Step back from the ledge, everybody. It’s not that bad. The Yankees 2010 draft will not encompass only one player, so there’s still a lot to be seen before trying to analyze the Yank’s strategy and how well they implemented it. Just a couple of points about the comments I’ve been seeing…

To anyone who wants to compare CJ Henry and Cito Culver: they’re not that similar. Sure, they’re both 1st-round high school shortstops, but they’re not nearly identical in skill sets. If they were, that would then have to be considered a coup for the Yankees. Remember that Henry was Baseball America’s 20th ranked prospect in 2005. Sure, he didn’t work out. Does that mean you stop drafting athletic, toolsy, up-the-middle defenders in the first round? Definitely not. Don’t write the kid off just because a scouting service wasn’t high on him, or because CJ Henry flamed out of the league.

Next, who is to say that Culver would have been around for the Yankees’ 2nd round pick? No one can predict exactly what other teams are thinking. Do you want to miss out on a guy you really like by trying to see how late you can get him? It’s a battle for the people making these draft choices, and they decided that there was too much that could happen in the 50 picks between their selections. We’ll never know if they could have selected him later, but we do know that they ended up with the player they wanted, and that has to be considered a good thing.

One thing that you have to respect about the Yankees is that they don’t care how their picks are going to be received. They draft the players they value the most. Two years ago, Austin Romine was a relatively unheralded pick in the 2nd round and now he’s one of the systems’ top prospects. Just last year, fellow 2nd rounder JR Murphy had little fanfare going into the draft. Now, he’s a 19 year old starting catcher playing full-season baseball with one of the best swings in the organization.

At the time, these guys could have been considered “overdrafts”, but the Yankees have probably the most information on Cito Culver of any baseball front office, scouting agency, or otherwise.

I’m not telling you to love the pick, but broad proclamations like “The Yankees don’t know what they’re doing,” are unwarranted. Similar comments about other teams “out-drafting” the Yankees are purely reactionary when there are many more rounds left in this thing. Take a minute, get some perspective on the Cito Culver pick and, despite whatever you may think of it, let’s agree on one thing: to support a local kid who’s just had his dream come true.