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MLB Draft LIVE Thread: Thursday Picks and Analysis

By Benjamin Chase

Aug 14, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Newly elected commissioner of baseball Rob Manfred speaks at a press conference after being elected by team owners to be the next commissioner of Major League Baseball. At left is MLB commissioner Bud Selig. Mandatory Credit: H.Darr Beiser-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 14, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Newly elected commissioner of baseball Rob Manfred speaks at a press conference after being elected by team owners to be the next commissioner of Major League Baseball. At left is MLB commissioner Bud Selig. Mandatory Credit: H.Darr Beiser-USA TODAY Sports /
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The One-Stop Spot For Your MLB Draft Updates And Analysis All Thursday Evening!

The News

The biggest piece of news for the week of the MLB draft is the failed drug test by possible top-5 selection Delvin Perez that was released this week, as covered here on CTTP by Jason Evans. The test was failed weeks ago, but the news released this week, which does explain a lot of the cooling to Perez that had been coming out toward the end of May that I was hearing around the game. The reports leaking throughout the day Wednesday indicated that it was a “drug of abuse,” meaning it wasn’t a PED, but a drug like marijuana, cocaine, heroin, etc.

This week has been full of a lot of chatter, and the one thing we do know is that we don’t know a lot. This draft is not considered to be a draft with top-end talent, but it is considered to have a lot of guys who would typically slot in about the 15-30 spots in a draft, which is why we’re hearing a lot of high-money demands from players who may end up slipping out of that range due to the glut of players who would fit in that area.

The rumors have abounded about what may happen at #1 with the Phillies, especially in the last week. Of course, as in any draft, much of this is misdirection by the team, intentionally leaked to the media in order to get false information out there to cover up true intentions, also known as “draft speak.”

With the popularity of the NFL and NBA drafts, those reporters have become very adept at picking up draft speak, but I do think some of the MLB reporters are still a bit too trusting of their sources, which is why you’ve seen a lot of directions thrown out there this week.

The Plan For The Evening

We’ll have plans for tonight and tomorrow around live coverage of the draft. We will be updating the picks live throughout the night in this post. Then you can go to the comments section below for analysis on each pick from Benjamin Chase and other members of the CTTP team. You can also add in your own comments and questions as we go along – in fact, we strongly encourage it!

More from Call to the Pen

The picks go through #77 tonight (the first and second round along with the compensatory and competitive balance picks for those rounds). Tomorrow, rounds 3-10 will be completed, which will end the draft pool portion of the draft. Saturday, rounds 11-40 are completed in rapid fashion. My intention is to have a Saturday wrap of the picks, but those picks come much too quickly to be able to keep up. We’re encouraging lots of participation as that will make this more fun for everyone involved!

The Picks

Round One
1. Philadelphia Phillies – Mickey Moniak, HS, California HS
2. Cincinnati Reds – Nick Senzel, 3B, Tennessee
3. Atlanta Braves – Ian Anderson, RHP, New York HS
4. Colorado Rockies – Riley Pint, RHP, Kansas HS
5. Milwaukee Brewers – Corey Ray, OF, Louisville
6. Oakland Athletics – A.J. Puk, LHP, Florida
7. Miami Marlins – Braxton Garrett, LHP, Alabama HS
8. San Diego Padres – Cal Quantrill, RHP, Stanford
9. Detroit Tigers – Matt Manning, RHP, California HS
10. Chicago White Sox – Zack Collins, C, Miami
11. Seattle Mariners – Kyle Lewis, OF, Mercer
12. Boston Red Sox – Jason Groome, LHP, New Jersey HS
13. Tampa Bay Rays – Josh Lowe, 3B, Georgia HS
14. Cleveland Indians – Will Benson, OF, Georgia HS
15. Minnesota Twins – Alex Kirilloff, OF, Pennsylvania HS
16. Los Angeles Angels – Matt Thaiss, C, Virginia
17. Houston Astros – Forrest Whitley, RHP, Texas HS
18. New York Yankees – Blake Rutherford, OF, California HS
19. New York Mets – Justin Dunn, RHP, Boston College
20. Los Angeles Dodgers – Gavin Lux, SS, Wisconsin HS
21. Toronto Blue Jays – T. J. Zeuch, RHP, Pittsburgh
22. Pittsburgh Pirates – Will Craig, IF, Wake Forest
23. St. Louis Cardinals – Delvin Perez, SS, Puerto Rico HS

