2017 MLB draft thread

[Mike Sixel]

 

I'd put it more simply. If they grab McKay 1-1, it may be time to consider firing the new brass already. 

 

I don't agree. If they think McKay is a legit ceiling of SP1/2, with low risk, I wouldn't crucify them. If they take a LHH 1B 1:1, I won't be thrilled. 

 

How athletic is McKay? Can he move to the OF or 3B? 

[ALessKosherScott]

 

I don't agree. If they think McKay is a legit ceiling of SP1/2, with low risk, I wouldn't crucify them. If they take a LHH 1B 1:1, I won't be thrilled. 

 

How athletic is McKay? Can he move to the OF or 3B? 

 

He'd have to defy 130 years of baseball positioning to play third base as a lefty, and he's not fast enough for the outfield.

 

So you have to believe in his low floor as a pitcher to draft him number 1 overall. And I'm not sure he's even the safest pitcher in the draft.

 

 

[drjim]

 

He'd have to defy 130 years of baseball positioning to play third base as a lefty, and he's not fast enough for the outfield.

 

So you have to believe in his low floor as a pitcher to draft him number 1 overall. And I'm not sure he's even the safest pitcher in the draft.

 

I agree that he would be a little disappointing as a 1-1 arm. I'm curious if his bat is good enough to justify that ranking. I hadn't considered it until I saw Callis ranking.

 

I wonder if McKay and Greene are being a little overrated because they are so good both ways. I'd go Wright. High floor, still has upside, could be up relatively quickly. Obviously need to see the rest of the season.

[Mike Sixel]

 

I agree that he would be a little disappointing as a 1-1 arm. I'm curious if his bat is good enough to justify that ranking. I hadn't considered it until I saw Callis ranking.

 

I wonder if McKay and Greene are being a little overrated because they are so good both ways. I'd go Wright. High floor, still has upside, could be up relatively quickly. Obviously need to see the rest of the season.

 

I'm betting on Wright if he looks great the rest of the year. Better stuff than Mckay, from what I read. But, he didn't look great earlier this year.

 

If not, I can't predict who they take with any confidence. 

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

I'd put it more simply. If they grab McKay 1-1, it may be time to consider firing the new brass already. 

 

Could.Not.Disagree.More

 

McKay is still a top half of the rotation starter as a ceiling, and a decent hitter as a floor. I know the two way thing has been beaten to death, but I wouldn't write that off.  There's a huge advantage there when a player is special enough to do both well. 

[Willihammer]

#10 on Perfect Game's board is Carlsbad HS LH pitcher Trevor Rogers. He threw a perfect game last week that included 12 K's.

 

http://www.currentargus.com/story/sports/high-school/baseball/2017/04/21/cavemen-duo-shuts-out-gadsden/100758262/

 

Kind of an odd duck as he appears to be 19 years old (20 in November). Unsure of velo, one report says mid-90s.

 

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

#10 on Perfect Game's board is Carlsbad HS LH pitcher Trevor Rogers. He threw a perfect game last week that included 12 K's.

 

http://www.currentargus.com/story/sports/high-school/baseball/2017/04/21/cavemen-duo-shuts-out-gadsden/100758262/

 

Kind of an odd duck as he appears to be 19 years old (20 in November). Unsure of velo, one report says mid-90s.

 

I'd be a bit leery of a 19 yo HS pitcher to be honest...  Don't they prefer getting the 17 yo guys?

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

then what? Magically have SP appear? 

 

I heard you can get them at Starbucks if you believe.

[diehardtwinsfan]

Sickle's discussion on 2 way players...

 

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2017/4/28/15433944/madison-bumgarner-noah-syndergaard-friday-discussion-question-two-way-players

 

[biggentleben]

 

Keston Hiura whom BA named "Best Pure Hitter" in their Big West Preview last February, should fall in the draft. Likely to need TJS in order to play the field. Other defensive question marks, but the bat appears to be legit as he is hitting .402/.534/.705 with a 14.8% k-rate. #26 on MLB.com's board.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/make-way-college-bats-2017-mlb-draft/#MU3Bm11Sx4OtVm17.97

 

Burger also mentioned. He's #16 on MLB.com's board currently.

