Saturday, June 6, 2015

2015 Compilation MLB Draft (Top 200)

by: Ben Embry

Friends, the Major League Baseball Draft is 2 days away.  For most baseball fans, the 3 day event comes and goes with little if any awareness.  This may have to do with the fact that it, unlike the other major sports drafts, takes place in the middle of the season.  The draft is not televised on ESPN, (also unlike other sports leagues like the NFL and NBA), which further diminishes awareness of the event. 

This compilaton board is something I like to do to stay up on who the big names are in the draft pool. What I do is take rankings from 4 different sources that I trust the most on the subject of draft prospects and I compile them into one board.  And honestly, it is very difficult to find a lot of information on the MLB Draft on the internet, at least compared to the more popular NFL and NBA Drafts for reasons stated above.  The MLB Draft is more niche-y, so I like to consider what I do a service to those other MLB draftniks out there who are looking for some good information.


Rnk Name Pos School
1 Brendan Rodgers SS H.S.
2 Dansby Swanson SS Vandy
3 Alex Bregman SS/2B LSU
4 Dillon Tate SP UC Santa B
5 Carson Fulmer SP/RP Vandy
6 Kyle Tucker OF H.S.
7 Daz Cameron OF H.S.
8 Andrew Benintendi OF Arkansas
9 Tyler Jay SP/RP Illinois
10 Trenton Clark OF H.S.
11 Garrett Whitley OF H.S.
12 Ian Happ 2B/OF Cincinnati
13 Walker Buehler SP Vandy
14 Tyler Stephenson C H.S.
15 Kyle Funkhouser SP Louisville
16 Kolby Allard SP H.S.
17 Jonathan Harris SP Mo. State
18 Mike Nikorak SP H.S.
19 Cornelius Randolph 3B H.S.
20 Nick Plummer OF H.S.
21 James Kaprielian SP UCLA
22 Chris Betts C H.S.
23 Donny Everett SP H.S.
24 Brady Aiken SP IMG Acad
25 Ashe Russell SP H.S.
26 Michael Matuella SP Duke
27 Phil Bickford SP JUCO
28 Kevin Newman SS Arizona
29 Nathan Kirby SP Virginia
30 D.J. Stewart OF Fla State
31 Cody Ponce SP Cal Poly P
32 Ke'Bryan Hayes 3B H.S.
33 Scott Kingery 2B/OF Arizona
34 Richie Martin SS Florida
35 Beau Burrows SP H.S.
36 Alex Young SP TCU
37 Dakota Chalmers SP H.S.
38 Jacob Nix SP IMG Acad
39 Mitchell Hansen OF H.S.
40 Jalen Miller SS H.S.
41 Justin Hooper SP H.S.
42 Eric Jenkins OF H.S.
43 Austin Smith SP H.S.
44 Juan Hillman SP H.S.
45 Joe McCarthy OF Virginia
46 Triston McKenzie SP H.S.
47 Blake Trahan SS La Lafayette
48 Chris Shaw 1B/OF Boston Col
49 Donnie Dewees OF UNF
50 Nolan Watson SP H.S.
51 Peter Lambert SP H.S.
52 Tristan Beck SP H.S.
53 Jacob Woodford SP H.S.
54 Kyle Holder SS San Diego
55 Drew Finley SP H.S.
56 Kep Brown OF H.S.
57 Riley Ferrell RP TCU
58 Josh Naylor 1B H.S.
59 Lucas Herbert C H.S.
60 Alonzo Jones 2B/OF H.S.
61 Cole Sands SP H.S.
62 Jahmai Jones 2B/OF H.S.
63 Luken Baker SP/1B H.S.
64 Mikey White SS Alabama
65 Mike Soroka SP H.S.
66 Kyle Cody SP Kentucky
67 Nick Neidert SP H.S.
68 Demi Orimoloye OF H.S.
69 Brady Singer SP H.S.
70 Kyle Molnar SP H.S.
71 Bryce Denton OF/3B H.S.
72 Tyler Nevin 3B H.S.
73 Andrew Suarez SP Miami
74 Christin Stewart OF Tennessee
75 Antonio Santillan SP H.S.
76 Josh Staumont SP Azusa Pac.
77 Jeff Degano P Indiana St
78 Ryan Burr P Ariz St
79 Harrison Bader OF Florida
80 David Hill SP San Diego
81 Taylor Ward C Fresno St
82 Trey Cabbage 3B H.S.
