2020 MLB Draft Thread (No Spoilers)

[StLunatic88]

I know you had him a few spots higher in the updated mock, but if the Cardinals get Zac Veen, I will cream my jeans. Love that dude

[devils1854]

6 hours ago, StLunatic88 said:

I know you had him a few spots higher in the updated mock, but if the Cardinals get Zac Veen, I will cream my jeans. Love that dude

Fangraphs has him at #4 overall, and I saw a tweet from maybe Baseball American praising him. Comparing his tools to Yelich. I need to watch more of him.

Ginn(out for year), Crochet(hasnt pitched yet) were both potential top 10 that are slipping. Theres going to be room for 3-4 high schoolers in the top 10 from the looks of it, and Veen might be one of them.

[devils1854]

Its been two weeks since I posted my mock, and there have been two more weeks of college baseball, with a lot better competition, and some high schools seem to be started as well. I just wanted to do a quick top 10 based on the hype of the first month of the season.

1.Detorit-Spencer Torkelson||1B||Arizona State
2.Baltimore-Austin Martin||SS||Vanderbilt
3.Miami-Nick Gonzalez||2B||New Mexico State
4.Kansas City-Zac Veen||OF||Spruce Creek, FL
5.Toronto-Emerson Hancock||RHP||Georgia
6.Seattle-Asa Lacy||LHP||Texas A&M
7.Pittsburgh-Ed Howard||SS||Mount Caramel, IL
8.San Diego-Mick Abel||RHP||Jesuit, OR
9.Colorado-Garrett Mitchell||OF||UCLA
10.LA Angels-Pete Crow-Armstrong||OF||Harvard Westlake, CA

-(1)I think Torkelson is going to be seriously considered over a very good shortstop prospect, and I just think thats weird, but if you can get a prime Miggy Cabrera, or even a peak Mark Teixeira, it would be a no brainer, and Torkelson is getting Kris Bryant college hitter hype. (2)Martin slides nicely to Baltimore, and I think they would rather have a middle of the diamond prospect with them having so many corner guys in their system at the moment. (3)Still going Gonzalez at three for the Marlins. I just think he fits their profile better than a college pitcher in Hancock, and he has the results to back it up. (4)Lets buy into the Veen hype. Fangraphs has him at #4, and Kansas City went with the top high school hitter last year, so why not this year if the tools really are what they say? (5)Hancock falls to Toronto. Pairing him with Manoah could be special. Hancock has been a little disappointing so far, but its not a major concern yet, so him sliding to #5 could be realistic at this moment. (6) Aca Lacy has been dominant so far for Texas A&M. His ceiling isnt quite as high as other college pitchers, but he has a pretty high floor and could be a very solid rotation piece. He would fit in with the time table of the rest of the Seattle prospects. (7)Not sure where this new regime will go in Pittsburgh, but the organization needs athletes, and Howard is rising up boards. (8)Mick Abel seems like he could be BPA here but they also could choose from a few other high school options. (9)The Rockies have been college heavy and Mitchell is having a very solid start to the year, but the over the fence power still hasnt showed.(10)The Angels have taken a bat for five straight years, so we ask high school or college? Past Mitchell, there seems to be a descent sized gap to the next college hitter, so I went with Armstrong, who is the best athlete of the remaining options.

 

 

 

 

Edit:

Nick Gonzalez is playing his biggest series of the year at Texas A&M this weekend. The WAC isnt that strong of a conference. He went against Asa Lacy tonight. He went 0-2 with a BB and K against Lacy, and went 0-3 for the night.

Edited March 7, 2020 by devils1854

[BillsGuy82]

On 2020-03-06 at 10:50 PM, devils1854 said:

Its been two weeks since I posted my mock, and there have been two more weeks of college baseball, with a lot better competition, and some high schools seem to be started as well. I just wanted to do a quick top 10 based on the hype of the first month of the season.

