Were you aware that the Boston Red Sox select one pick ahead of the New York Yankees in the 2022 MLB Draft? That fact was likely somewhere in the recesses of your mind, and makes total sense considering the Sox eliminated the Yankees in a one-gamer after the two sides ended up tied, but … still, very frustrating to realize all over again!
That means this season, and in the many years to come, there will be a direct link between the two prospects taken 24th and 25th overall, especially because most prospectors believe both teams will be targeting college bats.
Will the Sox swipe a Yankees target right out from under them? Will the Bombers accidentally end up with the better player after having to survive Boston’s onslaught? Based on two decades of history, the answers to those questions are probably “Yes” and “Unlikely,” but a blog can dream.
This neck-and-neck scouting challenge will certainly imbue the 2022 Draft with a new layer of intrigue, which is usually hard to manufacture when you and your rival are both good/selecting deep into the first round. But hey! This is Mike Trout territory! Anything can happen!
If you watched one second of college baseball this season, you probably encountered the brash, cocky and talented Tennessee Volunteers (No. 1 team in the nation, until they lost in the Super Regionals) and thought, “Wow, any of these certified A-holes would be a perfect Boston Red Sox.”
MLB Pipeline agrees, based on their latest mock draft that has Boston swiping outfielder Drew Gilbert one pick ahead of the Bombers. You may remember Gilbert from getting ejected mid-at-bat last week in the tournament against Notre Dame.
Yankees take Florida outfielder in MLB.com Mock Draft
Earlier mock drafts had the Yankees flitting around LSU’s Jacob Berry, but the discourse has evolved since then. The Yanks still seem very interested in advanced collegiate bats, but Berry’s on Helium Alert, mocked to the Rockies at No. 10 in Pipeline’s latest efforts.
Instead, the MLB experts have the Yankees opting for Florida outfielder Sterlin Thompson at pick No. 25, hardly a stretch considering MLB Pipeline ranks him 27th overall on the big board. Fans of the College World Series are likely to fall either in or out of love with Stanford center fielder Brock Jones in the coming days, which could also dictate how they’d react to the Yanks (again, theoretically) passing on him at 25 only to watch him go to the White Sox one selection later, as Pipeline projects.
Thompson, a versatile lefty batter who can cover right, center and second base, triple-slashed .354/.443/.563 this season in 66 games with the Gators. Meanwhile Gilbert, shown absolutely dripping with eye black in the cover image, slashed .362/.455/.673 in 58 games this season, while his emotions made a tremendous impact on the collegiate landscape as a whole.
No, he’s not the Vol who dropped the middle finger; that was fellow first-round talent Jordan Beck, who’d also be a “great” fit in Boston. Gilbert seems like Thompson with an edge, so it’d be only fitting that the Sox would grab the emotional one, while the Yankees would be left with the rock steady option.