Unlike the NBA and NFL, where the drafts routinely produce impact players the coming season, Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft is based on projection, envisioning what a player can become several years down the road.
The Yankees and the Mets have the chance to add depth and talent to their farm systems when the three-day amateur draft begins Thursday night with the first two rounds. The Mets have their highest first-round selection since they took Matt Harvey seventh overall in 2010, and the Yankees have three first-round picks, albeit later on with Nos. 26, 32 and 33.
The drama doesn’t end there locally, as the New York/New Jersey area is expected to produce two first-round picks for the first time since 1997 in third baseman Colin Moran, a Rye product who has starred at North Carolina, and New Jersey high school pitcher Robert Kaminsky.
Despite a clear need to upgrade organization depth offensively with position players, Mets vice president of player development and scouting Paul DePodesta wouldn’t rule out the team drafting a pitcher, a clear strength in the minor leagues, in the top rounds.
The Mets will be looking for the best player available, whether it is a pitcher, outfielder, infielder, high school or college player. DePodesta noted the Mets are deep in the pitching department — led by top prospect Zack Wheeler, Double-A righty Rafael Montero and Single-A hurler Noah Syndergaard — and though there is a need to boost their crop of prospects in the field, the scouting director said they can’t ignore pitching, either.
“We think there’s a group of elite college pitchers, and we think it’s a drop off after the first group,” he said. “If one of those pitchers happens to be there at 11, we’re going to think awfully hard about that.”
In his first two years at the helm, Alderson used his top picks on position players — outfielder Brandon Nimmo in 2011, and shortstop Gavin Cecchini last June.
The Mets have been linked to California high school first baseman Dominic Smith and power hitters like New Mexico corner infielder D.J. Peterson and Mississippi State outfielder Hunter Renfroe.
“We have a group of maybe five that we’re focused on and we anticipate hopefully having a choice within two or three of those five,” DePodesta said.
That likely won’t include the 6-foot-3 Moran, an Iona Prep graduate and nephew of former major league All-Star B.J. Surhoff. He leads the country in RBIs with 85 and is projected to go in the top seven picks — a few mock drafts even have the Astros taking him first overall.
“That would be unbelievable,” Moran said.
The Yankees are difficult to predict, because they are picking so late in the first round and their history doesn’t give any indication of what direction they may lean. They have taken high school players four of the past five years in the first round, but college prospects three of the previous four. The last Yankees’ first-round pick to pan out is Joba Chamberlain in 2006.
They worked out Texas outfielder Billy McKinney of Piano West High School on Tuesday and have attended several of the Texan’s high school games. They also are high on Kaminsky, sources said, but they don’t expect him to be on the board at No. 26. The Yankees have also been linked to high school prospects such as Oklahoma catcher Jon Denney and Mississippi shortstop Tim Anderson, in addition to Notre Dame third baseman Eric Jagielo and Indiana State pitcher Sean Manaea in the college ranks.
Kaminsky of St. Joseph’s Regional in northern New Jersey is expected to be go somewhere in the middle to late first round. His father, Alan, said 12 teams have attended every one of his starts this spring. He has signed with North Carolina, though, so there is a chance he doesn’t go pro.
“Everything is an option right now,” the polished left-hander said.