2018 Draft Thread

[CaliforniaRaisin]

BA's watch list, top 10 HS and college guys: http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/20 ... ?amphtml=1

• Brady Singer, RHP, Florida
• Nick Madrigal, SS/2B, Oregon State
• Shane McClanahan, LHP, South Florida
• Travis Swaggerty, OF, South Alabama
• Jeremy Eierman, SS/3B, Missouri State
• Tristan Pompey, OF, Kentucky
• Casey Mize, RHP, Auburn
• Joey Bart, C, Georgia Tech
• Seth Beer, OF/DH, Clemson
• Konnor Pilkington, LHP, Mississippi State

• Brice Turang, SS, Santiago HS (Corona, CA)
• Ethan Hankins, RHP, Forsyth Central HS (Cummings, GA)
• Kumar Rocker, RHP, North Oconee HS (Bogart, GA)
• Will Banfield, C, Brookwood HS (Snellville, GA)
• Nander De Sedas, SS, Monteverde Academy (FL)
• Luke Bartnicki, LHP, Walton HS (Marietta, GA)
• Jarred Kelenic, OF, West HS (Waukesha, WI)
• Slade Cecconi, RHP, Trinity Prep HS (Winter Park, FL)
• Mason Denaburg, RHP/C, Merrit Island HS (FL)
• Carter Stewart, RHP, Eau Gallie HS (Melbourne, FL)

A couple guys I like who weren't mentioned:

Luken Baker, 1B/RHP, TCU
Tristan Beck, RHP, Stanford
Kyle Molnar, RHP, UCLA (had TJS after his freshman year)
Justin Hooper, LHP, UCLA
Joey Demers, RHP, Washington

[ddwyer]

Jarred Kelenic, OF, West HS (Waukesha, WI)

I live in Wisconsin and it is surprising to see a HS prospect listed this high. Was it UK that provided his name in the 2017 draft discussion?

[Hrubes20]

BA's watch list, top 10 HS and college guys: http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/20 ... ?amphtml=1

• Brady Singer, RHP, Florida
• Nick Madrigal, SS/2B, Oregon State
• Shane McClanahan, LHP, South Florida
• Travis Swaggerty, OF, South Alabama
• Jeremy Eierman, SS/3B, Missouri State
• Tristan Pompey, OF, Kentucky
• Casey Mize, RHP, Auburn
• Joey Bart, C, Georgia Tech
• Seth Beer, OF/DH, Clemson
• Konnor Pilkington, LHP, Mississippi State

• Brice Turang, SS, Santiago HS (Corona, CA)
• Ethan Hankins, RHP, Forsyth Central HS (Cummings, GA)
• Kumar Rocker, RHP, North Oconee HS (Bogart, GA)
• Will Banfield, C, Brookwood HS (Snellville, GA)
• Nander De Sedas, SS, Monteverde Academy (FL)
• Luke Bartnicki, LHP, Walton HS (Marietta, GA)
• Jarred Kelenic, OF, West HS (Waukesha, WI)
• Slade Cecconi, RHP, Trinity Prep HS (Winter Park, FL)
• Mason Denaburg, RHP/C, Merrit Island HS (FL)
• Carter Stewart, RHP, Eau Gallie HS (Melbourne, FL)

A couple guys I like who weren't mentioned:

Luken Baker, 1B/RHP, TCU
Tristan Beck, RHP, Stanford
Kyle Molnar, RHP, UCLA (had TJS after his freshman year)
Justin Hooper, LHP, UCLA
Joey Demers, RHP, Washington

He's really cut down the walks in the Cape so far this summer.

[TomtheBombadil]

Baker's going to get knocked for being both a 1B and a RH 1B at that, especially since he got hurt, but he was on his way to be a truly elite prospect as a freshman. Madrigal's got alot to like but where's the power? Pompey could be fun if he can play CF.

[UK]

Jarred Kelenic, OF, West HS (Waukesha, WI)

I live in Wisconsin and it is surprising to see a HS prospect listed this high. Was it UK that provided his name in the 2017 draft discussion?

