FanPost

A Look at Yankees First Rounders Part 2

I was reading the comments from my previous fanpost and I came across one in particular that piqued my curiosity.

"You can do this with every team. EVERY team (well, possibly except the Rays)
Especially ones that consistently draft after the first half of the first round. It’s actually remarkable that there was one year (2006) where the Yankees picked not one, but two straight picks with the best guy available. Because picking the best guy available with any one pick is mostly a crap shoot. If you roll 7 or 11, great! But mostly you don’t, and sometimes you get snake eyes" - d_c_guy


I decided to look at a few teams during their peak years (so that they would be consistently drafting in the last third of the first round)

Giants (2000-05)

Average first overall pick = 22.25

Total bWAR = 43

bWAR/Pick = 6.14

Red Sox (2000-06)

Average first overall pick = 22.25

Total bWAR = 58.5

bWAR/Pick = 4.88

Twins (2002-07)

Average first overall pick = 22.33

Total bWAR = 48.1

bWAR/Pick = 4.37

Dodgers (2000-05)

Average first overall pick = 23.4

Total bWAR = 33.2

bWAR/Pick = 4.15

Braves (2000-06)

Average first overall pick = 27

Total bWAR = 59.3

bWAR/Pick = 3.71

Cardinals (2000-06)

Average first overall pick = 24.33

Total bWAR = 27.5

bWAR/Pick = 2.5

Yankees (2000-06)

Average first overall pick = 23.17

Total bWAR = 22.6

bWAR/Pick = 2.05

WITHOUT a very solid (flukey?) 2006, this number falls to .79 bWAR/pick (!!!!!!!)

All seven of these teams had an average first overall pick in the last third of the first round, with the Yankees finishing in dead last, in terms of total value added. At this point, I am starting to believe that the Yankees just got lucky in 2006, as the rest of their drafts have been consistently dreadful. Changes must be made to the personnel that is in charge of the draft if the Yankees ever want to return to their former glory. Home grown players sell jerseys (look at the jersey sales in 2013) and fill seats, and the Yankees should focus on improving their drafts if they want attendance and ratings to climb back up.

(All factual information is from Baseball Reference) (I literally have waaaay too much free time) (I still can't figure out why my line breaks disappear)

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