2014 Draft class

[winninguglyin83]

1. Astros -- Rodon

 

2. Marlins -- Jackson

 

3. Sox -- Aiken

 

4. Cubs -- Nola

 

5. Twins -- Kolek

[BigHurt3515]

1. Astros -- Rodon

 

2. Marlins -- Jackson

 

3. Sox -- Aiken

 

4. Cubs -- Nola

 

5. Twins -- Kolek

 

I think that is what most people here want to happen but aren't most experts saying Aiken going 1st?

[fathom]

If everyone thinks Kolek is slipping, it must mean a lot of people don't believe the Sox are in on him. Assuming Aiken goes number 1, most seem to be leaning towards Rodon being picked by the Marlins. I still can't picture the Marlins doing that, as their recent trade of a draft pick doesn't seem to be the actions of a team that might be selecting someone that will be paid over slot.

[DirtySox]

If everyone thinks Kolek is slipping, it must mean a lot of people don't believe the Sox are in on him. Assuming Aiken goes number 1, most seem to be leaning towards Rodon being picked by the Marlins. I still can't picture the Marlins doing that, as their recent trade of a draft pick doesn't seem to be the actions of a team that might be selecting someone that will be paid over slot.

 

Or it could mean that Jackson to the Marlins is looking likely and that Sox won't pass on Rodon who would fall in their lap. After that it seems many teams aren't that into Kolek.

Edited June 5, 2014 by DirtySox

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Get me Gillaspie, Reetz, or Weaver with that 2nd pick.

 

Do the Sox just have 1 pick tomorrow? I'm not sure how many rounds they do on the first day.

[caulfield12]

Get me Gillaspie, Reetz, or Weaver with that 2nd pick.

 

Do the Sox just have 1 pick tomorrow? I'm not sure how many rounds they do on the first day.

 

 

3

[Feeky Magee]

Industry consensus right now seems to be that the top 3 rated players are Aiken, Rodon and Jackson. I guess the chances of the Sox taking the latter if the former 2 are gone are about the same as Leury Garcia hitting a home run to straightaway centre at Dodgers Stadium.

[Soxfest]

1. Astros -- Rodon

 

2. Marlins -- Jackson

 

3. Sox -- Aiken

 

4. Cubs -- Nola

 

5. Twins -- Kolek

I would love that scenario. I still say Jackson to Marlins at #2 looking like a lock to me. Rodan/Aiken at #1 is the real mystery.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Soxfest

[caulfield12]

Industry consensus right now seems to be that the top 3 rated players are Aiken, Rodon and Jackson. I guess the chances of the Sox taking the latter if the former 2 are gone are about the same as Leury Garcia hitting a home run to straightaway centre at Dodgers Stadium.

 

 

Not top three ranked.

 

Top three in terms of the needs and financial resources of those first 3 teams picking, especially the Marlins. But even the Astros have been known to go for underslot as well, like the Correa pick.

 

And the Astros are doing a ton of posturing with Nolan Ryan, Porter, Luhnow, etc., if they're not taking Kolek. Maybe it's just PR to fend off the idea from their fans they didn't give the local kid a shot with the Stros.

 

 

[Feeky Magee]

Not top three ranked.

 

Top three in terms of the needs and financial resources of those first 3 teams picking, especially the Marlins. But even the Astros have been known to go for underslot as well, like the Correa pick.

 

And the Astros are doing a ton of posturing with Nolan Ryan, Porter, Luhnow, etc., if they're not taking Kolek. Maybe it's just PR to fend off the idea from their fans they didn't give the local kid a shot with the Stros.

Aiken and Rodon are 100% top 3 ranked. Jackson seems to have leap-frogged Kolek for most evaluators.

[caulfield12]

Why wouldn't it be surprising to me (at all) if Aiken doesn't have a huge impact at the major league level?

 

He would be the 4th pitcher on my list at the moment.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

3

 

I just looked it up. They will have 2 picks tomorrow. They do the first 74 picks. Sox pick at 3, 44, 74, so we will see 2 guys taken tomorrow.

 

 

[Jake]

Why wouldn't it be surprising to me (at all) if Aiken doesn't have a huge impact at the major league level?

 

He would be the 4th pitcher on my list at the moment.

 

I'm not super high on Aiken, either.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Just for reference, here are the recent #44 overall picks......

 

 

2013 - RHP Trevor Williams (MIA)

2012 - CF Travis Jankowski (SD)

2011 - RHP Michael Fulmer (NYM)

2010 - 3B Nick Castellanos (DET)

2009 - RHP Tanner Scheppers (TEX)

2008 - LHP Jeremy Bleich (NYY)

2007 - RHP Neil Ramirez (TEX)

2006 - RHP Caleb Clay (BOS)

2005 - LHP Sean West (MIA)

2004 - RHP Matthew Durkin (NYM)

 

 

So basically, an assload of pitchers.

