Scouting Austin Aune, and Day 3 draft action

With the first of their two second-round picks yesterday (#89 overall), the Yankees drafted Austin Aune from Argyle High School in Texas.  Aune is a great all-around athlete, and had a dual-sport scholarship to TCU to play quarterback for the football team as well as baseball.  A shortstop in high school, Aune projects better in the outfield, and will likely start his minor league career as a centerfielder.  Whether he has the range to remain in center is still to be determined, though he has enough arm strength to handle the transition to right.  If he moves, there will be higher expectations for his bat.

At the plate, Austin is a lefty swinger with plus raw power.  Aune is somewhat raw because he also heavily focused on football in high school, but is supposed to have great makeup and work ethic, which should help him improve quickly.  He has apparently already agreed to sign with the Yankees, which is encouraging, since negotiations for guys who have scholarships for other sports can be difficult and expensive.  Aune will likely join the Gulf Coast League Yankees when their season starts (along with 1st-rounder Ty Hensley), and get the benefit of a full minor league season.  As EJ pointed out a few days ago, the Yankees have a pretty good track record in the second round in recent years, and hopefully Aune can help continue that trend.

The 3rd day of the draft begins today, giving the Yankees the opportunity to add some late-round talent and fill out their minor league affiliates.  These rounds will carry a maximum bonus of $100,000 per pick, though any money saved from the bonus pool from earlier picks can also be added on.  Since the Yankees took so many college seniors yesterday, they will likely be able to save some money for an overslot bonus or two in the later rounds.  There is still some talent left on the board, including 3 members of the BA top 100 (high school righty Freddy Avis, high school shortstop CJ Hinojosa, and high school righty James Kaprelian).  I have to assume that these guys have major signability issues, so they will probably be out of the Yankees’ price range, but it is possible that they slipped for another reason.

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