1.Detorit-Spencer Torkelson||1B||Arizona State
2.Baltimore-Austin Martin||SS||Vanderbilt
3.Miami-Nick Gonzalez||2B||New Mexico State
4.Kansas City-Zac Veen||OF||Spruce Creek, FL
5.Toronto-Emerson Hancock||RHP||Georgia
6.Seattle-Asa Lacy||LHP||Texas A&M
7.Pittsburgh-Ed Howard||SS||Mount Caramel, IL
8.San Diego-Mick Abel||RHP||Jesuit, OR
9.Colorado-Garrett Mitchell||OF||UCLA
10.LA Angels-Pete Crow-Armstrong||OF||Harvard Westlake, CA

-(1)I think Torkelson is going to be seriously considered over a very good shortstop prospect, and I just think thats weird, but if you can get a prime Miggy Cabrera, or even a peak Mark Teixeira, it would be a no brainer, and Torkelson is getting Kris Bryant college hitter hype. (2)Martin slides nicely to Baltimore, and I think they would rather have a middle of the diamond prospect with them having so many corner guys in their system at the moment. (3)Still going Gonzalez at three for the Marlins. I just think he fits their profile better than a college pitcher in Hancock, and he has the results to back it up. (4)Lets buy into the Veen hype. Fangraphs has him at #4, and Kansas City went with the top high school hitter last year, so why not this year if the tools really are what they say? (5)Hancock falls to Toronto. Pairing him with Manoah could be special. Hancock has been a little disappointing so far, but its not a major concern yet, so him sliding to #5 could be realistic at this moment. (6) Aca Lacy has been dominant so far for Texas A&M. His ceiling isnt quite as high as other college pitchers, but he has a pretty high floor and could be a very solid rotation piece. He would fit in with the time table of the rest of the Seattle prospects. (7)Not sure where this new regime will go in Pittsburgh, but the organization needs athletes, and Howard is rising up boards. (8)Mick Abel seems like he could be BPA here but they also could choose from a few other high school options. (9)The Rockies have been college heavy and Mitchell is having a very solid start to the year, but the over the fence power still hasnt showed.(10)The Angels have taken a bat for five straight years, so we ask high school or college? Past Mitchell, there seems to be a descent sized gap to the next college hitter, so I went with Armstrong, who is the best athlete of the remaining options.

 

 

 

 

Edit:

Nick Gonzalez is playing his biggest series of the year at Texas A&M this weekend. The WAC isnt that strong of a conference. He went against Asa Lacy tonight. He went 0-2 with a BB and K against Lacy, and went 0-3 for the night.

If Hancock falls to 5 id be doing back flips

Jarred Kelley and Asa Lacy seem to be the names most linked to us the most so far.

Id be ok with your original pick of Pete Crow-Armstrong. I know no one ever drafts need in baseball but id rather lay off yet ANOTHER SS/3B type. Were loaded there with Vladdy, Bichette, Jordan Groshans, Orelvis Martinez, Miguel Hiraldo, Leonardo Jimenez etc

My BB would be 

Emerso Hancock

Nick Gonzales

Asa Lacy

Mick Abel

Jarred Kelley

Love to keep building the rotation adding to Pearson and Manoah

Edited March 8, 2020 by BillsGuy82

[holt_bruce81]

Not sure if he’ll be around at our pick, but right now I want the Cardinals to draft Nick Bitsko. 

[Eagles27]

^Veen is really moving up in mocks. 

Hopefully he keeps it up. Would be nice if Hancock or Lacy are available for the M's. 

[holt_bruce81]

What would scare you away from Garrett Mitchell more....the lack of power he’s shown at the college level or the fact that he has type 1 diabetes? 

[THE DUKE]

13 hours ago, holt_bruce81 said:

What would scare you away from Garrett Mitchell more....the lack of power he’s shown at the college level or the fact that he has type 1 diabetes? 

The lack of power.  It was an issue coming out of high school too, and if he's still not showing it with metal bats as he matures, it's likely never coming unless he starts juicing.  The diabetes can be managed as long as he is disciplined about it.

[devils1854]

13 hours ago, THE DUKE said:

The lack of power.  It was an issue coming out of high school too, and if he's still not showing it with metal bats as he matures, it's likely never coming unless he starts juicing.  The diabetes can be managed as long as he is disciplined about it.

100% The diabetes really doesnt even register for me. He will have access to the best medicine in the world with  professional baseball team.

If he doesnt hit for power, he will have to stick in center and use his legs to be valuable. His floor is still probably the White Sox at 12, because these teams see his BP power, and will think they will be able to change his swing to get the power in games.

