I’ve been doing some research for my article in this year’s Yankees Annual magazine, and figured that I would share some of it with you guys. Here is a chart of the players signed by the Yankees to six-figure bonuses this year, with the one caveat that a few may lurk out there that I could not track down.
[image title="Draft bonuses 2010" size="full" id="23109" align="center" linkto="full" ]
The Yankees, even moreso than past years, hedged their bets across a wide spectrum of players. They spent about 8 million dollars total between the international market and draft this season, plus whatever they ended up giving to Wilmer Romero. That makes it a pretty big year for the team, despite no top-dollar first round or international signings like Ian Kennedy, Slade Heathcott, or Gary Sanchez.
Its an interesting group. They definitely aimed high. The Yankees have a pretty mixed record with above-slot signings and IFAs, with a whole lot of complete flops. They seemed to be a lot more aggressive in the draft this year while dialing back their international efforts. I know that a lot of people think that the international free agent market has become way overvalued in recent years, and I’m inclined to agree with them. Remember Kelvin De Leon?
They also managed to play hardball with more players asking for big money this year than in past years. They were prepared to walk away from Rutckyj, who wanted a million dollars, and Williams, who wanted two million.
Anyway, its a fun little list to look at. I’m hoping that one or two players on this list become Austin Jacksons rather than Kyle Higiashiokas and Carmen Angelinis. Rutckyj’s my favorite on the list.
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3 Responses to Yankee Draft Strategy: Spread the Wealth
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TIQ IQ
Also need to add the bonus for DePaula to the list — I thought they said it was around $700,000.
Oops, he is on the list.
They really spread the money out. I think Ramos got 800k or so.