MLB draft 2013: Coverage from Baseball America and Keith Law

Mock Drafts

Baseball America did an experts mock draft where the editors picked who they would draft if they were in charge of each team. For the Yankees, Jim Callis picked Phil Bickford, who he compared to Jered Weaver. John Manuel picked RHP Bobby Wahl because he believes Wahl produced without having his best stuff. Conor Glassey chose Josh Hart because he will be able to stay a middle infielder.

In Jim Callis' third mock draft he has the Yankees drafting third baseman Eric Jagielo, lefty Rob Kaminsky and catcher Jon Denney. He had the Yankees taking Jagielo and Kaminsky in his first mock and Denney in all three.

Keith Law's latest mock draft has the Yankees drafting Texas HS OF Billy McKinney, Notre Dame 3B Eric Jagielo and Tennessee HS RHP Kyle Serrano. He also connects them with Junior College LHP Cody Reed, California HS RHP Phil Bickford, and North Carolina HS RHP Hunter Harvey as possible other picks.

MLB Draft

Each pick in the draft is assigned a value that determines what each team's bonus pool will be. The Yankees have a total pick value of $7,957,400 with their first three picks totaling $5,166,600. Here are the totals broken down by round. The total MLB draft bonus pool has risen 8.2 percent from last year, going from $189,903,500 to $202,501,600.

One major question mark in the draft is Sean Manaea, a left-handed pitcher who once had the potential to go first overall in the draft, but he struggled this year due to an injury to his hip flexor. He was also scratched from his last start because of shoulder tightness, which could have flared up because he was trying to overcompensate for his hip. I have already mentioned that Manaea sounds like the perfect storm for a Yankee high-risk/high-reward signing, like they did with Andrew Brackman. He is a lefty, who, due to injury, has the potential to drop down to the Yankees at #26. I hope someone else drafts him before they can because, even though they like those types of picks, they haven't been very successful with them so far. The Yankees already have a first round pitcher with a hip problem as Ty Hensley ended up needing hip surgery this season and will miss all of 2013.

Baseball America's #1 and #41 draft prospects, Jonathan Gray and Aaron Blair, tested positive for Adderall, an illegal stimulant under MLB's guidelines. It is unlikely that either player will suffer in the draft for the positive test, but it would be nice if Gray, who can hit 100 mph and has a wipeout slider, fell to the Yankees at #26, though that's highly unlikely. Gray had been previously drafted by the Yankees in the 10th round of the 2011 draft and offered $500,000, but he decided to transfer to the University of Oklahoma, where he gained considerable velocity on his fastball. Of the two, Blair, who throws 95 and has a quality chageup and two breaking pitches, is more likely to fall to the Yankees' #66 pick in the second round. Don't hold your breath on either, though.

On Baseball America

If you have your doubts on the legitimacy of BA's claim as "experts," Beyond the Box Score did a study to determine how well Baseball America's top 100 estimates MLB's top 100 by average WAR. It turns out that BA has been pretty accurate, having included 80% of baseball's top 100 in their top 100 prospects. One prospect they clearly missed was Robinson Cano, who never made it into the top 100 prospects in baseball and now look at him!