Compensatory Round 1
24. San Diego Padres – Hudson Sanchez, SS, Texas HS
25. San Diego Padres – Eric Lauer, LHP, Kent State
26. Chicago White Sox – Zack Burdi, RHP, Louisville
27. Baltimore Orioles – Cody Sedlock, RHP, Illinois
28. Washington Nationals – Carter Kieboom, SS, Georgia HS
29. Washington Nationals – Dane Dunning, RHP, Florida
30. Texas Rangers – Cole Ragans, LHP, Florida HS
31. New York Mets – Anthony Kay, LHP, Connecticut
32. Los Angeles Dodgers – Will Smith, C, Louisville
33. St. Louis Cardinals – Dylan Carlson, OF, California HS
34. St. Louis Cardinals – Dakota Hudson, RHP, Mississippi State

Competitive Balance Picks, Round A
35. Cincinnati Reds – Taylor Trammell, OF, Georgia HS
36. Los Angeles Dodgers – Jordan Sheffield, RHP, Vanderbilt
37. Oakland Athletics – Daulton Jefferies, RHP, California
38. Colorado Rockies – Robert Tyler, RHP, Georgia
39. Arizona Diamondbacks – Anfernee Grier, OF, Auburn
40. Atlanta Braves – Joey Wentz, LHP, Kansas HS
41. Pittsburgh Pirates – Nick Lodolo, LHP, California HS

Second Round
42. Philadelphia Phillies – Kevin Gowdy, RHP, California HS
43. Cincinnati Reds – Chris Okey, C, Clemson
44. Atlanta Braves – Kyle Muller, LHP, Texas HS
45. Colorado Rockies – Ben Bowden, LHP, Vanderbilt
46. Milwaukee Brewers – Lucas Erceg, 3B, Menlo Colege
47. Oakland Athletics – Logan Shore, RHP, Florida
48. San Diego Padres – Buddy Reed, OF, San Diego
49. Chicago White Sox – Alec Hansen, RHP, Oklahoma
50. Seattle Mariners – Joe Rizzo, 3B, Virginia HS
51. Boston Red Sox – C.J. Chatham, SS, Florida Atlantic
52. Arizona Diamondbacks – Andrew Yerzy, C, Canada HS
53. Tampa Bay Rays – Ryan Boldt, OF, Nebraska
54. Baltimore Orioles – Keegan Akin, LHP, Western Michigan
55. Cleveland Indians – Nolan Jones, SS, Pennsylvania HS
56. Minnesota Twins – Ben Rortvedt, C, Minnesota Twins
57. Toronto Blue Jays – J. B. Woodman, OF, Mississippi
58. Washington Nationals – Sheldon Neuse, 3B, Oklahoma
59. San Francisco Giants – Bryan Reynolds, OF, Vanderbilt
60. Los Angeles Angels – Brandon Marsh, OF, Georgia HS
61. Houston Astros – Ronnie Dawson, OF, Ohio State
62. New York Yankees – Nick Solak, 2B, Louisville
63. Texas Rangers – Alex Speas, RHP, Georgia HS
64. New York Mets – Pete Alonso, 1B, Florida
65. Los Angeles Dodgers – Mitchell White, RHP, Santa Clara
66. Toronto Blue Jays – Bo Bichette, IF, Florida HS
67. Kansas City Royals – A. J. Puckett, RHP, Pepperdine
68. Pittsburgh Pirates – Travis MacGregor, RHP, Florida HS
69. Baltimore Orioles – Matthias Dietz, RHP, John A. Logan College
70. St. Louis Cardinals – Connor Jones, RHP, Virginia

Competitive Balance Picks, Round B
71. San Diego Padres – Reggie Lawson, RHP, California HS
72. Cleveland Indians – Logan Ice, C, Oregon State
73. Minnesota Twins – Jose Miranda, SS, Puerto Rico HS
74. Minnesota Twins – Akil Baddoo, OF, Georgia HS
75. Milwaukee Brewers – Mario Felciano, C, Puerto Rico HS
76. Atlanta Braves – Brett Cumberland, C, California
77. Tampa Bay Rays – Jake Fraley, OF, Louisiana State

Next: Final MLB Mock Draft

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