2018 MLB Draft Thread

C

CJ9

Well-known member
Figured this was a good time to start this thread as college baseball season starts on Friday. As a reminder, we don’t have a third-round pick this year because of the offseason scandal. We pick eighth overall in the first round. Our second round pick is currently 48th, but that will almost certainly change as more free agents sign.

Fangraphs released their 2018 (and 2019 + 2020) draft rankings today. https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/mlb-draft-rankings-2018-2019-and-2020/
 
It is still early days and the rankings will change quite a bit, but the two guys that hold a lot of interest to me are Madrigal and Turang. I like position players with multiple possible paths to success. Guys with the hit tool and the potential to play a premium defensive position. Madrigal might be a Black Swan type player. A guy who might not check all the boxes physically but has exceptional talent. Think Lincecum--a position player version of Lincecum.
 
My boy Matt Wallner in 2019! Dude is going to be a monster. I would love for the Braves to figure out a way to pick him up
 
I'm hoping a college hitter like Conine or Eierman goes nuts and becomes an option at #8.

Otherwise I fully expect the Braves to take the best HS arm available because that seems to be where this draft is stacked at the top.
 
Enscheff said:
I'm hoping a college hitter like Conine or Eierman goes nuts and becomes an option at #8.

Otherwise I fully expect the Braves to take the best HS arm available because that seems to be where this draft is stacked at the top.
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I live right beside the baseball park at Southern Miss, and I'm telling you that Wallner is going to be a 1-1 candidate in 2019. He is the most talented baseball player I have ever personally seen at any amateur level. It still blows my mind that he wasn't recruited any harder than he was and wasn't drafted high out of high school. He is from Minnesota, so not exactly a baseball hotbed, but you would think that the scouts would find a talent like him.
 
Sedas looks pretty legit. This draft is loaded so at #8 we will get a very good player there.
 
Hudson2 said:
Sedas looks pretty legit. This draft is loaded so at #8 we will get a very good player there.
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The difference in talent/value among the Top 10ish picks seems to be pretty small.

FG says this draft is "generally seen as deep and strong, particularly in prep pitching. There isn’t a player yet on whom we’d currently put a 55 FV".

For reference, they hung a 55+ on 5 guys last year (Wright, Greene, Gore, McKay, Lewis), and the Braves were fortunate enough to have arguably the best one fall to them at pick #5.

If the Braves are choosing between 2-3 FV 50 guys at #8, I hope they take the college bat, and I hope it's a power college bat.
 
Enscheff said:
The difference in talent/value among the Top 10ish picks seems to be pretty small.

FG says this draft is "generally seen as deep and strong, particularly in prep pitching. There isn’t a player yet on whom we’d currently put a 55 FV".

For reference, they hung a 55+ on 5 guys last year (Wright, Greene, Gore, McKay, Lewis), and the Braves were fortunate enough to have arguably the best one fall to them at pick #5.

If the Braves are choosing between 2-3 FV 50 guys at #8, I hope they take the college bat, and I hope it's a power college bat.
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I’d agree with that. We have taken so much pitching I’d love to get a fast rising bat for either 3b or the OF. Maybe with AA in charge now things will shift a little bit towards offense. I’d still take BPA but if a pitcher or a bat are equally ranked then it’s a bat all day for me.
 
Enscheff said:
If the Braves are choosing between 2-3 FV 50 guys at #8, I hope they take the college bat, and I hope it's a power college bat.
Click to expand...

As the Braves move into their contention window a power college bat that can get to the majors quickly would be ideal. I suspect we get another arm though.
 
Hudson2 said:
Sedas looks pretty legit. This draft is loaded so at #8 we will get a very good player there.
Click to expand...

We should be able to. The top talent seems a bit more skewed toward pitching. We will need a little luck to have the right position prospect drop to us. That's what I'm hoping for. But if it doesn't happen we should be able to get a very good pitching prospect.
 
Enscheff said:
I'm hoping a college hitter like Conine or Eierman goes nuts and becomes an option at #8.

Otherwise I fully expect the Braves to take the best HS arm available because that seems to be where this draft is stacked at the top.
Click to expand...

Eiermann would be my top choice. Got to see him in person last year. He looks legit.
 
DirkPiggler said:
Eiermann would be my top choice. Got to see him in person last year. He looks legit.
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I only know what I read about him, but he seems like one of those prototypical power bats that can't quite stick at SS so are good defensively at 3B.

It's obviously way too early to have favorites for this draft, but he looks to be the exact type of player I hope the Braves draft. Whether or not he is actually that good 6 months from now is a completely different story though.
 
Those were exactly my thoughts when I saw Eiermann play. He was decent as a college SS, but he looks like a future 3B, especially as he gets bigger.

Burger was supposed to be the best player on that SMS team, but I’d take Eiermann over him all day long.
 
BeanieAntics said:
I live right beside the baseball park at Southern Miss, and I'm telling you that Wallner is going to be a 1-1 candidate in 2019. He is the most talented baseball player I have ever personally seen at any amateur level. It still blows my mind that he wasn't recruited any harder than he was and wasn't drafted high out of high school. He is from Minnesota, so not exactly a baseball hotbed, but you would think that the scouts would find a talent like him.
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How many fans from Mississippi frequent this site? There seems to be a lot. I’m from Brandon. SMTTT
 
Kowar's a guy who hasn't really lived up to his hype and stuff - had a scary medical problem his freshman year, and was surprisingly hittable his sophomore year. Could definitely bump his stock sky high with a good junior season, and in that situation he could conceivably be available to us at eight and be a decent pick there.

Singer probably won't be there at eight, though you never know - Faedo was a popular 1-1 pick this time last year and ended up falling to the back half of the first round.
 
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