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2012 MLB Mock Draft

2012-06-03T23:05:00.000-04:00

Last year I began working on my first mock draft 6 months before the draft date while this year I started less than 24 hours before commencement. Though I told myself I wouldn't be mocking this year, I couldn't resist the urge to throw in my two cents.

This mock draft is to be used for recreational purposes only. Do not drive or operate heavy machinery after reading.

1. Houston Astros: Mark Appel - RHP - Stanford. The 6'5" Appel was last drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 15th round in 2009. Though not a true #1 in my opinion, Appel has more polish than last year's top pick (Gerrit Cole).

2. Minnesota Twins: Byron Buxton - OF - Appling Co. HS (GA). The 5 tool Buxton emerged as the top prep prospect in last year's summer showcase circuit and did nothing this spring to diminish his status.

3. Seattle Mariners: Mike Zunino - C - Florida. Zunino, last year's SEC player of the year entered the season as the top college position player and helped his Gators enter the post season as the top team in the nation.

4. Baltimore Orioles: Kevin Gausman - RHP - LSU. The draft eligible sophomore was last drafted by the Dodgers in the 2010 (6th Round). San Francisco's Kyle Zimmer is another possibility.

5. Kansas City Royals: Kyle Zimmer - RHP - San Francisco. Technically sound Zimmer was not drafted out of high school and would be the top player in the board at this point. Royals will jump on previous 4 if they fall.

6. Chicago Cubs: Albert Almora - OF - Mater Academy (FL). Profiles well as an outfielder to hit for both average and power. Prep SS Carlos Correa is another possibility.

7. San Diego Padres: Carlos Correa - SS - Puerto Rico Baseball Academy. One of my favorite prospects in this draft because of his size (6'3" 185) and age (17), Correa will likely outgrow SS but should be a fine defensive 3B.

8. Pittsburg Pirates: Chris Stratton - RHP - Mississippi State. Undrafted out of high school, all Stratton has done this year is go 11-2 with a 2.38 ERA. If Stratton doesn't come off the board here, he may slide to the White Sox or Reds at 13 or 14 respectfully.

9. Florida Marlins: Andrew Heaney - LHP - Oklahoma State. If not Heaney, i think the Max Fried slide stops now.

10. Colorado Rockies: Courtney Hawkins - OF - Carroll HS (TX). Toolsy outfielder is a scouts dream and will be a sabrmatician's nightmare his first few years in the minors. I see a high K rate and a corresponding low average.

11. Oakland Athletics: Max Fried - LHP - Harvard-Westlake HS (CA). The A's have a lot of picks and a lot of money to spend. Fried and teammate Lucas Giolito (RHP) will both come off the board in the first round but are both wildcards as to where.

12. New York Mets: David Dahl - OF - Oak Mountain HS (AL). Met's are still a wildcard at this pick. Wouldn't be surprised to see college pitchers Michael Wacha or Chris Stratton.

13. Chicago White Sox: Marcus Stroman - RHP - Duke. Wishful thinking here for this White Sox fan but the Sox ARE linked to college arms if they don't over pay for injured Solon HS (OH) LHP Matt Smoral. Stratton, Michael Wacha and Andrew Heaney are possibilities.

14. Cincinnati Reds: Michael Wacha - RHP - Texas A&M. The Reds, like the White Sox, are linked to college arms and could go with Stratton, Wacha or Stroman as well. Arizona State SS Deven Marrero would make a ton of sense here too and Reds fan should be thrilled to get him.

15. Cleveland Indians: Richie Shaffer - 3B - Clemson. Stanford's Stephen Piscotty or one of the college arms above are also possibilities.

16. Washington Nationals: Deven Marrero - SS - Arizona State. This has got to be the end of the slide for Marrerro who could go as high as #4 to Baltimore.

17. Toronto Blue Jays: Lucas Giolito - RHP - Harvard Westlake HS (CA). The Jays are well positioned to take a flyer on an elite talent with health issues such as Giolito or Matt Smoral.

18. Los Angeles Dodgers: Ty Hensley - RHP - Santa Fe HS (CA). The Dodgers have a history of taking prep pitchers in the first round.

19. St. Louis Cardinals: Lance McCullers Jr. - RHP - Jesuit HS (FL). Considered a tough sign, the Cardinals can afford to pony up. Leading publications have them linked to prep SS Addison Russell.

20. San Francisco Giants: Brian Johnson - LHP - Florida. Johnson, the two way star, could either land here or slide to the supplemental round.

21. Atlanta Braves: Tanner Rahier - SS - Palm Desert HS (CA). Advanced hitter has been swinging wood bats the past two seasons.

22. Toronto Blue Jays: Gavin Cecchini - SS - Barbe HS (LA). I get the sense that he's going to be the next Marco Scutaro, for what it's worth.

23. St. Louis Cardinals: Stephen Piscotty - 3B/OF - Stanford. Recently moved to the outfield as well as the weekend rotation, I suspect he'll play 3B as a professional.

24. Boston Red Sox: Joey Gallo - 3B - Bishop Gorman HS (NV).

25. Tampa Bay Rays: D.J. Davis - OF - Stone County HS. Davis is the fastest runner in this draft.

26. Arizona Diamondbacks: Stryker Trahan - C - Acadiana HS (LA). Keith Law compares him to Wil Myers. If he's half that, he's a steal here.

