After waiting an extra month this year, the draft has finally happened! I’ll go over how the A’s did, a consensus board, and prospects I like more than the consensus.
Consensus Board
I compiled the rankings from FanGraphs, Baseball America, Keith Law at the Athletic, Kiley McDaniel at ESPN, Prospects Live, MLB Pipeline, Baseball Prospectus (partial), Jeff Ellis, Mason McRae, Michael Cook, and Brian Recca into a consensus board. Yes, some of these are behind a paywall, but I only took the rankings and not the blurbs. I also really wish I could pay a smaller fee for just the rankings instead of monthly or yearly subscriptions. The only missing rankings are Perfect Game’s Top 400, though their most recent list is from January and therefore out of date now.
The consensus board can be found here.
Oakland Recap
The A’s continued their recent strategy by starting with a high potential, up the middle bat followed by college performers. Max Muncy started it off in the first round as one of only two high school draftees for them this year - the other being an intriguing, young, and big lefty from Puerto Rico, Eduardo Rivera - and while he’s not the one I would’ve picked, I can’t argue with it too much. He’s seen as a solid bet to stay at shortstop and is hit over power right now, though he’s nearly 19 already. It appears that he’ll get a slightly overslot bonus to forgo a commitment to Arkansas.
In general the A’s really focused on the West Coast in the top 10 rounds, with only three picks coming from elsewhere, including their second and third round picks. Zack Gelof is a third baseman from University of Virginia with untapped power potential while Mason Miller is an older pitcher from Gardner-Webb who is likely a reliever. The only other non-West Coaster was CJ Rodriguez, Vanderbilt’s catcher who is a sure bet to stick back there but has 35 grade power at best. I was excited to get Denzel Clarke and Grant Holman in the 4th and 6th rounds, respectively. The rest of the players from the top 10 rounds were senior position players who are generally unexciting. Drew Swift can apparently pick it at shortstop but doesn’t have much power and his plate discipline is subpar. Shane McGuire is Reese’s brother and maintained good plate discipline while increasing his power the last two years. Jack Winkler and Brett Harris are more glove first players from the WCC.
Rounds 11 through 20 saw the A’s pick bigger bodied pitchers with 8 of their 10 picks, with the only two position players being Jonny “Barrels” Butler from NC State and Mariano Ricciardi - J.P. Ricciardi’s son - from Dayton. Butler, Rivera, and Mitch Myers are the most interesting from this group.
Overall it’s an interesting group and the A’s stuck to their m.o. by prioritizing up the middle position players and jumbo pitchers with a mix that skews towards college players, though they aren’t afraid of taking players from smaller schools.
My Favorites
Simply put, players I like more than most of the other lists with brief reasons and a round range for when I would pick them. Any of the high schoolers that aren’t picked or don’t sign will be priority follows for their respective drafts. While I’m still not a scout, I’m much more confident with hitters than with pitchers.
Carson Williams (SS / RHP) - two way player, young, up the middle. Top 20 overall.
Edwin Arroyo (SS) - switch hitter AND thrower, young, up the middle. Comp round A.
Joe Mack (C) - up the middle, multi-sport athlete (volleyball). Round 1.
Kahlil Watson (SS) - 5th on consensus board but 2nd or 3rd on mine. Top 3.
Trey Sweeney (SS) - up the middle, insane performance. Top 20 overall.
Ryan Holgate (OF) - good data. Round 2.
Gunnar Hoglund (RHP) - would’ve still had him top 12 even with TJS. Top 12.
Josh Hartle (LHP) - young, lefty, from NC (Bumgarner, Gore, Walston…). Pulled out of draft to attend Wake Forest. Round 1 - comp round A.
Ben Ramirez (IF) - versatile, solid bat. Later round target. Round 11+.
Coleman Willis (RHP) - frame, youngish. Went unpicked and will attend UGA. Round 3-5.
Gage Jump (LHP) - young, pitch data. Will likely head to UCLA. Round 1.
Ky Bush (LHP) - West Coast, lefty, big body. Round 2.
Michael McGreevy (RHP) - control, young, performer. Round 1.
Davis Diaz (SS / C) - up the middle, young, Bay Area. Round 2-3.
Dylan Smith (RHP) - young, SEC performer. Comp round A - round 2.
Jay Allen (OF) - multi-sport (football, basketball). Round 1.
Will Taylor (OF) - multi-sport (wrestling, track, football). Round 1.
Jacen Roberson (CF) - up the middle, solid performance. Round 11+
Caleb Roberts (C / OF) - maybe a catcher, good plate discipline at big school. Round 3-5.
Gavin Conticello (3B) - lefty, left side of infield, power. Round 3-5.
Ryan Bliss (SS) - SEC performer. Round 2.
Blake Dunn (OF) - multi-sport (football, track, basketball). Round 11+.
TJ White (OF) - young, power. Round 4-6.
Thaddeus Ector (OF) - young, switch hitter, athlete. Round 6-10.
Brennon McNair (SS) - multi-sport (football), student body president, valedictorian, up the middle, two way player. Round 6-10.
Wyatt Hendrie (C / OF) - plate discipline, good athlete for C. Round 6-10.
Kevin Bazzell (C) - young, up the middle, bat speed. Round 6-10.
Steven Hajjar (LHP) - young, frame, performance. Round 2.
Ryan Spikes (SS) - young, up the middle, power potential. Round 2.
Alec Willis (RHP) - young, frame, stuff projection. Round 3-5.
Micah Ottenbreit (RHP) - young, cold weather, frame and stuff projection. Round 2-3.
Shadow Draft
It’s a bit of a cop out to do after the draft and a fool’s errand anyway, but once more bonus information comes through, I’ll add what I might have done with the A’s picks here.