It’s clear that the coronavirus pandemic altered many things in the world, in the country, and most specifically, in baseball and the way teams approach certain things, scenarios and events. The New York Yankees, for example, would have talent evaluators visit dozens of diamonds across America to see for themselves the available material.
However, the Yankees and other teams had to do many of these things digitally this time around. Around February and March, when the virus was reaching global status, traveling was severely limited and this, no doubt, affected scouting.
The MLB season was postponed, the MILB season is still in limbo (chances of it going through are slim to none) and the draft was shortened. Damon Oppenheimer, the Yankees’ leader when it comes to scouting, had to have his team see countless hours of game video and written reports in order to unmask the next group of great prospects.
The draft will be aired on June 10-11 on MLB Network and ESPN.
Bryan Hoch wrote about the Yankees’ approach. He said that the team “solidified their Draft board after the organization halted travel in March, nudging area scouts to file any outstanding reports and complete their conference calls with players. The club then held weeks of digital meetings with scouts and cross-checkers, per Oppenheimer, preparing for what they believed could be 10 rounds of selections.”
“It’s definitely a real challenge,†Oppenheimer told WFAN. “We’re just trying to do the best we can with the information that we have and trying to create as much information as possible. The data really hasn’t changed, so it’s just more video and more knowledge of the players. That’s about the only way we’re able to enhance what we can do.â€
The Yankees first pick is the 28th
The New York Yankees’ first selection is in the 28th overall spot. The team, according to MLB Pipeline, ranked 22nd among the 30 clubs when it comes to farm systems around the league. Their group is highlighted by outfielder Jasson Dominguez and pitcher Deivi Garcia.
“Doing it all by video has been a completely unique situation to us. I think we can use some of this to enhance what we see with our eyes, once this opens up again at some point. We’ve become semi-experts in Zoom calls. That’s been quite a change, but it’s been fun. The players seem to have a real comfort level of having these Zoom calls; looking at devices and talking on devices seems to be easier for them,†Oppenheimer said.
The Yankees have been connected with players such as shortstop Nick Loftin from Baylor University, shortstop Ed Howard from Mount Carmel HS (Chicago), shortstop Carson Tucker (brother of the Pirates’ Cole Tucker) from Mountain Pointe HS (Phoenix), right-hander Clayton Beeter from Texas Tech University and catcher Austin Wells from the University of Arizona.