 

I see a lot of similarities with Hiura and Ian Happ....

[benji21]

We've heard the "quick to the majors" a ton around here and have Gibson, Wimmers and oodles of other yet-to-debut relievers to show for it. If we want to look outside the organization, Mark Appel was perhaps the epitome of a "quick to the majors" arm. Color me skeptical that that phrase holds any kind of true value.

This. A hundred times. I wish scouts were banned from using that phrase.

[Willihammer]

Some notables from Friday night:

 

Clemson @ UNC

-Bukauskas: 7.0, 5, 1, 3, 7

 

Tenn @ Vandy

Kendall: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 K

 

FL @ GA

Faedo: 6.1, 6, 3, 2, 7

 

Toledo @ Louisville

McKay: 8.0, 3, 4, 1, 12.   1-4 at the plate (no BB or K).

 

VA @ Fl St

Haseley: 1-4, no BB or K

Smith: 0-3, 1 BB, 0 K.

 

Auburn @ Miss. St

Rooker: 1-4, 0BB, 1 K

[AZTwin]

Some notables from Friday night:

 

Clemson @ UNC

-Bukauskas: 7.0, 5, 1, 3, 7

 

Tenn @ Vandy

Kendall: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 K

 

FL @ GA

Faedo: 6.1, 6, 3, 2, 7

 

Toledo @ Louisville

McKay: 8.0, 3, 4, 1, 12. 1-4 at the plate (no BB or K).

 

VA @ Fl St

Haseley: 1-4, no BB or K

Smith: 0-3, 1 BB, 0 K.

 

Auburn @ Miss. St

Rooker: 1-4, 0BB, 1 K

What do all those numbers for the pitcher mean? I imagine the last number is strikeouts. Couldn't make out the order of the others

[Hrbowski]

 

What do all those numbers for the pitcher mean? I imagine the last number is strikeouts. Couldn't make out the order of the others

Innings pitched, hits, runs, walks, and strikeouts.

[AZTwin]

Innings pitched, hits, runs, walks, and strikeouts.

Ouch. McKay's line was throwing me off. 4 runs off 3 hits and 1 walk? Ouch

[beckmt]

Still in the Greene camp.  You have take generational talents.

[maxisagod]

I was looking at MLB.com new top 100 draft prospects:

http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2017?list=draft

 

and it got me thinking about if you could convince a middle round high school pitcher (like Sam Carlson or Shane Baz)  to fall to us with our 30's pick, how much would you need to save or who would you have to draft number 1 to get the savings you'd need to sign him? How about if you over drafted a second round like Brent Rooker, a fan favorite of some here? Who would you except to draft #1 with that kind of combo? 

[maxisagod]

 

I was looking at MLB.com new top 100 draft prospects:

http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2017?list=draft

 

and it got me thinking about if you could convince a middle round high school pitcher (like Sam Carlson or Shane Baz)  to fall to us with our 30's pick, how much would you need to save or who would you have to draft number 1 to get the savings you'd need to sign him? How about if you over drafted a second round like Brent Rooker, a fan favorite of some here? Who would you except to draft #1 with that kind of combo? 

 

Or in otherwords, if you wanted to save 1.5-1.75 million to get great value at pick 35. Who'd you expect to draft 1 and 37 to get them? 

[Rhino and Compass]

I truly don't have anything to add to this conversation, but I admire all of your ability and knowledge on this topic. I'm impressed. 

[Hrbowski]

 

I was looking at MLB.com new top 100 draft prospects:

http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2017?list=draft

 

and it got me thinking about if you could convince a middle round high school pitcher (like Sam Carlson or Shane Baz)  to fall to us with our 30's pick, how much would you need to save or who would you have to draft number 1 to get the savings you'd need to sign him? How about if you over drafted a second round like Brent Rooker, a fan favorite of some here? Who would you except to draft #1 with that kind of combo? 

Carlson just started his season, and I think that he will continue to rise up draft boards. Carlson is probably as good as Greene, but he has way less exposure. At this point Greene is a thrower, while Carlson has an advanced feel for pitching with both an above average slider and changeup. Greene's fastball is just a bit faster than Carlson's, but Carlson has better command of his. I think that if Carlson had pitched in South Cal and Greene had pitched in Minnesota we would have seen Carlson higher than Greene on most draft boards.

