Final Mock Draft



As draft morning dawned, one thing was certain: The Pirates will take UCLA righthander Gerrit Cole with the No. 1 overall selection. After that, teams were still scrambling to line up their picks.

The consensus in the industry is the Mariners will choose Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon with the No. 2 pick, but there's no confirmation from Seattle. The Diamondbacks previously had appeared locked in on Virginia lefthander Danny Hultzen at No. 3 and the Orioles had zeroed in on Oklahoma high school righthander Dylan Bundy, though now those teams seem headed in different directions.

It no longer looks like the consensus six players in the draft (the four mentioned above, plus UCLA righthander Trevor Bauer and Kansas high school outfielder Bubba Starling) will go in the top six. For scouting reports on the players in our latest first-round projection below, please see our Top 200 Prospect list.

The following is the list of our projected first-round picks. BA subscribers can get the picks as well as full analysis by clicking here.

1. PIRATES: Gerrit Cole, rhp, UCLA.
2. MARINERS: Anthony Rendon, 3b, Rice.
3. DIAMONDBACKS: Trevor Bauer, rhp, UCLA.
4. ORIOLES: Archie Bradley, rhp, Broken Arrow (Okla.) HS.
5. ROYALS: Dylan Bundy, rhp, Owasso (Okla.) HS.
6. NATIONALS: Danny Hultzen, lhp, Virginia.
7. DIAMONDBACKS: Matt Barnes, rhp, Connecticut.
8. INDIANS: Jed Bradley, lhp, Georgia Tech.
9. CUBS: Bubba Starling, of, Gardner-Edgerton HS, Gardner, Kan.
10. PADRES: Taylor Jungmann, rhp, Texas.
11. ASTROS: Francisco Lindor, ss, Montverde (Fla.) Academy.
12. BREWERS: Javier Baez, ss, Arlington Country Day School, Jacksonville, Fla.
13. METS: Mikie Mahtook, of, Louisiana State.
14. MARLINS: Cory Spangenberg, of, Indian River (Fla.) JC.
15. BREWERS: Taylor Guerrieri, rhp, Spring Valley HS, Columbia, S.C.
16. DODGERS: Tyler Anderson, lhp, Oregon.
17. ANGELS: Jose Fernandez, rhp, Alonso HS, Tampa.
18. ATHLETICS: George Springer, of, Connecticut.
19. RED SOX: Sonny Gray, rhp, Vanderbilt.
20. ROCKIES: C.J. Cron, 1b, Utah.
21. BLUE JAYS: Levi Michael, ss, North Carolina.
22. CARDINALS: Kolten Wong, 2b, Hawaii.
23. NATIONALS: Alex Meyer, rhp, Kentucky.
24. RAYS: Chris Reed, lhp, Stanford.
25. PADRES: Joe Ross, rhp, Bishop O'Dowd HS, Oakland.
26. RED SOX: Austin Hedges, c, JSerra HS, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
27. REDS: Robert Stephenson, rhp, Alhambra HS, Martinez, Calif.
28. BRAVES: Trevor Story, ss, Irving (Texas) HS.
29. GIANTS: Daniel Norris, lhp, Science Hill HS, Johnson City, Tenn.
30. TWINS: Sean Gilmartin, lhp, Florida State.
31. RAYS: Henry Owens, lhp, Edison HS, Huntington Beach, Calif.
32. RAYS: Blake Swihart, c, Cleveland HS, Rio Rancho, N.M.
33. RANGERS: Brandon Nimmo, of, East HS, Cheyenne, Wyo.



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6 Comments

Jim: Will be interesting to see where Springer falls. Spent time with some scouts down at the Clemson Regional. To a man, there was concern that Springer left a couple tools back in Storrs. Great wheels but defensively he was suspect. Bad angles and reads. And, his swing was all over the yard. Both, Coastal and Clemson were dishing sliders that he couldn't touch. Granted, pro coaches will be able to address most of his weakness, but from what I gathered from the scouts most were scratching their heads wondering if this was the kid that they were going to recommend a significant seven figure bonus. Another side note: Barnes was a monster and your scouting reports were spot on. Lots of gas with not alot of movement or placement on his off-speeds (something that was noted down there). Keep up the great reporting.

Do you think the Pirates should draft Zach Cone from Georgia in the second round this year should he be available?  Also this migh be hopeful thinking but do you think Matt Purke could fall to number 61?

[...] Bradley, a junior lefthander, has been pegged to go at No. 8 to Cleveland by espn.com draft expert Keith Law (though he could see him going as low as No. 19 to Boston. No link. It’s behind a pay wall.). Baseball Prospectus’ mock draft gives him to Toronto at No. 21. (The Blue Jays took Tech pitcher Deck McGuire last year at No. 11.) Draft expert Jonathan Mayo of mlb.com pegs Bradley as the No. 8 overall prospect and says that he doesn’t have one standout pitch but “does have a very solid four-pitch mix at his disposal.” Baseball America also sends Bradley to Cleveland at No. 8. [...]

[...] hard to see the Mariners deviating from the expected. Baseball America agreed in its final 2011 MLB mock draft, projecting Rendon to [...]

[...] Houston Astros (he thought the Indians would take Jed Bradley); Baseball America selected him going eleventh to the Houston Astros (they also thought the Indians would take Jed Bradley); John Heyman from [...]

[...] and Johnny Eierman Kevin Goldstein: Josh Bell, Dan Vogelbach, and Brandon Nimmo Jim Callis: Chris Reed, Henry Owens, and Blake [...]


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