January 16th, 2012 
Chris Crawford 
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It goes without saying that this list will assuredly change as the year progresses, but if you’re just getting started with your draft preparation, this is a decent starting point. We’ll probably update this about seven to ten times from now until June, and once again — and yes, I do get asked this often — mocks won’t come til later in the year.
Mark Appel starts off the year at spot No.1, but Lucas Giolito isn’t too far behind, and neither is Byron Buxton. After that, there’s a big drop after Buxton for me, and players 4-9 are close to interchangeable at this point, as I considered putting each of those players at that fourth spot. It’s pitching heavy — particularly in the prep ranks — and I wouldn’t expect that to change anytime soon.
Without further ado, here’s the first edition of The Board. Have at it.
| Rank | Player | Position | School |
| 01 | Mark Appel | RHP | Stanford |
| 02 | Lucas Giolito | RHP | Harvard Westlake HS (CA) |
| 03 | Byron Buxton | OF | Appling County HS (GA) |
| 04 | Victor Roache | OF | Georgia Southern |
| 05 | Trey Williams | 3B | Valencia HS (CA) |
| 06 | Kevin Gausman | RHP | LSU |
| 07 | Max Fried | LHP | Harvard Westlake HS (CA) |
| 08 | Deven Merrero | SS | Arizona State |
| 09 | Mike Zunino | C | Florida |
| 10 | Walker Weickel | RHP | Olympia HS (FL) |
| 11 | Michael Wacha | RHP | Texas A&M |
| 12 | Nick Williams | OF | Galveston Ball HS (TX) |
| 13 | David Dahl | OF | Oak Mountain HS (AL) |
| 14 | Chris Beck | RHP | Georgia Southern |
| 15 | Lance McCullers | RHP | Jesuit HS (FL) |
| 16 | Gavin Cecchini | SS | Barbe HS (LA) |
| 17 | Stryker Trahan | C | Acadiana HS (LA) |
| 18 | Matthew Smoral | LHP | Solon HS (OH) |
| 19 | Tyler Naquin | OF | Texas A&M |
| 20 | Taylore Cherry | RHP | Butler HS (OH) |
| 21 | Lucas Sims | RHP | Brookwood HS (GA) |
| 22 | Kyle Zimmer | RHP | San Francisco |
| 23 | Kenny Diekroeger | SS | Stanford |
| 24 | Marcus Stroman | RHP | Duke |
| 25 | Joey Gallo | 1B | Bishop Gorman HS (NV) |
Posted in
Giolito is 6’6″ & 242lbs, not 230. He’s been sitting 95-98mph consistently since he started up again in Nov. Any scout could have told u this.
Player profile was created when I saw him at the Prospect Classic in North Carolina in July, and that was his listed weight. Will update it and a few other players. Thanks.
Hey Chris, nice listing. With the Mariners yet again having a high draft pick I will be once again leaning on guys like you to help me get an idea of the pool of players that the Mariners will have to chose from.
Originally I was intrigued with Zunino, but now with !!!Montero!!! on the Mariners roster I’m wondering if maybe one of the college arms may be a more likely pick. Myself, I like Kevin Gausman. We’ll see what happens, I guess.
Lonnie
Cool. It seems to me that many Mocks are based off of last summer. The SoCal/Ariz guys have been playing since Sept.
thanks Chris, it’ll be interesting to see how all this develops.
any chance we could get birthdays in the player profiles? I think that’s a potentially important bit of information…
Thanks for checking it out, J.B, it’s something that I will consider, absolutely.
As I watch these Mock drafts and everyone taking high school players – As an example: Adam Brett Walker from Jacksonville University hit over .400 last year and has 5 tool potential. He is the youngest college player in the Top 100 of anyones Mock draft and I would suspect, he will only get better with MLB coaching. Despite K’s – he was ranked top 3 Athlete in Cape and Type 3 Power Hitter in Cape. He was the youngest player on his Cape team (Hyannis) and one of the youngest players in the entire Cape this past summer despite being a JR in 2012. All of this leads me to my question – Why do teams draft high school kids over young college players with the same potential upside?
That’s an interesting question, Ceecee. I would say that in general, if upsides are equal, clubs usually prefer the college player over the prep player, because the collegiate guy can help sooner. Sometimes teams prefer the high-school route because it allows them to develop their players with their own guys in the formative years.
Makes sense Chris, however, I would prefer the college kid – Especially if he is a young college guy kid – A young 20 year old college draftee should have a quicker upside than an 18 or 19 year old high school prospect. How set in their ways can a 20 year old be? A good MLB team should be able to enhance any 20 year old.
Is Buxton ultimately a corner out fielder or can he play center?
Certainly has the speed to play center-field, and I would expect a club to give him a chance there. Bat profiles at any OF position, however.
What about Ty Buttrey 6’6 210 RP 91-94 command of four pitches? NC?
Saw him at the Area Code tryouts, liked him. Not a top 25 prospect at this point in my estimation. Certainly a player to watch, though.
I saw him at PG, ECP and Area Code, did not think he showed as well at Area Code vs the others. Makes sense. thanks