Yanks get Hoffmann in the Rule 5
December 10, 2009, 11:55 am by iYankees · 3 Comments
With the number one pick in the Rule 5 draft, the Yankees did not choose Zach Kroenke as they opted to select Jamie Hoffmann — actually, the Nationals selected him and offered him to NY — an outfield prospect with the Dodgers.
Hoffmann, 24, had originally played third base but was converted to the outfield — right field, specifically — due to the presence of Blake DeWitt and Andy LaRoche (now with the Pirates) in the LA system, and has hit .283/.355/.401 in 5 minor-league seasons. The 6‘3’’ outfielder doesn’t have much power (36 homers over 596 games), particularly against lefties, but he gets on base and has some speed. Of course, that hasn’t necessarily made him a good base stealer, however, as he has stolen 91 bases but has been caught 43 times. This year, the former Caroline Hurricanes draftee (NHL), was ranked the Dodgers’ 22nd best prospect by Baseball America and has been regularly ranked their best defensive outfielder since 2006. Hoffmann’s line between AA and AAA ball in 2009 was .291/.390/.466, and, since 2007, he has seemingly improved a lot, offensively.
To be honest, the pick doesn’t really impress me, but he sounds useful enough. Buster Olney (ESPN) reports that the Yankees will head into spring training with the intention of keeping Hoffmann on their roster.
On another note, the Yankees did lose Zach Kroenke to Arizona in the Rule 5 and they also lost Kanekoa Texeira to Seattle.