27. Milwaukee Brewers: Clint Coulter - C - Union HS (WA).

28. Milwaukee Brewers: Addison Russell - SS - Pace HS (FL).

29. Texas Rangers: Zach Eflin - RHP - Hagerty HS (FL)

30. New York Yankees: Matt Smoral - LHP - Solon (OH). An injured foot cost me my opportunity to see him pitch this year. Still a 1st round talent.

31. Boston Red Sox: Pierce Johnson - RHP - Missouri St.

2012 MLB Team Preview: Atlanta Braves

2012-03-31T08:57:00.001-04:00

Atlanta Braves

2011—89-73

Key Additions--- None

Key Losses-------Derek Lowe, Alex Gonzalez

Lineup---I expect this offense to be about what they were last year when they won 89 games and really fell on their face to lose out on the playoffs. The outfield starts with Jason Heyward. He really struggled last year but you have to hope he can put it behind him and learn from it. He will be a big key to this offense. I really like Michael Bourn. Although I would like him to get on base more, when he gets on he steals and sets up runs. That is a great guy to have at the top of the lineup. LF is split, with Eric Hinske getting time and Martin Prado filling in at times as well. Although I don’t believe Gonzalez is a huge loss, I still believe he was better than what they will have at that position this year. Prado and Chipper Jones, in his last year, will man 3b. For one I hope Chipper can contribute one last time for this team. It is refreshing to see a player spend his whole career with 1 team. The right side of the infield has a chance to be very good for this team. Dan Uggla has a monster power year last year, but needs to bring his average up. Freddie Freeman was pretty solid, and they hope he can get better. Brian McCann offensively is one of the best in the game, so you can expect him to continue to produce. Although they did not make a splash on offense, I do think this offense if Heyward can emerge is plenty good enough to win the division.

Pitching---Health, Health, Health. I know I have said it a few times, but this is what this staff is all about. When you have youngsters who need to prove they can stay healthy and a veteran in Tim Hudson who is out for the first few weeks, you have to question the ability to get through 162 games. However, the depth they have built will help them accomplish that. Considering all of the trade rumors around Jair Jurrjens, he is expected to anchor this rotation. With Tommy Hanson and Brandon Beachy lining up behind him, that is powers arms at the front of this rotation. With Hudson out to start the year, that leave youngsters to fill in at the back end. But to be clear, very good youngsters at that. Mike Minor, Randall Delgado and Julio Teheran all have great arms and potential, and expect to fit in the Braves plan for a long time. This bullpen was lights out last year, and although they return many of the same guys I have concerns that the work load put on them last year will come back to haunt them. I hope I am wrong, because they are fun to watch with Craig Kimbrel and Jonny Venters coming in to close it out. As a pitching staff as a whole though, they are definitely capable of winning this division.

Outlook---With a few breaks going their way, I think we are going to see the Braves in a very similar position as last year, battling it out for a playoff spot. However, this relies on Heyward stepping it up a notch, some of their veterans staying healthy, and the youngsters in the staff and bullpen maintaining the numbers that they had last year. All in all though, I really like not only what this team looks like for this year, but also into the future. And although I was never a huge Chipper Jones fan, I would love to see him go out on a positive note.

2012 MLB Team Preview: Kansas City Royals

2012-03-31T08:56:00.001-04:00

Kansas City Royals

2011—71-91

Key Additions--- Jonathan Broxton, Jonathan Sanchez

Key Losses-------Melky Cabrera

Lineup---This lineup is full of youngsters. Some have proven to be very good hitters, while others are still trying to prove they belong in the big leagues. Alex Gordon in LF is turning into one of the best young players into the game, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the All Star team this year. He is something special and I hope he will be a Royal for a long time. By dealing Cabrera they opened the door for Lorenzo Cain, who will be given the full time CF job. While he is great defensively, I am not sure if will produce much offense. Jeff Francoeur had a nice bounce back year last year, and is expected to man RF. The infield is young and inexperienced and could go either way. Mike Moustakas will play 3b, and although he got some time last year is expected to get his first full season under his belt. Alcides Escobar and Chris Getz are above average defensively, but lack much offense from the middle. When you factor in Cain in CF, these 2 guys up the middle and the injury to Salvador Perez, they are as light hitting up the middle as anyone. Eric Hosmer should be a good hitter at 1b, and they are really relying on Billy Butler to provide a middle of the order bat from their DH. This lineup is definitely capable of the numbers, and will be fun to see how these young guys develop.

Pitching---As many top prospects as they have in this lineup, you would think they would have at least 1 or 2 in this rotation, but that is not the case. They have really scrapped together this starting rotation. Luke Hochevar will be leading the rotation, although he finished last year with a 4.68 ERA. They re-signed Bruce Chen to be their #2, and considering he pitched in the last game at old Riverfront stadium, that should say a lot about this signing. The acquisition of Sanchez was a solid one. He isn’t as impressive as some of the other pitchers that were moved this year, but will provide stability in the rotation. Luis Mendoza and Danny Duffy(great name) will fill the back 2 spots of the rotation. Obviously, the back end of this rotation is not as solid as you would like. The bullpen took a huge hit with the injury to Joakim Soria. Their ability to really shorten games would have been a big key, with set up men Aaron Crowe and Jonathan Broxton. Now they will move one to the closer role and have less depth. With a rotation as young as they have, this injury is a very important loss.

Outlook---Once again, the Royals are being seen in the media as sleeper picks. Last year they were viewed the same way, although I did not buy into it. They may improve this year, mainly because they are no longer the worst team in their division, but I don’t expect them to be too big of factors in the dog days of summer. Yes this team is still building, but until they can build on their pitching, they will struggle to be competitive.