[hi8is]

Ok, as I see it, everybody had at sometime mentioned and talked about who they

wanted and this thread provided constant updates.

 

now for your pick as you see the sox doing for the 1st round.

 

 

I say the sox will pick

#1 Aaron Nola

 

He, like Rodon, is close to the majors and savings of some slot money. With him, hopefully a rebound

Erik Johnson and maybe a fa pitcher. a making of a good pen.

I wouldn't be surprised with Nola at all but am feeling Rodon is possible more than ever. At the end of last season he wasn't even a pipe dream and now - it really could happen.

[hi8is]

They will have 2 picks tomorrow.

 

Got ya.

 

They do the first 74 picks.

Sox pick at 3, 44, 74

 

With ya still.

 

so we will see 2 guys taken tomorrow.

 

Totally f***ing lost now.

 

[LDF]

Got ya.

 

 

 

With ya still.

 

 

 

Totally f***ing lost now.

 

 

 

now this is the classic hi8is

 

[caulfield12]

Sorry...here's the exact information

 

June 5

6 p.m. - Draft preview show on MLB Network and MLB.com

7 p.m. - Live Draft (Round 1, Comp. A, Round 2, Comp. B) on MLB Network and MLB.com

June 6

12:30 p.m. - Draft preview show on MLB.com

1 p.m. - Live Draft (Rounds 3-10) on MLB.com

June 7

1 p.m. - Live Draft (Rounds 11-40) on MLB.com

[caulfield12]

Looks like the Marlins are going with either Rodon or Jackson. Pure guesswork of course.

 

 

BY CLARK SPENCER

[email protected]

The last time the Marlins had the second overall pick in the draft, they selected a high school pitcher from Texas who later won the deciding game of the World Series. His name was Josh Beckett.

 

They will be No. 2 on the list again Thursday for the June draft, baseball’s annual gold dig for the nation’s top amateur talent.

 

Who the Marlins end up taking remains a mystery, in part because of the uncertainty over which player the Houston Astros intend to pluck with the top pick.

 

“They’re playing it close to the vest, and I understand that,” said Stan Meek, the Marlins’ vice president of scouting. “But it won’t really effect what we do. We’ll put our board together regardless of what they do.”

 

Meek said the Marlins have narrowed their short list to four players.

 

Indications are those four are: pitchers Carlos Rodon, Brady Aiken and Tyler Kolek, and catcher/outfielder Alex Jackson.

 

Though the Marlins usually tend to favor pitching when drafting, they might be more inclined to go with Jackson — assuming the Astros don’t snatch him first — given their relative lack of skilled hitters in the minors. Jackson, a California prep star, is considered the best bat in this year’s crop.

 

Jackson, who packs serious home run punch, could also be viewed as a safeguard if the Marlins and Giancarlo Stanton are unable to agree on an extension and his career doesn’t continue in Miami.

 

If not Jackson, the Marlins could continue stockpiling arms by drafting yet another pitcher. Most draft analysts have Rodon, Aiken and Kolek ranked high on their lists, and the Marlins probably wouldn’t be disappointed with any of them.

 

“Obviously, at No. 2, you’ve got to get a standout guy,” Meek said.

 

Rodon, being the only collegian (North Carolina State) of the group, is probably closer to reaching the majors than the other two. But Meek downplayed that aspect as a major factor.

 

Meek said he has scouted the top candidates multiple times, and that finding a consensus hasn’t been easy.

 

“I think all of us probably feel there’s not one particular guy that stands out above the rest,” Meek said. “But there’s a lot of good players up there.”

 

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/06/04/4158...l#storylink=cpy

[caulfield12]

http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/white-...&ocid=yahoo

 

Don Cooper comes out in favor of Aiken of the top four pitching prospects.

 

 

 

Astros looking at the four pitchers, Gordon, Jackson

http://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article...n-t-5529991.php

 

 

No high school righthander has ever gone first overall in the baseball draft. Only two high school lefthanders have been picked first.

 

"I can tell you this is the strongest consideration that we have given to a high school righthander in our three years of having our No. 1 pick," Elias said without specifically addressing Kolek.

 

Ryan, who was 324-292 over a major league-record 27-year career, made a three-hour drive to Jasper to scout Kolek's last start of the season for Shepherd.

 

"I enjoyed being around the scouts because it gives you an opportunity to visit with them," Ryan said. "That group of people are so important to an organization, and they're so dedicated to what they do. They're kind of the unsung heroes to the organization.

 

"I enjoy being around them because of their passion for the game of baseball."

 

The Hall of Fame righthander has said the 18-year-old Kolek is further along than he was at a similar stage.

 

The fact no high school righthander has gone No. 1 is a testament to the inherent risk in picking a teenage pitcher. They're younger and further away from reaching the majors, leaving a greater window to have their road to the majors derailed by an injury or unfulfilled potential.

