http://www.espn.com/insider/mlb/insider/story/_/id/26662718/keith-law-2019-mlb-mock-draft-10 Spoiler Keith Law's 2019 MLB Mock Draft 1.0 The MLB draft starts in just four weeks, which means we're close enough to at least start talking about who might be drafted where. The top 10 or so picks are at least becoming less opaque. I think these are mostly the right names up top, barring some team cutting a well-under-slot deal with someone -- which could very well happen, especially after the top seven -- but my confidence wanes quickly as we go into the second half of the round. I'll update this again in a few weeks and at least one more time beyond that before the draft itself. 1. Baltimore Orioles: Adley Rutschman, C, Oregon State I think the O's would take Rutschman or Andrew Vaughn, perhaps taking whichever of the two will sign for less and using the under-slot savings to go over with subsequent picks. It doesn't sound like the O's clearly prefer either player. 2. Kansas City Royals: Bobby Witt Jr., SS, Colleyville Heritage High School (TX) It sounds like Witt is the player on top of KC's draft board, which, if true, would mean the college bat the O's don't take slips at least to No. 3. 3. Chicago White Sox: Andrew Vaughn, 1B, Cal I've heard Kenny Williams loves prep shortstop C.J. Abrams, but I am not going to bet on the White Sox -- who have been more college-focused in the first round recently -- passing on Vaughn or Rutschman here. 4. Miami Marlins: JJ Bleday, OF, Vanderbilt Word is the Marlins' scouting department wants Bleday, a strong college bat with a great track record of performance from a top program, while Derek Jeter and Gary Denbo prefer Abrams. 5. Detroit Tigers: Riley Greene, OF, Hagerty HS (Oviedo, FL) I've heard the Tigers most with Greene but also with Alek Manoah and Abrams. 6. San Diego Padres: C.J. Abrams, SS, Blessed Trinity Catholic HS (Roswell, GA) Multiple people have told me the Padres want Greene but probably won't get him, at which point they'd either take Abrams or go college, likely Nick Lodolo (who has struggled a little bit of late) or Manoah. 7. Cincinnati Reds: Nick Lodolo, LHP, TCU This is probably a best-case scenario for the Reds, who seem like they'll get one of the two top college starters here. I also heard them with Shea Langeliers, but that would have to be well under slot. 8. Texas Rangers Corbin Carroll, OF, Lakeside HS (Seattle) The Rangers have been most linked to Carroll and Hunter Bishop, but I've also heard them exploring well under-slot deals here, so this could be a spot for a good prep arm to jump up into the top 10. 9. Atlanta Braves: Hunter Bishop, OF, Arizona State Atlanta has been all over Bishop, who has exploded as a junior after two underwhelming years for the Sun Devils. They Braves are also linked to Carroll. I do hear that teams are concerned that Bishop has been striking out more and homering less as the Pac-12 season has progressed. 10. San Francisco Giants: Matt Allan, RHP, IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL) Allan is the top prep arm in the class and as such won't come cheaply, but this is about the right spot for him in the draft anyway, and I haven't heard the Giants as much with the college crop. 11. Toronto Blue Jays: Alek Manoah, RHP, West Virginia I keep hearing Toronto with college guys (even though its first-rounder from last year, prep infielder Jordan Groshans, is off to a fantastic start in low-A), and if Manoah gets here, that's a huge win. 12. New York Mets: Josh Jung, 3B, Texas Tech I think the Mets would take any of the top bats, college or prep, if one fell here, but I'm skeptical any of them gets this far, especially with Toronto right in front looking at the college hitters. 13. Minnesota Twins: Jackson Rutledge, RHP, San Jacinto College I've heard the Twins all over the place, including Rutledge, Puerto Rican shortstop Matthew Lugo, and any college hitter with good Trackman data. 14. Philadelphia Phillies: Zack Thompson, LHP, Kentucky Thompson has shown top-10-pick stuff this year, but after he missed a lot of 2017 with elbow soreness, he's probably going in the 11-20 range. I've also heard the Phillies with Gunnar Henderson. 15. Los Angeles Angels: Daniel Espino, RHP, Georgia Premier Academy (Bulloch Co., GA) Espino was up to 99 last summer, not quite as good this spring, but would fit the Angels' new tendency to go for ceiling with their first picks. 