TwinsDaily/Brewer Fanatic Mock Draft v. 1.0

[Jeremy Nygaard]

The draft will take place just over 50 days from now. Unlike most other drafts, seven-plus weeks is just too far away to forecast with any certainty how the draft is going to go. 

But that doesn’t mean we can’t try!

 

 

1.) Orioles - Brooks Lee, SS, Cal Poly - This just seems like the most Orioles-type pick they could make. A college talent who can hit and plays a premium position. Oh, and he’s probably more likely to save them a few dollars for later than the higher-profile prospects.

2.) Diamondbacks - Druw Jones, OF, Georgia HS - I would imagine this is the ideal scenario for the Diamondbacks and their fans.

3.) Rangers - Jackson Holliday, SS, Oklahoma HS - My mind says “college bat,” but this is too early to go there (with the exception of Lee). My heart says “Jackson Holliday is just a four-hour trip up I-35” and that’s fun for Rangers fans. I do think Holliday to Colorado or St. Louis would be a great story… that’s not getting written.

4.) Pirates - Cole Young, SS, Pennsylvania HS - If you’ve only been following the draft here, this is a new name. If you saw Law’s last mock, you saw Young to the Twins at 8. The Pirates need help and maybe going the local route can help eventually ignite a spark between Ke’Bryan Hayes and Nick Gonzales.

5.) Nationals - Kevin Parada, C, Georgia Tech - Where there is smoke, there is fire. And there’s plenty of smoke with the Nationals and Parada.

6.) Marlins - Elijah Green, OF, IMG Academy - Green could certainly go earlier, but the swing-and-miss in his game has his trajectory going the wrong way. There’s still time to turn it around.

7.) Cubs - Termarr Johnson, 2B, Georgia HS - The fifth prep bat to go is largely considered the best hitter in this class. If only he had a true defensive position.

8.) Twins - Cam Collier, 3B, Chipola JC - The Twins love a few things more than others: bloodlines, analytics and advanced hitters. The son of a former major leaguer, Collier’s young for JC and impressing with the bat. It seems to just make a lot of sense.

9.) Royals - Brock Porter, RHP, Michigan Prep - The first pitcher off the board. I think there are a couple of names that we’ll see later that could push their way up into this spot

10.) Rockies - Jacob Berry, DH, LSU - Berry dropping to 10 might have more to do with my personal preference to have him not be a Twin than any industry sentiment. I guess if I was running a team, I’d be less inclined to draft a guy without a defensive home. But there’s a reason I’m not running a team.

11.) Mets - Jace Jung, 2B, Texas Tech - Jung, for me, is similar to Berry, but does have some flexibility in that he could maybe man a corner if not second base. 

12.) Tigers - Daniel Susac, C, Arizona - Susac or Gavin Cross is where I have the Tigers if the board played out like it has. Either would be good gets for Detroit.

13.) Angels - Connor Prielipp, RHP, Alabama - Fresh off his first bullpen, I think Prielipp keeps moving up the board. The Angels are all-in on pitching.

14.) Mets - Gavin Cross, OF, Virginia Tech - Ultimately, I think the Mets take one hitter and one pitcher with their two high picks. And they could get creative with their bonus pool to get someone to drop to 11. (Green?) But Cross just seems like too good of value to pass on at this point.

15.) Padres - Dylan Lesko, P, Georgia HS - The Padres aren’t averse to taking a risk or spending money, so this just makes a ton of sense.

16.) Guardians - Chase DeLauter, OF, James Madison - DeLauter is injured, but would be a good value pick by Cleveland. DeLauter’s value has dropped some in the last couple of months.

17.) Phillies - Brandon Berriera, RHP, Florida prep - The Phillies are a team considered most-likely to draft a prep pitcher and Berriera had improved his stock before shutting it down for the season.

18.) Reds - Justin Crawford, OF, Nevada HS - Carl’s kid is a high-ceiling prospect and the Reds fan base can use some excitement.

19.) A’s - Zach Neto, SS, Campbell - Sometimes when you fill out a mock you see a team and a prospect and just say, “Yep, that makes sense.”

20.) Braves - Gabriel Hughes, RHP, Gonzaga - Hughes could go earlier for sure, but the Braves have gone college pitching for a few years, so Hughes’ slide ends here.

21.) Mariners - Blake Tidwell, RHP, Tennessee - Mariners go the right-handed college pitching route for the fourth time in five years.

22.) Cardinals - Robby Snelling, LHP, Nevada HS - Prep pitchers always have a huge range of possibilities. Snelling has a LSU commitment and helium, so who knows what his price tag will be.

23.) Blue Jays - Sterlin Thompson, OF, Florida - Thompson has been impressive this year and if there’s one thing the Blue Jays need it’s more hitters. (Please sense the heavy sarcasm.)

24.) Red Sox - Jett Williams, SS, Texas Prep - The Red Sox have had success with tiny infielders before, haven’t they?

25.) Yankees - Cooper Hjerpe, LHP, Oregon State - Which stud will the Yankees acquire when they trade Hjerpe?