83 Jacob Taylor SP JUCO
84 Joe DeMers SP H.S.
85 Ryan Cole McKay SP H.S.
86 Blake Hickman P Iowa
87 Bryan Hudson SP H.S.
88 Parker McFadden SP H.S.
89 Tanner Rainey P West Alabama
90 Thomas Eshelman SP Cal State F
91 Mark Mathias OF Cal Poly SLO
92 Gio Brusa OF Pacific
93 Tristin English SP H.S.
94 Brandon Lowe 2B Maryland
95 Chad Smith OF H.S.
96 Cadyn Grenier SS H.S.
97 Justin Maese SP H.S.
98 Brendon Little SP H.S.
99 Austin Rei C Washington
100 Garrett Davila SP H.S.
101 Chandler Day SP H.S.
102 Skye Bolt OF UNC
103 Desmond Lindsay 3B/1B H.S.
104 Jonathan India SS/2B H.S.
105 Wesley Rodriguez SP H.S.
106 Kevin Kramer SS UCLA
107 Blake Perkins OF H.S.
108 Thomas Szapucki SP H.S.
109 Jackson Kowar SP H.S.
110 Alex Robinson RP Maryland
111 Nick Sprengel SP H.S.
112 Casey Hughston OF Alabama
113 Brett Lilek RP Ariz St
114 Mac Marshall SP JUCO
115 Brandon Koch P Dallas Baptist
116 Rhett Wiseman OF Vandy
117 Tate Matheny OF Mo. State
118 Austin Allen C Fla Tech
119 Tyler Krieger SS Clemson
120 Mariano Rivera, Jr. P Iona
121 Austin Byler 3B/1B Nevada
122 Jared Padgett SP H.S.
123 David Thompson 3B Miami
124 Braden Bishop OF Washington
125 Ryan Mountcastle SS/3B H.S.
126 Kolton Kendrick 1B H.S.
127 Marquise Doherty OF H.S.
128 Andrew Stevenson OF LSU
129 Ian Kahaloa SP H.S.
130 Mitchell Traver SP TCU
131 Travis Blankenhorn SS H.S.
132 Taylor Clarke SP/RP Col of Charl
133 Andrew Moore SP/RP Oregon St
134 Josh Sborz RP Virginia
135 Gray Fenter SP H.S.
136 Austin Riley SP/SS H.S.
137 Ryan McKenna OF H.S.
138 Grayson Long SP Texas A&M
139 Jack Wynkoop SP South Car
140 Steven Duggar OF Clemson
141 Bryan Hoeing SP H.S.
142 Luke Wakamatsu SS H.S.
143 Ryan Kellogg SP Ariz St
144 Tanner Dodson SP H.S.
145 D.J. Wilson OF H.S.
146 Jimmy Herget SP/RP South Fla
147 Paul DeJong 2B/C Illinois St.
148 Isaiah White OF H.S.
149 Doak Dozier OF H.S.
150 Garrett Zech OF H.S.
151 Joey Bart C H.S.
152 Zack Erwin SP Clemson
153 Drew Smith RP Dallas Baptist
154 Kevin Duchene SP Illinois
155 Ben Johnson OF Texas
156 Carl Wise 3B Col of Charl
157 Nick Shumpert SS H.S.
158 Elih Marrero C H.S.
159 Kyle Dean OF H.S.
160 Willie Calhoun 3B JUCO
161 Jake Lemoine SP Houston
162 Jonas Wyatt SP H.S.
163 Logan Allen SP H.S.
164 Nolan Long SP/RP Wagner
165 Ian Gibaut SP Tulane
166 Michael Boyle SP Radford
167 Nic Enright SP H.S.
168 Jaret Hellinger SP H.S.
169 Josh Tobias 3B Florida
170 Patrick Sandoval SP H.S.
171 Colton Eastman SP H.S.
172 Nick Lee SP H.S.
173 Marcus Brakeman SP Stanford
174 Dylan Thompson SP H.S.
175 Nick Madrigal SS H.S.
176 Dayton Dugas SP H.S.
177 A.J. Minter RP Texas A&M
178 Max Wotell SP H.S.
179 Fitz Stadler SP H.S.
180 John Kilichowski SP Vandy
181 Seth McGarry SP Fla Atlantic
182 Joe Davis C H.S.
183 Kyri Washington OF Longwood
184 Travis Lakins RP Ohio St
185 Travis Bergen SP Kennesaw St
186 Isiah Gilliam OF/1B JUCO
187 Chad Smith RP JUCO
188 Ryan Karstetter 3B H.S.
189 Jacob Croneworth SP/RP Michigan
190 Tyler Williams OF H.S.
191 Kevin McCanna SP Rice
192 Josh Magee OF H.S.
193 Justin Garza SP/RP Cal State F
194 Jeff Hendrix OF Oregon St
195 Travis Maezes 3B Michigan
196 Chris Chatfield OF H.S.
197 Logan Ratledge 2B NC State
198 Max Schrock 2B South Car
199 Tyler Ferguson RP Vandy
200 Sam Bordner SP H.S.




