MCB Mock Draft Round 1

Since I have been putting together a bunch of scouting reports, I decided it was time to have some fun for myself. After all, I put a ton of research hours into looking into the draft for our readers, so hopefully we can talk about the guys that the Tigers pick over the next few days. I certainly don’t mind doing so, but it is quite a bit of work, so I wanted to do a mock draft for myself. And well…

Hopefully you find it interesting too.

Round 1:

1. Houston- Mark Appel (SP) Could be Buxton, but I think it will be Appel.

2. Minnesota- Byron Buxton (OF) Minnesota badly needs pitching, but that isn’t how the baseball draft works.

3. Seattle- Carlos Correa (SS) Seams like a Jack Z. pick all the way

4. Baltimore- Kevin Gausman (SP) Gausman is preferred by some over Appel.

5. Kansas City- Lucas Giolito (SP) I think this is kind of shocker here given his health concerns, but talent is undeniable.

6. Chicago Cubs- Albert Almora (OF) More polished than Buxton with a little less upside.

7. San Diego- Max Fried (SP) Fried is from California, and has really good potential.

8. Pittsburgh- Mike Zunino (C) Could go earlier, but would be a fit here.

9. Miami- Addison Russell (SS) Florida high schooler stays home.

10. Colorado- Courtney Hawkins (OF) Power is highly projectable.

11. Oakland- Kyle Zimmer (SP) Lost some steam at the end of season, could be a steal here.

12. New York Mets- Lance McCullers Jr. (SP) Been gaining some steam after falling off earlier.

13. Chicago White Sox- Andrew Heaney (SP) Safe pick by the Sox.

14. Cincinnati- Richie Schaeffer (3B) College power bat.

15. Cleveland- Chris Stratton (SP) Stratton will help with pitching depth in minors. It’s needed.

16. Washington- Gavin Cecchini (SS) Pretty high upside high schooler with brother in Boston system.

17. Toronto- David Dahl (OF) Athletic outfielder with upside. Toronto kind of guy

18. L.A. Dodgers- Hunter Virant (SP) Lefty high school guy with upside.

19. St. Louis- Marcus Stroman (P) Questions on whether he can start allow him to last longer than he should.

20. San Francisco Giants- Michael Wacha (SP) Texas A&M righty needs polish, but has strong arm.

21. Atlanta- Stephen Piscotty (LF/3B) Piscotty would add a solid bat to the Atlanta system

22. Toronto- Devin Marrero (SS) He could go much higher, and is a solid pick to go with the upside of Dahl.

23. St. Louis- Zach Eflin (SP) High school pitcher with future plus fastball.

24. Boston- Matt Smoral (SP) Big tall lefty out of Ohio with quality fastball.

25. Tampa Bay- Ty Hensley (SP) Tampa likes high school arms to develop.

26. Arizona- Joey Gallo (3B) Could go a bit higher, so I may be wrong on this one.

27. Milwaukee- Corey Seager (3B) Might be a tough sign.

28. Milwaukee- Pierce Johnson (SP) Be interesting to see teams with multiple picks and their strategies.

29. Texas- Lucas Sims (SP)- High upside arm with low to mid 90’s fastball.

30. New York- Nick Travieso (SP)- Another high school arm going in the first.

31. Boston- Skyler Trahan (C)- Best prep catcher, but may not stay back there.

Supplemental Picks

32. Minnesota- Ty Buttrey (SP) Twins have to get some pitching. Have to.

33. San Diego- Victor Roache (LF) Roache gives San Diego some much needed power.

34. Oakland- Clint Coulter (C) Some have him ahead of Trahan because he is more likely to stick at catcher.

35. N.Y. Mets- Brian Johnson (SP) Safe somewhat cheap pick here for the Mets.

36. St. Louis- Tanner Rahier (SS) High school SS with some athleticism.

37. Boston- Walker Weichel (SP) Really good potential to get here this late.

38. Milwaukee- D.J. Davis (OF) Athletic CF. One of the best athletes in the draft.

39. Texas- Carson Kelly (3B) Could be off the board at this point.

40. Philadelphia- Duane Underwood (SP) Seems to fit Philly profile of boom or bust type.

41. Houston- Shane Watson (SP) Another pitcher for Houston.

42. Minnesota- Martin Agosta (SP) Multiple pick type of pick here.

43. Chicago Cubs- Chris Beck (P) Could be a fast mover in the pen.

44. San Diego- Hunter Virant (SP) Adding to the stable of arms they are beginning to build.

45. Pittsburgh- James Ramsey (OF) Florida State guy holding strong in the supplemental round.

46. Colorado- Jake Barret (P) Quality pitcher from Arizona State.

47. Oakland- Tyler Naquin (OF) Yet another talented piece to a vastly improved farm system.

48. Chicago White Sox- Travis Jankowski (OF) Good tools, could be an Alex Rios replacement.

49. Cincinnati- Tyler Gonzales (SP) Guy with quite a bit of steam late in the year.

50. Toronto- Clate Schmidt (SP) Another guy that has seen an increase in stock.

51. Los Angeles Dodgers- Jeff Galalich (OF) From UCLA, so I am sure the Dodgers are familiar with this talent.

52. St. Louis- Alex Wood (P) Georgia lefty has big pro body.

53. Texas- Lewis Brinson (OF) Texas likes guys like Brinson, might have a way to go, but good ceiling.

54. Philadelphia- Nolan Fontana (2B/SS) Teams don’t draft on need, but an up the middle infielder can’t hurt this system.

55. San Diego- Stephen Johnson (SP) Divison 3 guy with major league arm.

56. Chicago Cubs- Pat Light (SP) As much as I would like Light for the Tigers, he might not even make it this far.

57. Cincinnati- Mitch Nay (3B) Second third baseman, but Schaeffer may end up at 1st anyway.

58. Toronto- Kieran Lovegrove (SP) Toronto goes back to Cali for another supplemental pitcher, just like 2011.

59. St. Louis- Wyatt Mathieson (C) Talk about helium. Mathieson has seen a couple round jump in the past couple weeks.

60. Toronto- Brandon Thomas (OF) Georgia Tech guy has quality tools and is a switch hitter.

So there it is. My mock draft for Motor City Bengals. I will try and get to round 2, so I can put up my Tigers pick tomorrow. Hopefully this will spark a little bit of draft talk during our live chat tomorrow. A reminder, it is 2 p.m. on Monday.