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Some exciting news emerged from the Hey Man this morning regarding the Yankees and the 33rd overall pick in the draft, lefty prep prospect Ian Clarkin:
The Yankees have reached a deal with another of their trio of first-round picks, lefty prep pitcher Ian Clarkin, who -- like Eric Jagielo -- agreed to slot money.
Clarkin created something of a ruckus by declaring his dislike for baseball's most storied franchise -- right before he was picked by them. But he did it in a fun way, and later made clear he was joking. His fairly quick signing, for the $1,650,100 slot amount would indicate as much. He is on his way to Tampa on Monday for a physical.
After getting spurned by Gerrit Cole in the first round of the '08 draft, many people (including me) worried that Clarkin might pull a Cole and turn down the Yankees' offer, opting to go to college at the University of San Diego. Thankfully, that was not the case this year, and one of the top pitching prospects from last year's draft now belongs to the Yankees (for slot money, too). My guess is that he will report to Rookie Ball sometime soon like Ty Hensley did last year. Someone bubble wrap him just in case.
The quick summary of Clarkin is that he has a tremendous curveball and that he is so highly regarded that ESPN's Keith Law considered him the second-best high school lefty in the draft. I highly recommend checking out Tanya's writeup of Clarkin for more information.
For those wondering, the last unsigned first-rounder, Aaron Judge, still hasn't issued a ruling on the Yankees' slot offer yet, but people seem optimistic that he will sign rather than going back to Fresno State.
UPDATE:
1st rdr Ian Clarkin ISN'T signed. He's agreed; BIG difference. Taking phys TUE. #Yankees #mlbdraft fans have seen phys alter agreements.
— K. Levine-Flandrup (@YankeesDraft) June 17, 2013