Yankees sign first round pick Heathcott

Lane Meyer at NoMaas is reporting that the Yankees have signed first round draft pick Slade Heathcott. Meyer spoke to Heathcott directly and was told that the bonus he received exceeds $2 million.

After the Yankees failed to sign last year's first round pick Gerrit Cole, this is certainly good news.

For more on Mr. Heathcott, here is his scouting report.

Update - 11:45 a.m.: Jim Callis (via River Ave. Blues) is reporting Heathcott's bonus was almost double the slot money MLB recommends.

First-round pick Cole chooses not to sign

The Yankees first-round draft pick Gerrit Cole has chosen to go to college instead of signing with the Yankees, according to Tyler Kepner.

According to a person involved in the negotiations, the Yankees have learned that Cole intends to go to college, no matter what they offer. The person was granted anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly before Friday’s deadline for teams to sign drafted players.

Cole is represented by the agent Scott Boras, who is known for asking for lucrative bonuses. But the Yankees have reached deals with first-round Boras clients the last two seasons, and the person said the failure to sign Cole had nothing to do with him.

Instead, Cole and his father had a change of heart and decided to go to college rather than negotiate with the Yankees.

“It was not a negotiating issue,” the person said. “It was not a number issue.”

The deadline for signing Cole is at noon today, so anything can happen between now and then. That said, things in the Yankees Universe have not been going well the last couple of years. This is just par for the course.

The Yankees will receive a compensatory pick in next year's draft if they are unable to sign Cole.

Yankees draft Gerrit Cole

The Yankees just drafted Gerrit Cole, a high schooler from California. Here's his scouting report from MLB.com:

Fastball:	Cole was throwing 95-98 mph early and settled in at 92-94 throughout his start.
Fastball movement:	He usually has plus arm-side sink and bore, though he was fairly straight in this outing.
Slider:	It's an average pitch now, which he throws 78-82 mph, but it projects as a plus pitch in the future. It has some depth coming from a 3/4 arm angle.
Changeup:	It's a little too firm at 79-80 mph, but he's got a good feel for it.
Control:	He's an above-average strike-thrower for a high schooler, letting his stuff work for him in the zone.
Poise:	His makeup on the field can be an issue, as he gets animated with umpires and teammates at times.
Physical Description:	Cole is a projectable high school right-hander who compares a bit to Kyle Farnsworth.
Medical Update:	Healthy.
Strengths:	His projectability and his stuff, with the ability to throw three average to plus pitches, and to throw them for strikes.
Weaknesses:	He has some mechanical issues with his delivery, with an arc in the back and a tendency to throw across his body; he gets too emotional on the mound.
Summary:	A projectable high school right-hander with the capability already to throw a fastball up into the upper 90s is bound to garner interest. Throw in a future plus slider and a changeup, all for which he can throw for strikes, and it's no wonder Cole is considered one of the top prep pitchers in the class. He's going to have to work out some kinks in his delivery and he's got Scott Boras as an advisor, but neither of those issues should keep him from being drafted early.

The Yankees love Californian pitchers I guess (Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy).