Mack’s Own Mock Draft v5.0 - OF - Justin Williams

This is my mock.

This is not the compilation mock that I put out each month. Right now, the Met pick 12^th. It will change and probably will wind up at either 13^th or 14^th.

All my picks up to the Mets are based on best player available without any signing issues.

#1 – RHP Mark Appel – Stanford  – No matter how you approach this draft, Appel always translates as the best pick out there. This particular draft is light on talent, and especially falls off the cliff early when it comes to can’t miss right handed pitching. Appel is a no-brainer.

#2 – RHP Ryne Stanek – Arkansas – Again, if you want an ‘A’ rated pitching prospect from this draft, there won’t be one around in the second round. You are going to see a lot of teams draft one of the six top pitchers with their first pick, even though they believe that certain everyday players have more talent. The problem here is one these guys are gone, they are gone, so the Stanek’s of the world become far more important than

#3 – LHP – Sean Manaea – Indiana State – I have only one lefty starter in the first 11 picks, but the one  do have is a real keeper.

#4 – OF – Austin Meadows – Grayson H.S. (GA) – No one is going to displace Meadows as a top five pick, though, in a normal year, he could easily be the number one pick overall.

5. RHP Kohl Stewart – St. Pius H.S. (Tx) – Kohl is a two-sports star who has been surrounded with some issues regarding whether  he will stick with baseball; however, recent comments are leaning to signing with whoever signs him. He also is the perfect example of a pitcher being picked ahead of someone that deserves to be picked earlier.

6. RHP Jonathan Gray – Oklahoma –  Now the pitching paranoia sets in. There are only two more ‘A’ prospect pitchers left on the board so it’s now or never. I have Gray at around the 15^th or 16^th ‘best player available’ before applying this approach.

7. RHP Bobby Wahl – Mississippi – Which leaves us one more ‘A’ pitcher. There’s a big drop off after Wahl so the draft should return to a normal approach. Could I be wrong here?  Sure, but only on whether it takes seven picks to draft six of these guys, or will they hold out until ten re picked. Either way, the Mets won’t have to worry about this problem. The great pitchers will be gone, but all the great everyday players aren’t.

8.  OF Clint Frazier – Loganville HS (GA) – Frazier would easily be one of the top five picks if there wasn’t a run on pitchers. He lit up the summer leaguers this year and, barring injuries, is expected to go pro immediately after signing.

9. 3B Kris Bryant – San Diego – This draft actually has two great third basemen (Colin Moran), but Bryant stands alone as the most talented. Like Frazier, he normally would have been picked earlier.

10. C Jeremy Martinez – Mater Dei HS (CA) -  There probably is only one first round catcher in this draft and everyone agrees it will be Martinez. Frankly, I hope he is picked before the Mets turn comes up because I really wouldn’t want to be the guy that would have to decide between Martinez or one of the outfielders still out there. You can build a team around this kid.

11. OF Austin Wilson – Stanford – I could have cheated here and let Wilson drop one slot to the Mets pick, but that wouldn’t be the right thing to do. There are three top outfielders in this draft and they will go Meadows, Frazier, and Wilson. God, I wish this guy was a Met.

12. OF Justin Williams – Terrebonne HS (LA) – Which leaves us Williams. He’s another left handed hitting outfielder which shouldn’t come into play since his ETA wouldn’t be until 2017. He also plays SS and projects out at third. If you follow me, you know how much I love the power of Aaron Judge. Well, Williams has more power than Judge. This is a home run making machine and, in a draft that has very little power, the Mets would be crazy not to pick him if his name was still on the board.

Others to consider:

C Reese McGuire, 3B Colin Moran, OF William Abreu, OF Aaron Judge, RHP Karsten Whitson, and LHP Stephen Gonsalves.