Red Sox go off the board, select prep 2B Nick Yorke 17th overall

With the 17th overall pick of the 2020 MLB Draft, the Boston Red Sox selected Nick Yorke, a second baseman out of Archbishop Mitty High School in California.

The 18-year-old infielder entered the draft ranked as the 139th-best prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.

"This was an unusual spring," Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said, according to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. "We love this kid's bat. We think he has a chance to be a special bat. ... We feel if the spring had gotten a chance to play out, the public perception of him would be a lot different."

Boston doesn't have a second-round pick due to the penalties incurred from the sign-stealing scandal. The Red Sox will not make another selection until No. 91, where Yorke may not have been available.

Following the pick, speculation arose that the Red Sox selected a player whom they don't intend to sign in order to receive the No. 18 pick in the 2021 draft as compensation. However, even prior to Bloom's complimentary remarks, an evaluator shot down that idea, stating the club does plan to sign Yorke and describing him as a "special offensive player," according to Speier.

Yorke, whose bat is seen as a prized asset regardless of where he fits defensively, is committed to the University of Arizona.