March 21st, 2012 
Chris Crawford 
Note: The mock was updated a couple of times, I did several rough drafts and left Kevin Gausman off my list. Obviously, Gausman is going in the first-round. Thanks for your patience.
It’s been a little over three weeks since the last mock, and while we still have what seems like an infinite amount of time until the draft takes place, we can now start what I like to call the “formulating” period. Basically, the last two mocks — while not in any shape way or form rankings or boards — were more about having talent fall where it belongs. For example, a player who was ranked eight on my board, it was more important for me to put that player in the four to twelve range in terms of picks over whether or not said team would be interested in him.
We’ve now reached a point, though, where it’s time to take a look at both what the player is going to ask for/likelihood of him accepting an offer from a club as well as what a team generally goes for early on in drafts. Take for instance my selection for the White Sox at pick 13. Do I believe that Addison Russell is the 13th best player in this class? No, but is he the type of player that Chicago has coveted under Kenny Williams? Absolutely. I’m not saying that you should write these picks down in stone, nor am I saying that I just threw names at a dart board for the previous two editions. I’m just pointing out that we have more data to compile now, and these should start to become a bit more accurate, I hope.
The big change in this draft is Kyle Zimmer moving to No.2 in place of Lucas Giolito. Quite frankly, I wasn’t sure what to do with Giolito. If he’s able to come back healthy, I don’t see any chance that he falls out of the top five. If he does have a set back — and I’m obviously rooting against that and don’t believe that’s going to happen based on the information I have, but he’s an 18 year-old kid — it’s tough for me to see a team taking a chance on him. If anyone was going to take a chance, however, I could see it being Chicago with the new regime in place. It’s a shot in the dark, but there’s a chance of it sticking.
One of the picks that might surprise some people is Deven Marrero to Kansas City, but I don’t think it should. Christian Colon hasn’t hit — and shouldn’t have been a top five pick to begin with — and is no guarantee to stick at shortstop. While I don’t see him having the upside of some of the other players taken in the top ten, he’s good value, and should be a fast-track player. Just a little something to keep in mind before I get hate mail.
| Pick | Team | Name | Pos. | School |
| 01 | Houston | Mark Appel | RHP | Stanford |
| 02 | Minnesota | Kyle Zimmer |
RHP | San Francisco |
| 03 | Seattle | Mike Zunino | C | Florida |
| 04 | Baltimore | Byron Buxton | OF | Appling County HS (GA) |
| 05 | Kansas City | Deven Marrero | SS | Arizona State |
| 06 | Chicago-NL | Lucas Giolito | RHP | Harvard Westlake HS (CA) |
| 07 | San Diego | Kevin Gausman | RHP | LSU |
| 08 | Pittsburgh | Carlos Correa | SS | PR Baseball Academy |
| 09 | Miami | Joey Gallo | 1B | Bishop Gorman HS (NV) |
| 10 | Colorado | Max Fried | LHP | Harvard Westlake HS (CA) |
| 11 | Oakland | Michael Wacha | RHP | Texas A&M |
| 12 | New York-NL | David Dahl | OF | Oak Mountain HS (AL) |
| 13 | Chicago-AL | Addison Russell |
IF | Pace HS (FL) |
| 14 | Cincinnati | Stryker Trahan | C | Acadania HS (LA) |
| 15 | Cleveland | Walker Weickel |
RHP | Olympia HS (FL) |
| 16 | Washington | Marcus Stroman |
RHP | Duke |
| 17 | Toronto | Rio Ruiz |
3B | Bishop Amat HS (CA) |
| 18 | Dodgers | Brian Johnson | LHP | Florida |
| 19 | St. Louis | Gavin Cecchini | SS | Barbe HS (MS) |
| 20 | San Francisco | Zach Eflin | RHP | Hagerty HS (FL) |
| 21 | Atlanta | Lucas Sims | RHP | Brookwood HS (GA) |
| 22 | Toronto | Stephen Piscotty | 3B | Stanford |
| 23 | St. Louis | Nolan Fontana | SS | Florida |
| 24 | Boston | Albert Almora | CF | Mater Academy (FL) |
| 25 | Tampa Bay | Clint Coulter | C | Union HS (WA) |
| 26 | Arizona | Adam Walker | 1B | Jacksonville |
| 27 | Milwaukee | Chris Beck | RHP | Georgia Southern |
| 28 | Milwaukee | Courtney Hawkins | OF | Courtney HS (TX) |
| 29 | Texas | Christian Walker | 1B | South Carolina |
| 30 | New York-AL | Nick Williams | OF | Galveston Ball (TX) |
| 31 | Boston | Patrick Wisdom | 3B | St. Mary’s |
| 32 | Minnesota | Josh Elander | C | TCU |
| 33 | San Diego | Branden Kline | RHP | Virginia |
| 34 | Oakland | Travis Jankowski | OF | Stony Brook |
| 35 | New York-NL | Keon Barnum | 1B | King HS (FL) |
