O F F I C I A L 2011 DRAFT THREAD!

It's officially day 1 of D-day, folks, so anything draft related, post it here!

I'll be posting the last-minute Mock drafts from BA, MLB.com and possibly others, once they go live.


Let's kick things off with this question - Which player(s) are you MOST looking forward to seeing where they get drafted?

For me, it's:

1) Trevor Bauer - I wasn't on his bandwagon until midway into the season, and am now a believer. Very much looking forward to seeing which team will look past his regimen and realize he's projected to be an ace. Odds of Pittsburgh taking him - 1:100.

2) Henry Owens - speaking of projection, he's a 6'7" lefty with plenty of it. Friedman, please take him with one of your dozens of picks. He's gotta be a future Ray.

3) Bobby Crocker - toolsy, big kid from Cal Poly. Has lots of raw power. No relation to Betty.

Today is the day!

I'll probably be more excited next year, since the Rox will probably get a top-ten pick.


Nevertheless, I am still very vigilant of what the Rox will choose with their pick. No more HS pitchers, please.

Jackie Bradley Jr- I would love for him to decide to stay one more year at SC, if not, the Red Sox would make me very happy if they picked him.

George Springer - Please Mets, make me happy. If he's there, draft him. Levi Michael is not a teen pick talent.
Dan Paolini- Friend at school, he's not going to get drafted today but tomorrow he should be within the top 10 rounds.

tm decomposer said:

George Springer - Please Mets, make me happy. If he's there, draft him. Levi Michael is not a teen pick talent.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm hoping Springer gets drafted higher than the last few projections.

Interested in seeing where Purke & Winkler goes now with the injury yesterday. :twisted:

Teams have reportedley talked to Josh Bell about meeting his asking price of $6 M and he has told them not to draft him and that he is going to school. This should be taken with a grain of salt of course but it's looking more and more like Bell won't sign.

On another note; Bell, Swihart, and Beede have sent out letters saying not to draft them, do you see the pattern there?

Looks like it's official.


Pirates will take Cole with No. 1 Draft pick
Power right-hander from UCLA eyed as durable, front-line starter
By Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com | 06/06/11 7:59 AM ET

The Pirates will take UCLA right-hander Gerrit Cole with the No. 1 overall pick in the First-Year Player Draft on Monday, a baseball source told MLB.com.

There wasn't previously a clear-cut choice for the top pick, with the Pirates considering as many as five players over the course of the spring. Recently, though, that list had seemingly been whittled down to three: Cole, University of Virginia lefty Danny Hultzen and Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon.

There's no question why a team would consider Cole, a power pitcher, for the top spot. The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder has the look of a strong, durable front-line starter and the pure stuff to match. He's been clocked as high as 102 mph on radar guns and routinely hits triple digits. He maintains his velocity deep into games, sitting comfortably at 95-96 mph throughout a start. His slider is a plus pitch when it's working, an 88-90 mph nasty breaking ball. Even his changeup is hard, at 88-90 mph, and can also be a plus offering at times.

One of the more puzzling things with Cole this spring was that, despite no dropoff in velocity, he was more hittable than he should been. Cole has gone 6-8 with a 3.31 ERA, including an NCAA Regional loss this past weekend.

Scouts think there are two reasons for the less-stellar results. One was a mechanical flaw in his delivery, in which he was opening up his front side too soon. His release point was right down the middle, meaning his stuff was getting too much of home plate, especially when he tried to come inside to a right-handed hitter. His slider often flattened out, as well. Control wasn't a problem -- he doesn't walk many -- but command within the strike zone was.

The good news is that since there wasn't a drop in velocity, there wasn't a fear of injury, and mechanical flaws can be corrected. Cole has been dominant at times -- he struck out 119 while walking 24 over 114 1/3 innings -- was virtually unhittable for large stretches of his collegiate career. He was unhittable for Team USA, with a 0.72 ERA in 25 innings playing internationally in 2010 and a 1.06 ERA in 34 innings in 2009.