[devils1854]

Went and watched Vandy tonight. Was hoping to see Jack Leiter pitch, but unfortunately he wasnt on the mound. I was very impressed with Austin Martin though. He absolutely mashes the ball. He barrelled everything tonight, and the ball was flying off his bat. He's playing center this year for Vandy, and thats probably where he will end up playing in pro ball(he hasnt even played SS in college). I know Royce Lewis is having problems with a swing change right now, but I think they both have similar skill sets.

Did get to see two very highly touted freshmen play for Vanderbilt. Spencer Jones looks like a star. He has that huge frame and once he fills out, he will probably end up at first, but tonight he played right, and he looked pretty athletic for his size. He hasnt pitched yet for Vandy. Not sure their plans for him on the mound. The other freshman i saw was Carter Young. He is skinny. He definitely needs to hit the weight room. There's absolutely no power in his body right now, but he knows how to use the bat and spray the ball all over the field. I could see him as a first round pick in two years.

[naptownskinsfan]

Really wonder what the cancellation of many college and high school seasons is going to do with the draft.  I think this really has a chance to hurt high school seniors, as they are missing a prime season to make an impact.  There is already a lot of tape on college guys who have at least started for a year or more, but without any sort of sustained season this year at either level, the draft is going to be a huge crapshoot.  

[devils1854]

17 hours ago, naptownskinsfan said:

Really wonder what the cancellation of many college and high school seasons is going to do with the draft.  I think this really has a chance to hurt high school seniors, as they are missing a prime season to make an impact.  There is already a lot of tape on college guys who have at least started for a year or more, but without any sort of sustained season this year at either level, the draft is going to be a huge crapshoot.  

Teams have been following both high school and college players for years. They know what they are looking at for the most part. With seasons, summer leagues/travel, fall ball/travel, Id say 95% of draft eligible players are known. Who this is going to hurt will be the ones that were going to breakout, or that were in the middle of a breakout over the fall/spring.

For example: Garrett Crochet is a hard throwing lefty starter for Tennessee. He had a breakout season last year as a sophomore. This past fall, scouts clocked him at 100 in fall games. The helium was real. He was up to top 10 projections before the season. He hasnt pitched yet for Tennessee this year. Its being called soreness, and supposedly it wasnt serious, and he was going to be back soon, but who knows now? Some team might gamble on the upside, and he could still go top 10, but more than likely, he's going to fall to someone like Washington, and they will take a chance, and he will turn out fine.

Teams are just going to have to rely on scouts more this year.

[JaguarCrazy2832]

As little as I know about college prospects, I love this thread. Baseball is so much crazier than football because of the minor league system and trying to evaluate HS prospects as well.

Always a good read @devils1854

[devils1854]

1 hour ago, JaguarCrazy2832 said:

As little as I know about college prospects, I love this thread. Baseball is so much crazier than football because of the minor league system and trying to evaluate HS prospects as well.

Always a good read @devils1854

Thanks.

With Vandy being so good recently, and being 6 miles away from my house, and Georgia being a big factor in the sport again after a decade of being dormant, has really gotten me into college baseball the past couple of years. Plus, I kind of think of college baseball as another minor league system, so learning about prospects for the draft is really the same as doing it with prospects in the minors.

I think the talent in the sport is better now than it has ever been. Guys like Cole Wilcox and Jack Leiter using the 2 year age rule before hopping to MLB have really helped to infuse a lot of talent, and more and more kids are leaving high school early and going to college to get a head start on their three years(Martin-Arky/Savino-UVA). Its good baseball, and I really think its a growing sport.

I definitely know college players a lot more than high school, and that definitely shows in my draft knowledge. You cant really watch much more than BP or 30 second clips of high schoolers unless you actually go to game, but even bad college baseball can be found on ESPN+ these days.

Im thinking about doing another mock in the next week or so. Ive been using a lot of projections in my first couple of mocks, but with baseball being over for the season, things might look a lot different.

[kyle21121]

Major League Baseball is shut down indefinitely because of the threat the coronavirus has become.

MLB and the MLBPA will have a lot of issues to iron out once play does resume and one of them is the 2020 amateur draft, which is currently scheduled for June 10.

To mitigate the financial hit taken during the shutdown, MLB is considering skipping the draft altogether. Teams spend approximately $400 million combined on draft bonuses each year, plus associated scouting costs.

 

How can this happen? What would be the alternative?