Amid all the madness, the New York Yankees have signed first-round pick Austin Wells out of the University of Arizona. With the Wildcats, Wells slashed .353/.462/.552 in his freshman season, being coined the first Arizona player to have been named Pac-12 Freshman of the year.
Wells spent his sophomore campaign dominating once again, finishing his year with a .375 batting average and a .527 on-base percentage. The Yankees will now begin developing him and hopefully finding a starting player in the future. Adding a diverse hitter to the farm system is a positive sign, as the Yankees predominately have right-handed hitters in their lineup, with the exception of a few.
While the Arizona stand out will likely have to wait until next season to begin playing live baseball, he is officially a Yankee and will progress through their system appropriately.
“Honestly, the decision was up to where I got drafted and what the program was,’’ said Wells, per the NY Post. “I don’t think whether or not there was minor league games was the decision-maker if I was going back to college or not.
“I think it was the best fit for me to move on, go forward and be a Yankee.’’
Wells projects as a possible outfielder or first baseman in the MLB, despite playing catcher at the collegiate level. He doesn’t have the arm strength or accuracy to develop as most would hope, but there’s plenty of potential to work with, and if he can succeed at catcher, the Yankees will be most happy. With the consistent degradation of Gary Sanchez’s health and minimal quality behind him, progressing with the hope that Wells can fill the void if needed is smart.
Hopefully, he can adapt to a bevy of position to increase his value and chances at reaching the top club within the next two years.