26.) White Sox - Jordan Beck, OF, Tennessee - When an AL Central team comes on the clock, I mostly follow the “which player would I least like to see them pick?” pattern. Beck seems like a player would could take off in pro ball.

27.) Brewers - Kumar Rocker, RHP, Vanderbilt/Indy ball - Rocker could make a lot of sense for almost any team. I debated between Brock Jones and Carson Whisenhunt at this point, but considering how creative the Brewers are in using their pitchers, drafting Rocker and putting him on the fast-track makes a lot of sense.

28.) Astros - Jud Fabian, OF, Florida - This is another one of those fits that just seems to make too much sense.

29.) Rays - Carson Whisenhunt, LHP, East Carolina - The Rays have a way and Whisenhunt, who is suspended for the year, would be a perfect fit for them and their way with pitchers.

30.) Giants - Peyton Pallette, RHP, Arkansas - Pallette would be off the board already if it weren’t for January Tommy John surgery. Compared a lot to Walker Buehler, the Giants look to get their own version of the current Dodger stud.

 

MOCK DRAFTS / PROSPECT BOARDS

Baseball America - v3.0 (4/28/22) / (v2.0 (4/1/22) /  v1.0 (2/10/22) / Top 300 (4/27/22) / Staff Draft v.1.0 (4/20/22)

MLB.com - Mayo Mock Draft (5/18/22) / Callis Mock Draft (5/11/22) /  Mock Draft (4/27/22) / Callis - Top 10 (12/15/21), Mayo - Top 20 (7/20/21) / Top 150 (4/25/22)

The Athletic - Law Mock Draft (5/19/22) /  Law Top 100 (5/5/22) / Law Top 30 (3/10/22)

ESPN - Early Draft Rankings (7/26/21) ($$$ - ESPN+) / McDaniel’s Draft Rankings (2/24/22) / Draft Rankings 2.0 (4/27/22)

Fangraphs - The Board / 2022 MLB Draft Rankings and Offseason List Primer (11/30/21) 

Prospects Live - v2.0 (4/21/22) / v1.0 (1/4/22) 

Just Baseball v1.0 (2/10/22)

My MLB Draft (1/18/22)

 

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[Ryan_K]

Would love this for the Twins. 17 years old facing advanced competition and most reports indicate he is a third baseman, not a DH in disguise. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

Love it!

[Dman]

I would be fine if the Twins got Collier there.  Big bat, big arm and young.  Like others have mentioned would be nicer if an up the middle talent fell to them.  I am not sold on Greene's bat but if he does get better at the plate what a monster (Buxton) type player he would be.  I was almost kind of hoping that Young would fall to 8.  He looks like a slightly more tooled up player than Miller at short.  Still I think Collier could be a pretty fast mover for a high school pick.  Just have to see how well he adjusts to better Sliders, curves and changes.  Going to be interesting to see what teams decide to do in the end.

[Doctor Gast]

I like Collier but we have a lot of 3Bs . Prefer a CF, SS or C. Twins love the Collier type so I wouldn't doubt it if they sign him.

[DJL44]

Looks like an awful year for college pitchers

[twinkiesfan11]

This would be a happy outcome from my perspective. Really hoping they target upside as opposed to high floor a little more this year. The minor league system is thinning out rapidly with all the promotions and under performing  somewhat touted lower level bats (Sabato, Cavaco, Urbina, Soularie, etc) This appears to be a strong year for prep pitching and position players so hopefully there will be some good options available. 

[DocBauer]

Not a good year for pitching, particularly this high, unless you want to take a huge risk on a young kid coming off injury. And I always believe your 1st pick, in particular,  in the MLB draft, is best player available regardless.

And from what I've been reading...mostly here but other places...Collier is a fast riser who is legitimate: glove and bat and potential but still very young and a world of potential. I think he'd be a great selection. And maybe I'm just stubborn, but I see Susac a couple spots later and I just can't get over the idea of picking him and getting a high catching prospect in the system. Now, if the Twins see a major difference in potential/projection between the two, you obviiously go with Collier.

[RJA]

1. Mock drafts are meaningless, but they are sooo much fun.  Collier and Young have lots of helium at the moment, so it will be interesting to see where they end up.  Young fits the Twins tendancy to draft young, athletic shortstops with excellent projectability.  This is an interesting draft due to lack of college pitchers and so many injuries--it is a very difficult draft to predict.  

[dxpavelka]

Would probably prefer Susac given the dearth of catching depth in the organization.  Not an O's fan but cool to see them draft a first rate prospect named Brooks.

[Mike Sixel]

I too prefer Susac, but I literally have no idea who any of these gentlemen are, so I'm going to trust the FO (even if they take way too many bat first guys early for me).

[Major League Ready]

I would like to see Parada drop to the Twins but that seems unlikely, so I am with those who would go with Susac.  However, I could see this FO going with Berry if Parada and Susac are gone.  He might be the best college bat and he is a switch hitter.  He likely ends up a 1B so that bat better be really good.  I hated the Sabato pick but this guy could be a middle of the order beast for a long-time.