The Yankees don’t exactly get to shop in the draft’s top aisle every year, which is why their recent first-round run deserves a closer look. With the 2026 MLB Draft coming up, New York is set to make its first selection at No. 35 after dropping 10 spots because of how far it went over the Competitive Balance Threshold last year. And yes, the organization paid that price after beating the Red Sox in the Wild Card round and then getting thumped by the Blue Jays.
That backdrop makes the last five Yankees first-rounders even more interesting. The group includes one pick that still looks like a home run, one that already feels like a steal, a couple of promising arms and bats, and one case that still leaves the front office with a little regret.
Dax Kilby is the wild card in the whole exercise. On paper, the 2025 first-rounder looks like a brilliant pick, but the grading comes with a giant asterisk because he’s been unavailable.
Kilby flashed eye-opening exit velocity data during his brief Low-A Tampa cameo last summer and looked like one of the more obvious breakout candidates in the game. Instead, this season has been wiped out by a recurring hamstring injury, and nearly four months into the regular season he’s still stuck at 0-2 on the year.
The talent is obvious; the production just hasn’t been there because he’s barely been on the field.
Before Kilby, the Yankees landed Ben Hess at No. 26 in 2024, and that one has already started to pay off. Hess wasn’t a name that sat near the top of most boards after posting a 5.80 ERA in his junior season at Alabama, but the Yankees believed their pitching development could unlock him.
That bet has worked. He turned into a fastball/slider problem for hitters and used his size to generate real power.
He’s not finished yet - his 4.75 ERA in Somerset this year and an early injury show there’s still work to do - but his breakout in 2025 gave the pick real traction.
Then there’s George Lombard Jr., the 2023 No. 26 pick, who looks like the best of the bunch. He’s climbed all the way to No. 11 on Baseball America’s midseason prospect list and stands as the top prospect in the Yankees’ system.
For a club that usually finds its biggest talent through international free agency, it’s notable to see a draft pick sitting that high on the national radar. Lombard Jr.’s glove has usually arrived before his bat, but he was showing patience at Triple-A before the injury bug interrupted things.
At this point, he looks untouchable in trade talks.
Spencer Jones, taken 25th overall in 2022, brings a different kind of appeal. The strikeouts remain a real concern, and that’s the flaw that keeps the grade from climbing higher, but the power is loud enough to justify the gamble.
At that draft slot, the Yankees were betting on raw tools, and Jones has them in bunches. He may or may not get another extended look in the Bronx, but he did put up an .808 OPS in June during his second MLB stint of 2026.
The least satisfying result of the group is Trey Sweeney, the 2021 first-rounder at No. 20.
He was a bat-first shortstop from a small school, and the Yankees got him to a .778 OPS at Double-A in 2023 before moving him to the Dodgers for Jorbit Vivas and left-hander Victor Gonzalez. Los Angeles later flipped him to the Tigers for Jack Flaherty, and that chain of moves came back around in the most frustrating way for New York.
Flaherty started two World Series games against the Yankees - one strong, one brutal - and both were Dodgers wins. Sweeney, meanwhile, was in the Tigers’ playoff lineup at shortstop.
His 2026 season has gone poorly, and he’s now out for the year after struggling to stay above the Mendoza Line. He was a decent first-round pick, but the way he moved around has made the whole thing sting more for the Yankees.
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