.
Year after year, the Yankees are tasked with finding hidden gems because their success and recently their spending work against them in the draft.
They haven’t picked before No. 20 since grabbing Clarke Schmidt at No. 16 in 2017.
Since then, VP of domestic amateur scouting Damon Oppenheimer & Co. have generally succeeded in turning late first-round picks into legitimate prospects but not into standout major leaguers.
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In the past seven years, with picks No. 20-38, the Yankees have found a legitimate, if polarizing, shortstop (Anthony Volpe), a glove-first catcher (Austin Wells), prospects who were useful in trades (T.J. Sikkema and Trey Sweeney), a utilityman who flamed out of the system (Anthony Seigler) and prospects whose values are still being determined (Spencer Jones, George Lombard, Ben Hess and Kilby).
They have become better known for finding gold in the middle rounds, such as Ben Rice (12th round in 2021) and Cam Schlittler (seventh round in 2022), a pair of All-Stars.
