Yankees first-round pick Ian Clarkin used his first comments to the New York media to say he was sorry after being shown admitting he "cannot stand" the team in a pre-draft video for MLB Network. "First and foremost, I want to apologize to all the Yankee fans for my comments," Clarkin said.
Immediately after Clarkin was announced as the final pick, No. 33, of the first round, a video was shown in which the 18-year-old lefty admitted that his top baseball moment growing up was watching the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Yankees in the 2001 World Series
"I cannot stand the Yankees, so I was actually in tears I was so happy," Clarkin said on the nationally televised broadcast.
Clarkin told MLB Network's Sam Ryan, "Now I do love them, and my dad's going to have to learn to love them, too," following the announcement of his selection.
On Friday, Clarkin told reporters his dad is a Pittsburgh Pirates' fan and "not a fan of the Yankees." He explained it the joke was directed toward his mother, who was born in New Jersey and is a Yankee fan.
"It was taken out of context completely," Clarkin said.
Following the pick and his comments on Thursday, Clarkin was the only one of the Yankees' three draft picks trending on Twitter in New York.
Clarkin apologized three times for his comments during the call to the team. He was 6 years old during the 2001 World Series and admitted to rooting for the Arizona because they were the underdogs. Ever since Gonzalez's blooper, he said it has been an inside joke within his family.
The Yankees are more worried over whether they'll be able to sign the prospect rather than his first-grade rooting interest. Clarkin is projected to have the best curveball of any high school prospect in the draft, and he is ranked No. 43 in Keith Law's Top 100 prospects.
The pitcher has the option to sign with New York or stay in his hometown and honor his commitment to the University of San Diego.
"It will just have to come down to life-changing money," Clarkin said. "We are going to have to talk about it over as a family, see what works best for me, see what works best for the family. Hopefully, we'll get the scholarship in the contract also, but it is going to come down to how the money changes our family's lives."
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