2018 Draft: Final Mock Drafts

The three-day 2018 amateur draft begins tonight with a live MLB Network broadcast of the first 78 picks. The Yankees have two picks tonight (23rd and 61st). The draft broadcast will begin at 7pm ET. Here’s a mock draft update I put together for CBS and here are the final mock drafts of the year.

Keith Law’s mock draft v4.0

In his final mock draft today, Keith Law (subs. req’d) has the Tigers selecting Georgia Tech C Joey Bart, not Auburn RHP Casey Mize, with the No. 1 pick. Feels like we go through this every year. The team with the top pick is connected to one guy all spring, then suddenly they’re connected to someone else late, probably to put pressure on the first kid to take a more team-friendly signing bonus. Anyway, here is Law’s mock pick for the Yankees:

23. New York Yankees: J.T. Ginn, RHP, Brandon (Mississippi) HS
I’ve heard them linked more to names who probably don’t fit well in the first round, like Grant Lavigne or Adam Hackenberg — guys who’d be perfect targets in the second.

Here are my write-ups on Ginn and Lavigne. The whole “linked more to names who probably don’t fit well in the first round” thing sounds scary, though that’s a common strategy in the draft pool era. Cut an underslot deal in the first round, then spend big on a someone who falls with your later pick. The Yankees did exactly that last year with Clarke Schmidt, whose stock was down following Tommy John surgery, and second rounder Matt Sauer. Would not surprise me at all to see the Yankees do something similar this year, albeit with a healthy player.

MLB.com’s mock draft v7.0

Both Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo put out a mock draft this morning, and they were nice enough to combine it into one post. They both still have Mize going to the Tigers with the No. 1 pick. Here are their mock first round selections for the Yankees:

Mayo: Ryan Rolison, LHP, Mississippi — It had mostly been hitters coming up in this spot, and the Yankees could go with Edwards or Lavigne. But Rolison was once thought to be a top 10-15 pick as a college lefty, and after struggling, has pitched much better down the stretch.
Callis: Grant Lavigne, 1B, Bedford (N.H.) HS — New York is all over high school position players such as Adams, Lavigne, Seigler and Turang.

Here are my write-ups on Lavigne, Jordyn Adams, Xavier Edwards, Anthony Seigler, and Brice Turang. Every time I think about the Yankees and their first round pick, I keep coming back to Turang. He came into the spring as arguably the top high school player in the draft class and a potential top five pick, but his stock has slipped due to an uneven spring. He was once a top draft prospect, he’s a toolsy up-the-middle guy, he’s from Southern California, and he’s the son of a former big leaguer (Brian Turang). He seems right up the Yankees’ alley. We’ll see.

Baseball America’s mock draft v6.0

The crew at Baseball America (subs. req’d) updated their mock draft this afternoon and they still have Mize going to the Tigers as well. That still seems most likely to me. Here’s their mock pick for the Yanks:

Noah Naylor, St. Joan of Arc Catholic SS, Mississauga, Ont. C
We have the Yankees taking the best bat available here, though Naylor does make sense at a number of spots in the teens as well. The Grant Lavigne (Bedford (N.H.) HS) noise around New York is real, but it seems to be an option at a spot later than No. 23 at this point. Prep bats like Turang, Casas and Seigler could also be fits if they last until this point.

Here are my write-ups on Naylor, Lavigne, Turang, Seigler, and Triston Casas. Naylor’s grown on me this spring. I kinda ignored him because I’m not a big believer in his older brother — Josh Naylor was the 12th overall pick in 2015 and is a lumbering first-base only masher — but Noah isn’t the same type of player. He’s very athletic with a chance to stay behind the plate, and his hit tool is pretty advanced.