The Yankees used a sixth-round pick on a player who may never wear their uniform, and that was always the risk baked into this draft.
Andrew Gonzalez, the 18-year-old infielder from Americas High School in El Paso, has not signed with New York and, by his own account, has not made a decision. The clock is ticking toward July 27, and the Yankees are waiting on a choice that will send him either into pro ball or to Texas Tech.
Gonzalez, who goes by Drew, was taken No. 189 overall as the first prep bat in the Yankees’ 2026 class. He’s listed at 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds, bats left-handed, and put together a strong senior season with 13 home runs, 54 RBIs and 46 walks. He earned first-team all-state honors from the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association in Class 5A, and the El Paso Times named him its all-city player of the year.
He also helped Americas finish 27-10-1 and reach four rounds into the Class 5A Division I playoffs before losing to eventual champion Aledo.
The Yankees knew they were taking on a complicated signability case. Gonzalez had already signed with Texas Tech in February after decommitting from New Mexico State last November, and he was the first Red Raiders signee selected in this draft. That made him a classic post-fourth-round gamble: a talented high school player with a college option that could be hard to pry away.
Scouts clearly like the bat. Jim Callis said on the MLB Network broadcast that Gonzalez has real power potential, but also raised questions about whether he can stay at third base, with first base or the outfield also in play. Baseball America did not rank him in its top 500.
The Yankees’ financial situation made the bet even trickier. A luxury-tax penalty dropped their first pick 10 spots and left them with one of the smallest bonus pools in baseball.
The slot value for No. 189 is $341,800, according to MLB Pipeline, but New York can shuffle money around only so much. Every extra dollar used to sign Gonzalez has to come from somewhere else.
That’s part of why the pick stands out. Clubs usually do not spend a top-10-round selection on a player they expect to lose.
The Yankees did it anyway, and the choice points to their need for bats after years of trades thinned the position-player side of the system. Gonzalez was their first high school hitter in a class that leaned heavily toward arms, and Perfect Game rated him among the top third basemen in the 2026 high school class.
There’s also the Yankees’ familiar attraction to left-handed power. A developing pull-side bat fits the profile they’ve chased before, especially with the short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium.
For now, though, nothing is settled. Gonzalez told KTSM, the NBC affiliate in El Paso, that he has not made a decision, and no signing has been announced since. He does not appear among the Yankees’ players who have agreed to terms, unlike first-round left-hander Hunter Dietz, who signed within roughly 50 hours of being selected.
Local reporting has pointed in a different direction. KVIA in El Paso reported that Gonzalez now appears set to begin his professional career in the Yankees organization, describing the draft as the fulfillment of a longtime goal. That view sits alongside Gonzalez’s own statement that he remains undecided.
He isn’t the only prep player in the Yankees’ class facing this kind of choice. Outfielder Lee Garris, a 13th-round pick from a Virginia high school, and shortstop William Cutshall, a 15th-round pick committed to Ole Miss, have commitments of their own. The Yankees drafted 20 players and signed two undrafted free agents.
If Gonzalez signs by July 27, the Yankees get a projectable left-handed bat with a long developmental runway. If he doesn’t, the pick disappears, and Texas Tech gets the player it signed in February.
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