Yes, he's by far the best position prospect I've seen in 13 years. Odorizzi and Folty are the best pitchers I've seen but at this point, Kelenic is higher than him, IMO.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

The Under Armour All-America Game is today at Wrigley: http://m.mlb.com/news/article/244914356 ... me-preview

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Jim Callis' top 10 college prospects for the 2018 draft: http://m.mlb.com/news/article/249819104 ... =151437456

1. Brady Singer, RHP, Florida
2. Shane McClanahan, LHP, South Florida
3. Casey Mize, RHP, Auburn
4. Nick Madrigal, 2B/SS, Oregon State
5. Griffin Conine, OF, Duke - Jeff Conine's son
6. Jeremy Eirman, SS, Missouri State
7. Travis Swaggerty, OF, South Alabama
8. Seth Beer, 1B, Clemson
9. Ryan Rolison, LHP, Mississippi
10. Logan Gilbert, RHP, Stetson

Callis said Kentucky OF Tristan Pompey would have been 11th.

Jonathan Mayo's top 10 HS prospects for the 2018 draft: http://m.mlb.com/news/article/249942466 ... =151437456

1. Brice Turang, SS, Santiago HS (Corona, CA)
2. Ethan Hankins, RHP, Forsyth Central HS (Cumming, GA)
3. Kumar Rocker, RHP, North Oconee HS (Bogart, GA)
4. Matt Liberatore, LHP, Mountain Ridge HS (Glendale, AZ)
5. Jarred Kelenic, OF, Waukesha West HS (Waukesha, WI)
6. Will Banfield, C, Brookwood HS (Snellville, GA)
7. Nolan Gorman, 3B, Sandra Day O'Connor HS (Phoenix, AZ)
8. Ryan Weathers, LHP, Loretto HS (Loretto, TN) - David Weathers' son
9. Mason Denaburg, RHP/C, Merritt Island HS (Merritt Island, FL)
10. Nander de Sedas, SS, Montverde Academy (Montverde, FL)

[CaliforniaRaisin]

BA's top 10 Cape Cod League Prospects: http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/ ... BRhflkG.97

1. Greyson Jenista, OF, Wichita State
2. Griffin Conine, OF, Duke
3. Ryan Rollison, LHP, Mississippi
4. Logan Gilbert, RHP, Stetson
5. Tyler Baum, RHP, UNC (2019 draft)
6. Tristan Pompey, OF, Kentucky
7. Alec Bohm, 1B/3B, Wichita State
8. Tanner Dodson, RHP/OF, Cal
9. Kris Bubic, LHP, Stanford
10. Zach Hess, RHP, LSU (2019 draft)

D1Baseball.com's top 10 Cape Cod League Prospects: https://d1baseball.com/premium/cape-cod ... ects-1-25/

1. Ryan Rollison, LHP, Ole Miss
2. Logan Gilbert, RHP, Stetson
3. Griffin Conine, OF, Duke
4. Austin Bergner, RHP, UNC
5. Jeremy Eirman, SS, Missouri State
6. Alec Bohm, 1B/3B, Wichita State
7. Greyson Jenista, OF, Wichita State
8. Shea Langeliers, C, Baylor (2019 draft)
9. Hogan Harris, LHP, Louisiana-Lafayette
10. Kris Bubic, LHP, Stanford

BA's top 10 Team USA prospects: http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/ ... tpbtwsK.97

1. Nick Madrigal, 2B/SS, Oregon State
2. Travis Swaggerty, OF, South Alabama
3. Seth Beer, 1B/OF, Clemson
4. Casey Mize, RHP, AUburn
5. Steele Walker, OF, Oklahoma
6. Jeremy Eirman, SS/3B, Missouri State
7. Konnor Pilkington, LHP, Mississippi State
8. Tim Cate, LHP, Connecticut
9. Cadyn Grenier, SS, Oregon State
10. Steven Gingery, LHP, Texas Tech

[Tim]

You just know that Cape Cod list is the one the Cubs are looking at.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

BA way too early mock draft: http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/ml ... BO6cjtt.99

24. Cubs: Physical size and a heavy low-90s fastball put Georgia's Cole Wilcox on the radar of any team that needs homegrown pitching.

PICK: Cole Wilcox, RHP, Heritage HS, Ringgold, Ga.

[Regular Show]

BA way too early mock draft: http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/ml ... BO6cjtt.99

24. Cubs: Physical size and a heavy low-90s fastball put Georgia's Cole Wilcox on the radar of any team that needs homegrown pitching.

PICK: Cole Wilcox, RHP, Heritage HS, Ringgold, Ga.

I don't really understand the point of doing a mock draft this early, but I guess fans and readers enjoy it. It seems like this draft class is better than previous years and is really rich in pitching prospects. I know J. Callis and some other writers are really high on this upcoming draft class.