| 36 | St. Louis | Carson Kelly | 3B | Westview HS (OR) |
| 37 | Boston | Kyle Hansen | RHP | St. Johns |
| 38 | Milwaukee | Martin Agosta | RHP | St. Mary’s |
| 39 | Texas | Kenny Diekroeger | IF | Stanford |
| 40 | Philadelphia | Trey Williams | 3B | Valencia HS (CA) |
| 41 | Houston | Tyler Naquin | OF | Texas A&M |
| 42 | Minnesota | Ty Hensley | RHP | Santa Fé HS (OK) |
| 43 | Chicago-NL | Victor Roache | OF | Georgia Southern |
| 44 | San Diego | Kieran Lovegrove | RHP | Mission Viejo HS (CA) |
| 45 | Pittsburgh | Alex Wood | LHP | Georgia |
| 46 | Colorado | Stephen Johnson | RHP | St. Edwards (TX) |
| 47 | Oakland | Corey Seager | IF | NW Carrabus HS (NC) |
| 48 | Chicago-AL | Cole Irvin | LHP | Servite HS (CA) |
| 49 | Cincinnati | Tanner Rahier | SS | Palm Desert HS (CA) |
| 50 | Toronto | Cody Poteet | RHP | Christian HS (CA) |
| 51 | Los Angeles-NL | Nolan Sanburn | RHP | Arkansas |
| 52 | St. Louis | Richie Shaffer | 1B | Clemson |
| 53 | Texas | Taylore Cherry | RHP | Butler HS (OH) |
| 54 | Philadelphia | Josh Conway | RHP | Coastal Carolina |
| 55 | Chicago-NL | Mitchell Traver | RHP | Houston Christian HS (TX) |
| 56 | San Diego | Brandon Thomas | OF | Georgia Tech |
| 57 | Cincinnati | Lex Rutledge | LHP | Samford |
| 58 | Toronto | Kyle Twomey | LHP | El Dorado HS (CA) |
| 59 | St. Louis | Duane Underwood | RHP | Pope HS (GA) |
| 60 | Toronto | Lewis Brinson | OF | Coral Springs HS (FL) |
Posted in
You’re forgetting a guy who will almost for sure go top 10…probably because he’s one of very few draft eligible sophomores…but Kevin Gausman out of LSU is definitely a top prospect. Rumor has it that he touched 102 in a game this season and he’s allowed only two walks. Look into him…I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up passing Appel in a lot of mock drafts as the season keeps progressing.
I am, V. We have had some site issues and the wrong version of this posted twice. Will be fixed in the morning.
Giolito is the most intriguing guy in the draft. There’s a better than good chance that teams look back on 2012 and say “we could have taken that guy and we took…..(fill in the blank)?” Btw, he’s 17yo (not 18) and won’t turn 18 till after the signing deadline in July. He’s that young. 100mph with a hamner curve at 17yo? Send him my way. Kids this young heal up fast. You’re right, too good to pass up.
Chris- How signable do you project Zunino to be? My guess is ‘very’, b/c you’ve had him to the Ms in every mock. But, to take it a step further, would you be willing to throw out a number you think it would take to get him to sign, and then maybe discuss how that would impact the Ms ability to draft on Days 2&3?
Not comfortable throwing numbers out at this point, but you’re guess on his sign ability is probably correct.
No Matt Smoral? Why has he fallen so far in your opinion?
Smoral’s a first-round talent, but if things were to play out like I have listed — and they won’t — I think he would end up at UNC. Don’t be surprised if he’s in the top twenty of the next mock.
I would hope the M’s shun the college catcher and go with the huge upside of Buxton. Zunino will very likely be an above average MLB catcher. Buxton has the chance to be a 5 tool superstar. You just don’t pass that up.
Lovegrove, Irvin, Poteet and Twomey that high? Not seeing it.
Two questions:
What leads you to think Roache falls all the way to the supplemental round? I’ve seen other mocks drop him out of the top ten, but not much farther. Any word on if he will be back prior to the draft?
Where do you expect McCullers to be selected? Any idea of how strong his college commitment is? I have to think someone try’s him in the first two rounds.
Thanks for the mock, it was interesting.
Agreed on McCullers. Even if you think he’s a reliever long term the guy had yet to allow a run in six starts heading into this weekend and has three pitches. Not sure Gallo is going to be a top ten pick. 1B projection and he’s not hitting this year. He could go first round to a team that like the power RHP Plan B he provides.
I think one kid that is being overlooked is Avery Romero from St. augustine Fl. Without a doubt the best pure hitter in the 2012 draft. Doesnt get alot of press but, don’t be surprised if he sneaks into the top 2 rounds. This kid can flat our hit and plays excellent defense with a 93 mph arm.
Where is Taylore Cherry in the mix. He has been dominating the baseball scene in SW Ohio, reports say he is sitting around 94 on average and touching 96 on occasion. Seems to have firmed up his frame as well.