The New York Yankees are “excited” with their three drafted players

While it was a very peculiar draft to begin with, New York Yankees‘ man in charge when it comes to the draft Damon Oppenheimer seems to have walked away a happy man after what the team was able to select.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused teams to alter their draft strategy, and the Yankees were no exception. Traveling and, therefore, live scouting wasn’t possible in the last few months, so there were a lot of video hours, Internet and Zoom calls.

All in all, the New York Yankees had three selections, and they made the best of them. They took slugging catcher Austin Wells from the University of Arizona as the 28th overall pick. On Day 2, they selected second baseman Trevor Hauver from Arizona State University in the third round (99th overall). And in the fourth round (129th overall), they chose right-hander Beck Way from Northwest Florida State College.

“It was really quick, only being able to select three players, but we’re excited,” Oppenheimer said. “We think we did really good with these three guys.”

The Yankees have until August 1 to sign those players.

There are harsh penalties for teams that outspend their allotment, so the Yankees need to tread carefully.

What’s next for the Yankees?

According to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, Wells said he sees himself signing quickly and there are no expectations that Hauver and Way will have signability issues. The Yankees’ bonus pool was $3,520,000. The assigned slot values for the Yanks’ picks were $2,493,900 (No. 28), $587,400 (No. 99) and $438,700 (No. 129).

Wells and Hauver are excellent offensive performers with questions about their glove and long-term position.

“In general, position players get gobbled up in the Draft,” Oppenheimer said. “They go off the board pretty quick and the impactful ones, a lot of times, are the guys that you’re able to take up high. This Draft had some depth in pitching, so we thought, ‘If we’re going to get a shot at a position player, then let’s take a shot and see if we can get the some of the pitching to fall down to us.’”

As for Way, Oppenheimer said the Yankees will be hoping he keeps improving after his Cape Cod League showing, in which he impressed with a loose, high-speed fastball that reached the high-90s.

“There’s more in the tank with this guy when we get him in our strength and conditioning program with (performance coach Eric) Cressey and the boys,” Oppenheimer said. “There’s just a lot of room for growth.”