2017 MLB Mock Draft, Version 4.1
With the draft less than a month away, a fourth look at the upcoming MLB draft is in order.
Before we get started with this MLB mock draft, a few things:
– These are the selections of the writer, based on discussions with scouts and team officials in the game. However, they are not to be viewed as a prediction, but an idea of the direction a team could go in the given scenario presented.
– Players moving up or down is not necessarily an indication of a player’s stock rising or falling. The player is assigned based on a fit, and sometimes that can mean a player moves 10 or more spots in the draft.
1. Minnesota Twins
Hunter Greene. 1. player. 2. Twins brass were big on Greene this week and had a number of interesting comments hinting that he is still very strongly in consideration for the #1 pick. Previous weeks had indicated the team was moving toward college picks McKay or Wright. Greene has the chance to be a generational talent on the mound, with a fastball that can reach 102 MPH and secondary pitches that many people are very positive can improve as he ages. Unlike a guy like Tyler Kolek, who was a pure flame thrower when he went #2 overall, Greene is athletic and has the ability to develop further.. RHP/SS. Notre Dame HS (CA)
2. Cincinnati Reds
2. player. 61. The Reds and McKay have been tied together plenty, and it will be intriguing to see how things work for the Reds if McKay is chosen first. Will they go after the college arm route in Wright? Maybe jump a bit to Smith, Hasely, or Kendall as a college bat, hoping to get a deal of some degree? Or do they simply go with Greene (or another high school player), and bite the financial bullet and risk that comes along with that? In this case, they don’t need to worry about this as they have McKay there to select, and his ties to a regional school for the Reds would be very intriguing.. 1B/LHP. University of Louisville. Brendan McKay
3. San Diego Padres
Whiteville HS (NC). MacKenzie Gore. 3. player. 127. This would be the difficult situation for the Padres. Many would assume that if Greene is off the board (by far their preferred target), the Padres would target a high school player due to their focus on youth and upside in their rebuild. However, what some seem to miss is that the Padres, with all the same rebuild goals, picked college pitchers last season with two of their three first round selections, including #8 overall. It would not surprise to see the Padres consider Wright here or McKay if he feel or even surprise with someone like Kendall, but most likely, they will pursue the incredible athleticism of Gore here if Greene and McKay were off the board.. LHP
4. Tampa Bay Rays
Vanderbilt University. Kyle Wright. 4. player. 21. Tampa once did quite well with another highly drafted Vanderbilt starter. No one is directly comparing Wright to David Price, but like Price, he works without absolute elite stuff, using stuff just a shade below that with extremely high-end pitchability. His added work in the weight room over the winter has allowed him to put on just a tick more velocity on the top end, but even more so, allowed him to sustain his best velocity deep into games. Working in the mid-90s with his moving fastball, Wright’s excellent control and maturity on the mound should allow him to move quickly, even through Tampa’s typically step-by-step system.. RHP
5. Atlanta Braves
player. 17. For the Braves, they’re sitting in a spot where they’re going to be meeting with a host of players to find out what the number will be to sign them, preparing to spend heavy over the team’s first 2-4 picks after loading up in the 2016 international market and having a high number of the team’s 2016 picks sign, filling up the team’s rookie league teams, not leaving a ton of space for 2016 picks, meaning the team will likely go big after a few picks rather than spreading across their 11-40 picks. Lewis is among roughly 5-7 players the Braves will be working with to figure out financials on who wants a deal to weigh the finances with the talent, which the team has seemingly found to be fairly even after their first three assumed guys on the board (Greene, McKay, and Wright). You could see Beck, Adell, Gore, Baz, Carlson, or Pratto here depending on the route the team is looking to go financially.. IF/OF. JSerra Catholic HS (CA). Royce Lewis. 5