Winners
Atlanta Braves
The Braves shocked many with the selection of Ian Anderson, but then Baseball America’s Hudson Belinski reported that Anderson’s last two starts of his high school season, if they’d have been when expected in mid-May (delayed due to weather issues during the season), he’d have been in the top 5 discussion for anyone and everyone. The combination of the three high school arms they got at 3/40/44 is tremendous value, though many Braves fans are likely wishing for some power.
On day 2, they did grab some intriguing players before really having a big day 3, and they’ve already signed their top selection of the third day, Matt Rowland. The “fun” pick was the son of coach Eddie Perez, a 6’7, 260-pound catcher, Andres Perez.
Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers may find themselves not signing a number of guys, but I love their approach, as they truly did go with the best player on their board at each selection. They got a big steal in my eyes by grabbing Corbin Burnes in the 4th round. I had him mocked many times in the 1st round, and he had a couple poor starts to end his season that took his stock down that much, which should benefit the Brewers.
The Brewers really shone on day 3 as well, drafting two of my absolute favorite guys on the board heading into day 3, high school infielder Chad McClanahan and JuCo outfielder Zach Clark. They also picked high school righty Jared Horn, who was projected as a first rounder. Signing all these guys may be impossible, but they at least gave themselves that shot by making the selection!
San Francisco Giants
The Giants didn’t select until the 59th selection, so to expect to get a first-round value would have been outlandish. Instead, they got TWO! The Giants went hard after college talent, selecting highly regarded outfielders Bryan Reynolds from Vanderbilt and small school Heath Quinn of Samford. They also grabbed one of the biggest power bats in college in Gio Brusa of Pacific.
Then they came into their third day and just made everyone else look silly. They grabbed multiple projection players and then rolled the dice on a number of players, most notably Duke commit New Jersey prep lefty Adam Laskey, who some had thought could work his way into the first round as late as Memorial Day. Pretty solid for no first round selection!
Cleveland Indians
The Indians were picking at 14, and they surprised many who were connecting them to Pennsylvania prep outfielder Alex Kirilloff by selecting Georgia prep outfielder Will Benson. They then grabbed highly-touted Pennsylvania prep infielder Nolan Jones, and snagged Oregon State catcher Logan Ice, a high-rising catcher with the 72nd selection.
In the second day, they continued going after solid high school bats, picking outfielder Conner Capel and infielder Ulysses Cantu. The guy that caught my eye in day 3 for the Indians was not a high school guy, but a college player, pitcher Wil Crowe of South Carolina, a big-armed starter who missed all of 2016 and may require a big number to pull away from school, but the Indians at least gave themselves that opportunity to get a big arm into their system.
Next: Losers