Interesting Tidbits:
-  The biggest risers from last month's compilation board are Andrew Benintendi (+52), Nolan Watson (+37), Tyler Stephenson (+35), Mike Soroka (+33), and Lucas Herbert (+31).  The biggest risers from the original compilation board are Tyler Jay (+28), Dillon Tate (+25), Garrett Whitley (+22), and Cornelius Randolph (also +22).
-  The biggest fallers from last month's board are Jake Lemoine (-78), Kyle Dean (-71), Mitchell Traver (-53), and David Thompson (-52).  The biggest fallers from the original compilation board are Marcus Brakeman (-133), Chandler Day (-66), Gio Brusa (-61), and Kyle Cody (-45).
- The most divisive players are Carson Fulmer (#3 on MLB.com, #43 on ESPN.com), Kevin Newman (#2 on ESPN.com, #29 on Baseball America), and Alex Young (32, 36, and 37 on Baseball America, Fangraphs, and MLB.com respectively, not ranked in top 100 on ESPN.com).
- Brendan Rodgers was #1 on all 3 comp boards, the first time anyone has ever done that in the 3 years I've been doing this.  Other models of consistency were Ian Happ (range from 10-14), Daz Cameron (7 to 14), and Richie Martin (28 to 37).

As I mentioned, Brendan Rodgers has held serve since the original board as the #1 ranked prospect.  He's a HS SS that has a good chance to stay at the position and hit for power and average.  He's a little big for SS so if anything, he would have to move to 3B but most think his plus instincts will allow him to stay where he is.  Dansby Swanson and Alex Bregman, two SS who play in the SEC, are the #2 and #3 ranked players on the board.  Though he actually played 2B until this year in defence to current Yankees SS prospect Vince Conde, Swanson has the best chance to stay at the position of the top 3 players.  Bregman has many believers who think he can stay at SS but there is a strong contingent of scouts who believe the 5'11 Albuquerque native will have to make the same move as other notable Albuquerque middle infielder Dustin Pedroia to 2B.

The Yankees have 7 of the first 200 picks, (16, 30, 57, 92, 123, 153, and 183).  Their draft pool is the sixth largest in the league, ($7,885,000 for 11 picks); the first two picks are worth a combined $4.5 million by themselves.  That much in bonus allowances gives NY some options.  For example, if there's a top 10 caliber player with equivalent bonus demands that, for whatever reason, ends slides to 16, the Yankees could easily meet those demands.  Granted, they'd have to shift close to a million dollars from their next pick, but they could still give that player a 7-figure bonus.  Whether that would be a sound strategy is debatable, but the fact is it's easily do-able.

There have been several mocks over the past month that have come out, and there are 3 players that have been tied with the Yankees at pick 16 most consistently: HS C Chris Betts, UCLA RHP James Kaprielian, and HS CF Garrett Whitley.  Betts and Kaprielian have been tied to the Yankees in 7 different mocks and Whitley 6.  Others mentioned include Ian Happ, Phil Bickford, and Donny Everett.

I actually developed a fun little non-scientific analytic for determining the % chance Yankees take some of these players.  What I did was take the % chance a player is available when New York is picking at 16, (which I determined by using the range of potential picks as found on Fangraph's Sortable Draft Board), times the % of mentions that player was mentioned versus all other mentions.  For example, FG says the range for Chris Betts is 13-26, so there is a 78.6% chance he will be available at 16.  Out of the 44 mentions in the various mocks I have tracked, Betts was 13.1% of them.  Multiplying those two ratios together, I've theorized that there is a 10.3% chance New York takes Chris Betts.  The rest of the players are as follows:

Note - sorry for the crudeness. Had to update from my phone.



