If there was any concern that the shortened draft would negatively impact the northeast player, that notion was dispelled this weekend.
The 2026 MLB Draft took place on July 11-12 and several players with local ties were selected – highlighted by Aiden Ruiz of The Stony Brook School getting selected 44th overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Those same Pirates continued their admiration of Long Island players by selecting UNC junior RHP Jason DeCaro (St. Anthony’s 2023) in the third round.
All told, 12 players were selected, and that number could’ve been even higher considering deserving players like Erik Paulsen Jr and CJ Alfano were not selected.
Here’s the full list and the team/round in which they went:
Aiden Ruiz, The Stony Brook School (Pittsburgh Pirates, 2nd round)
Dawson Montesa, West Virginia (St. Louis Cardinals, 3rd round) *attended Adelphi University
Jason DeCaro, North Carolina (Pittsburgh Pirates, 3rd round)
Carlos Martinez, Hofstra (San Francisco Giants, 4th round)
Justin LeGuernic, Clemson (Kansas City Royals, 6th round) *Half Hollow Hills West 2023
Micah Worley, Stony Brook (Arizona Diamondbacks, 6th round)
Charles West, UCONN (Los Angeles Dodgers, 7th round) *Ward Melville 2023
JT Raab, Georgetown (Minnesota Twins, 9th round) *MacArthur 2021
Jack Turner, New Mexico State (Detroit Tigers, 10th round) *Sayville 2021
Chris McHugh, NC State (San Diego Padres, 11th round) *Commack 2023
Adam Agresti, St. John’s (Los Angeles Anges, 11th round)
Liam O’Leary, St. John’s (Pittsburgh Pirates, 15th round)