Weekly Prospects Check In: Mark Payton

When the New York Yankees learned the news that Aaron Judge had been lost for the season the team scrambled and brought up a replacement from Triple-A, Mason Williams. This was unfortunate timing for the Scranton RailRiders who were competing for the Governors Cup as the team was also left scrambling for a replacement, Mark Payton. The RailRiders did not miss a beat having Payton in the lineup over Williams, not a beat whatsoever.

Payton impressed in the Scranton lineup and even posted a 3-5 night with a triple and two RBI in the clinching game. Now Scranton will fight for the Triple-A Championship game next week in Memphis.

Year	Lev	G	PA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2016	AA-A+-AAA	123	488	69	120	18	10	62	11	49	68	.282	.358	.423	.780
2016	A+	24	98	15	25	2	3	15	2	16	18	.309	.418	.469	.888
2016	AA	97	381	53	92	15	7	47	8	31	50	.272	.337	.408	.745
2016	AAA	2	9	1	3	1	0	0	1	2	0	.429	.556	.571	1.127

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Three Tampa Yankees selected for 2016 FSL All-Star Team

Three Tampa Yankees selected for 2016 FSL All-Star Team

TAMPA, FL. - The Florida State League announced today their selection for the 2016 North and South All-Star Teams and three Tampa Yankees were selected. The 54th All-Star Game will be played at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, Saturday, June 18, 2016 at 7:05 p.m. Tampa Yankees Infielders Miguel Andujar, Jorge Mateo and Outfielder Mark Payton were selected to represent the Tampa Yankees for the North Division Team. 3B Miguel Andujar has a .943 fielding percentage over 43 games. He's hit eight doubles, one triple and nine homeruns with 37 RBI. He was signed by the Yankees as a non-drafted free agent on 7/2/11. Andujar was selected to the 2015 FSL North Division All-Star team and won the home run derby. SS Jorge Mateo is batting .296 (59-199) with five doubles, eight triples and five homeruns with 32 RBI and 17 stolen bases. He was signed by the Yankees as a non-drafted free agent on 8/6/10 and is currently the Yankees No.1 prospect per Baseball America. OF Mark Payton was batting .309 in 24 games with the T-Yanks before being promoted to the Double-A Trenton Thunder on 5/18/16. He was selected by the Yankees in the 7th round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft. The Tampa Yankees are the Single-A Advanced affiliate of the New York Yankees. For more information on the Tampa Yankees visit www.tybaseball.com or call (813) 673-3055. For more information regarding the 2015 Florida State League All-Star Game please visit www.fslbaseball.com.

Complete Look at the Yankees 2014 Draft Haul

In case you missed it here is the complete draft haul from the 2014 MLB First Year Player's Draft by the New York Yankees. Remember New York had a plan, and they executed that plan, to spend heavily on the international spending market in what was expected to be an extremely deep pool which led the team to draft more polished, older and advanced college players in the draft.

All in all New York drafted 39 players in the 2014 draft including 24 pitchers, nine infielders, four outfielders and two catchers. New York went college heavy as we said drafting 32 players out of college with just seven players coming out of High School including Austin DeCarr. One of those players drafted was the son of the great Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, Marian Rivera Jr., after the team signed Josh Pettitte, son of Andy Pettitte, in the 2013 MLB Draft.

The Yankees top pick, Jacob Lindgren, is already in the major leagues while the likes of Jonathan Holder, Jordan Foley, Jordan Montgomery, Mark Payton and DeCarr are making great strides in the Yankees system.

Here is the list:

Looking Back at the Yankees 2014 Draft

With the 2015 MLB First Year Player’s Draft just one day away I thought now would be a good time to take a look back at the haul the Yankees got in the 2014 version of the draft. It’s a complete crap shoot after the 10^th round, or probably earlier to be honest, but I decided to recap the Yankees Top 10 picks in last year’s draft. Remember that the Yankees forfeited multiple first round picks last season when they signed Carlos Beltran and Jacoby Ellsbury. Here’s the list:

2nd Round - LHP Jacob Lindgren (Mississippi State)
3rd Round - RHP Austin DeCarr (Salisbury High School)
4th Round - LHP Jordan Montgomery (South Carolina)
5th Round - RHP Jordan Foley (Central Michigan)
6th Round - RHP Jonathan Holder (Mississippi State)
7th Round - CF Mark Payton (Texas)
8th Round - 1B Connor Spencer (University of California Irvine)
9th Round - SS Vince Conde (Vanderbilt)
10th Round - 2B Ty McFarland (James Madison University)

