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Official 2017 MLB Draft Discussion Thread

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Jaypers

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
48,898
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Anything draft related, discuss! The draft begins tonight, at 7pm EST. You can watch on MLB Network, or on MLB.com.

Which player(s) are you most looking forward to seeing where they go in the draft?
 

phillyfan0417

Well-known member
Administrator
Aug 7, 2008
43,551
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Greenfield, Wisconsin, United States
It's better than Rex Manning day!

89f9e9f386b9ba07e94e68e4ccb0eb3f.jpg
 
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jbone17

Active member
Sep 26, 2008
6,756
42
The Riverlands.
Anything draft related, discuss! The draft begins tonight, at 7pm EST. You can watch on MLB Network, or on MLB.com.

Which player(s) are you most looking forward to seeing where they go in the draft?

J.P., I can't wait, man. I'm purchasing a nice bottle of Jameson and can't wait for the festivities to begin. Getting back on track, I can't wait to see if the Yankees break from tradition. Since 2013, all of their first round selections have been from California, whether college or high school. Denbo simply operates in the same fashion. Given that historical fact, I'm predicting Griffin Canning from UCLA. If Nick Pratto falls into their lap, circa Blake Rutherford last year, I think he's the guy they target.

Otherwise, it will be interesting to see where all the prep arms fall (Rogers, Baz, Carlson, Hall, etc.) and MacKenzie Gore in particular. Some mocks have the latter as high as 3rd, whereas others rank him 5th to Atlanta.

We shall see!!!

Draft day is here :)
 

jbone17

Active member
Sep 26, 2008
6,756
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The Riverlands.
I'm hoping for Austin Beck but pretty sure they're taking a college hitter.


Write-up that I submitted to a Phillies blog site. Hope it's worth the read for everyone who's a Phillies fan!


2017 MLB Draft Overview: Phillies

Intro

Greetings, all! Tomorrow is the best day known to mankind. The 2017 MLB Draft is nearly here! I wanted to take a brief moment and thank you all for reading my mock drafts and participating in some discussions! With that in mind, let’s take a look at the Phillies organization as a whole and how it might impact draft decisions over the next three days.

What have the Phillies done lately as a team?

As of June 11th, the Phillies are the worst team in baseball 21-39 (.350). In their last ten games, the Phils are 4-6. The team is hitting a collective (.241) the 7th worst in all of baseball. The Phillies are the 4th worst team in baseball in runs scored (237) and hits (486), as well as 5th worst in drawing walks (170); showing awful plate discipline. If that weren’t bad enough, things aren’t so good on the pitching side of things either. The team’s ERA (5.00) is good for worst in the league. Phillies hurlers are 29th in baseball in strikeouts recorded (419) and opponents batting average against (.274). The Phillies have surrendered (87) home runs, the 6th worst ranking in the game.The only saving grace is they’re tied for 2nd best in baseball in earned runs allowed (293). Yeah...you can think of many adjectives or superlatives to describe how bad and dire this situation is.

Are there any bright sides to this season?

Aaron Altherr has provided some much needed relief with his career-changing season. Out of Odubel Herrera’s 56 hits, 22 of them have gone for doubles. Daniel Nava is hitting .306. Pat Neshek has been lights out with a 0.82 ERA. Other than that, it’s really ugly right now.

Is there help in the minor league system?

Yes, you can breathe a sigh of relief! There is help on the horizon, thankfully. Let’s break the top 30 prospects down, according to Mlbpipleine and see how close/far away the help is as of June 11th:

MLB- 2 players (Both pitchers)
AAA- 9 players (7 position players & 2 pitchers)
AA- 5 players (3 position players & 2 pitchers)
High A- 5 players (2 position players & 3 pitchers)
Low A- 5 players (2 position players & *3 pitchers)
Extended- 3 players (2 position players & 1 pitcher)
None- 1 pitcher (suspended) ^

*One of the pitchers is Sixto Sanchez who is days away from returning to Lakewood
^Elniery Garcia

To make this easier on the eyes, 7 of the 14 pitchers in the system currently play below Double A. Yikes...on the bright side, 10 position players play at or above Double A, which indicates that offensive help is not too far away. Clearly, the Phillies need pitching help more than anything.

What is history telling us?

Will the Phillies match or fare worse than the 1942 club at (42-109)? I highly doubt it, but it’s clear some tough decisions lie ahead. How about draft history? Might that indicate who the Phillies will select with the 8th overall pick tomorrow? Let’s take a look at the Phillies’ first round draft history since 2007:

2017- Austin Beck, Adam Haseley, Pavin Smith or Alex Faedo (PROJECTED)
2016- Mickey Moniak, OF
2015- Cornelius Randolph, OF
2014- Aaron Nola, RHP
2013- J.P. Crawford, SS
2012- None
2011- None
2010- Jesse Biddle, LHP
2009- None
2008- Anthony Hewitt, SS
2007- Joe Savery, LHP

