Major League Baseball is sure struggling to get their act together and hopefully we’ll hear news on the coming days that the owners and players have come a reasonable agreement that will bring us baseball finally. You may have missed it because of all that negative noise, but the MLB Draft was actually held this week. Assuming you don’t know the high school and college kids as well, I’m here today to tell you which teams nailed their picks before eventually providing draft grades for every MLB organization.
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#5 Toronto Blue Jays
Picks: Austin Martin, CJ Van Eyk, Trent Palmer, Nick Frasso, Zach Britton
Virtually everyone thought the Orioles would grab Austin Martin with the second overall pick. My mock had them striking a deal with Nick Gonzalez but they ended up doing so with Heston Kjerstad instead. Then Martin, an Anthony Rendon-like prospect, dropped past Miami and then Kansas City into the Blue Jays’ lap. Assuming they can strike a deal, that pick alone makes their grade, but they also managed to grab a quality college pitcher in the early second round in Van Eyk.
#4 San Diego Padres
Picks: Robert Hassell, Justin Lange, Owen Caissie, Cole Wilcox, Levi Thomas, Jagger Haynes
Prognosticators are split about Hassell in the top 10, although no one will argue with his hit tool which could make him a .300 hitter with decent power in the bigs like Justin Turner. The problem here is that they drafted him ahead of Zac Veen, who was widely considered the top high school bat in the country. Perhaps doing so, however, will enable them to ink both Justin Lange and Cole Wilcox who both have legitimate ace upside if they can harness command of their extraordinary stuff.
#3 Tampa Bay Rays
Picks: Nick Bitsko, Alika Williams, Ian Seymour, Hunter Barnhart, Tanner Murray, Jeff Hakanson
Remember when I told you the value of Austin Martin made the Blue Jays’ grade an A all by itself? Well, here we have the best single first round pick in Bitsko, who was a near-lock to go in the top five of the 2021 draft had he not reclassified into the 2020 class. This two-way prep stud may end up being the best player in this entire draft and the Rays nabbed him at #14 overall. After that, they secured a safe all-around shortstop in Williams, who should rise quickly through the system to become a solid starter at the big league level.
#2 St. Louis Cardinals
Picks: Jordan Walker, Masyn Winn, Tink Hence, Alec Burleson, Levi Prater, Ian Bedell, LJ Jones IV
St. Louis was the only team in my top five picking outside of the top 15, and in typical Cardinals fashion, drafting depth upon depth of quality assets. Their third and fourth round picks should both be back-end of the bullpen beasts while they secured three high-upside prospects in the first 65 picks of the draft. Jordan Walker has light-tower power and could eventually become a Josh Donaldson type of hitter. Winn may just be the toolsiest prospect in the draft and while he is raw, this two-way prospect has the ceiling of a perennial all-star which is quite the get in Round 2.
#1 Philadelphia Phillies
Picks: Mick Abel, Casey Martin, Carson Ragsdale, Baron Radcliff
Had Abel been given the chance to pitch the Spring (his high school closed before the season started), there is a chance we’d have been talking about him at the 1.01 pick to Detroit. There are some question marks seeing as though he velocity dipped last summer but he offers outrageous stuff and could be a Cy Young candidate year in and year out as he matures. That isn’t all, though, because despite having no second round pick, the Phillies managed to draft another prospect most had a late-first round grade on Casey Martin. If any non first-round pick were going to become a 30-30 player at the MLB level, you can bet your bottom dollar it will be Martin, while manning the shortstop position adequately.
All Draft Grades
- Phillies (A+)
- Cardinals (A+)
- Rays (A)
- Padres (A-) — A+ if they sign Cole Wilcox
- Blue Jays (A-)
- Tigers (A-)
- Rockies (A-)
- Pirates (A-)
- Royals (B+)
- Mets (B+)
- Dodgers (B+)
- Mariners (B+)
- White Sox (B) — A if they sign Jared Kelley
- Cubs (B)
- A’s (B)
- Brewers (B)
- Yankees (B)
- Nationals (B-)
- Giants (B-)
- Reds (B-)
- Diamondbacks (B-)
- Angels (B-)
- Indians (C+)
- Astros (C+)
- Red Sox (C) *B- if they sign Blaze Jordan
- Marlins (C)
- Rangers (C-)
- Orioles (C-)
- Braves (D+)
- Twins (D+)
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