Yankees' under-the-radar prospect gem eager to keep rolling in 2025

The 2024 MLB Draft proved to be an interesting one for the New York Yankees, who continued to select pitcher after pitcher to open the first seven rounds. It’s hard to identify which high schoolers or collegiate athletes will eventually break through and make the big leagues, and it’s even harder to figure that out in the later rounds of the draft. If you’re selected on the third day of the MLB Draft, it’s a success to just make the big leagues, but the insurmountable odds that face 12th Round pick Brendan Jones don’t seem to have him phased in the slightest.

After leading the Big 12 in stolen bases last season with 40, Jones made the jump to the pros and it seemed to be a pretty seamless transition. From his pro debut through the end of the season, he was top 10 in OBP (.471) as he would get a promotion to High-A and help the Renegades reach the SAL Championship Round.

He was gracious enough to come on the Fireside Yankees podcast for an interview, where we learned a lot about the outfielder, including a role model whose game bears a striking resemblance to the Kansas State Wildcat.

Brendan Jones Discusses Journey to Yankees, Brett Gardner, and 2025 Outlook

Growing up in Tennessee, the lack of a Major League Baseball team in the state drew a young Brendan Jones to Vanderbilt and college baseball. He idolized Nashville star Mookie Betts alongside former Commodores such as Dansby Swanson, both of whom have become stars in the big leagues. An undersized outfielder, Jones wasn’t going to power the ball over the fence with overwhelming strength, developing a hard-nosed approach that relied on his agility and patience to get on base and wreck a pitcher’s day by stealing bags and putting himself in position to score.

His scrappy playstyle earned him a spot on the Kansas State Wildcats, and while he didn’t see much action his first year there, he was able to snag a starting job heading into 2023, where he led the team in stolen bases (28) and was an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention. Jones had a knack for getting big hits in big games, but he wanted to improve on his .786 OPS and put himself in a position to get his name called at the 2024 MLB Draft. Working closely with the team hitting coach Austin Wates, they identified and corrected a deficiency in his mechanics.

“He worked on some consistency in my load, I would lose my barrels sometimes and make it hard for me to get to the ball…I would work on high-tee drills a lot…in BP it’s almost over-exaggerating where it feels uncomfortable because then I know in the game that I’m actually not going to do it that over-exaggerated so then I’m in a more comfortable spot.”

The adjustments he worked on that fall and winter would result in an excellent Junior year, as Jones improved his OPS to .942 while hitting nine home runs with a conference-leading 55 walks. He became the first Wildcat in school history to be named a finalist for the ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Award, and his knack for big hits was still there as he hit .333 with RISP that season.

With 40 steals, not only did he lead the Big 12 Conference, but he had more stolen bases than three entire teams in the conference. His ability to get on base, play excellent defense, swipe tons of bases would make him a slamdunk to get drafted, it was just a matter of which round he would get selected in. Brendan Jones got his family together for Day 2 of the MLB Draft, where he had heard he was likely to be picked.

“From what I had been told I thought I had a good chance to go on Day 2 so it was kind of like ‘oh man that’s disappointing’…Day 2 we were all together with my family hoping it would happen that day then after that I didn’t want to bring everyone back again so it was me my dad and my mom on my back porch and that’s when I got a text from my agent.”

The day that Brendan Jones was drafted by the Yankees marked the beginning of his professional career, and while he was more of a Braves fan growing up, it doesn’t mean he was unfamiliar with the pinstripes. As an undersized outfielder who relied on defense, speed, and plate discipline to provide value on the diamond, one of his idols growing up was none other than Brett Gardner, who spent his entire career with the Yankees.

“A guy like Brett Gardner, I definitely felt like I played like him and was someone I definitely idolized and watched play…I want to be known as one of the best defenders, I want to steal a bunch of bases, and I want to try and find a way to get on-base however I can, whatever it takes, get on-base and wreak havoc from there.”

Standing at 5’10 and listed at 180 pounds, Brendan Jones’ frame is similar to that of Brett Gardner who stood at 5’11 and was listed at 195 pounds. Both lacked dominant raw power to hit the way Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton can, but their ability to hit stemmed from their patient approach and their pull-side power, which allowed Gardner to fit like a glove at Yankee Stadium, where the short right porch fueled some big power numbers later in his career.

Jones has already displayed an ability to generate loft in his swing, sporting a lowly 28.3% GB% while pulling the ball 46.3% of the time in his first 24 MiLB games. Both hitters were capable of making contact at a high clip and were known for their ability to play elite defense, but what allowed Gardner to carve out a longer career in the Majors was a power surge in his 30s. As Brett Gardner’s ability to steal 40+ bases left him, he averaged 16 HRs per 150 games in his 30s with a .337 OBP, making him a consistently solid hitter who was still an elite defensive left fielder.

As the Yankees have worked with Brendan Jones, getting him to unlock more of his power was first on their docket as his fundamental skills are already very polished.

“They’re able to pinpoint some deficiencies in your swing, so one for me was with my load, less with like it was in college with my barrel and more about loading more into my hips so I can generate more power with the ball.”

With three home runs in his first 24 MiLB games, he put himself on pace for ~18 home runs over 150 games, which is solid but could be improved upon in more favorable run environments. The Florida State League (A) and South Atlantic League (A+) have an average SLG% of .347 and .365 respectively, as their run environments are lackluster for batters, so I’m impressed that he was able to generate some power despite that.

Brendan Jones will likely begin his season in High-A with the Hudson Valley Renegades, and if he can build off of the 148 wRC+ he posted in his 15 games there last year, we could be looking at a swift promotion to Double-A. I’ve always emphasized the importance of upside when it comes to prospect evaluation, and while Jones lacks the big-time power of a high-upside prospect, his ability to pull the ball in the air paired with his contact rates, plate discipline, speed, and defense make him a pretty intriguing player.

Yankee Stadium builds right into his skillset as a hitter who isn’t hoping to just dink-and-dunk, but generate sustainable production at the plate and provide a good at-bat. He walked 29 times to just 21 strikeouts in his early time at the Minor League level, and as a premium defender in a premium position, he’ll have value if he’s capable of being even a passable hitter. An aggressive base stealer and an underdog, what Jones does well will play at any level, and fans should keep their eyes on his progress through the Minor Leagues as he looks to become the rare Day 3 pick who reaches the bigs.

You can watch the full interview of my interview with Brendan Jones here on the Fireside Yankees YouTube Page!