Man...that bottom half looks ugly, eh? Biddle is kicking it around in the Braves system in Double A as a reliever. Hewitt appears to have retired and last played with the Independent New Britain Bees in 2016 where he hit .223. Savery retired from the game in 2015 before appearing in 44 MLB games over a 4 year span. History is definitely against the Phillies when it comes to first round selections, but how about late-round notables in this 10 year period (5th round or later) Let’s see:

2015- Nick Fanti, RHP (31st round and 924th overall)
2014- Rhys Hoskins, 1B (5th round & 142nd overall)
2014- Brandon Leibrandt, LHP (6th round & 172nd overall)
2013- Mark Leiter Jr, RHP ( 22nd round & 661st overall)
2012- Andrew Pullin, OF (5th round & 118th overall)
2011- Ken Giles, RHP (7th round & 241st overall)
2011- Colton Murray, RHP (13th round & 421st overall)
2010- David Buchanan, RHP (7th round & 231st overall)
2009- Jon Singleton, 1B (8th round & 257th overall)
2009- Aaron Altherr, OF (9th round & 287th overall)
2008- Michael Stutes, B.J. Rosenberg, maybe? Otherwise, none
2007- Michael Taylor, OF (5th round & 173rd overall)
2007- Justin De Fratus, RHP (11th round & 353rd overall

Let’s put it this way. I have more faith in the Phillies selecting players in later rounds.


So what does this all mean?

What this means is the Phillies will look to load up on pitching. Expect them to select a college player at 8th overall, in order to load up on pitchers with tough college commitments and/or passable college arms that will see big league time in the next two years. Easier said than done, right? As history shows us; however, the Phillies are quite good at finding respectable arms in the later rounds of the draft. As a reminder, bonus pools are capped through the first 10 rounds of the draft, so the Phillies executives must be mindful of that. Have faith, folks. Help isn’t too far away, albeit the Phillies are on pace for their fifth consecutive losing season.
 

jbone17

Active member
Sep 26, 2008
6,756
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The Riverlands.
Baseball America in their latest mock is reporting that medical records on Canning are suspect. In that case, give me Nick Pratto if he's still on the board. If he's taken, I bet the Yanks break from tradition and grab a college bat. Evan White, Jake Burger, etc.
 

Jaypers

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
48,898
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I'll paste rumors from Twitter as they come from the experts. Here's one:

Frankie Piliere‏ @FPiliereD1
Race for #1 pick is not over. #Twins giving serious late consideration to taking Royce Lewis. Down to the wire on him & McKay #MLBDraft
 
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Jaypers

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
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Frankie Piliere‏ @FPiliereD1
Also hearing the #Padres may prefer Royce Lewis at #3 . There's some split there over him vs. Gore. Decision would be easier if Lewis goes 1
 

Jaypers

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
48,898
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Speaking of predictions, here are mine.

1. MN Twins - Royce Lewis
2. CIN Reds - Hunter Greene
3. SD Padres - Mackenzie Gore
4. TB Rays - Bubba Thompson
5. ATL Braves - Kyle Wright
6. OAK A's - Adam Haseley
7. AZ Diamondbacks - Brendan McKay
8. PHI Phillies - Pavin Smith
9. MIL Brewers - Jordon Adell
10. LA Angels - Keston Hiura

I'm thinking the Twins and Rays do a discount deal with their top picks so they'll have more to spend later on.
 

jbone17

Active member
Sep 26, 2008
6,756
42
The Riverlands.
Speaking of predictions, here are mine.

1. MN Twins - Royce Lewis
2. CIN Reds - Hunter Greene
3. SD Padres - Mackenzie Gore
4. TB Rays - Bubba Thompson
5. ATL Braves - Kyle Wright
6. OAK A's - Adam Haseley
7. AZ Diamondbacks - Brendan McKay
8. PHI Phillies - Pavin Smith
9. MIL Brewers - Jordon Adell
10. LA Angels - Keston Hiura

I'm thinking the Twins and Rays do a discount deal with their top picks so they'll have more to spend later on.

Man! This would be a complete 180 from every mock that I've come across. I haven't seen a single mock with Lewis at the top, but I've never seen him lower than 7th either, so teams do like the tools. I agree with the Phillies pick on Smith. It's either him or Haseley at this point.

J.P., who do you think the Yankees will go for, given Canning's shoddy injury report? I say Pratto, Peterson, or White (If available).
 

Jaypers

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
48,898
1,378
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Man! This would be a complete 180 from every mock that I've come across. I haven't seen a single mock with Lewis at the top, but I've never seen him lower than 7th either, so teams do like the tools. I agree with the Phillies pick on Smith. It's either him or Haseley at this point.

J.P., who do you think the Yankees will go for, given Canning's shoddy injury report? I say Pratto, Peterson, or White (If available).
Going with Bukauskas.

Sent from my XT1650 using Freedom Card Board mobile app
 

Jaypers

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
48,898
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Well, this wouldn't be the first time I was dead wrong. Guess we'll see.

Frankie Piliere‏@FPiliereD1
#Angels looking like a potential landing spot for JB Bukauskas. He's sliding a bit but they've been on him and are a solid fit
 

Jaypers

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
48,898
1,378
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Without a trace of emotion, Brendan McKay says he's experiencing a "whirlwind of emotion".

I love these interviews.
 

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