2016 Draft: Keith Law’s Mock Draft v1.0

Three weeks from tomorrow is Day One of the 2016 amateur draft, so the mock drafts are going to be coming in pretty steadily from here on out. Keith Law (subs. req’d) released his first mock draft earlier today, and he has the Phillies taking Florida LHP A.J. Puk with the top pick. Barring injury, that seems like a lock at this point.

The Yankees hold the 18th overall pick and Law has them selecting Georgia HS OF Taylor Trammell. No, he’s not related to Bubba. Here’s a snippet of MLB.com’s free scouting report:

Because he has divided his time between two sports, Trammell still is learning how to recognize pitches, handle offspeed offerings and tap into his raw power. He does show some feel for hitting and his well above-average speed will help him reach base. With his bat speed and strength, he could develop average or better pop.

Trammell also is figuring things out defensively, but he has the tools to be an asset in center field. He’s working on improving the strength of his arm, which should be fine for center.

Trammell was a big time high school football star — he ran for nearly 2,500 yards last fall — so he’s still very raw on the diamond. He’s been splitting his time between two sports. The athleticism and tools are high-end though. Trammell is committed to Georgia Tech but for baseball only, not football.

The Yankees haven’t had a whole lot of success developing raw athletes into baseball players in recent years, which is why they’ve started focusing on college players. That doesn’t mean they’re completely opposed to raw high schoolers like Trammell. It just means they’ve leaned towards college guys.

Law reiterates the Yankees’ interest in California HS RHP Kevin Gowdy, who is the classic SoCal polished prep arm scouting director Damon Oppenheimer seems to love. Here’s my write-up on Gowdy.