MLB Draft 2021: Yankees select Trey Sweeney 20th overall

The Yankees went against expectations and took a shortstop with their top pick.

The Yankees had the 20th overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, and the first round held more than its share of surprises as the selections began on Sunday night. Louisville catcher Henry Davis was a player who essentially no one had No. 1 overall, and yet that’s exactly where he went. Off went Jack Leiter to Texas, Marcelo Mayer to Boston (gulp), Kumar Rocker to the Mets, and a bevy of pitching options previously connected to New York (Gunnar Hoglund, Will Bednar, and Andrew Painter) to other teams.

Ultimately, the Yankees decided to go with a position player rather than a pitcher, drafting shortstop Trey Sweeney out of Eastern Illinois University. The 6-foot-4 infielder seems like a good bet to eventually move over a few steps to third base (where MLB.com says he “profiles well”), but there’s reason to be optimistic about his hitting ability. In 48 games at EIU in 2021, Sweeney hit .382/.522/.712 with 14 homers and a 1.234 OPS, earning an award as the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year.


[www.pinstripealley.com]