The Boston Red Sox on Wednesday selected Nick Yorke with the No. 17 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft.
The 18-year-old second baseman, of Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, Calif., originally was ranked as the No. 139 among 2020 draft prospects, but still managed to get picked in Round 1.
Here’s what ESPN’s panel of MLB analysts and experts had to say about the newest member of the Red Sox organization, which was seen during ESPN’s MLB Draft broadcast.
Kiley McDaniel:
“We didn’t see this one coming. He’s a hit first middle infielder. He emerged this spring and he is a hit first guy that can play second, short, put him a couple different places. I would guess this is underslot to save money, not that he doesn’t deseve to go here, I think on talent consensus and what his price is, its probably set a little bit lower, I had heard he would be tough sign in the second round, I think this may be setting up some moves later in the draft.”
Eduardo Perez:
“I just can’t stop thinking about the New York Jets right now and how the fans should be right now in Boston, thinking, ‘Who?’… Again, it’s a young player, a young player, most likely Chaim Bloom doing exactly what Kiley says, this could be a slot situation here. Economically, making it work.
Chaim Bloom, this is what he was brought in for, trying to find that gem that not a lot of people are looking for. Again, I think he would have been there most likely in the second round, but economically speaking, Nick Yorke has a very good upside and now they’re going to let the farm system do the talking…”
More MLB: Live Results For Every One Of League’s 2020 Draft Picks
Kyle Peterson:
“Ultimately you judge a draft five, six, seven, eight years down the road to see what they’ve turned into, but especially for this draft, if we’re going to make a judgement, let’s wait until the end. This is probably a good indication that the Red Sox are maybe going to take a few chances a little bit later on in this draft, and theoretically have a little more money to do it at that point.
There’s different takes and all it takes is one organization to look at a player and say we think he’s a little bit better than everyone else (thinks), maybe not for the slot, but getting close to it, save money for the balance of it, I’d be surprised if that’s not the case here.”
Jessica Mendoza:
“What’s interesting and stands out to me, what Kiley said about a hit-first, middle infielder. I think nothing says more modern times than that’s something that teams are looking for. In the past, it’s always been defense first, anytime you were looking at a shortshop especially, which is his primary position. The fact that he’s more bat than he is defense, I think says a lot about what more and more teams are looking sometimes for their middle infielders.”
Jeff Passan:
“Can I just make what I feel like is an important point here? I understand if Red Sox fans are angry because they don’t know who Nick Yorke is, or because he was projected to go a little bit lower in some mock drafts than maybe he went. They also don’t know a lot of the other players, who are projected to go in these spots are. These are young players and these are players who are not out there often enough, who don’t have the spotlight of college football and college basketball for us to really understand and have strong takes and strong opinions. If you’re Chaim Bloom right now, you go with your scouts, you go with your analysts and you go with your board. And you go with your gut and instincts and you know what, if Nick Yorke doesn’t turn out to be a great player, you live with that. But you got to go with what your people are telling you and in this case, they were telling him to go with Nick Yorke.”