The Southern California product was a first-round selection once before, taken by the Yankees with the 28th overall selection in 2008. His UCLA rotation-mate Trevor Bauer is expected to be taken in the top 10 on Monday as well. Cole is advised by the Scott Boras Corporation, a group that is no stranger to the Pirates. Pedro Alvarez, the No. 2 overall pick in 2008, is represented by Boras, and their contentious negotiations went down to the signing deadline in August of that year. But the Pirates have shown the willingness to take whomever they believed was the top player available and will do so again on Monday night.

Rendon was once thought to be the front-runner for the top pick, but concerns about his shoulder, a dip in his power production and the fact the Pirates have Alvarez at third base may have all contributed to Pittsburgh deciding that Cole was a better fit. Rendon could go as high as No. 2 to the Mariners.

Hultzen pitched his way into consideration for the top spot this spring, being one of the best performers on the mound in the country for one of the best college teams. The left-hander's name has been mentioned all over the top five or so picks and shouldn't have to wait too long to hear his name called.

The last time the Pirates selected No. 1 overall -- in 2002 -- they took Ball State pitcher Bryan Bullington. The right-hander pitched in 26 Major League games -- six of them for the Pirates -- and is currently playing overseas.

Live coverage of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft begins with a one-hour preview show on Monday at 6 p.m. ET on MLB.com and MLB Network, followed by the first round and supplemental compensation round. MLB.com will provide exclusive coverage of Days 2 and 3, featuring a live pick-by-pick stream, expert commentary and Draft Tracker, a live interactive application that includes a searchable database of every Draft-eligible player. You can also keep up to date at Draft Central and by following @MLBDraft on Twitter. And get into the Draft conversation by tagging your tweets with #mlbdraft.

I'm interested to see where Starling goes. He's a freak athlete with pretty strong tools across the board, and is considered by most to be the best high school player in the draft. With all the college talent this year, it'll be interesting to see where he falls. I don't think he'll go any lower than the Cubs' pick, but I think Kansas City may snag him at #5 to keep him in town.

Anyone from the MAC. Chaffin, Hallock, Starn, Berti, Turocy, Klafczynski, McMillen.

That's the right move by the Pirates.

The Brewers NEED to go after two pitchers with 12 and 15. I am hoping Barnes and someone else.

Trevor Bauer - I still think the Nationals are getting him.

Kolten Wong - I believe he'll a Ray, Angel, or Brave.

Nicky Delmonico
Henry Owens
Peter O'Brien

Blake Swihart - I can see him as a Range, Ray, or Red Sox.

Hoping the Rangers pass on Brandon Nimmo and Josh Osich and that Travis Harrison is still available when they pick.

How far does Sonny Gray fall tonight? Hopefully not too far...8-10 is my hope.

Here's to Lindor being drafted in the top 10.

I think Delmonico will be drafted in the second round at this point.

I'm going to post some videos of people I am rooting for today.

[youtube:2gmwqm6y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvkX2u8eu04[/youtube:2gmwqm6y]

[youtube:2gmwqm6y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtca1ZBHqtw[/youtube:2gmwqm6y]

[youtube:2gmwqm6y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVYYc7h1A8A[/youtube:2gmwqm6y]

[youtube:2gmwqm6y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0bGEeWbTno[/youtube:2gmwqm6y]

[youtube:2gmwqm6y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Cna78YgOU[/youtube:2gmwqm6y]

[youtube:2gmwqm6y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhhyLYl4Jgo[/youtube:2gmwqm6y]

Rooting for all the former Falmouth players in the next few days really.

KLaw's final Mock. If any ESPN Insiders can post this article in full, that would be great. Non-Insiders like myself can see only the Top 5.

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/draft/20 ... ckDraft4.0

I'll call this the "final" first-round projection, but I'm hoping to update this throughout the day on Monday. Many high-level sources are telling me they're not finalizing the tops of their boards until Monday morning after they better establish signability on the players in their mix. As of Monday morning, here's my best estimate of the first round -- as always based on information from industry sources.


Pittsburgh Pirates
Gerrit Cole, RHP, UCLA

I know they did their due diligence on several alternatives here, but Cole appears to be the choice.

