"From this Draft and generally all Drafts, we're just trying to take the best available player that we can," said Damon Oppenheimer, the Yankees' vice president of domestic amateur scouting. "It's not position-specific, it's not college-specific or high school-specific. It's just take the best we can."
The 16th overall selection was Schmidt, who starred at the University of South Carolina before Tommy John surgery ended his junior season. Schmidt was 4-2 with a 1.34 ERA in 60 1/3 innings for the Gamecocks, posting a 10.44 K/9.0 IP ratio while holding opponents to a .194 average (41-for-211).
"Clarke Schmidt was someone that we never would have had access to, sitting at 16, without that injury," general manager Brian Cashman told Yankees On Demand.