SIGNING AARON JUDGE & THINKING ABOUT ROB KAMINSKY

Newly drafted Aaron Judge is confident the Yankees will sign him soon.  That information comes from MLB.com's Bryan Hoch on Twitter, here:

Aaron Judge, one of the Yankees' first-round Draft picks, says he is "real confident" that he'll be signing soon. Took BP with team today.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) June 12, 2013

There's no question, Judge is a monster and could be a key future star with the Yankees in a center field that has had names like Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Bernie Williams running around in it.  But as I reflected on the draft, I started to think about that kid from St. Joseph's... Rob Kaminsky.

 I was sure the Yankees had Rob Kaminsky in the bag on draft night. Not only that, I was 100% positive!  The stage was set and Kaminsky was still available by the 26th pick of the first round.  Then, the Yankees chose a third baseman... Eric Jagielo and NOT Rob Kaminsky.  2 picks later, he went to the Cardinals.

Why? What was the thinking? I guess from an average fan's perspective, you could sit here and argue that the Yankees have way too many lefty pitchers and we just didn’t need him, but I say quite simply, Kaminsky is something special, why pass him up?  I wrote about Kaminsky in ROB KAMINSKY: THE NEXT BIG THING SHOULD BE BRONX BOUND.  I’ve seen this guy pitch and I haven’t seen a kid pitch quite like this in a long time.  He’s a true talent, a southpaw and what really got me was something I read in the Bergen Record shortly after Kaminsky was drafted by the Cardinals. "...Kaminsky’s family seemed to be a little disappointed when the Yankees did not take him with the 26th pick, but they burst into cheers about 10 minutes later when Kaminsky’s name was announced by commissioner Bud Selig."  Read HERE. Did you ever think something was sure thing and then it wasn't? The Kaminsky family was probably as shocked as I was.

Anyway, that was enough for me.  If you knew this kid liked the Yankees, it would have been a perfect fit.  Unless the Yankee brass just thought their needs were different.  Hey, nothing against Eric Jagielo, I am happy to have him, but Kaminsky is Jersey bred and I’m much closer to that scenario and to be honest, I’m disappointed we didn’t sign this kid.   I would have loved to have seen him in pinstripes.

Sure, "liking a team" and "wanted to pitch for a team" when you're just a draft pick doesn’t mean a thing, I get that. Look at Ian Clarkin who made it clear that he was not a Yankee fan, neither was his father, but they can learn to love us.  OK, well, I guess if a team invests in you, you turn the other cheek, but it sets a bad tone for Yankee fans. Meanwhile, there's Kaminsky willing an able to button up a Yankee jersey,  that's all I'm saying.  And again, nothing against Clarkin either, I look forward to seeing this kid perform, but the chain of events and comments he made after being drafted were way too honest. This kid needs a PR firm investing in him. Meanwhile, he's apologized and Bleeding Yankee Blue has forgiven him, read HERE.

The Yankees got good players in in the draft. Aaron Judge is going to be an animal!  He’s 6’ 7”, 255 pounds and an absolute monster.  We wanted Giancarlo Stanton this off-season, right? Well, now we have him in Aaron Judge.

But I will be puzzled on passing on Rob Kaminsky and will be for a while. Sure, I’ll get over it, after all, he went to the St. Louis Cardinals, a great team, a great history and they truly work with their pitching and really develop them. There is no doubt Kaminsky is in a great place, a great city… but I just wonder… Why? The Yankees had Kaminsky right in front of them, and didn’t bite.

Hey, that’s just me thinking out loud now...carry on.

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