The inaugural Prospects Live MLB Draft has come and gone. It was a great event where 30 team specific content creators acted as GMs for their teams for a three round mock draft. The results and list of drafters is available here.
As in any draft there are plenty of things that stand out and are deserving of recognition. Some are obvious, like Eddy winning best hair, or Cardinals GM Kyle Reis winning best dressed, and some come down to opinion. Either way, Ralph, Matt, and Eddy hosted a truly fantastic event.
Every team drafted very well, which made some of these decisions very hard to make.
Most Likely To Happen: Dodgers select Daniel Cabrera, OF, LSU
This is one that the Dodgers GM (Future Dodgers) talked me into during the live stream. The Dodgers have a propensity to find guys with good hit tools and add to the power, and Cabrera is a guy that fits that mold. He’s got a plus hit tool with average power, so Los Angeles will hope he follows the path of recent Dodger prospects to build on the power. On top of that, this is not the first Prospects Live mock draft that has the Dodgers taking Cabrera. The two seem like a pretty natural fit.
Other picks considered for this include Spencer Torkelson to the Tigers and Austin Hendrick to Pittsburgh.
Biggest Reach: Tigers select Jared Shuster, LHP, Wake Forest
I hate to make my hometown fandom mad at me, but here we are. Shuster is a solid arm and has reached the upper 90s with his fastball. He’s a bit lower on most draft boards, but the GM of the Tigers Kenon Carter made clear on the live stream that this was their guy at this pick. For an organization that could use an infusion of bats, passing up on upside hitters like Dylan Crews or Nick Loftin is tough in my mind. If grabbing another arm is important, a guy like Bryce Jarvis might have been a safer pick to stick in the rotation.
Other picks considered include Carson Tucker to Arizona and Cole Wilcox to San Francisco.
Biggest Dreamer: Royals select Zac Veen, OF, Spruce Creek HS
Overall, the Royals had a really good draft and Veen is included in that. This isn’t impossible, but with Emerson Hancock and Nick Gonzales still on the board, it’s hard to see the Royals opting for Veen. The GM of the Royals wasn’t able to explain the decision on the live stream. It’s certainly not outlandish, Veen is a very talented bat with a good ceiling. As a prep bat there’s more inherent risk than with a guy like Gonzales or Hancock.
The other pick considered was JT Ginn to Atlanta. This one was very tough.
Most Complete Team: Seattle Mariners
If the Mariners draft starts with Nick Gonzales, things are going well for them. Seattle’s GM Joe Doyle mentioned several times on the live stream how happy he was with how the draft was going and it’s hard to blame him. After Gonzales at 6 overall they nabbed LHP Dax Fulton at 43, LHP Logan Allen at 64, and 3B/RHP Colt Keith at 78. They added another topline bat with Gonzales and they grabbed a nice pair of arms.
Other teams considered were Kansas City, San Diego, and St. Louis.
Best Value: Cardinals select Jordan Westburg, SS, Mississippi
The Cardinals GM Kyle Reis said several times on the live stream that he was going to play the board and take what fell to him. That’s how he got Patrick Bailey at 21 and Jordan Westburg at 54. In the last PL mock, Westburg went at 26, Baseball America has him ranked 33, and 37 according MLB Pipeline. At 54, the power upside of Westburg is fantastic, and he should be able to stick at short. Though his bat will be his carrying tool. The waiting worked in the pick after this too, allowing the Cardinals to pick up Harold Coll. Lot’s of good value heading to St. Louis in this draft.
This was a very fun event, and rumor has it that Eddy is working on his look for next time to reclaim his title. And maybe we can get Kyle a Prospects Live robe too.