A decade of Yankee first round picks

We all remember the days when the Yankee farm system was a complete joke. The Yankees always drafted badly and when they did have a good prospect, they traded him for a veteran. But, the Yankee farm system has turned around the last few years, starting with Phil Hughes being drafted in 2004. Let's look at the Yankee 1st round picks since 2000 to see if the Yankees have improved, at least in terms of their first round picks.

In 2000, the Yankees drafted catcher David Parrish with the 28th pick in the draft. The Yankees also drafted him in the 10th round in 1997, but he didn't sign. Parrish had the potential to be a great defensive catcher. He threw out 30% of attempted base stealers his first 3 years in the minors. But, he made too many errors behind the plate, and never hit above .253 any of his years in the minors for the Yankees. He ended being a journeyman minor leaguer who never made the majors. Grade: F

With the 23rd pick in 2001, the Yankees selected Florida State outfielder John-Ford Griffin (no, his name is not a typo). At Short Season-A Staten Island in '01, he had a great season, hitting .311 with 17 doubles, 5 homers, 43 RBI, 10 SB, and a .413 OBP in 66 games. But, he was lost in the outfield, posting a .943 Fld%. In '02, he hit .267 with 16 doubles, 3 homers, 31 RBI, and a .344 OBP in 65 games for High-A Tampa before being promoted to Double-A Norwich. He hit .328 for Norwich with 3 doubles, 5 homers, 10 RBI, and a .400 OBP in 18 games. With his trade value at its absolute highest, the Yankees traded him to the A's as part of the blockbuster 3-team deal that sent Ted Lilly to Oakland, Carlos Pena to Detroit, Jeff Weaver to the Yankees, and Jeremy Bonderman to the Tigers. After hitting just .143 in 2 games for Double-A Midland, Oakland traded him to the Blue Jays for a player to be named (Jason Perry). He never hit .280 in any of his years in the Toronto, but he hit 13 homers in '03, 22 homers in '04, and 30 homers in '05. He made his major league debut in '05 for Toronto, hitting .308 with 1 homer and 6 RBI in 7 games. He also played in the majors for Toronto in '07, hitting .300 with 1 homer and 3 RBI in 6 games. Griffin played in the minors for the Dodgers and Cubs to finish off his career. He was pretty much a journeyman minor leaguer who had a couple of "cups of coffee" in the big leagues. But, he did have a role in the Jeff Weaver trade. Grade: D+

The Yankees had no 1st round pick in '02. In the 2nd round, they drafted RHP Brandon Weeden. He went 2-1 with a 2.86 ERA and 30 K's 7 starts, 4 relief appearances, and 34.2 IP in '02 for the Rookie ball Gulf Coast League Yankees. In '03, he went 2-2 with a 2.58 ERA and 31 K's in 9 starts and 3 relief appearances for the Rookie ball Gulf Coast League Yankees and the Short Season-A Staten Island Yankees. He was promptly traded to the Dodgers in the Kevin Brown deal. After posting ERA's of 5.39 and 5.70 at Low-A Columbus for LA, he was a Rule 5 draft pick (Triple-A portion) by the Royals and he posted a 6.03 ERA for them. Weeden went back to school, going to Oklahoma State University. He is now in position to be their starting quarterback this upcoming season, after starting QB Zac Robinson was drafted by the New England Patriots. Weeden did pretty well in the low levels of the minors for the Yankees and served a role in the Brown trade before completely falling apart. Grade: C-

There was a point when it seemed that 2003 first round pick Eric Duncan was going to be a star. Duncan, a 3rd baseman and the 27th overall pick in the '03 draft, hit .301 between the GCL and Staten Island Yanks in '03, with 17 doubles, 4 homers, 41 RBI, 6 triples, and a .364 OBP in 61 games. He then took his power up a notch in '04 between Low-A Battle Creek and High-A Tampa, hitting just .258, but with 43 doubles, 16 homers, 83 RBI, 75 runs, and a .357 OBP in 129 games. Duncan never hit that well again, and was stuck behind some guy named Alex Rodriguez at 3rd base. He was moved to 1st base in '06, but never hit well enough to be called up when Jason Giambi was injured. Duncan is hitting .285 right now as a Double-A utilityman for the Braves, but with just 4 homers. Duncan started off strong, but just completely fell apart. Grade: D

In 2004, the change started. The Yankees drafted some guy named Phil Hughes with the 23rd pick in the draft, who is 11-3 with a 3.99 ERA for the Yankees so far in '10. He struggled in '08 to the tune of a 6.62 ERA, but got back on track in '09 as a reliever and now is a pretty good starter. Grade: A

2005 first rounder (17th overall) C.J. Henry, a SS, never hit over .250 any year in the minors, although he was part of the Bobby Abreu trade. He is now a guard on the Kansas Jayhawks basketball team. At least he was part of that trade. Grade: D+

In 2006, the Yankees drafted RHP Ian Kennedy with the 21st overall pick in the draft. Kennedy never had an ERA over 2.22 any year in the minors, but he posted a 6.03 ERA for the Yankees, including an 8.17 ERA in '08. He was part of the Curtis Granderson. Kennedy was a decent pick, but he certainly didn't live up to expectations. Grade: B

In 2007, the Yankees drafted RHP Andrew Brackman with the 30th overall pick. He immediately had Tommy John surgery after he was drafted, and didn't make his minor league debut until 2009. He went 2-12 with a 5.91 ERA in '09, but he has rebounded from a terrible start in '10 (13.50 ERA after 2 starts) to post a 4.94 ERA between High-A and Double-A. He still has a shot to make an impact in the future for the Yankees. Grade: B

In 2008, the Yankees drafted high school RHP Gerrit Cole. Cole didn't sign, and went to UCLA. After going 11-4 with a 3.37 ERA in '09 for the Bruins, he could be the number 1 pick in the 2011 MLB draft. The Yanks picked a great talent, but this was a terrible pick because they couldn't sign him. Grade: F+ (the plus is for effort)

In 2009, the Yankees drafted 5-tool OF Slade Heathcott with the 29th overall pick in the draft. He is hitting .277 with 5 doubles, 1 homer, 13 RBI, 8 SB, 19 runs, and a .351 OBP in 34 games. He hasn't done very well so far, but its hard to tell how good a player is through 37 pro games. At least he's stealing bases. Grade: ?

In 2010, the Yankees drafted high school SS Cito Culver with the 30th overall pick in the draft. Culver is the heir-apparent to Derek Jeter. After signing quickly, he is hitting .237 for the Rookie ball GCL Yankees with 3 doubles, 0 homers, 6 RBI, 1 triple, 1 SB, 8 runs, and a .310 OBP in 21 games. Definitely too early to tell for him. Grade: ?

The Yankees have improved in terms of drafting their first round picks. Their top picks from 2000-2003 were complete disaster, while 3 out of their 5 1st round picks from 2004-2008 were at least decent picks, and Cole would have been a great pick if they signed him. Their 1st rounders in 2009 and 2010 both have potential.