16. Arizona Diamondbacks: Matthew Lugo, SS, Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy (Puerto Rico) The Diamondbacks have a slew of extra picks, including another first-rounder, so don't be surprised to see an overdraft here who signs well under slot (which Lugo might be) so they can go over several times with later selections. I've also heard them with Gunnar Henderson and a bunch of prep arms. 17. Washington Nationals: Shea Langeliers, C, Baylor The Nats do tend to take well-known players who slipped due to injury, off-field concerns, or bonus demands; Langeliers came into the spring as a potential top-10 pick, but a broken hamate bone has ruined his spring. 18. Pittsburgh Pirates: Will Wilson, SS/2B, NC State There's some consensus that Wilson, as one of the better college bats in the second tier, will go right around pick 20. 19. St. Louis Cardinals: Gunnar Henderson, SS, John T. Morgan Academy (Selma, AL) They're also one of a few teams in on two-sport star Maurice Hampton, which would fit with their pick last year of Nolan Gorman as a bet on huge tools that has worked out very well so far. 20. Seattle Mariners: Bryson Stott, SS, UNLV Stott could go anywhere outside of the top 10, as he's also part of that second tier of college bats along with Wilson and Michael Busch. One weird rumor I picked up while working on this had the Mariners going way over slot for Anthony Volpe, a prep shortstop on the same team as Jack Leiter. 21. Atlanta Braves: Brennan Malone, RHP, IMG Academy If the Braves land a college bat at pick No. 9, they could be more free to take their preferred profile of a high school power arm at their regular pick here. 22. Tampa Bay Rays: Logan Davidson, SS, Clemson Davidson is a shortstop with above-average power and speed, but he has had issues with contact over the past 12 months; without that he'd be a top-five pick in this draft and represents an upside play down at this spot. 23. Colorado Rockies: Kam Misner, OF, Missouri The Rockies are unafraid to take a very toolsy player with performance questions; Misner may have the best mixture of tools in the college class but has struggled with contact this spring. 24. Cleveland Indians: Maurice Hampton, OF, Memphis University HS (TN) Hampton is seen as a late first-rounder who has upside due to his athleticism and split focus between baseball and football, similar to Bubba Thompson, taken 26th overall two years ago by the Rangers. 25. Los Angeles Dodgers: Brett Baty, 3B/OF, Lake Travis (TX) HS If Baty were 18, he'd go in the top 15 picks, but he'll be past 19 1/2 on draft day and many teams are shying away from him because their draft models factor players' ages (relative to their levels). 26. Arizona Diamondbacks: Quinn Priester, RHP, Cary-Grove (IL) HS The Diamondbacks pick 16th, 26th, 33rd, 34th, 56th, 74th, 75th and 93rd in the top 100, so they have a gazillion dollars in their bonus pool and I expect them to go after high-ceiling high school kids with at least three of those high picks. Priester qualifies, and while I can tell you Arizona's scouting director Deric Ladnier was there the day I saw Priester, I've seen Ladnier at a whole lot of games this spring. 27. Chicago Cubs: Michael Busch, 1B, UNC Busch could go anywhere anywhere from the mid-teens on as one of the more polished college hitters in the draft, but a guy without any place to play other than first base. 28. Milwaukee Brewers: JJ Goss, RHP, Cypress Ranch HS, Houston I personally think Goss should go higher than this, but the industry seems to think he goes in the 21-40 range. 29. Oakland Athletics: Kody Hoese, 3B, Tulane Hoese has come on this spring to lead Division 1 in homers after declining to sign last year as a draft-eligible sophomore. 30. New York Yankees: George Kirby, RHP, Elon I've heard them with Henderson and also with Rece Hinds, who might have the most raw power in the draft and would fit with their past picks of Aaron Judge and Dante Bichette Jr. in this range of the draft. If Jack Leiter goes in the first round at all, my guess is here. 31. Los Angeles Dodgers: Carter Stewart, RHP, Eastern Florida State College The Dodgers have some house money to play with since they have an extra pick, and Stewart was a top-10 pick last year who has fallen more due to regression in his delivery than anything else. 32. Houston Astros: Tyler Callihan, IF/C, Providence HS (Jacksonville, FL) Callihan has one of the best pure hit tools anywhere in the draft but lacks a clear position; the Astros have never hesitated to take players like that, including Seth Beer last year and AJ Reed a few years prior.
Callihan would be a good pick. I am starting to wonder if there’s any way Langeliers slips to 32. That would be awesome.
Callihan would not be a bad pick, but based on this draft, I would pick Wolf, Shewmake and probably Barco before Callihan. This would be a bad draft for me since my preferences are Gunnar Henderson or Maurice Hampton.
