He'd have to come significantly underslot in the 1st right? Seems like he's typically been billed as a 2-3rd round talent.
These guys’ stocks fluctuate dramatically from April to June. Roberts was a 2nd rounder in April but there’s nothing to say he isn’t a justified 1st rounder now. I don’t see why Houston would significantly vary from slot given their pool; they won’t be able to save enough to do anything significant.
Mlbpipline put out a mock today as well, has the Astros taking Kyle Tucker's teammate Connor Scott. They continue the theme of connecting the Astros to prep players that Fangraphs had said previously.
BA re-updated their list today and had him at #46, which is just one opinion, obviously. If the Astros see the players at their pick to part of a rather large tier of players of similar talent, they could take Roberts if he'll sign for something like $1.6 M and then catch whatever prep player they like that falls to them in the 2nd for a similar amount (like they did with Perez) and not have to worry about making up that money later in the draft. Roberts is a college player with a 'high floor' and may not be as likely to fall as some of their other targets, and being a college junior who is the age of most seniors, he doesn't have much leverage. Or they could take a couple of Patrick Sandoval types on day 3 if they don't have an overslot guy they like fall in the 2nd round.
Houston only has $5.5M total to play with. Sandoval types sign for $700k. I just don’t see a guy slotted in the 2-3rd rd taking that much under slot. The only way they could do that is taking Sr signs but at some point the talent you lose by not taking bpa is more than the talent you gain in an overslot. I think Houston’s draft mentality now that they’re drafting late without extra picks is to spend more on scouting 2nd and 3rd and lower tier guys to be more successful drafting who they think is bpa rather than try to game the system with a 5.5m pool against teams with much more flexibility.
http://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/23522324/keith-law-2018-mock-draft-20 Just as he did during my first mock draft, Auburn's Casey Mize appears at the No. 1 spot in our current edition. But as we near the two-week mark from draft day, buzz around how the rest of the first round will play out is starting to pick up. Please remember that this is not a ranking of player abilities or values (here is my most recent ranking of the players in this class), but rather a best guess as to which player each team might take in this scenario, based on the best information I could glean from industry sources right now. 1. Detroit Tigers: Casey Mize, RHP, Auburn 2. San Francisco Giants: Joey Bart, C, Georgia Tech 3. Philadelphia Phillies: Alec Bohm, 3B, Wichita State 4. Chicago White Sox: Nick Madrigal, SS, Oregon State 5. Cincinnati Reds: Brady Singer, RHP, Florida 6. New York Mets: Jonathan India, 3B, Florida 7. San Diego Padres: Carter Stewart, RHP, Eau Gallie HS 8. Atlanta Braves: Nolan Gorman, 3B, Sandra Day O'Connor HS (Peoria, Arizona) 9. Oakland Athletics: Travis Swaggerty, OF, South Alabama 10. Pittsburgh Pirates: Grayson Rodriguez, RHP, Central Heights HS (Nacogdoches, Texas) 11. Baltimore Orioles: Matthew Liberatore, LHP, Mountain Ridge HS 12. Toronto Blue Jays: Logan Gilbert, RHP, Stetson 13. Miami Marlins: Shane McClanahan, LHP, South Florida 14. Seattle Mariners: Jarred Kelenic, OF, Waukesha (Wisconsin) West HS 15. Texas Rangers: Ryan Weathers, LHP, Loretto (Tennessee) HS 16. Tampa Bay Rays: Connor Scott, OF, Plant HS (Tampa, Florida) 17. Los Angeles Angels: Ryan Rolison, LHP, Ole Miss 18. Kansas City Royals: Jordan Groshans, 3B, Magnolia (Texas) HS 19. St. Louis Cardinals: Jackson Kowar, RHP, Florida 20. Minnesota Twins: Cole Winn, RHP, Orange Lutheran (California) HS 21. Milwaukee Brewers: Cole Wilcox, RHP, Heritage HS (Ringgold, Georgia) 22. Colorado Rockies: J.T. Ginn, RHP, Brandon (Mississippi) HS 23. New York Yankees: Jordyn Adams, OF, Green Hope HS (Cary, North Carolina) 24. Chicago Cubs: Noah Naylor, C/INF, St. Joan of Arc HS (Mississauga, Ontario) 25. Arizona Diamondbacks: Matt McLain, INF, Beckman HS (Tustin, California) 26. Boston Red Sox: Brice Turang, SS, Santiago HS (Corona, California) 27. Washington Nationals: Kumar Rocker, RHP, North Oconee HS (Watkinsville, Georgia) 28. Houston Astros: Nick Schnell, OF, Roncalli HS (Indianapolis) Schnell is the new hotness, going from a bit of an afterthought among cold-weather prep bats to someone seen as a lock to go in the first round, a power-speed center fielder who has hit a bunch of homers in front of the right people lately. 29. Cleveland Indians: Anthony Seigler, C, Cartersville (Georgia) HS 30. Los Angeles Dodgers: Alek Thomas, OF, Mount Carmel HS (Chicago)
Focusing on cold weather HS position players may be a decent way for Houston to find a potential star late in the first.
MLB dot com mock Spoiler The Astros go local with Magnolia's Jordan Groshans, which kinda doesn't make sense considering they used a 2nd-rounder on Joe Perez last year. I don't make the picks, though.
Astros podcast yesterday had Mike Elias. He made a comment that picking late means more focus on pitching, because all the hitters without major warts are gone before that point, whereas good pitching drops inexplicably. That’s proven out for them with Whitley and Bukauskas.
Would love it if he fell to us. Strongly resembles Tucker at the plate. Except he has less power but much more speed.
What about Luke Heimlich in round 3? Anyone seen the story on this kid? It seem legit on what a family would do. Force a kid to say what ever to get past things. He has loads of talent. And wouldn't be a bad look for a 3rd rounder