It's the perfect time for a two-round mock draft. MLB Draft Combine workouts began this week, some college stars are still playing in the Men's College World Series in Omaha, high school seasons are complete, and pre-draft workouts for all of the players mentioned below are now over.
Industry evaluators' perception of the best of this draft class has taken a big step forward throughout the season. It's a college-heavy group during the first round, with solid depth of high school and college pitchers near the end of the round, and few high school position players. The top level of college hitters is so good that it warranted an in-depth analysis of those players to discover the differences.
With a clear tier of 10 players at the top (you can jump to my most recent draft rankings for more on that), that group will likely make up eight or nine of the top 10 picks. I say eight or nine because there are financial incentives, given the structure of the draft bonus pool, for at least one team in the top 10 picks to choose to save for a later pick if they don't like the players and ask their remaining prices. . with that higher group.
Now let's predict the first 74 players off the board on Day 1 when this year's MLB Draft begins on Sunday, July 14.
