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Draft  | Mock Draft  | 5/21/2014

2014 MLB Mock Draft Version 2

David Rawnsley     
Photo: Perfect Game

2014 Perfect Game MLB Draft Preview Content

May 21 is really too soon for a meaningful mock draft, as prospects are still playing, teams haven’t for the most part sat down for their pre-draft organizational meetings and pre-draft workouts are still just on the drawing board. We won’t even mention signability and the ever looming and inevitable specter of pre-draft deals being cut before June 5.

But the draft chatter meter is definitely been turned up in frequency and volume (plus the Perfect Game showcase circuit gets underway in earnest this weekend, taking away time to get too deep into draft gossip), so we’ll give it a shot.

Two things have become very obvious this spring.

The first is that this is a very deep draft, driven by the high school pitching class and a group of high ceiling but unpolished high school athletes. There are plenty of players whose names will be discussed in the 15-20 area who might not get even get selected in the first round depending on the taste and patterns of the teams in the bottom third of the first round. Teams with multiple selections, such as the Reds at Nos. 19 and 29 or the Red Sox at Nos. 26 and 33 or the Cardinals at Nos. 27 and 34, find themselves making decisions based on the question “Is this guy going to be there when our next pick comes around?” even more than ever.

The second and most riding factor that is defining the draft right now is simply this: The top of the draft is all messed up.

Consider the following factors.

  • The pre-season presumptive No. 1 pick, North Carolina State lefthander Carlos Rodon, has morphed into mystery No. 1, with spring-long inconsistency and raw stuff.

  • Fast-rising East Carolina righthander Jeff Hoffman was injured and underwent TJ surgery just as it looked like he was making a push for  No. 1. Fellow top 10 righty Erick Fedde suffered the same fate shortly afterwards.

  • Sources say that teams at the top of the draft are talking themselves out of Texas high school righthander Tyler Kolek, perhaps the hardest throwing prep pitcher ever, due to concerns about his delivery, strike throwing ability and secondary pitches, and that his floor is now the seventh or eighth pick. This could well be a smoke-screen, however.

  • The consensus top high school bat, San Diego’s Alex Jackson, doesn’t have a defined future position.

  • The consensus top high school pitcher, fellow San Diego resident Brady Aiken, was throwing 89-91 mph nine months ago

  • A completely new name has surfaced as a potential sleeper for the Astros No. 1 pick, Evansville southpaw Kyle Freeland, according to scouting sources. Freeland wasn’t even on many pre-season first round lists.

The best summary of the top 10 picks at the moment is probably to say that the three “safest” picks are probably Aiken, Florida high school shortstop Nick Gordon and Louisiana State righthander Aaron Nola. After that, well, there is still plenty of work to do before June 5, just not that much time.

Slot value listed in parenthesis after the pick/team


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