Brandon Laird was drafted in the 27^th round of the 2007 draft out of Cypress College. As you can see, Laird has been going in reverse in some respects for the past 3 seasons. His biggest and best attribute is his ability to hit for power. His fielding is not an attractive part of his game however his total zone ratings have consistently marked him as average at 1^st and 3^rd base through his career. Laird has a trademark for getting off to bad starts as it has consistently plagued him. He’s admitted to putting undue pressure on himself to produce, especially early in the year since he’s familiar with his struggles. He also had a fairly good trip to the AFL this year, leading to this note from ESPN’s draft guru, Jason Grey:

One position player I hadn't mentioned, but should, is another Yankee, corner infielder Brandon Laird, who has had a big AFL campaign and shows good power potential. He didn't light up the Florida State League this season, but at least set himself up as someone to watch, as we see how well he can pass the Double-A test next year.

And that's exactly how you should feel about Laird entering 2010. The power is a real feature with him but unfortunately, there’s a lot of other stuff missing. The defensive improvements are nice to read about along with the requisite slimming down, but Laird is unlikely to develop into someone who can play 3^rd base every day. Additionally, you’d like to see him take some more walks and develop his plate discipline. His advancement will be almost completely dependent on his hitting ability- Trenton should prove a daunting task.

Deangelo Mack:

Deangelo Mack was the Yankees 13^th round choice in the 2009 draft from the University of South Carolina. Mack’s a bit of an undersized corner outfielder and his status as a prospect is hurt by the lack of ceiling he has while entrenched there. The problem lies in his speed. Mack is simply not fast enough right now to play CF. If he were able to develop an ability to play CF however, his stock would improve quite a bit. Mack has surprising power and was actually 6^th in the New York Penn league in wOBA in 2009 (second on the Yankees behind Neil Medchill). He’s got mostly gap power and can hit to all fields very well. Mack knows where he stands however and has vowed to improve his speed this offseason, citing it as his biggest flaw as an outfielder right now. Any shot he has to really jump onto the map would be predicated on his ability to play all 3 outfield positions. I would expect to see Mack start 2010 in Charleston with a trip to Tampa should everything go well enough.

Kevin Mahoney:

Kevin Mahoney was the Yankees 23^rd round pick in the 2009 draft from Canisius College in New York. The native New Yorker struggled in his debut in the GCL with K’s. The 36% is really eye popping but Mahoney’s previous track record indicates it may be a little bit flukey. His college career had a nice balance of BB/K (almost completely even throughout it in fact) and he’s got average power as well. But Mahoney’s biggest skill and the reason he’s drawn the most attention is because of his defense. He’s an extremely polished defender, one that doesn’t have any weaknesses at third base. He does have enough potential power to stay at 3^rd base however the Yankees are discussing moving him to 2^nd to maximize his potential. They believe he’s more than capable of making the switch defensively. He’ll likely start in Charleston where the Yankees will try him out at 2^nd base along with 3^rd. If Mahoney can improve his contact skills as well as tap into some of that power potential, along with his terrific make up, he could be a very interesting prospect to watch.

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