The Major League Baseball draft is an unpredictable animal: For all the resources poured into scouting, it’s really anybody’s guess as to who will develop into the next Derek Jeter, and who will become the next Brien Taylor. (Critiquing the picks is even harder, because unlike the NBA or NFL drafts, few people have ever heard of the vast majority of these guys.) So who did the Mets and Yankees select last night with their first picks? A look, after the jump.
With the seventh overall pick, the Mets took North Carolina’s Matt Harvey, a six-foot-four pitcher with a reputation as something of a workhorse: In a game against Clemson this year, he threw 157 pitches. The Mystic, Connecticut, native — he grew up rooting for the Yankees and Patriots — has been compared to Mike Pelfrey, another Mets first-rounder (as well as a fellow Scott Boras client), and was the fourth pitcher taken in the first seven spots. Baseball America says he’s got the power slider and control to potentially become a front-of-the-rotation starter, for what it’s worth.
The Yankees, meanwhile, took switch-hitting shortstop Chris “Cito” Culver from upstate’s Irondequoit High School with the 32nd overall pick. His best asset is his strong throwing arm — he also pitched at Irondequoit — and though Baseball America rated him as the third-best prospect in New York, he was ranked 168th overall and was projected to go somewhere in the fourth-to-sixth-round range. (See criticisms of the pick here and here.) Oh, and he’s committed to play for the University of Maryland, so signing him might be difficult.