Seattle Mariners
Anthony Rendon, 3B, Rice

Although I've heard Bubba Starling here as well as Francisco Lindor, individual sources and wide industry consensus both have them on Rendon. Starling is a favorite of GM Jack Zduriencik, though.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Trevor Bauer, RHP, UCLA

This seems solid now, after they looked at a number of options including Dylan Bundy and Archie Bradley.

Baltimore Orioles
Archie Bradley, RHP, Broken Arrow HS (Okla.)

Could still be Danny Hultzen here, but late word has them working on Bradley after Hultzen's big contract demand came out.

Kansas City Royals
Dylan Bundy, RHP, Owasso (Okla.) HS
They want a polished pitcher who'll move quickly through their system and Bundy fits. I've had two evaluators call Bundy the best player in the draft, which would be quite a coup for a team picking fifth.

Washington Nationals
Bubba Starling, OF, Gardner Edgerton HS (Kan.)

I'm told that if he gets here, he stops here.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Danny Hultzen, LHP, Virginia

This would be something of a dream scenario for Arizona to be able to maximize the pitching, although this would be predicated on Hultzen more or less agreeing to terms with this pick since it isn't protected. (The D-backs received it as compensation for failure to sign 2010 first-rounder Barret Loux, but they won't get a 2012 comp pick if the fail to sign a player at this slot.) Despite Hultzen's high bonus demands, he should be signable since college juniors don't have great leverage, and Hultzen's value is at its peak now anyway. Have also heard Archie Bradley here, but less interest in other top college arms.
Cleveland Indians
Jed Bradley, LHP, Georgia Tech

Or Taylor Jungmann, who has at least the better track record of performance for a club that values that highly. I heard there was a push for Sonny Gray here but the GM (or someone similarly positioned) nixed it. Also heard they did call on Joe Ross and saw him down the stretch but are more likely to go college. If Ross doesn't go in the top 15 picks he becomes a probable over-slot guy (with a commitment to UCLA) and could slide into the sandwich round.
Chicago Cubs
Javier Baez, Arlington Country Day (Jacksonville, Fla.)

They'll take Starling if he gets here, but it's sounding increasingly less likely. Scouting director Tim Wilken likes to go off the board, although Baez wouldn't be that controversial a pick here, and he has the kind of huge upside that Wilken typically likes to draft.
San Diego Padres
Cory Spangenberg, 3B, Indian River State College

There are consistent rumors of their interest in Archie Bradley after they met last week, but he's not an easy sign with this unprotected pick, which they received for failure to sign 2010 first-round pick Karsten Whitson. Matt Barnes is a consideration but perhaps no longer the top one.
Houston Astros
Francisco Lindor, Monteverde Academy (Fla.)

Archie Bradley if he gets past picks No. 4, 7, 9, and 10. Also heard Jed Bradley and even Alex Meyer here.
Milwaukee Brewers
Taylor Jungmann, RHP, Texas

I hear they want pitching with both picks if they can make it work. Could do Jed Bradley here, or Mikie Mahtook if they don't like the pitching options.
New York Mets
Matt Barnes, RHP, UConn

They could take Taylor Guerrieri, who has the upside but is a fairly risky pick, but the mandate is to get pitching here if at all possible. Very high interest in Brandon Nimmo may be unrequited as he probably won't get to their next pick at 44.
Florida Marlins
Mikie Mahtook, OF, LSU

I've heard they really want a bat and are hoping for Spangenberg or Baez, with Jose Fernandez as the leading pitching candidate.
Milwaukee Brewers
Sonny Gray, RHP, Vanderbilt

Also hearing Tyler Anderson here. This is an unprotected pick so whoever they take has to be signable.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Tyler Anderson, LHP, Oregon

Still hearing Robert Stephenson here, possibly Chris Reed, and even Michael Fulmer. Dodgers have to go slot here (and every pick after) so it'll be a signable player.
Los Angeles Angels
Daniel Norris, LHP, Science Hill HS (Johnson City, Tenn.)

