The 2020 MLB Draft is one perhaps unlike any other, shortened to just five rounds as the uncertainty of the status of baseball continues amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
That doesn’t take anything away, though, from the experience of Austin Wells, who was selected No. 28 overall by the Yankees just after 10 p.m. on Wednesday night.
“It was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in my life. Pure joy and excitement,” Wells said on an introductory conference call with the New York media on Thursday. “I think it was just an amazing feeling, and an amazing opportunity as well.”
Instead of being at the University of Arizona, or perhaps even in the green room at the MLB Network studios in Secaucus, N.J., Wells was at home in Las Vegas with his family and a handful of friends. Surely, social distancing went out the window when Wells’ name was officially called, although he had a feeling it would be at some point on Wednesday night.
“I had a good range of where I felt I was going, in the back half of the first round, and I’m super pumped it was the Yankees,” he said. “I think from hearing things around, I knew they were definitely a team heavily considering me, and to go to them was a surreal moment for sure.”
Wells, who will be represented by Boras Corp., hopes to sign with the Yankees relatively quickly – as he quipped in the call, “I’ll just hit home runs in Yankee Stadium and play wherever they want me.” The fact that it was the Yankees who called his name, though, helped make a potentially tough decision easier: given the state of baseball, should he go back to school for his junior year, or indeed come out as a draft-eligible sophomore?
“Honestly, it was up to where I got drafted, and by who,” he said. “(The uncertainty of a minor-league season) wasn’t the decision maker; I just think it was the best fit for me to move on and go forward, and now be a Yankee, and I’m ready to get going.”
That might not be the case for a lot of friends, teammates, or even his brother, Carson, an outfielder who just graduated from high school may not have the late-round chance to make the decision between the pros and his commitment to USC.
“Yeah, I think (the shortened draft and cap on undrafted free agent bonuses) will impact a lot of people I know. Some guys will still be taken, but there will be a lot of players who don’t get drafted,” Wells said. “My brother just graduated and didn’t get to play his senior year, so you never know what could’ve happened there. He could’ve been a Yankees draftee too, you never know.”
Austin knows something about both this draft and a “normal” one, as he was a 35th-round pick of the Yankees out of high school two years ago. Selections like his don’t necessarily often pan out in the short-term, but as he proves, it can build a relationship that goes a long way and can eventually bear fruit.
“We’ve always had a very good relationship with the Yankees, and leading up to yesterday, we’ve had a lot of great conversations,” Wells said. “When the Yankees drafted me (in 2018), I had a good feeling that I wanted to go to college, and honor my commitment to play for Coach Johnson at Arizona. To be able to do that and then to be picked much higher by the Yankees again, it’s a testament that I made the right decision.”
The college numbers speak for themselves, and while the two-year gap and more than 1,000-slot jump in draft order will hurt the Yankees’ wallet so to speak, it also gives them a higher-quality product.
“Honestly, (going to college) was the best decision I ever made; I grew as a player, grew as a leader, and grew as a person on and off the field,” Wells said. “I got bigger, stronger, and faster, and developed into who I am now because I went.”
Wells hasn’t heard any scuttlebutt from the Yankees about what the plan might be if and when he does sign, as there may be no minor-league season even if MLB resumes. He played his last game with Arizona on March 8, and noted that this three-month “break” since that final outing has been the longest he’s gone without baseball is perhaps his entire life.
He’ll be ready whenever and wherever he goes, though.
“I have been trying to stay in shape; I’ve been running, lifting, and throwing, and working on my hitting and defense,” he said. “That’s kind of helped keep me sane during this tough time, and I’m trying to stay ready whenever the next opportunity to play comes. I don’t think it will take too long for me to adjust.”
And he’s already proven to be media-savvy, judging by this answer when asked why he declined to conduct any pre-draft interviews.
“I don’t think that me doing any interviews before the draft was going to do anything but hurt me,” he said. “Anything I said wasn’t going to make a team pick my any higher. I was in a positon where I just wanted to focus on the draft, and felt putting myself out there would only hurt.”