Looking ahead to the 2018 draft

Philsmania 2017-10-05 19:04:54 UTC #385

You would think Yelich was Mike Trout the way people talk about him.

allentown 2017-10-09 15:29:48 UTC #386

BA out with their first mock of the 2018 first round.

We take Turang.

Next two picks are also H.S.

The guy projected 5th is a 3B. Then a college pitcher at 6.t

They'll rearrange a lot. It is still interesting to see who is ranked highly this early, because a lot of the fast risers will turn out to be busts. We've drafted a few of them over the years, most notably Jackson and most recently LGJ. I don't trust the guys who 'emerge' in their draft years with a high first round pick.

bigegypt0417 2017-10-09 15:36:55 UTC #387

Having Yelich in your line-up on a daily basis would be great. His numbers aren't spectacular but he does almost everything well.

282/369/432 is not a bad slash line.

julio 2017-10-09 16:10:24 UTC #388

Yes, I would think so. I have to wonder why they bother with a mock draft so far in advance of the real thing - before an entire season of NCAA and HS baseball, that will substantially alter clubs' information bases.

I suppose the reason is that BA wants readers, wants internet hits, wants "clicks." (Feeling rather cynical and annoyed at a lot of what goes on today, i'm afraid.)

DougLindsay 2017-10-09 16:54:09 UTC #389

I enjoyed reading it. Gives readers an idea who to keep an eye on over the next 8 months.

julio 2017-10-09 16:57:49 UTC #390

Fair enough. I'd probably be just as happy with just a list, without the artificial trappings of a "draft," but peoples' preferences vary.

teabag259 2017-11-22 20:48:24 UTC #391

Pass on Turang. He looks like Dansby Swanson lite.

andyb 2017-12-05 16:51:35 UTC #392

MLB.com top 50
http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2018/?list=draft

Not a mock, but Matthew Liberatore does seem like the type of HS pitcher the Phillies would look at. A little bit of Cole Hamels in his toolset.

fish 2017-12-05 20:27:04 UTC #393

I was initially not so hot on Liberatore, but his curve is ridiculously sharp. Present stuff is good, body is projectable, and delivery looks pretty good. A little more velo to the curve and it has a chance to approach Kershaw good. I love most all of the top 6 - Singer, Hankins, Liberatore, Gorman, DeSedas...its going to be a fun spring.

Austinfan 2017-12-05 21:55:13 UTC #394

We should get two very good picks with the decline in comp picks between rd 1 and rd 2.
I expect some trades for allocations again and another solid LA campaign.
And one or two veterans traded for prospects.
All in all, one more prime year of adding talent.

kmc1019 2018-01-12 16:28:06 UTC #395

Baseball America with an updated Top 200 out today:

Lists college LHP Shane McClanahan as #3 prospect at this stage.

After (I know this is not a consensus) poor performance by Moniak and mediocre (compared to other polished college bats) by Haseley, I am hoping the Phils find someone who can start strong and have a quick path to the bigs. McClanahan or HS LHP Matt Liberatore would additionally help organizational (OK, MLB-wide) weakness of high-end lefty starter.

bigegypt0417 2018-01-12 16:40:43 UTC #396

choosing players because of how fast you think they can get to the majors is why we picked Haseley. I think it's dangerous to choose speed to majors over talent.

teabag259 2018-01-12 16:53:48 UTC #397

It's very early but I am on the Liberatore bandwagon.

Austinfan 2018-01-12 19:27:54 UTC #398

Uh, Haseley and his VA teammate were pretty much the consensus choice at that point of the draft.
I don't think it had much to do with how fast he could get to the majors.

nycphils 2018-01-13 16:06:40 UTC #399

Agree, but the fact that we were not able to produce one likely reasonably likely high end major leaguer out of 3 consecutive Top 10 picks including a 1.1 is fairly grim. Need to hit on this pick as I hope we won’t be picking in the top half of the draft anytime soon again.

flyers19rw 2018-01-13 16:46:13 UTC #400

McClanahan is an interesting prospect however he already has had TJ surgery which would be a Red flag for me. I'd rather take a pitcher with a better health history.
On Moniak. He has been a bit of a disappointment so far but he has been pushed by the Phillies. He will be 20 years old this May 5. If he repeats in Lakewood at the start of the '18 season, which I suspect that he will, he should be in a more age appropriate situation. Also there were some nagging injuries for him to deal with art season. This year will be big one for him. Hopefully he will succeed and be up to Clearwater by mid season.

jimbomill 2018-01-13 18:17:59 UTC #401

If a player is within one season of being in an age appropriate situation but is the Number 1 overall pick, then I think that is indicative that the player simply isn't skilled enough.

zambonir 2018-01-13 18:46:50 UTC #402

But nobody thinks Moniak was the best player available, or that anyone in that draft was a high-end 1-1. At the time his upside was thought to be Steve Finley, which would actually be great, but still not, in most people's minds, a star.

And I don't see how anyone can think anything about Halseley one way or another yet.

I suppose the big question about this draft now is whether or not the Phillies will be losing another pick, and how losing one or more of their picks will affect their strategy, both in the first round and later.

EDmuch 2018-01-14 23:34:07 UTC #403

Stenzel (the Reds’ pick) was clearly a better pick and at a position of need, 3b. Moniak was a weak pick and the reason for picking him was dollar related. And as time passes he is looking even worse.

julio 2018-01-14 23:50:14 UTC #404

Yeah... and it's amazing how much worse he seems to look now than he did last year on October 1st.