The Yankees currently showcase Lindgren in their major league bullpen while DeCarr skyrocketed towards the top of many prospects lists before this season. While Montgomery, Foley and Holder have been quiet the team has enjoyed more than they could have expected from Payton in his short professional career. The team will absolutely need more than one calendar year to judge how well they did in the draft obviously but for what the Yankees had to work with the early results look quite impressive for New York. Let’s hope they are twice as effective in this year’s draft with three picks in the first 60 picks overall.

New York, you’re on the clock.... almost. 

ICYMI: Yankees Draft Signing Updates

The deadline has come and past for teams to sign their draft picks from the 2014 MLB First Year Player's Draft and the Yankees signed a ton of talent this year. The Yankees signed each of their Top 15 draft picks, although they did miss out on Mariano Rivera Jr. this time around. Either way here is a quick recap in case you missed it late last week and over the weekend.

If there is no assignment then the player did not sign. Really disappointing that the Yankees didn't go after much high upside high school talent in this draft. What's more disappointing is that while high school pitcher Austin DeCarr signed other notable players like Garrett Cave, Will Toffey, Christopher Hudgins, Will Gaddis, Cameron Warren, and Madison Stokes did not sign.

Here's the complete list:

Round	Player	School	Assignment
2 (55)	LHP Jacob Lindgren	Mississippi State (Jr.)	Charleston(Low-A)
3 (91)	RHP Austin DeCarr	Salisbury School (CT) (HS)	GCL (Rk)
4 (122)	LHP Jordan Montgomery	South Carolina (Jr.)	GCL (Rk)
5 (152)	RHP Jordan Foley	Central Michigan (Jr.)	Staten Island(SS-A)
6 (182)	RHP Jonathan Holder	Mississippi State (Jr.)	Staten Island(SS-A)
7 (212)	CF Mark Payton	Texas (Sr.)	Charleston(Low-A)
8 (242)	1B Connor Spencer	California - Irvine (Jr.)	Staten Island(SS-A)
9 (272)	SS Vince Conde	Vanderbilt (TN) (Jr.)	Staten Island(SS-A)
10 (302)	2B Ty McFarland	James Madison University (VA) (Sr.)	Staten Island(SS-A)
11 (332)	RHP Matthew Borens	Eastern Illinois (Jr.)	Staten Island(SS-A)
12 (362)	1B Chris Gittens	Grayson County College (TX) (J2)	GCL (Rk)
13 (392)	1B Bo Thompson	The Citadel (SC) (Jr.)	GCL (Rk)
14 (422)	RHP Sean Carley	West Virginia (Sr.)	GCL (Rk)
15 (452)	LHP Andrew Chin	Boston College (Jr.)	TBD
16 (482)	LHP Derek Callahan	Gonzaga (WA) (Jr.)	GCL (Rk)
17 (512)	RHP Garrett Cave	South Sumter HS (FL)	--
18 (542)	LHP Justin Kamplain	Alabama (Jr.)	Staten Island(SS-A)
19 (572)	RHP Joe Harvey	Pittsburgh (Sr.)	Staten Island(SS-A)
20 (602)	RHP Corey Holmes	Concordia (TX) (Sr.)	GCL (Rk)
21 (632)	LHP Porter Clayton	Oregon (So.)	--
22 (662)	RHP Jake Kelzer	Indiana (So.)	--
23 (692)	3B Will Toffey	Salisbury School (CT) (HS)	--
24 (722)	CF Dominic Jose	Stanford (Jr.)	GCL (Rk)
25 (752)	RHP Dylan Barrow	Tampa (Jr.)	--
26 (782)	C Collin Slaybaugh	Washington State (Sr.)	Staten Island(SS-A)
27 (812)	OF Griff Gordon	Jacksonville State (AL) (Sr.)	GCL (Rk)
28 (842)	RHP Lee Casas	USC (Sr.)	GCL (Rk)
29 (872)	RHP Mariano Rivera	Iona (NY) (Jr.)	--
30 (902)	RHP Jorge Perez	Grand Canyon University (Jr.)	--
31 (932)	CF Devyn Bolasky	California - Riverside (Jr.)	Staten Island(SS-A)
32 (962)	RHP Jordan Ramsey	UNC - Wilmington (Jr.)	–
33 (992)	RHP David Graybill	Arizona State (So.)	--
34 (1,022)	RHP Matt Wotherspoon	Pittsburgh (Sr.)	Staten Island(SS-A)
35 (1,052)	C Christopher Hudgins	Valhalla HS (CA)	--
36 (1,082)	RHP Will Gaddis	Brentwood HS (TN)	--
37 (1,112)	1B Ryan Lindemuth	William and Mary (VA) (Sr.)	GCL (Rk)
38 (1,142)	RHP Andre Del Bosque	Houston - Victoria (TX) (Sr.)	GCL (Rk)
39 (1,172)	1B Cameron Warren	Carl Albert HS (OK)	--
40 (1,202)	SS Madison Stokes	A.C. Flora HS (SC)	--

