Friday marked the 20th anniversary of the Yankees selection of Derek Jeter with the sixth pick in the 1992 draft. But even Jeter, who has gone on to become one of the signature players in franchise history, didn’t debut in The Bronx until late in 1995.
It’s just another reminder that unlike the NFL and NBA Drafts, where players immediately can have a huge impact on their franchise, the MLB Draft is all about projection and potential.
The Yankees most recent first-rounder to make the majors is 2007 pick Andrew Brackman, with Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain from the year before the most recent ones to make any kind of impact. The Mets, on the other hand, have just one first-rounder, Ike Davis in 2008, who has had more than a cup of coffee in the big leagues since 2005 first-rounder Mike Pelfrey.
In short, the Mets and Yankees won’t be heading into this year’s draft, which begins Monday night at 7 p.m., looking for players to help them down the stretch this season. Instead, they will be looking to help lay the foundation for what they hope will be championship-contending teams towards the end of the decade.
With that in mind, here’s a look at some of the players that have been linked to both teams in various mock drafts over the past several weeks:
METS
For the third straight season, the Mets will pick in the top half of the first round. After taking North Carolina right-hander Matt Harvey seventh overall in 2010 and Wyoming high school outfielder Brandon Nimmo with the 13th pick last year, the Mets enter this year’s draft with the 12th overall selection, and have been linked to several different players.
Many of the players the Mets have been linked to are, like Nimmo, high school prospects. The player most often linked to the Mets over the past month has been Gavin Cecchini, a shortstop from Barbe High School in Lake Charles, La. Cecchini, whose older brother, Garin, was a fourth- round pick by the Red Sox in 2009, is ranked as the 16th-best prospect in the class by Baseball America.
He is far from the only player linked to them, though. Some others including California high school product Max Fried, the top left-handed pitcher in the draft, according to Baseball America, Michael Wacha, a right-hander from Texas A&M and Baseball America’s eighth overall prospect, and David Dahl, a Florida high school outfielder and the 12th overall prospect according to Baseball America.
YANKEES
Trying to determine where the Yankees will go with their pick — No. 30 overall — is much more of a guessing game, given all of the different things that can happen as a draft plays out.
But there still are several players that have seen their names linked to the Yankees in recent weeks. One of the most interesting is Mitchell Gueller, a two-way high school prospect from Washington that most teams prefer as a starting pitcher. Gueller is ranked just 107th overall by Baseball America, but has been linked to the Yankees several times recently.
Some other players projected to go to the Yankees include Georgia high school right-hander Duane Underwood, ranked 104th by Baseball America, Addison Russell, a Florida high school shortstop ranked 28th by Baseball America, and Tyler Naquin, an outfielder from Texas A&M and Baseball America’s 25th-ranked prospect.
tbontemps@nypost.com
