We are now just a few days out from the start of the 2025 MLB Draft. Both here at Pinstripe Alley and around the media, you’ll fine plenty of analysis and mock drafts projecting who the Yankees and the rest of the teams will be selecting, and how those players could pan out in the future.
This is not that. Instead, we’re going to be taking a look at the history of the 39th and 103rd overall picks, the Yankees’ first two available slots in 2025 (due to some tax and free-agent signing penalties), and looking back at who has managed to make something from those slots over the years. Those two picks aren’t going to have the hype or pedigree that come with an early selection, but it’s definitely still possible to get some talent from those picks. Let’s see what history can tell us.
Starting with the 39th overall pick, we can find one immediate example that you still can get a literal all-time great talent there, albeit with a large caveat. In 1982, the San Francisco Giants selected none other than Barry Bonds with the 39th pick, which was the 11th selection of the second round that year. Despite the steroid allegations, Bonds is an all-time great player, as he holds the career home run record and trails only Babe Ruth on the FanGraphs WAR career leaderboard.
However, we do have to note that Bonds did not sign with the Giants after being picked there. In 1982, he was picked out of high school, and he instead attended Arizona State when the Giants wouldn’t offer him an additional $5,000. Bonds later improved to the No. 6 overall pick in 1985, when he then signed with the Pirates; San Francisco would have to wait several more years for its next shot at signing Willie Mays’ godson, this time in free agency.
Photo credit should read DENIS POROY/AFP via Getty Images
There is a bit of a drop-off after Bonds, but there are still some pretty good MLB players. Sorting by Baseball Reference WAR, the recently-retired Lance Lynn (30.0 bWAR) is the next best career of anyone picked there. Taken by St. Louis out of the University of Mississippi, Lynn’s Yankee stint didn’t go ideally, but he had a very nice career. While he’ll probably end up most remembered for his time with the Cardinals, he was one of the best pitchers in baseball from 2019-21, finishing top six in Cy Young voting in all three seasons.
Another player who had a nice overall career, just not with the Yankees, was selected 39th in masher Joey Gallo — 15.6 bWAR. Just ahead of him and behind Lynn is another slugger in Don Baylor, who was AL MVP in 1979 and put up 28.5 career bWAR.
The Yankees have held the 39th overall pick twice in their history, selecting Oklahoma high school shortstop Danny Thompson in 1965, although he didn’t sign, and Oral Roberts University outfielder Keith Miller in 1984. Miller did sign with the team, although his contract was voided following the discovery of a knee injury after the fact. Miller later signed with and made the majors with the Mets, ultimately playing nine years for various teams as a utilityman.
Among recent picks, 2022’s No. 39 Robby Snelling was considered a Top 100 prospect in baseball as recently as 2024. The 21-year-old is still considering among the best in the Marlins’ organization.
The 103rd overall pick doesn’t have quite as rich a history, with the best player according to bWAR being a Yankees’ selection: righty pitcher Eric Plunk in 1981, who put up 13.5 career bWAR and was twice involved in trades with the A’s for Rickey Henderson. The Yankees have selected at that slot a couple other times in history, but no others have made the majors. The most recent instance was Michael O’Neill, nephew of Paul, in 2013. A University of Michigan product, the younger O’Neill played seven seasons in the minors (four with New York) but never made the majors.
The most notable recent selection at No. 103 was Coby Mayo, currently of the Orioles. While the former prep standout hasn’t quite managed to crack it at the big league level yet, Mayo is still considered a blue-chip prospect at age-23, having being a consensus top 30 prospect ahead of this season, with MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus both ranking him No. 14 in all of baseball.
Of course, if you look at the history of those picks, you’ll find the vast majority of players either didn’t make the majors or didn’t have that big an impact upon reaching them. That’s the reality for pretty much every MLB Draft pick, but there will still be some good gambles to be made this Sunday.