[biggentleben]

 

Carlson just started his season, and I think that he will continue to rise up draft boards. Carlson is probably as good as Greene, but he has way less exposure. At this point Greene is a thrower, while Carlson has an advanced feel for pitching with both an above average slider and changeup. Greene's fastball is just a bit faster than Carlson's, but Carlson has better command of his. I think that if Carlson had pitched in South Cal and Greene had pitched in Minnesota we would have seen Carlson higher than Greene on most draft boards.

 

I don't know if I'd go quite that far, but I was given a handful of names as far as pairings for the first two picks that would be ideal for the Braves from a couple of guys within their org in preparation of my first mocks of the year. The pairing that the team is really liking right now is a combo of Gore or Carlson at 5 with Heliot Ramos in the 2nd if they can make that pairing work financially (the way they planned out Anderson/Wentz and had an idea of where a number of other guys would be, so they knew Muller would work into their plan in last year's grouping).

[Willihammer]

Rooker in Saturday's doubleheader against Auburn:

 

6-9, 2 HR, 2 doubles, 1BB 1K.  Also stole a base.

 

All this guy does is mash.

[gunnarthor]

Rooker is #49 on mlbpipelines updated list so the Twins could certainly nab him at 35 or 37.  Of course, he's a college senior so he has very little bargaining power so some team might reach for him to save money later but that seems sorta unlikely.

[gunnarthor]

It also sounds like Seth Romero from Houston is going to drop in the draft due to attitude/makeup concerns.  He was suspended from his team and scouts have concerns over his body type but, after McKay, he's the best college lefty in the draft and pipeline has him #20 overall.  

 

"Romero's indifferent approach to conditioning led to him going undrafted out of high school and getting suspended for a couple of weeks at the start of his sophomore season. Scouts were impressed at how much better he looked physically this year, but makeup concerns have dogged him for a while. Some clubs have said they wouldn't touch him in the first round, though he'll still be Houston's highest pick since Brad Lincoln went fourth overall in 2006."

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Rooker is #49 on mlbpipelines updated list so the Twins could certainly nab him at 35 or 37.  Of course, he's a college senior so he has very little bargaining power so some team might reach for him to save money later but that seems sorta unlikely.

 

definitely a guy I wouldn't mind at 35 or 37.  If you get real lucky, he might be there at 3-1 based on that info.  Not holding my breath there though.

 

He's another guy though, being a college senior, that you might get under slot at 37 which could allow some of those mid-round picks to be used to snag some falling HS talent.

[Hrbowski]

 

definitely a guy I wouldn't mind at 35 or 37.  If you get real lucky, he might be there at 3-1 based on that info.  Not holding my breath there though.

 

He's another guy though, being a college senior, that you might get under slot at 37 which could allow some of those mid-round picks to be used to snag some falling HS talent.

Rooker is a junior. The Twins took him last year as a draft eligible sophomore.

[Mike Sixel]

 

Rooker is a junior. The Twins took him last year as a draft eligible sophomore.

 

Same scouts, wouldn't shock me if they took him again.

[gunnarthor]

minor league ball write up on Griffin Canning from UCLA.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2017/5/1/15494602/2017-mlb-draft-griffin-canning-rhp-ucla

 

They project him as a middle/late first round draft pick.  mlbpipeline has him #17.  He's a fairly polished RH pitcher who is a little short (Berrios!) but with a good fastball.  Probably a true 3/4 type.  And he probably goes before the Twins pick again at 35 but Dakota Hudson dropped last year and Walker Buehler dropped the year before.  With all the exciting HS arms with "upside!" a college arm like Canning might slip a bit.  I think he'd be pretty good value at 35 but he might end up the next Pierce Johnson, too.

[gunnarthor]

And mlbpipeline has their second mock up.  Twins take McKay

 

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/227685110/brendan-mckay-to-twins-in-first-mock-draft/?topicid=151437456

[Mike Sixel]

GoDucks
1:06 Has David Peterson surpassed Seth Romero as the best college lefty available in the draft?

 

Eric A Longenhagen
1:07 After McKay, I assume? Probably depends on how clubs view Romero's off-field issues. On stuff? No.