Let me start by saying there's no way the Paul SKenes or Dylan Crews makes it to 25 (by the way, that's the order I'd take them in). And I suspect my top 4 college players will all be drafted before that.
This year, I find myself separating the college and high school players more than I have historically. Part of that stems from having little interest in HS players this year. It's weird, but there are only 5 HS players I've got on my board, and one of them is on my board as my ideal 11th-round pick (I'm adding a sixth here just in case he slips). Those players are:
- Charlee Soto- He's incredibly young, and has amazing stuff. Also, my view is that the pendulum away from HS pitchers has swung so far that he may actually be undervalued.
- Alex Clemmey- I tend to love players from the Northeast with Vanderbilt ties. Clemmey fits the mold, and his location makes me think he's got more bullets left than most other HS pitchers
- Cal Fisher- I think he'll end up being one of the best hitters to come from this draft
- MJ Seo- I see a lot of Marcus Stroman here. Signing him away from LSU seems doubtful, but he'd be on my board.
- Grant Gray- Gray is my 11th round target. I suspect he'll go to UCLA, but stranger things have happened.
- Hiro Wyatt- He's a smaller Northeast arm.
College-wise, There are a lot of players I'm intrigued with. My top XX (again, excluding the LSU guys) are:
- Rhett Lowder- I think he has the highest floor in this draft
- Kyle Teel- He's a Jason Kendall clone, and Jason Kendall is my all-time favorite catcher.
- Enrique Bradfield- Yep, he fits my high contact, huge RUN tool approach
- Jacob Wilson- Somehow, I imagine him as a .300 hitter playing SS for a very long time.
- Tanner Witt- The injury history is scary, but he has as much upside as any pitcher in the draft (Skenes included).
- Matt Shaw- He's a guy I've liked for a while. I'm probably lower on him than I should be, but stranger things have happened.
- Sean Sullivan- I think he'll end up being a #3 starter.
- Travis Honeyman- He's a CF/LF tweener with a decent hit tool and speed.
- Luke Shliger- He's a poor man's Kyle Teel.
- William Privette- Multi-inning relievers who can be effective are like gold.
- Justin Riemer- Wright State SHH 2b who ProspectsLive thinks could hit 300.
- ***See Note About Pitching Below
- Cam Clayton- He might be a poor man's Jacob Wilson... good at everything but not stellar in any one thing.
- Andrew Walters- I'm curious about him as a potential starter.
- Christian Knapczyk- If I end up with Wilson or Clayton, he falls off the board for me. But if I miss on both of those guys, he wouldn't be a terrible addition as a speedster who plays good defense (and helps me develop pitchers)
- Cam Minacci- Flame throwers who can be closers are always in demand.
- Connor Burns- I don't know what to make of the bat, but he's a tremendous defender, and has a floor as a high-quality backup backstop. (I skip him if Teel or Shliger ends up on my roster)
- Jeron Williams- Toldeo speed demon with some patience at the plate.
- Jordan Smith- CF from George Mason (my alma mater).
***There are 4 pitchers I sort of see as similar in value, and they all sort of fall into this range of my big board. As such, the idea would be to see which of these guys are available at this point and then decide on whether to grab one of these guys or keep going on the board as it lays out. In other words, if all 4 of these guys are available, I'd probably grab Clayton and hope that at least one of these four is available at my next pick. If 3 of them go earlier, I will scramble to get whoever was left. Any of these 4 becoming a quality major leaguer wouldn't surprise me, and I'm sort of rooting for them to end up with someone like the Indians or Dodgers.... teams that have a habit of building up quality pitchers.
- Juaron Watts-Brown- Likely innings eater at the major league level.
- Keifer Lord- He's got the best control of the 4 here.
- Kade Morris- Another high-floor pitcher with strong control
- Jason Savacool- I just happen to like him.
As with every draft, I have a couple of seniors to add to the mix here, and these guys would be prioritized in the event that I get 3 of the high schoolers I mentioned above before the 10th round.
- David Smith- He's a scrappy little guy from UConn who switch hits and plays the game the right way.
- Drew Compton- I remember when Mark Teixeira comps were being thrown around on this guy.
- Jake Gustin- His junior season was derailed by hamate surgery, and he hit well last year (but I think there's more in the tank).
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