Yankees 2021 draft pick results tracker and social media guide

The 2021 MLB Draft is well underway, as it began on Sunday night with the Pirates surprising everyone by taking Louisville catcher Henry Davis with the No. 1 overall pick and continued through the end of the first competitive balance round at No. 36, which the Twins used to take high school shortstop Noah Miller.

That was just Day 1 though. The Yankees made nine picks on Day 2 after taking Trey Sweeney with their first-round selection, and 10 more on Day 3. To help conveniently track all these players from the selection process to any known eventual signing news, I’ve assembled this draft pick tracker that will be regularly updated throughout July. For example, on July 19th, Sweeney signed with the Yankees for $3 million, and the table will show that it was $242,900 under slot.

The players’ names are linked to the Pinstripe Alley stories about their draft selections. If available, I’ve also included their Twitter handles if you have any interest in following them.

Draft pick signing news can be a slow process and team assignments might be even fuzzier, but we’ll do our best to keep you posted. Players have until 11:59 PM ET on August 15th to sign. As always, give us a shout in the comments section of this post if you see any news that needs to be added.

Note: Teams are allotted $125,000 per pick for each selection from Rounds 11-20. This doesn’t count toward their total bonus pool, though they are permitted to use any leftover bonus funds to increase their offers beyond $125,000 to these players. Teams can also sign non-drafted free agents (NDFAs) at a maximum of $20,000 per signing, but bonus money can’t be used.

Post-draft updates

7/13: Trey Sweeney told The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler that he plans to sign “within the next week,” so the Yankees’ first-round business could be finished in short order.

7/14: Two college senior draft picks — second-rounder Brendan Beck and seventh-rounder Robby Ahlstrom — have already tweeted their excitement about joining the Yankees, so since the question of their signings basically just comes down to interest, they seem like locks. (Beck was later spotted at the Yankees’ complex, essentially confirming it.)

7/14: Cooper Bowman is also signing with New York, as he posted a picture of him doing just that on his Instagram.

7/14: The Finger Lakes Times reported on Ben Cowles being drafted and at the end, noting that he was on his way to Tampa to start training.

7/14: Danny Watson says that his agent has “reached terms” with the Yankees and that he will be reporting to Tampa, too.

7/14: Cole Ayers told the Enquirer that he will forgo his commitment to the University of Cincinnati and sign with the Yankees.

7/14: As expected, Dominic Keegan will return to Vandy rather than signing with the Yankees. He’s talented enough to boost his draft stock far beyond “19th-rounder.”

7/15: Yankees scouting director Damon Oppenheimer says that negotiations with Brock Selvidge should wrap up “sooner than later,” so he should be safe to sign.

7/15: Beck and Watson have indeed signed.

7/15: Richard Fitts and Chandler Champlain were spotted at the Yankees’ spring training complex so they seem to set to sign.

7/15: Tyler Hardman posted on his Instagram about signing today.

7/16: Beck is signing for $1,050,000, which is $257,000 under slot, and Bowman is signing for $353,000, which is $116,000 under slot. Cowles officially signed as well.

7/18: A bunch of updates this morning! Champlain is signing for $2,600 under slot at $150,00, we have bonus figures for Ahlstrom ($140,000; $68,200 under slot) and Cowles ($140,000; $4,100 under slot), the Baseball America signing tracker has the Yankees signing Watson and Ben Rice for the standard $125,000 post-10th round value, Fitts indicated on his Instagram that he will sign, Neely’s Twitter bio states he is in the Yankees’ organization, and Grant Richardson also said that he would sign. Got all that?

7/19: The first-rounder has signed! Trey Sweeney and the Yankees came to terms on a $3 million bonus, which is $242,900 under slot. Eighth-rounder Will Warren also signed for $150,000, which is $19,500 under slot, and Richardson signed for the standard $125,000. The Yankees have now saved a combined $710,300 in slot value, giving them more bonus money to potentially convince picks like Selvidge and Hard to skip college and sign.

7/20: Baseball America’s tracker revealed some more news about Yankees signings. The team signed high schooler Sean Hermann for $135,000, so take $10,000 away from that past slot value savings figure. They also came to terms with Ayers at $125,000 and Bailey Dees at $50,000, which won’t go against their total.

7/21: Fitts and Neely officially posted photos of their signings. Callis reported Neely’s signing at $150,000, so as an 11th-rounder, so minus $25,000, extra slot value is now at $675,300.

7/22: The final priority has been signed, as Callis reported that Selvidge and the Yankees came to terms on a $1.5 million bonus. (The high schooler posted on Instagram as well.) Callis also passed along news of Hardman and Fitts’ bonuses — $200,000 for Hardman and $346,800 for Fitts. The trio are a combined $796,400 over slot, as Selvidge and Fitts were over and Hardman was under.

So the Yankees have how signed their first 13 picks and 17 overall. They have committed $7,064,800 in relevant funds, which is a little over their allotted $6,943,700 in slot money. Since teams are allowed to go at least 4.9 percent over their figures without incurring penalties, they’re fine. The only issue is that the remaining ~$219,000 to reach 4.9 percent over is almost certainly not enough to convince Hard to forgo his commitment to BC (though the Yankees should be able to sign Messinger, the only other player without an announced decision). So it goes. Getting 18 out of 20 ain’t bad.

7/22: Messinger has indeed signed for $225,000 per Mayo. The Yankees went $100,000 over to grab him with their spare bonus money.

7/24: Hard will honor his commitment to BC. That’s the full draft now.