Back in June, we highlighted the Yankees’ spotty track record when it came to first round picks in recent years. Yet, as we noted then, the Yankees always pick towards the end of the first round when all the elite talents are gone and the draft is, according to Mark Newman, a “crapshoot” anyway.

However, when the Yankees selected high school shortstop Cito Culver in the 2010 draft, many amateur baseball pundits were puzzled at what they thought was a significant reach. Since his signing, he hasn’t hit at all, and this year at Charleston, he’s hitting .222/.330/.297.

The following article from Fangraphs just popped up in our news feed (located on the right-hand side of the page). This isn’t something you really want to read about your first round pick.

So what’s wrong with Culver? Maybe nothing as a scout I crossed paths with in Auburn, New York mentioned seeing him quite a bit as an amateur and considered Culver a better bet to reach the major leagues as a pitcher than position player. In hearing he popped the mitt at 92-94 MPH as an amateur, one has to wonder if the Yankees would consider pulling the plug on Culver the shortstop in favor of Culver the relief pitcher.

If Culver still has 92-94 MPH off of a mound in his arm, it would benefit the Yankees organization to make a move sooner rather than later. There may be value to salvage there, but it’s probably not as a position player. Sure, prospect followers may point to his age (19) as a reason to be patient with Culver. I’d use that same age to justify why a move to the mound should be made over the winter. The younger a prospect is, the more time he has to figure it out. Had Cito Culver not been a former first round pick, I would have labeled him a non-prospect and moved onto other players on the Charleston roster. Due to draft status, he will be afforded a much longer leash than a player of his true talent level probably deserves.

We would suggest reading the full article for more details, but this sure sounds discouraging.