The Yankees dealt three arms to the Boston Red Sox for Alex Verdugo on Tuesday night, and while awaiting more arms likely going in a Juan Soto deal, the Rule 5 Draft struck another huge blow to their depth – with the Bombers losing three arms in the Major League phase and seven players overall.
The Yankees did not make a pick in the Major League phase, but saw themselves go two down right away, as the A’s selected RHP Mitch Spence with the No. 1 pick, and the Royals followed by adding RHP Matt Sauer, the No. 25 prospect in the organization per MLB.com, at No. 2.
Later in the round, the Rangers nabbed RHP Carson Coleman, purging three total names from the Bombers’ upper-level pitching depth.
Spence, 25, was a 10th-round pick in 2019 and spent 2023 at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, going 8-8 with a 4.47 ERA in a Yankees system-high 163 innings and 153 strikeouts against 53 walks.
Sauer, 24, was the Yankees’ second-round pick in 2017 and has battled injuries throughout his career. He pitched at three levels last season, making three rehab starts in the lower minors before posting a 3.56 ERA and 83 K’s in 68 1/3 innings at Double-A Somerset.
Coleman, 25, was a 33rd-round pick in 2019 and had a 2.13 ERA in 63 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A in 2022, but missed all of 2023 due to injury.
Spence and Sauer were penciled in as top depth options for the Yankees at Triple-A this season, while Coleman could have been a potential option for the RailRiders’ bullpen.
In the minor-league phase, the Yankees selected ex-Rockies RHP Gabriel Barbosa and ex-Astros RHP Kervin Castro in the first two rounds, but lost four more players: 1B Eric Wagaman (Angels), C/1B Mickey Gasper (Red Sox), and RHP Michael Gomez (Rays) in Round 1, and 3B Marcos Cabrera (Pirates) in Round 3.
