Meet a Prospect: Nick Solak

The 2016 MLB Draft is all but finished and the Yankees have restocked their farm system once again with a plethora of talent. Obviously this is all dependent on their top picks signing with the team and one of those top picks was a college bat and a second baseman named Nick Solack. Solack was the second baseman for the Louisville Cardinal this season Information on these guys is hard to find but here is what I have been able to find thus far on potentially the latest member of the Yankees organization. This is Meet a Prospect: Nick Solak.

Solak is a line-drive hitting second baseman with speed and a good batters eye. Solak put up a .380/.474/.576 triple slash with the Cardinal this season that included five home runs, nine stolen bases, 27 walks and just 19 strikeouts all season long. Solak is a contact hitter but he doesn’t figure to have much power in his professional career. Solak is considered to be a gritty player much like Brett Gardner and suspect defense may land him in the outfield, notably center field, like Gardner eventually.

Solak has quick hands and sure hands to go with above-average range but his mechanics and footwork are still leaving much to be desired despite the polish of being a college defender. For this reason alone Baseball America had Solak ranked 86^th in the draft while MLB.com had him ranked 147^th. Keith Law did not have Solak in his Top 100 draft prospects list whatsoever.

Solak is 21-years old and may be a pick that the Yankees use to save some money on their slots to sign first round pick Blake Rutherford. Solak is slotted to earn $1.04 million after being the 62^nd overall pick in the draft but history would tell you that college seniors generally sign for less than players who have other options if they choose not to sign. Rutherford definitely has options, he’s already committed to UCLA to continue his amateur career, so saving a nickel and dime here and there to sign Rutherford may be important and an organizational game changer.

Welcome to the organization Nick and welcome to the family (again, unofficially).