On Sunday, the Yankees are set to select at No. 25 overall in the 2022 MLB Draft. It is a first-round pick they hope will be a future star, but we all know it doesn't always turn out that way.
The Yankees, compared to other teams, haven't been the best drafters when it comes to first-round talent. Yes, they've had some Hall-of-Famers, but when you look at their history, there are too many players you haven't heard of.
In the end, there are players -- impactful ones -- who can be appreciated as solid major leaguers. So we've decided to rank the five best first-rounders the Yankees have chosen.
Some criteria first: It doesn't matter if the draft pick ended up playing somewhere else. A good pick is still that, even away from New York. Also, injuries and other circumstances do come into play. Some players end up on Hall of Fame tracks but get cut short for whatever the reason may be.
So, with that in mind, let's start with No. 5, a familiar face to Yankees fans..
5) Joba Chamberlain (No. 41 overall, Compensation-A pick in 2006)
The Yankees decided to take another pitcher in Chamberlain after going with Ian Kennedy at No. 21 overall in the first round. The 6-foot-2, 230 pounder threw gas coming out of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
He quickly got his shot in the bigs that next year, and he owned the spotlight with a 0.38 ERA in 19 games (24 innings pitched). In that short span, he still notched 34 strikeouts. He remained in a relief role in 2008 with a 2.60 ERA, but the Yankees made him a starter in 2009. They'd win a World Series, but learned after he posted a 4.75 ERA that Chamberlain was best in the bullpen.
That's where he stayed the rest of his career. He was a solid setup man who would eventually find his way to the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, and Cleveland before calling it quits in 2016 at only 30 years old. It was a fast rise for Chamberlain, but it wasn't as long a career as many believed he would have.
4) Scott McGregor (No. 14 overall in 1972)
Coming out of El Segundo High School in California, McGregor played alongside George Brett, but it wasn't his bat or outfield prowess that caught the eye of the Yankees. It was his pitching ability as a left-hander.
McGregor, though, would never play a lick of baseball in pinstripes. Instead, he was dealt away in 1976 to the Baltimore Orioles as part of a 10-player trade. And that would be his home for his 13-year MLB career.
He owned a career 3.99 ERA with 138 wins and 2,140.2 innings pitched for Baltimore. He made one All-Star team in 1981 after posting a 3.26 ERA with a 13-5 record. He also had a 20-win season in 1980, and was a World Series champion in 1983.
Pitching over 200 innings in six of those seasons, McGregor was a very consistent rotation piece for the O's throughout his career.