I think it’s a down year to be picking in the 3-15 range, but the top 2 guys are studs and I am really liking the depth of this draft in the 20-40 range, so Houston should definitely have a chance to get a great player at 32. Here’s hoping for some luck. Another reason I’m bummed about them not having an extra pick, I think the players available in that range will be better than most years.
Callihan is almost 19, that doesn't seem like a very Astros pick. Looking through the Astros drafts, the only prep hitter they signed that turned 19 in his draft year was Andres Santana (and he was still a November Birthday)
https://www.mlb.com/news/ New mlb.com mock draft has the stros taking Michael Busch, 1B/LF/DH from UNC. Another Seth Beer type. Wouldn’t hate that pick but wouldn’t love it.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/mock-draft-2-0/ Updated mock from Fangraphs. They have Houston picking HS RHP Daniel Espino. I like him. Still hoping for Logan Davidson to fall to 32. They also mention 3B Kody Hoese as a possibility, and I would like that pick as well. Don’t like SS Greg Jones (who they also mention Houston has looked at) in the 1st round, but would love him in the 2nd if he lasted that long. High risk high reward player. Luhnow was in round rock this week, I’m wondering if he went to the Texas games against Texas Tech.
After extensive research (10 minute surfing the internet, bro), I think the Astros should draft Kyle McCann 2019 MLB draft profile: Georgia Tech catcher, Kyle McCann The now-junior catcher broke out in his sophomore campaign, splitting time between first base, catcher, and designated hitter. He put himself on the map, hitting .300 with 10 doubles and 15 home runs and posting a 1.023 OPS. He did strike out roughly 24% of the time, but he also walked well over 15% of the time in posting a .423 OBP. McCann will be a bat-first catcher should he stick behind the plate. He continues to rake in his junior campaign, now hitting .305 with an ACC-best 18 home runs and a 1.162 OPS. There is no question now, after 32 home runs in his past 247 at bats that McCann’s power is for real. Draft projection Where McCann goes is purely based on how much confidence a team has in his defense. If they plan on keeping him at catcher, he’ll become a second round commodity. The good thing for McCann is that he does have experience at multiple positions, which will keep him in the first few rounds no matter what.
The Stros need catching depth in the worst way. I know nothing about the MLB draft. But if this guy has potential then sign me up. I've seen the Baylor catcher and really like him. Any chance he could fall due to the broken hammate bone?
McCann, Maverick Handley (Stanford), and Jaxx Groshans (Kansas) are 3 college catchers I would love Houston to draft. None are 1st round talents, but all should go in the top 300 picks.
All the mocks I have seen still have Langeliers in the top 20. Would be awesome if he dropped all the way to 32, but I don’t see it happening.
Do they? No doubt it would be nice to develop a cornerstone piece catcher but those are pretty rare and the number that stay at catcher even more rare. I think they've got depth pretty sewn up in Stassi, Stubbs and Ritchie. The Astros FO has also done a solid job of going into the trade market (McCann/Maldonado) and FA market (Chirinos) for primary catchers. Just don't see it as a big priority.
A star catcher is one of the fastest ways to differentiate a team from the other contenders. I dare say the Giants went to 3 WS almost entirely on Buster Posey’s back. There are usually only a handful of catchers who are good on both offense and defense. While that is a luxury for the current Houston team because of how good their other players are up and down the roster, that is very unlikely to be the case 5-6 years from now. Reality is the draft is no place to prioritize one position over another, but as it stands, there’s not a single catcher in Houston’s system who projects to be a quality everyday player, and that makes it the weakest position on the farm. All things being equal (they’re not), catcher would be the best place for Houston to grab a future star with a top pick.
I would LOVE that, especially because "McCannonballs" would be back! Also, the lefty bat is a big plus for this team.
Not only is that extremely anecdotal but I don't think that is even true. LA hasn't been "differentiated" from the Astros or Red Sox because they have Grandal. The Yankees aren't better because they have Sanchez. I certainly wouldn't say the Phillies are better because they have Realmuto. Think we're looking at two sides of the same coin. The unicorns that hit/defend/frame are ridiculously rare. The question we're debating is how worthy it is to commit a lot of resources to chasing one. I tend to side with the Luhnow and Co approach of make sure the catcher is at-least middle of the pack and everything after that is gravy. It's all kind of moot though, because Houston (hopefully) won't be in position to draft the Posey's and Adley Rutschman's of the world anytime soon.
FWIW The Astros love a high school arm from outside of Chicago. He is someone they are targeting. They also have looked at that kid from Beltran’s academy.
