NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees manager Joe Girardi got to know Dante Bichette Jr. long before New York selected him with its first pick in the baseball draft.
Now, Girardi could get a chance to guide the slugging 18-year-old as a budding big league ballplayer.
The Yankees took Bichette Jr., a third baseman like his dad, out of Orangewood Christian High School in Maitland, Fla., with the 51st pick Monday night. The Yankees lost their first-round pick to Tampa Bay as compensation for signing reliever Rafael Soriano.
The Yankees would be ecstatic if little Dante turned out to be as successful as his dad. The older Bichette was a four-time All-Star with 274 career homers in 14 major league seasons.
