{"id":84913,"date":"2025-08-21T00:24:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T00:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/84913\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T00:24:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T00:24:07","slug":"yankees-defend-decision-to-draft-shortstop-tied-to-campus-swastika-incident-new-york-yankees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/84913\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees defend decision to draft shortstop tied to campus swastika incident | New York Yankees"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Yankees\u2019 decision to draft University of Utah shortstop Core Jackson in the fifth round of last month\u2019s MLB draft has drawn scrutiny after the Athletic reported<\/a> that Jackson once drew a swastika on a Jewish student\u2019s dorm room door.<\/p>\n

The incident took place in 2021, when Jackson was a 17-year-old freshman at the University of Nebraska. He told the Athletic he had been \u201cblackout drunk\u201d and had no memory of it. \u201cI felt like the worst person in the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nebraska fined him, assigned community service and required online sensitivity training, but did not suspend him from the team. Jackson said he wanted to apologize directly but was told by campus police not to contact the victim.<\/p>\n

Yankees amateur scouting director Damon Oppenheimer said the team carried out the most extensive background check of his 23-year tenure before selecting Jackson. The decision was approved by owner Hal Steinbrenner and supported by Jewish officials inside the club, including team president Randy Levine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were looking for accountability,\u201d Oppenheimer said. \u201cWe believe his actions since the incident show remorse and growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson signed for $147,500, well below the slot value of $411,100 for the 164th overall pick. He has already reported to High-A Hudson Valley.<\/p>\n

His agent, Blake Corosky, initially considered dropping him but reconsidered under two conditions: that Jackson disclose the incident to every MLB<\/a> team before the 2024 draft and that he work with Diamondbacks prospect Jacob Steinmetz, the first practicing Orthodox Jewish player ever drafted.<\/p>\n

Jackson, who grew up in a Christian household in Wyoming, admitted he knew little about Judaism or the historical weight of the swastika. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t excuse it,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it shows how much I had to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

The swastika incident is not Jackson\u2019s only off-field trouble. In September 2024, while playing at Utah, he was charged with DUI. The case was reduced to misdemeanor impaired driving after he completed community service, substance-abuse training and paid fines. Jackson says he has not had a drink since.<\/p>\n

His winding college career took him from Nebraska to South Mountain Community College in Arizona and finally to Utah, where he hit .363 with four home runs and 41 RBIs in 2024. Scouts praised his arm strength, power and athleticism.<\/p>\n

For the Yankees, those tools \u2013 along with Jackson\u2019s willingness to confront his past \u2013 were enough to outweigh concerns. But in New York, home to the world\u2019s largest Jewish community outside Israel, the decision remains polarizing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s important that this is part of my story,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cGod has given me this platform, and I want to use it to show forgiveness and growth.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Yankees\u2019 decision to draft University of Utah shortstop Core Jackson in the fifth round of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":84914,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-84913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}