Yankees Sign Mark Payton & Chris Gittens

#Yankees sign 7th-rdr. (212) Mark Payton for $45K. That's $133.3K under slot. http://t.co/Jq48oO2fUA
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) June 24, 2014

The New York Yankees have signed seventh round pick Mark Payton out of Texas and 12th rounder Chris Gittens out of Grayson County College. Payton signed for $45K which is $133.3K below slot, most of that money will go to Austin DeCarr. Gittens signed for $125K so because Gittens was technically above slot, all players signed after the 10th round are slotted at $100K, the Yankees will need to find an extra $25K laying around.

Payton is a small guy with no power and all speed and defense and is nothing more than an organizational prospect at this point in his career. Gittens is a big guy with great numbers but his conditioning is constantly being brought up as a concern. Both should be fun to watch this season and next.

2014 Yankees Draftees & Their Twitter Accounts

As you know we are big time Twitter freaks on this blog as well as self proclaimed prospect humpers so I get excited around this time every year. Not only do we get new prospects to love but we also get new people to add to the family and the Twitter list we keep on the site. Below is an incomplete and always changing list of Twitter accounts for the players the Yankees drafted in 2014:

(2)Jacob Lindgren - @JLindgren19
(3)Austin DeCarr - @RiDeCarr7
(4)Jordan Montgomery - @Gumbynation34
(5)Jordan Foley - @JFol12
(6)Jonathan Holder - @JHolder14
(7)Mark Payton - @MarkPayton2
(9)Vince Conde - @vince_VU3
(11) Matt Borens - @matteiu28
(12) Chris Gittens - @cgittensome
(13) Bo Thompson - @bobothompson
(14) Sean Carley - @SeanCarley23
(15) Andrew Chin - @Andrewchin8
(16) Derek Callahan - @Derek_Callahan
(17) Garrett Cave - @G_Cave19
(19) Joe Harvey - @44panther
(20) Corey Holmed - @fastball_14
(22) Jake Kelzer - @waken_Jake
(23) Will Toffey - @willtoffey
(27) Griff Gordon - @GGordon11
(29) Mariano Rivera - @marianojr4
(32) Jordan Ramsey - @Jramsey_11
(33) David Graybill - @DavidGraybill24
(34) Matt Wotherspoon - @mspoon11
(35) Christopher Hudgins - @huggie619
(36) Will Gaddis - @w_gad25
(37) Ryan Lindemuth - @rlindy05
(38) Andre Del Bosque - @adelb811
(39) Cameron Warren - @Cam_Warren24
(40) Madison Stokes - @madisonstokes1

Yankees 2014 Draft Picks Updated

Here is a list of who the New York Yankees have drafted through the first 10 rounds of the 2014 MLB Draft:

2nd Round - LHP Jacob Lindgren (Mississippi State)
3rd Round - RHP Austin DeCarr (Salisbury High School)
4th Round - LHP Jordan Montgomery (South Carolina)
5th Round - RHP Jordan Foley (Central Michigan)
6th Round - RHP Jonathan Holder (Mississippi State)
7th Round - CF Mark Payton (Texas)
8th Round - 1B Connor Spencer (University of California Irvine)
9th Round - SS Vince Conde (Vanderbilt)
10th Round - 2B Ty McFarland (James Madison University)