 

Field trip to see Kolek

 

Despite the risk, the Astros view Kolek as a promising righthander who might be worth the perceived risk. Moreover, he's the only player Ryan scouted personally for Elias.

 

Ryan picked up Astros manager Bo Porter and bench coach Dave Trembley at a local hotel and drove to see Kolek on May 1. They talked baseball the entire trip.

 

"I think what he has is a feel for what it takes in order to be successful at the major league level," Trembley said of baseball's all-time strikeout leader. "Two, he can look at the big picture and project and see what a guy could be, not what he is right now. I think that's what Nolan looks at.

 

"He looks at tools, looks at what a guy now has, and then looks if a guy is made right, if he has the right work ethic and if he's coachable. That's a valuable resource to have someone who puts it in a way that's really easy, real simple."

 

Aiken also is entrenched firmly in the discussion for the top pick, which is why several mock drafts have him going first overall. Rodon was at the top of most mock drafts two months ago.

 

Special deliveries

 

Whatever the decision, Ryan has helped Elias and the Astros' amateur scouting staff dissect the top pitching candidates and many others who will go later in the draft.

 

Astros pro scouting director Kevin Goldstein and director of decision sciences Sig Mejdal also are crucial evaluators who have been brought in for the draft, even though their focus isn't amateur scouting.

 

Club icon Craig Biggio and former Astro Enos Cabell have scouted some of the top prospects for Elias this year. Farm director Quinton McCracken and minor league field coordinator Paul Runge also are in town for the draft.

 

Ultimately, though, Ryan is the pitching expert.

 

"We've looked over video of all the top candidates, hitters and pitchers," Elias said. "(Ryan) is a delivery expert. He makes insights on the delivery. He's still making insights about deliveries that I don't think we've gotten anywhere else."

Edited June 5, 2014 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

http://www.nola.com/lsu/index.ssf/2014/06/...ml#incart_river

 

Very long but informative article on Nola.

 

Seems like the kind of kid who would fit in very well with the Sox.

 

And his last name Nola...same as New Orleans LA, didn't realize that the Times-Picayune website had that acronym.

 

Let's just hope he's better than the last LSU first rounder the Sox took, or Ben McDonald.

Edited June 5, 2014 by caulfield12

[Springfield Soxfan]

Does anyone think that all this confirmation from the Sox brass about taking a pitcher is a smoke screen? I keep reading that the Sox are in on five pitchers and one position player. That position player seems to be Gordon and not Jackson. If seems like a foregone conclusion that Tim Anderson will not stay at SS, that is why it keeps coming to me that maybe Gordon is in the mix for tonight's pick.

[caulfield12]

Does anyone think that all this confirmation from the Sox brass about taking a pitcher is a smoke screen? I keep reading that the Sox are in on five pitchers and one position player. That position player seems to be Gordon and not Jackson. If seems like a foregone conclusion that Tim Anderson will not stay at SS, that is why it keeps coming to me that maybe Gordon is in the mix for tonight's pick.

 

 

For now, Anderson is a SS. We can argue about his timeline, and the possibility of Semien, Johnson and Anderson all being shifted to the outfield at some point in the near future, but Anderson has the ability/tools/range for the position...his arm isn't great for a SS, but he will have the remainder of 2014 and at least half of 2015 before they switch him (if that actually is going to happen in the future). As I argued before, they might stick him at DH a few times if his error total at SS climbs above 50, we'll see.

 

It's also possible they'll promote him to Birmingham in July or August to prevent him from having a huge error total at one place. Sox brass want to see how well he'll do on a better-maintained infield where there aren't so many bad hops, like you typically see on an A Ball infield.

 

At any rate, I seriously doubt they'd forgo pitching for another athletic/toolsy infielder when that's their ONE area of strength right now.

 

And nobody's making the argument that Gordon is the best player available at 3.

Edited June 5, 2014 by caulfield12

[DirtySox]

Crawford's final mock. Corroborates Kolek falling. White Sox take Nola instead.

 

No. 03: Chicago White Sox

Aaron Nola - RHP LSU - $5.7125M

And we have a change. There’s still absolutely a chance that they go with Kolek, but it sounds like he’s slipping a bit for various reasons and Nola’s stock continues to rise.

 

http://mlbdraftinsider.com/2014/06/the-final-mock-ever/

 

Pretty much okay with this if it happens. Especially if he's underslotted.

Edited June 5, 2014 by DirtySox

[caulfield12]

Crawford's final mock. Corroborates Kolek falling. White Sox take Nola instead.

 

 

 

http://mlbdraftinsider.com/2014/06/the-final-mock-ever/

 

Pretty much okay with this if it happens. Especially if he's underslotted.

 

 

As long as they don't start trying to sell or spin it as a "bargain" at #3.

 

For the 19th pick and his MLB results so far, Michael Wacha qualifies in every sense of the word. I think it would be pretty unrealistic to expect Nola to be even better than Wacha, and especially so quickly.