Also hearing Jose Fernandez if Norris is holding to that $3.9 million demand (a.k.a. "Tyler Matzek money"), and have heard a little of Henry Owens here as well.
Oakland Athletics
George Springer, OF, UConn

They're also interested in Spangenberg, Gray, Levi Michael, and to a lesser degree, Anderson.
Boston Red Sox
Alex Meyer, RHP, Kentucky

I don't think they'll break the bank on this pick but will do as they did last year with Kolbrin Vitek, taking a higher-probability player first and spending later. That could be Gray, Jed Bradley, or Mahtook if any should get here.
Colorado Rockies
C.J. Cron, 1B, Utah

I'd heard them on Hawaii second baseman Kolten Wong, and I also believe they'd take Springer or Spangenberg if either should get here, but Cron appears increasingly likely.
Toronto Blue Jays
Levi Michael, SS, North Carolina

I hear them again and again on Kent State lefty Andrew Chafin, but they might get him in the sandwich round at 35.
St. Louis Cardinals
Taylor Guerrieri, RHP, Spring Valley HS (S.C.)

The other options are Jose Fernandez and Dillon Howard. Howard should go in the first but doesn't have a lot of teams openly on him. The Cardinals are looking prep arms but will go college if they don't like their options.
Washington Nationals
Brian Goodwin, CF, Miami Dade College

This could also be Alex Meyer. If so, the Nats would hope to get Goodwin in the sandwich round. Goodwin is committed to South Carolina for the fall and could just go back into next year's draft as a true junior, so he has a bit more leverage than the four-year college players in this draft.
Tampa Bay Rays
Kolten Wong, 2B, Hawaii

C.J. Cron, or any other major college player who falls, is also a possibility. I've heard they'd like to nab a college player once in the first round but otherwise will aim for prep bats with upside with their plethora of picls.
San Diego Padres
Austin Hedges, C, JSerra Catholic High (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)

They could try to grab Hedges in the sandwich round, although they'd be fighting a couple of other clubs, including Boston, for him.
Boston Red Sox
Chris Reed, LHP, Stanford

Again they're open to any quality player who falls, mostly college, but won't go way above MLB's recommended bonus this early. Have heard the Josh Bell rumors are overheated. I think they look at Blake Swihart, Nimmo, or Hedges (if available) in the sandwich round or later, but most likely take some slightly lower-profile high school players and pay them over slot.
Cincinnati Reds
Sean Gilmartin, LHP, Florida State

Also hearing Tyler Anderson and Grayson Garvin -- two other college lefties who'll move fast -- with some lesser interest in Robert Stephenson and Joe Ross.
Atlanta Braves
Jose Fernandez, RHP, Alonso HS (Tampa, Fla.)

They'll take the best high school player who'll sign for slot. That'll probably be an arm here.
San Francisco
Robert Stephenson, RHP, Alhambra (Calif.) HS

They're also interested in Joe Ross, and I'm not sure which guy they prefer, although Stephenson will likely sign for less at this spot.
Minnesota Twins
Grayson Garvin, LHP, Vanderbilt

They'd love Tyler Anderson, Sean Gilmartin, or Kolten Wong, and have (or had) interest in Tyler Beede, whose e-mail to clubs saying he wants to go to college hasn't deterred all his suitors.
Tampa Bay Rays
Brandon Nimmo, OF, East HS (Cheyenne, Wyo.)

They're on Nimmo, or were before his big dollar figure came out; I expect a lot of teams, including Tampa, Toronto, and Texas, to take some of these big-demand players and play a little hardball with the threat of hard slotting in the next collective bargaining agreement or simply a Matt Purke scenario.
Tampa Bay Rays
Johnny Eierman, SS, Warsaw (Mo.) HS

Hearing the Rays are also on Florida prep outfielder Granden Goetzman in the sandwich round.
Texas Rangers
Travis Harrison, 3B, Tustin (Calif.) HS

Two big names I've heard here are Nimmo and Harrison, with Osich still a consideration here or at 37 when they pick again

Thanks. I can understand Hultzen to AZ at #3, but #7? Doesn't ring true to me.

Jaypers said:

Looks like it's official.

Pirates will take Cole with No. 1 Draft pick

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Success! There is now hope that Rendon will have an auto in 2011 BDPP since Cole will obviously be the cover boy for all 2012 products.

I'm interested in seeing where all the USA guys fall. Hopefully the Red Sox can lock up Swihart with their 19th or 26th picks so that a few buy it nows get clicked.