The major league baseball draft is starting to sneak up on me. It’s only 2 and 1/2 months away and I am sort of ready and I’m sort of not. And. My familiarity with this year‘s draft class is pretty good through about 170 to 180 guys. To move beyond that, it will take some work. On Thursday night this week, MLB pipeline dropped its new Top 150 MLB Draft prospect list. And after seeing that list, I feel pretty good about the five guys I picked for the Cubs. And I like who Pipeline had in those slots, too!

My five round mock

13 – Brock WIlken – 3B – Wake Forest

68 – Matthew Dallas – LHP – Baincrst Prep

81 – Parker Detmers – RHP – Chatham Glenwoood

113 – Andrew Walters – RHP – The U

149 – Christian Little  RHP – LSU

MLB Pipeline has always tended to be very conservative when it comes to movement on their lists. They may put out a list in January and over the course of time that draft list is not going to change much until the D1 season is over. The reason for that is they spend most of the spring catching up on high school guys who tend to fly up their list faster than college guys who have a great season. 

FOr example, Brock WIlken of Wake Forest is having the season of seasons this spring and he’s fallen in their list to 32. I just find that incomprehensible.. They still had Tanner Witt at 25 and he’s not debuting until tonight and that is only 20 pitches. Then again, wWitt probably would’ve been a top 10 pick this year has he not undergone Tommy John surgery a year plus ago.

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that the Cubs selected the five guys who are ranked on pipelines list at 13, 68, 81, 113, and 149. What would that look like? Well, it would look pretty darn good, to be quite frank.

13 – Blake Mitchell – C – Sinton, Texas

Mitchell is a fine prospect, but I think there are much better bats in the colege ranks with higher ceilings than a prep catcher. There’s a lot of inherent risk in taking a prep catcher in round one.Then again, everyone who sees him, loves the bat. Technically, he does not have to stay behind the plate either.

68 – Will Sanders – RHP – South Carolina

I really like this pick. He’s a big, strong arm guy is a good frame and an excellent repertoire, so could move quickly in the system.

81 – Kyle Karros – 3B UCLA

The name does ring a bell, and that’s because it is who you think it is. He’s considered a late bloomer as he’s really come on strong this year and that could bode well for the Cubs. He has really come on strong this year hitting close to .400 this. He’s a big kid at 65 and 220 but only has five home runs. The Cubs need to tap into that frame. I love the potential of this pick!

113 – Cole Miller  – RHP – Newbury Park, California

Miller is a fine prospect. But how much extra do you have to pay for a HS arm. Two names I like in Homer Bush and Andrew Walters are still be there. This is a pretty deep collection of talent into the fourth round.

149 – Cam Clayton – SS – Washington

The Cubs can still get great value at 149 in this year’s draft. I don’t think they’re going to go into the senior signs until a little bit later this year, because of the quality and depth of this year’s class. As for Clayton, hthe Cubs would be getting a player on the rise. He has a career high nine home runs this year with a month left to go in the season. He’s not and ultra big kid as there’s still room to add some muscle as he is 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds,

When it comes to these rankings, they gooing to change quite a bit at the end of May, and then even more so in June as the College World Series tends to change things as you get to see players against higher levels of competition. In June and early July, there will be the showcases and the draft league to evaluate prep, Juco, and D2 guys en masse.

My goal is to have another 5 round mock draft in the next week or two and then in mid June. I’ll have my 10 round mock ready.