I know very little about C. Wilcox, but at this very early juncture the guy I really want the Cubs to take is RHP - C. Stewart. That curveball is insane, and I was surprised he went to the Angels at #17.

[TomtheBombadil]

Liberatore seems like a potentially badass HS LHSP prospect. The Cubs should arrange for his fall to 24 unless there's a bat to be had.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Scout.com early top 15: https://scout.com/mlb/scouting/Article/ ... 698859/Amp

1. Casey Mize, RHP, Auburn
2. Ethan Hankins, RHP, Forsyth Central HS (GA)
3. Nander De Sedas, SS, Monteverde Academy (FL)
4. Nick Madrigal, SS, Oregon State
5. Brice Turang, SS, Santiago HS (CA)
6. Tristan Pompey, OF, Kentucky
7. Jarred Kelenic, OF, Waukesha West HS (WI)
8. Kumar Rocker, RHP, North Oconee HS (GA)
9. Jeremy Eierman, SS, Missouri State
10. Matt Liberatore, LHP, Mountain Ridge HS (AZ)
11. Nolan Gorman, 3B/SS, Sandra Day O'Connor HS (AZ)
12. Ryan Rollison, LHP, Ole MIss
13. Brady SInger, RHP, Florida
14. Shane McClanahan, LHP, South Florida
15. Griffin Conine, RHP, Duke

[David]

not a 2018 draft prospect, but i had no idea jaden agassi (andre and steffi graf's son) is a (somewhat?) highly regarded recruit out of vegas. committed to usc for 2020.

[Regular Show]

not a 2018 draft prospect, but i had no idea jaden agassi (andre and steffi graf's son) is a (somewhat?) highly regarded recruit out of vegas. committed to usc for 2020.

Huh, wow that's surprising. Man, you'd think he would be into tennis with those kind of genes. Then again A. Agassi claimed he started to resent playing tennis because of his demanding father.

I wonder if he's ever met K. Bryant's dad or gotten hitting lessons with him.

[David]

not a 2018 draft prospect, but i had no idea jaden agassi (andre and steffi graf's son) is a (somewhat?) highly regarded recruit out of vegas. committed to usc for 2020.

Huh, wow that's surprising. Man, you'd think he would be into tennis with those kind of genes. Then again A. Agassi claimed he started to resent playing tennis because of his demanding father.

I wonder if he's ever met K. Bryant's dad or gotten hitting lessons with him.

yeah, both of them resented tennis and i'm pretty sure went out of their way not to steer their kids toward tennis

[r_mack]

MLB felt bad about the hacking penalties so rewarded the Cardinals with a competitive balance pick

Competitive Balance picks for 2018 @MLBDraft:
Round A
31 @Pirates
32 #Rays (Comp from '17)
33 @Orioles
34 @Padres
35 @Dbacks
36 @Royals
37 @Indians
38 @Rockies
39 @Cardinals
Round B
70 @Marlins
71 @Athletics
72 @RaysBaseball
73 @Reds
74 @Brewers
75 @Twins

[Tryptamine]

MLB felt bad about the hacking penalties so rewarded the Cardinals with a competitive balance pick

Competitive Balance picks for 2018 @MLBDraft:
Round A
31 @Pirates
32 #Rays (Comp from '17)
33 @Orioles
34 @Padres
35 @Dbacks
36 @Royals
37 @Indians
38 @Rockies
39 @Cardinals
Round B
70 @Marlins
71 @Athletics
72 @RaysBaseball
73 @Reds
74 @Brewers
75 @Twins

If I had the ability to change one rule in MLB it would be this one. It's a very large advantage for team's like BAL and STL who basically carry top 10 payrolls as it is.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

MLB.com's top 50 draft prospects: http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2018/?list=draft

[Bertz]

I was a little unsure how our draft would look under the new rules, so I decided to dig in a little bit. Apologies if this gets a bit rambly, the new rules are extremely convoluted.