The first 10 players have been linked to New York at pick 16.  All of them combined have a roughly a 64.4% chance that one of them is selected by NY.  The other 7 FG feels like could go somewhere in that range, but because they have not been linked with NY the have a 0% chance.  Note that this is as of TODAY and lots could happen or be rumored between now and Monday.

That actually leads me to a brief stump speech that I will make on behalf of Brady Aiken.  Kiley McDaniel mentioned today in a blogpost on Fangraphs that there is optimism regarding the infamous elbow that led Houston to not signing Aiken last summer and subsequently needing Tommy John surgery this Spring.  Kiley states there are a number of executives he has spoken too that state the medicals are not as bad as had been believed and he now believes Aiken is firmly back in the first round.  I whole heartedly believe that if Aiken is available at 16, New York needs to take him.  In a mediocre draft such as this, where the other pitchers that are going to be taken around this sport are being described as #3 to #4 starters, New York needs to take the guy who could potentially be an ace, even if there is still an elevated risk of him not reaching that potential (or even reaching the majors AT ALL).  I likened it today to the Yoan Moncada situation from last Spring, (which I bemoaned at length).  Brady Aiken is a high, HIGH end talent and the Yankees virtually NEVER get an opportunity to acquire amateur talent such as Aiken because of the way the various mechanisms for delivering amateur talent to teams are set up.  You have to think about Aiken in this simple context: potential * probability of reaching that potential.  Even if Aiken is "riskier" than other players that New York could potentially take in this area such as James Kaprielian, his potential is so much higher than that of Kaprielian that I think the extra risk is more than offset.  Add to that the fact that New York has the compensatory pick at 30 in which they can go "safe", (if there really is such a thing in drafting amateur talent), I am CONVINCED NEW YORK SHOULD TAKE AIKEN.
 
There are four notable players the Yankees have drafted in the past that are available again this year, which I wrote about here.  Those players are Florida State OF DJ Stewart, Iona RHP Mariano Rivera, Jr., Tennessee OF Vincent Jackson, and UCLA OF Ty Moore.  It'll be interesting to see if New York selects any of them again. It happened last year when they took Jordan Foley for the second time. Considering I've been following their college careers from the start I've grown fond of them all and would like to see them all end up as Yankees. I'd expect Stewart to be a late 1st or 2nd rd pick, Rivera to go in rounds 3-5, Jackson 4-7, and Moore 6-10.

Looking at my prospect rankings spreadsheet the other day, I realized just how position player heavy it was. There are 76 guys on that list right now and amazingly only 31 of them are pitchers. That's just a little bit better than 40%, which is bad low. What makes it worse, in my mind, is that only 8 of those 30 pitchers were born in 1994 or later. So there are almost no good young pitchers in the lower levels, (except for Austin DeCarr). That's due to two reasons: 1. NYY didn't sign a single HS pitcher last year, (I don't count DeCarr bc he was post grad) and 2. Out of the 18 players they gave a bonus of $100,000 or more in last summer's IFA class, not a single one was a pitcher.

With that in mind, I would like to see NYY draft a lot of pitching this year. For the first 5 rounds it would still be prudent as always to draft best player available, but for the Yankees' sake I hope that happens to be pitching. And I'm hoping to see 2 or 3 late round over slot signings of young HS pitchers. Those kids are usually super volatile talent-wise but MAN they can they payoff big. By going just $100,000+ over slot they could unearth some diamonds like Brady Lail or Bryan Mitchell.

In the interest of full disclosure, here are links to the four rankings this compilation is based on:
1. Baseball America (Baseball America staff)
2. ESPN.com (Keith Law and Eric Longenhagen)
3. FanGraphs (Kiley McDaniel)
4. MLB Pipeline (Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo)

Hopefully you find this informative.  It's a labor of love to compile these rankings, (it's gotten easier over the years but is time consuming).  Following the draft I'll have two posts: one right afterwards giving initial grades for all 30 teams based on how they draft, then after the signing deadline I'll adjust for those who did not sign. Email me or hit me up on twitter with any questions: bembry24@gmail.com or @thebronxempire. Have a good day!

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