NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Yankees’ non-roster pitching depth took a hit in Wednesday’s Rule 5 draft.
A trio of right-handers that the Yankees left unprotected were scooped up by other teams during the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft, including the top two selections on a day when 10 players were taken overall.
The Athletics drafted Mitch Spence with the first pick before the Royals nabbed Matt Sauer with the second pick.
The Rangers later selected Carson Coleman with the 23rd pick.
Spence, 25, spent this year at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, posting a 4.47 ERA across a minor-league high 163 innings. Sauer, 24, was the Yankees’ second-round pick in 2017 but his development has been slowed by injuries, pitching to a 3.42 ERA across 68 ⅓ innings at Double-A Somerset this year. And Coleman, a 25-year-old reliever, missed all of 2023 after undergoing elbow surgery.
Spence, Sauer and Coleman — all of whom were left off the Yankees’ 40-man roster before last month’s deadline — will have to spend all of 2024 on their new team’s major league roster, or else they will be offered back to the Yankees for $50,000.
The Yankees’ biggest losses in recent Rule 5 drafts include Garrett Whitlock to the Red Sox and Trevor Stephan to the Guardians.
The Yankees had stockpiled solid upper-level pitching depth, but some of it is on the move this week.
Besides the three pitchers lost in the Rule 5 draft, they traded Richard Fitts to the Red Sox as part of a package for Alex Verdugo and could deal Michael King, Drew Thorpe and other arms to the Padres for Juan Soto in a blockbuster that was gaining momentum on Wednesday.
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