Based on record, we pick 24th in each round. Because we extended Davis and Arrieta qualifying offers, we will receive an extra pick when each of them signs elsewhere. As a large market team that is NOT above the luxury tax, those two picks will be placed after Compeitive Balance Round B (which itself comes right after the 2nd round). The other teams losing QO FA's this winter are the Royals, Rays, Rockies, Cards, and Indians, who I believe all recieve revenue sharing (I'm not positive on this, especially the Cards). Therefore, each of their extra picks would come after the first round. That means that, tentatively, the draft would look like this:

Round 1: Picks 1-30
FA Comp Picks for everyone but us: 31-37
Competitive Balance Round A: 38-46
Round 2: 47-76
Competitive Balance Round B: 77-82
Our Comp Picks: 83-84
Round 3: 85-114

That would place our picks at:

24 (1st rounder)
71 (2nd rounder)
83 (comp for Arrieta/Davis)
84 (comp for Arrieta/Davis)
109 (3rd rounder)

However, like under the old rule, when a team signs a QO free agent, they lose a draft pick. The way it works now, teams that receive revenue sharing money lose their 3rd pick, while teams that don't lose their 2nd pick (you also lose your fifth if you're over the luxury tax). As mentioned above, there are nine total QO free agents, seven excluding our own. Because of that, those are seven picks that are going to disappear as part of FA compensation. Ideally, that would move every pick after our first rounder up by seven spots, but because of a bunch of wonky nonsense, that's not quite the case. I've included said wonky nonsense in the spoiler tags.

Spoiler: show

-As mentioned above, when signing a QO free agent, if a team receives revenue sharing, they lose their third pick, otherwise they lose their second
-If a team signs two QO free agents, they would lose two picks (their 2nd and 3rd, or 3rd and 4th, depending on market)
-I could very easily be off about who does and does not receive revenue sharing. I assumed anyone who gets a competitive balance pick gets revenue sharing, but the Cards have me wondering if that's not quite true.
-If a team loses a QO free agent, but also signs a different QO free agent, I'm not sure which pick they lose. I believe picks are added before their taken away. E.g. We "receive" our picks for Arrieta/Davis before it's determined what pick we would lose for signing Cobb.
-If a team re-signs their own QO free agent, they don't gain or lose a pick

At the end of the day though, small market teams get an extra competitive balance pick, meaning that their third pick is in the second round. So the rules appear to intend for a team to lose their 2nd round pick when signing a QO free agent. Obviously with these intricate rules, it will not always work out that way in practice. That means that the seven picks that get removed for signing QO free agents are likely to come before our second rounder unless the signing team had a better record than us last year.

For simplicity's sake, I'm going to assume that our 2nd rounder will climb 5 spots, and all picks afterwards will climb by 7 spots. That would give us picks at

24 (1st rounder)
66 (2nd rounder)
76 (comp for Arrieta/Davis)
77 (comp for Arrieta/Davis)
102 (3rd rounder)

It's apparently a good and deep draft, so this should be a nice way to replenish our depleted system. Now, my numbers could be off, but barring something weird (or me completely whiffing on some of the rules) nothing should be off by more than 2-3 spots.

[Regular Show]

Yeah, the new rules are pretty confusing for FA compensation. I'm pretty excited for this year's draft class. I think it might be better than last year's draft class overall.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Yeah, the new rules are pretty confusing for FA compensation. I'm pretty excited for this year's draft class. I think it might be better than last year's draft class overall.

The consensus amongst the Internet publications is this is a very deep draft. Callis said it might the best draft since 2011.

[Regular Show]

Yeah, the new rules are pretty confusing for FA compensation. I'm pretty excited for this year's draft class. I think it might be better than last year's draft class overall.

The consensus amongst the Internet publications is this is a very deep draft. Callis said it might the best draft since 2011.

Yeah, I know -- I've read that as well, but I think it's too soon to make that call. We'll need to see how these prospects are doing in the spring of next year. Health and performance can vary drastically for these young players leading up to the draft.

I really like the 2012 draft class so I'm not so sure about that claim.

[TomtheBombadil]

MLB.com's top 50 draft prospects: http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2018/?list=draft

They need to cool it on Liberatore. I have already called dibs for the Cubs. There’s plenty of pitching still but this guy just looks like a standout among standouts.

Seems like there’s lots of OF depth in this class, both college and HS.

[TomtheBombadil]

A HS bat to keep an eye on for the Cubs is Xavier Edwards, a bat first switch hitting MIF with a Vanderbilt commit. His size and glove might remind some of you that follow the draft of Nick Allen from last year, considered the top HS defensive MIF, but his offense has a way better reputation and he’s been through all the circuits. Seems like a Cubs kind of player for a HS kid with his combo of tools and long track record relative to his age and level.