When we look back in a couple years on this year's NFL Draft with one round in the books after Thursday
Billy Hamilton Jersey night it's guaranteed that there will be countle s situations where teams left certain players on the board, allowing another club to get their hands on a future star.As is the case in the NFL, the Yankees have had their fair share of 'what if' draft scenarios. Sure, they've made plenty of quality selections since the first MLB Draft back in 1965 but they've also mi sed out on some incredibly talented ballplayers.Since it's impo sible to get every draft pick right, we'll preface the following with a disclaimer. Every situation has its own context. New York may not have had a need for a certain player based on positional opportunities within the organization or the team had scouting reports on certain players that looked good at the time and didn't pan out.Further, in baseball especially, players don't always end up spending the majority of their career (or even make the big leagues) with the team that drafts them. So much could happen along the way, but for this exercise, we're focusing solely on the names that were still on the Yankees' draft board after they made their picks.Without further ado, here's a list of five players that ended up elsewhere after being available for the Yankees (with all of the following players picked in the first or second rounds of the MLB
Raisel Iglesias Jersey Draft).Manny Ramirez (1991)Can you imagine Manny Ramirez in a Yankees uniform?New York has only had two No. 1 overall selections in the MLB Draft in franchise history. In 1967, the club picked first baseman Ron Blomberg and in 1991, they chose a left-handed pitcher by the name of Brien Taylor.At the time, picking Taylor must've been the right choice for the Bombers. You can never have enough left-handed starting pitching and as a prospect coming out of high school, Taylor surely had quite the upside.Instead, he never played in the Major Leagues for New York or any team for that matter. Taylor made 73 appearances acro s three Minor League levels and had a career ERA of 6.63.A dozen picks after Taylor was taken off the board, the Cleveland Indians selected Manny Ramirez out of George Washington HS. It just so happens that Ramirez's former school is located le s than three miles away from Yankee Stadium acro s the Harlem River near the northern-most point of Manhattan.The slugger wound up making his big-league debut only two years later at 21 years old. He spent eight seasons with Cleveland before another eight years in Boston, appearing in 12 All-Star Games along the way.His splits against the Yankees? Ramirez hit more home runs (55), drove in more runs (165) and played more games (203) against New York than any other team acro s his 19-year career.Gavin Lux (2016)Gavin Lux, who is now the game's second-rated prospect, was still available when the Yankees made their first-round selection in the draft four years ago.New York went with outfielder Blake Rutherford, a high school prospect from California, with the No. 18 pick. According to , Rutherford was slotted in as New York's fifth prospect in 2016, right after Aaron Judge and a few spots behind Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier. At the time, Rutherford was 51st on Lux was unranked.Rutherford has yet to make his Major League debut, appearing in Double-A in the White Sox organization this past year. You may recall, the lefty-swinging outfielder was a piece in New York's deal with Chicago to acquire David Robertson, Todd Frazier andTommy Kahnle in 2017.Lux, meanwhile, has ascended to the top of everyone's prospect rankings. The second baseman made his Los Angeles Dodgers debut last season, playing in 23 games at 21 years old. Had this season started on time, in all likelihood he would've been an everyday player for the World Series contender Dodgers in 2020.Scroll to ContinueDavid Wright (2001)The Yankees have Derek Jeter. The Mets have David Wright. But what if the Bombers had both?Four picks after New York selectedBronson Sardinha 34th overall in 2001, the
Matt Kemp Jersey Mets swooped up Wright.Sardinha, a right fielder from Kamehameha HS in Hawaii, slowly worked his way up through the Yankees' farm system. He made his first Major League appearance in 2007, but his time in the Bigs didn't last long. Sardinha played in just 10 games for New York that season, tallying three base hits in nine at-bats.The Honolulu native played in a total of 1,116 games in the Minor Leagues and finished his career in 2011.Wright, on the other hand, appeared in 1,585 contests with the New York Mets. The third baseman made seven All-Star Games and received Most Valuable Player votes six times in a span of eight years.Blake Snell (2011)The 2011 MLB Draft was absolutely loaded. Gerrit Cole, Trevor Bauer, Anthony Rendon, Francisco Lindor, Javier Baez, George Springer and Jose Fernandez were all taken in the first 14 picks.In the second round, the Yankees had the No. 50 overall selection. The club went with Dante Bichette Jr. son of former Major Leaguer Dante Bichette and brother of Toronto Blue Jays' phenom Bo Bichette. With the following pick, the rival Tampa Bay Rays chose a left-hander from Washington named Blake Snell.With baseball in Bichette's blood, bringing in the third baseman made a lot of sense. Let's not rule out his succe s just yet as he's still in the Minors, now in the Washington Nationals system Bichette played 73 games in Double-A in 2019.Snell, on the
Tucker Barnhart Jersey other hand, went on to win an American League Cy Young Award and is the ace of a potent Rays club that made the postseason a year ago. The southpaw even made his big-league debut at Yankee Stadium the four-year anniversary of his first time toeing a big-league mound was on Thursday.Nolan Arenado (2009)Nolan Arenado wasn't just available when the Yankees picked at No. 29 in 2009. He wasn't taken until the 59th overall pick. Practically every big-league team is kicking themselves with how spectacular Arenado turned out.New York picked Slade
Scott Schebler Jersey Heathcott in the first round in 2009. The outfielder worked his way up through the Minors over the next six years, debuting at the big-league level in 2015. Heathcott played in 17 games, posting a .400 batting average (10-for-25) and hasn't been in the Major Leagues since. He was last seen in the Minor Leagues in 2018, playing 31 games for the Oakland Athletics' Triple-A affiliate.Arenado doesn't need much of an introduction. In the last five years, the Colorado Rockies' third baseman has finished eighth or higher in the race for NL MVP, he's won five-consecutive Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Awards, played in 155-or-more games and hit at least 37 home runs.From the same town as Gerrit Cole Newport Beach, California Arenado went to the same high school as Oakland's Matt Chapman as well as former Yankees' backstop Austin Romine.It's worth noting, New York had its eye on a certain outfielder by the name of Mike Trout in the 200
