2013 MLB Mock Draft, Version 2
Now updated with the Angels losing their pick at #22 (Josh Hamilton signing). Aside from a few college bats and a decent group of college arms, the majority of the first round should come from the prep ranks.
1. Astros: Clint Frazier, OF (Georgia HS) – Certainly not a shortage of options. Frazier is a quality defender, valuable baserunner, and is arguably the most balanced hitter out of all high school hitters.
2. Cubs: Ryne Stanek, RHP (ASU) – Command, consistent mid 90s velocity, ridiculous slider, and solid third offering.
3. Rockies: Sean Manaea, LHP (Indiana State) – Easily one of the top 2 arms available. Raw, but excellent stuff.
4. Twins: Austin Meadows, OF (Georgia HS) – As far as tools go, one of the very best bats in the draft. Great power, defense, and speed.
5. Indians: Colin Moran, 3rd (North Carolina) – Best pure college bat. Sounds as if he will be at least an average defender at third. Should eventually settle into solid power production.
6. Marlins: Dominic Smith, 1st/OF (California HS) – Advanced for a prep bat. Excellent defense as well. Not tons of power.
7. Red Sox: Trey Ball, OF/LHP (Indiana HS) – Seems as if he will end up on the mound.
8. Royals: Reese McGuire, C (Washington HS) – Fantastic defensive value, and above-average offensively for the position. Value on the way up.
9. Pirates: Jonathon Crawford, RHP (Florida) – Excellent stuff, should go much higher if he can be just slightly more consistent.
10. Blue Jays: Robert Kaminsky, LHP (New Jersey HS) – Very polished for a prep pitcher, with great velocity for a lefty.
11. Mets: Kris Bryant, INF (San Diego) – Patience and power, with the arm to stick at third. A transition to RF could be in his future.
12. Mariners: Mark Appel, RHP (Stanford) – The stuff and frame are there. Concerns still remain about a lack of deception in his delivery.
13. Padres: JP Crawford, SS (California HS) - As far as the infielders in this class go, he is one of the best all-around talents. Neck-and-neck with Mercado, lagging slightly behind in defensive value.
14. Pirates: Ryan Boldt, OF (Minnesota HS) – Toolsy, more projection on him that other prep bats even.
15. Diamondbacks: Kohl Stewart, RHP (Texas HS) – Excellent raw stuff. Has to continue to impress to stay above a number of other prep arms.
16. Phillies: Karsten Whitson, RHP (Florida) – Following a down year, but could easily fly up the charts. Excellent stuff is still there.
17. Brewers: Oscar Mercado, SS (Florida HS) – Excellent defender. Bat is underrated as people are quick to label him as a glove-first SS.
18. White Sox: Phillip Ervin, OF (Samford) – Consistent hitter on the Cape this year, and at Samford throughout his sophomore year. Solid power production for a center fielder that should be a big value in the field.
19. Dodgers: Austin Wilson, OF (Stanford) – The tools are certainly there, just not the production. Will have to fall flat on his face to drop out of the first round, but very well may end up in the latter half.
20. Cardinals: Aaron Judge, OF (Fresno State) – So much raw power (plus plus). Definitely has a long swing, but bat speed is still solid. Quietly could probably be an above-average value defensively in RF.
21. Tigers: Jordan Sheffield, RHP (Tennessee HS) – Stock rose a lot this summer. Big velocity.
22. Rays: Michael Lorenzen, OF (Cal State Fullerton) – Raw and toolsy, could fall back on his arm strength if career as an OF doesn’t work. Excellent in center, has to answer questions about hit tool.
23. Orioles: Stephen Gonsalves, LHP (California HS) – One of the top 3 prep lefties in this class.
24. Rangers: Jon Denney, C (Oklahoma HS) – Inconsistent defender, but great when he’s going right. Bat can play up at most any position.
25. Athletics: DJ Peterson, INF (New Mexico) – Oakland would be happy to get such a high-ceiling bat this far down.
26. Giants: Bobby Wahl, RHP (Ole Miss) – Has gotten results thus far, and another year of the same will solidify a top 15 slot.
27. Braves: Clinton Hollon, RHP (Kentucky HS) – Excellent stuff, if inconsistent at times. Not much projection left on his frame either, just a bit over 6′ tall. Great fastball though.
28. Yankees: Chris Okey, C (Florida HS) – Extremely athletic and talented enough to transition to a middle infield role.
29. Reds: Chris Rivera, SS/C (California HS) – Could challenge Mercado and Crawford at shortstop. Fantastic glove, surprising bat at times.
30. Nationals: Andrew Mitchell, RHP (TCU) – Generated big strikeout totals in his sophomore year, and yet still has much to prove. A stronger third offering would go a long ways.
Where is LHP Jonah wesely? What’s your opinion on him?
Could be a first rounder next June. Don’t read too much into mocks this far out, things will change a ton by next year. Wesely sounds very polished for a high school arm, more so than most any other available (with advanced stuff that is).
I heard this draft class is pretty weak. Where would you say is the point in the draft where there’s a big dropoff in talent? I’m hoping there’s some hidden depth because I’m hoping my team (the Mets) can pick up a couple good prospects in round 2 since they have a couple of picks there.
I would definitely agree with that. There are emerging tiers of talent in the first round, although it’s hard to define them clearly right now. From picks 1-3 I think there will be clear value above the rest (maybe only 1 and 2), along with the next 7 to 8 picks. In general, I think there are a number of interesting guys in the upper half of the first round. After that things get a little more uncertain (even if just slightly so). As for the 2nd round, I don’t think there will be a massive drop off in talent. One of the many above-average high school catchers may still be available.
interesting to see you predict that the jays would pass on both APPEL and BRYANT with the number 10 slot. If APPEL is there at 10 gotta think the jays would sign him and if need be get creative with reallocating sign money. my basis is solely upon reading as many mocks as i can and picking the ear of a few scouts but id be shocked to see APPEL drop anywhere near that far.
I’m a very big Bryant fan, probably higher on him than most. Great power and great approach. I think he can, and probably should, go higher than #11, but the draft is incredibly far away still.
As for Appel, I just see him slipping again for some reason. Maybe a team in the top 10 locks on to him and pays him what he wants, but Appel is a complicated one, especially with hard slotting in draft budgets now. Again though, very early to start locking in specific players with specific teams.
Hopefully the Indians are able to get a SP at #5. I’d like to see Stanek, Manaea, or Appel to go in the rotation eventually with Bauer and Carlos Carrasco
Really anything can happen still. Of those three I see Appel being the most likely to be there at #5.
For Manaea and Stanek, if either falls out of the top 4, it will likely be because of an injury I would think. In that case, they would really fall far. Don’t ignore Jonathon Crawford though. Could be an elite arm with improved command.
sbnation ranked chris rivera # 1 overall. he’ll be an easy sign they say. u agree?
I would agree that he’s an easy sign, not that he will be #1 overall. I think he’s great with the glove and underrated with the bat, but not that much. Hard to see him go above Crawford and Mercado.
I have yet to hear about him being a tough sign or having any strong commitments to any schools, so he should be a nice Day Two pickup for someone.
I see Jeremy Martinez going for sure in the first round. If he has a strong senior season he will move up quickly as well.
Yeah, Jeremy could easily be there. His name has fallen behind slightly more popular guys like McGuire and Denney, but he’s definitely first-round relevant. Would not run into this problem in most other years considering how deep the prep class of catchers is in 2013.