Mack’s Morning Report – 8-31 – 40-Man, 2018 Draft

Good morning.

40-man –

I always like my best prospects protected by the 40-man regardless of Rule V ramifications. And if there is no room there, I dump marginal players and make room for the future of this team.

Right now, there’s no additional player on the Las Vegas roster that, IMO, needs to be added to the 40-man squad. On Binghamton, add starters Corey Oswalt and P.J. Conlon, reliever, Drew Smith, C/1B Pat Mazeika, IF Luis Guillorme, 3B David Thompson, and OF Kevin Kaczmarski. No, not every one of them will go to the Hall someday, but they may be needed next year if we have another injury riddled season like this one.

2018 Draft –

           We seem to be getting closer to being awarded one of the top five draft picks in the 2018 draft, so we need to start memorizing six or seven names that will be tossed around on opening day. At this point, they all seem guaranteed to be one of the top ten picks.

           They are –

                       Brady Singer – RHP – Univ. of Florida –

Singer is easily the odds-on favorite for the first pick in the draft. Went 9-5, 3.21 in 20 games, 19 starts in 2017. Also had 129 strikeouts in 126-IP. Stats are tainted after giving up 11 runs in 21 innings over a three game stretch against Georgia, Ole Miss, and Alabama.

SB Nation said of Singer: “If Rocker is the top prep prospect, Brady Singer is the college equivalent. He was a second round pick and my #53 draft prospect out of high school but chose school, and really broke out in the Gators rotation this year. He’s long been highly thought of, and his mix of current stuff, projection, and performance track record could push him as high as the top overall pick.”

Singer will be surely gone by the end of the third pick.

                       Seth Beer – OF/1B – Clemson –

Those of you that follow me on Facebook know that I follow the Clemson baseball program closely (my daughter graduated from there). Beer i9s the real deal, though he did struggle a little from the plate this past season (218-AB, .298/.478 (64-BB)/.606, 16-HR, 53-RBI), and yet it still seemed like every key during the season was hit by this guy. Opposing pitchers just didn’t want to pitch to this guy. He played almost exclusively in the outfield as a junior, where he had only three errors. Easily the top bat in the draft who also will probably be one of the top three picks.

SB Nation said of Beer: “Seth Beer is a popular name among the Braves fanbase for the top of the draft in 2018. The Clemson star skipped his senior season of high school to enroll early and post a .369/.535/.700 slash line with 13 doubles and 18 homers- not bad for a kid who should have been playing his senior year in high school at the time. His sophomore numbers were down this year, but a still impressive .298/.478/.606 with 17 doubles and 16 homers. He’s also got an impressive 126/62 walk to strikeout rate in his two years. After not being eligible for a draft previously by enrolling in school early, the middle of the order thumper will be a high pick. Scouts don’t question the power and there are only a few questions with his bat, but his defensive home is a question mark. There is some thought that he isn’t likely to stick in the outfield longterm, which means he is more of a first base/DH type of player. The bat profiles as a potential middle of the order bat, and he could be the best college power bat to enter the draft since Kris Bryant.”

                       Brice Turang – SS – Santiago HS (CA) –   

      

SB Nation said of Turang: “The son of former MLB outfielder Brian Turang, Brice Turang is the guy picked as the #1 overall pick in Jim Callis’s early 2018 mock draft on MLB.com. The piece has a scout giving him a comparison to Christian Yelich with more speed and the ability to play shortstop. Yelich isn’t a bad comp as Turang is an impressive all around player with the ability to hit, has some pop, is a very instinctual player who can run, and plays a premium position, making Turang a potential top pick.”

Turang is projected to remain at short and the last thing the Mets need is another prospect shortstop (even if Rosario is a bust, there are three Latin prospects in the pipeline already). The hope here is one of the teams drafted before us takes Turang, leaving one more of these quality names on the board.

                       Jackson Kowar – RHP – Univ. of Florida –

SB Nation said of Kowar: Florida’s other 2018 arm is overshadowed by the higher profile Brady Singer, not to mention 2017 first rounder Alex Faedo. However Jackson Kowar has pitched at a high level and has Top 10 potential on his own with his mid to upper 90s fastball. If he’s able to more consistently tighten up his command next year, he could elevate his stock even more. Like Singer, I ranked Kowar at #70 in the draft out of high school and he has done nothing to hurt his stock since.

                       Kumar Rocker – RHP – N. Oconee HS (GA) –

SB Nation said of Rocker: “Arguably the best high school prospect as things stand today is Georgia’s own Kumar Rocker. I say as things stand today because the Vandy commit has an advantage over his peers in that he physically matured early. He’s already 6’4” and 240 pounds and doesn’t have much remaining projection, but that doesn’t matter as much when you can already hit 98 MPH now with a hard slider and some feel for the change. Then add in that he could develop solid command and has the bloodlines of his father playing in the NFL, and it’s easy to see why he’s a top pick candidate.”

                       Jarred Kelenic – OF – Waukesha West HS (WI) –

SB Nation said of Kelenic: Jarred Kelenic may be the best prep bat in the 2018 class, or at least he’s in the mix for it. He’s not huge at 6’1” and he comes from a state that doesn’t produce a ton of talent, but the Louisville commit has impressed on the national stage. Kelenic does it all- he’s got plus speed, a good glove, a huge arm, plus power, and the ability to make consistent hard contact.

                       Joe Gray Jr. OF – Hattiesburg HS (MS) –

SB Nation said of Gray: Joe Gray Jr. is an electrifying five tool talent. He’s got power, speed, glove, arm, and possibly the hit tool as well- I’m sold on the first four tools now but will want to watch how he hits top pitching this summer. As impressive as his power is the thing that really stood out to me last week at the Perfect Game Nationals was the great diving catch he made in right field where he just popped right back up and threw a laser to the plate. While that play didn’t affect his overall stock to me, that was just a wow type of play. One thing he needs to overcome is history, as teams have a bit of a hang-up with Mississippi prep hitters in the early rounds as they have an awful success rate historically-DJ Davis, Blake Anderson, Ryan Bolden, David Renfroe, Wendell Fairley, and Derry Hammond all busted versus success from just Billy Hamilton(who probably wouldn’t succeed with the bat if not for his 80 grade speed) as picks in the first three rounds who signed in the past 20 years (Austin Riley, Ti’Quan Forbes, Bobby Bradley, Anthony Alford are still TBD). I think Gray can help put some of that to bed this summer, but it could cost him a bit if there are any lingering questions.