The Yankees' 2010 draft

So I know we haven't written anything about the 2010 draft thus far. Quite frankly, amateur talent is neither Mike's nor my forte, and aside from reading Mike Axisa's prospect profiles I know very little about the majority of the guys the Yanks were considering and ended up taking, and so I don't have much of anything to add to it.

We all know most of these guys are a crapshoot. By the time the Yankees get to make a selection, the few "sure things" in the draft are all snatched up within the first 10 picks. That's not to say that it's not worth keeping tabs on who they do go with and dreaming big on guys with high upside. Just that no one knows whether any of these players will amount to anything.

Which is why it was pretty silly that a fair amount of people were seemingly upset that the Yanks supposedly wasted their first round pick on shortstop Cito Culver. I guarantee that 99.9% of the people griping about the pick have never seen the kid play. From what I've read thus far, he sounds like a highly projectible pick who may not have been available later on in the draft -- he was the Yankees' top position player on their board when the 32nd pick came around, and they grabbed him. You have to figure Damon Oppenheimer and co. know what they're doing here -- this is what they get paid to do, after all.

And if Culver (or any of these other guys) don't end up panning out, well, that's the way it goes. Major League Baseball is the hardest of the four major sports to make it in and even harder to stick at. For me, the jury's way out on whether this was a good draft, and we probably won't have any idea for a few years.

Anyway, for far, far better draft coverage than we can provide here, make sure you're checking River Ave. Blues all day every day (although presumably you already are).

Here are a few other helpful draft-related resources:

2010 Draft: Yankees' First Round Pick [River Ave. Blues]
The One Who Probably Won't Get Away [LoHud]
Calm Down [NoMaas.org]
Yanks Stay Close to Home by Tabbing Culver [yankees.com]
Athleticism is Yanks' Priority in Day 2 of Draft [yankees.com]
Late-Rounder Can Develop on Yanks' Watch [yankees.com]
The Draft, Day 3: Digging for Gems [yankees.com]
Draft: 2010 DraftTracker | Yankees' Picks [yankees.com]

Photo courtesy of MLB.com via River Ave. Blues