Yankees pick Catcher Austin Wells in 1st round
The New York Yankees on Wednesday selected Austin Wells, a catcher out of Arizona. The Yankees went after him in the draft three years ago when he was at Las Vegas High School. Wells chose college instead and enrolled at the University of Arizona, where he has honed his skills and has proven to be a powerful left-hand hitter. This could be a huge win for the Yankees because if he doesn’t work out as a catcher, he also has played in the outfield and at first base.
With his plate discipline and left-hand power, it is very possible that Wells may be on the superhighway to the majors. The Yankees have until August 1 to sign him. Wells is 6′ 2″ 220 pounds, is a 20-year-old star. It has been said that Austin Wells plays with the same intensity as Bryce Harper, who was out of the same Las Vegas high school.
When in the offseason, the New York Yankees signed star ace pitcher Gerrit Cole. In doing so, they lost their 2nd, and 5th round picks in this year’s draft. With the draft shortened from 40 rounds to just five, they made their 3rd and 4th round picks last evening.
Yankees pick outfielder Trevor Hauver in the 3rd round
In their second pick, the New York Yankees picked up another left-hand bat to add to their farm system, Trevor Hauver. Although not the power hitter as Austin Wells is, he is a solid bat. While scouts list him as an outfielder, the Yankees drafted him as a second baseman. While playing the outfield, he could add some much-needed back up at 2nd and 3rd base. The Yankee farm system is not overloaded in infield players.
Hauver is ranked as the 130th best draft prospect by MLB Pipeline and 201st by Baseball America. He put up good numbers against Pac-12 competition posting a 1.007 OPS in 57 games as a sophomore at Arizona State in 2019. The 6 feet tall and 205 pounder was off to an even better start this season, slashing .339/.494/.695 through 17 games when the season was canceled.
Hauver played short in Perry High School Chandler, Arizona, but moved to the outfield at Arizona State in his freshman year. Known as an average defender at best, the Yankees will be getting a much-needed bat. He has excelled as a hitter throughout high school and in his first two years at Arizona. This year the twenty-one-year-old had a poor first week but then got hot for the remainder of the shortened season, becoming the best bat in the Sun Devil’s lineup.
It appears that the Yankees plan to give Trevor Hauver an opportunity to return to the infield. The 99th pick carries an assigned slot value of $587,400 not a bad start for the young man. The figure is the maximum the Yankees can sign him for without facing a penalty.
Yankees pick pitcher Beck Way in the 4th round
The New York Yankees used their third and final pick on Beck Way, a 20-year-old right-handed pitcher from Northwest Florida as their fourth-round selection. Way was classified by Baseball America as the top junior college prospect in the class, having had an outstanding performance in the Cape Cod League last summer. He struck out 18 batters in 13.2 innings. The 6-foot-4 Way is a three-pitch pitcher featuring a solid fastball with mid-to-low 90s velocity, to go along with a solid changeup and a slider. He may be familiar with Wednesday’s pick Austin Wells as they both played in the Cape Cod League together.
Beck Way is a pretty good pick by the Yankees as he is rated 85th best prospect by Baseball America while being rated 80th by FanGraphs, and 83rd by The Athletic. The New York Yankees have until August 1st to sign the 20-year-old. For a contract to be signed they first will have to convince him of foregoing his commitment to play at Louisiana State University. The signing bonus slot value for the 129th overall pick is $438,700.