For the New York Yankees, their recent luck with supplemental first-round picks in the Major League Baseball draft has been hit or miss. Mostly miss.
But using that opportunity to select an outfielder worked out pretty well before. Perhaps it will again.
The 2025 MLB Draft will be held Sunday and Monday in Atlanta as part of the All-Star Week festivities. As one of the MLB teams penalized for exceeding the Competitive Balance Tax threshold, the Yankees’ first pick was moved down 10 slots, pushing it out of the first round. They will now pick at the end of Competitive Balance Round A, with the 39th overall pick.
During the three previous drafts in which the Yankees’ first player taken was with a supplemental pick, they selected T.J. Sikkema (2019), Kyle Holder (2015) and Ian Clarkin (2013). Not exactly household names.
But one pick before taking Clarkin, New York used a supplemental pick on someone named Aaron Judge. No complaints there.
For this year’s draft, Baseball America’s latest mock projects the Yankees to select Arizona State outfielder Brandon Compton with their competitive balance round pick, which would add yet another power bat to the system.
And make no mistake, power is the operative word when it comes to Compton.
Brandon Compton put on Ridiculous Power Display at MLB Draft Combine
If Compton’s name didn’t ring out nationally during the college season, it sure did at the MLB Draft Combine, which was held June 17-21 at Chase Field in Phoenix. That’s where the 21-year-old turned heads by breaking the event’s exit velocity record, sending balls screaming off his bat at over 116 mph — the highest mark since the Combine started recording the metric.
Compton, who grew up less than an hour away from the Diamondbacks’ home stadium and regularly attended games there, hit one blast that left his bat at 116.9 mph, the highest mark recorded since the Combine began in 2021. He also generated exit velocities of 116.6. and 116.4, and he now owns five of the top seven marks in the event’s history.
In all, the 225-pound left-hander launched four shots over 400 feet, including a 441-foot bomb, dazzling some of the other players in his hitting group.
“That dude is yoked,” said fellow 2025 draftee Anthony Pack, a high school outfielder from California. “A lot of these guys are out here trying to improve their Draft stock and he certainly did that.”
Baseball America, who had ranked Compton at No. 42, noted the “eye-opening effort” the slugger made, and the impact he had on MLB scouts.
“He’s a broad-shouldered lefthanded hitter with plenty of strength, obvious bat speed and an uphill path that’s geared to launch balls in the air,“ Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo wrote. “If the sound of the bat and the sight of balls flying into the right field stands weren’t enough, the batted ball data paints a strong image, too.”
Brandon Compton Was Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2024
Compton had made a bit of a name for himself prior to the Combine. As a freshman at Arizona State in 2024, he was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year award after leading all conference freshmen with 14 home runs, 16 doubles, 51 RBIs, a .354 batting average, a .661 slugging percentage, a .427 on-base percentage, and a 1.088 OPS.
“I feel like I did a really good job, but I can be more consistent and more mentally sharp,” Compton said.
He had a dip in production as a sophomore but still slashed .271/.379/.486, with nine home runs and 54 RBIs. A post-Combine profile by Prospects Live cited Compton’s success in the Cape Cod League to suggest that “a wood bat might just be best for him.”
“Compton has mastered a lift and pull approach, terrorizing the right field seats and the nearby pool at Chase Field. … After today’s performance, I’d expect Compton to work his way into comp round conversations while being a round 2 lock for a team that could use a collegiate hitter.”
If Compton is there at 39, don’t be surprised if New York turns in the card. After all, who wouldn’t want a big fly-hitting outfielder with a supplemental pick?
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