Ahhhh, draft day is here at last! I'm so happy, I don't precisely know what to do with myself.
By the by, before I forget, thanks to whomever it was who suggested Young Americans for the draft thread. I am forever in you debt.
Thanks also to everyone who took the time to send me their picks yesterday. We ended up with, (including myself) 44 total ballots. Without a whole bunch of extra talking, here are the results:
| Player | Should | Will |
| Christian Friedrich- LHP | 7 | 28 |
| Brett Lawrie-??? | 24 | 2 |
| Shooter Hunt-RHP | 3 | 6 |
| Tim Melville- RHP | 4 | 2 |
| Ryan Perry-RHP | 1 | 4 |
| Casey Kelly-SS | 2 | 1 |
| Jake Odorizzi-RHP | 1 | 0 |
| Aaron Hicks-RHP/OF |
1 |
1 |
| Eric Hosmer |
1 |
0 |
First thing to really note: that's an amazingly small number of players for that many votes. I'm really shocked there aren't more names on that list. You would think that, within as large a grouping as this, there would be more variance among everybody's opinions. Very impressive. We're apparently a pretty grounded group as a whole.
For the record, I'm the guy who took Odorizzi, but I think they'll take Friedrich if he's there. (In my mock draft, he's already gone.) He's not my choice, obviously, but he won't be a bad pick, if that is in fact the direction the Cards go.
I emailed erik over at Future Redbirds a couple of days ago to get his choices, and he actually sent me back pretty much an entire mock draft. (I actually forgot to specify I was only looking for the first round pick, so it was entirely my fault.) Here's erik's picks:
"Should" picks: 13- Brett Lawrie, 39- Destin Hood, 59-Tyler Ladensdorf, 91- Cutter Dykstra, 123-DJ Mitchell or David Duncan
"Will" picks: 13-Aaron Hicks, 39- Wade Miley, 59- Tim Murphy, 91- Scott Bittle, 123- Mitchell or Duncan
Thanks to erik for doing all that extra work. I found myself inspired by his effort to try my own hand at a little mock up.
"Should": 13- Jake Odorizzi RHP/SS, 39-Wade Miley LHP, 59-Ryan Flaherty SS/2B, 91- Harold Martinez SS/3B, 123- Justin Parker SS, 155- Tanner Scheppers RHP
"Will": 13- Jemile Weeks, 39- Zach Putnam RHP, 59-James Darnell 3B, 91-Zach Cone OF, 123-Danny Espinosa SS
I have no idea who they might take in the fifth round; projecting that far out is really tough.
I don't necessarily know how far Scheppers will fall; he was seen as a mid first round pick before he was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his shoulder. I don't think I would take him real high; that's a scary injury. A fifth round pick, though? I would be willing to risk that on a guy with the kind of talent Scheppers has.
One caveat: there have been a couple of mock drafts I've seen where Conor Gillaspie, the third baseman out of Wichita State, has fallen as far as 39. If that happens, the Cards need to take him as quickly as possible, before some other team realises they passed him over and request a do over.
A while back, I did a mock draft over at my other gig. Here's my final mock up, going into the draft.
1. Tampa Bay- Tim Beckham, SS- Athletic MI fits the profile of Rays' picks.
2. Pittsburgh- Pedro Alvarez, 3B/1B- Pitt takes top player in draft, makes big splash
3. Kansas City- Gordon Beckham, SS- KC moves to establish left side of IF for years to come
4. Baltimore- Brian Matusz, LHP- O's see a little bit of Bedard in Matusz, take top pitcher in draft
5. San Francisco- Buster Posey, C- Big bonus demands force Posey down from rumoured top slot; SF goes over slot for intriguing talent
6. Florida- Yonder Alonso, 1B- Marlins take local, polished, affordable talent
7. Cincinnati- Aaron Crow, RHP- New Jocketty regime drafts just like old Jocketty regime
8. Chicago (AL)- Ethan Martin, RHP/3B- White Sox gamble on high upside, two way talent
9. Washington- Kyle Skipworth, C- Nationals, in long term building mode, take far off, high ceiling talent
10. Houston- Justin Smoak, 1B- 'Stros take safe pick of impact bat, worry about position later
11. Texas- Shooter Hunt, RHP- Rangers love arms, and they tried to draft him once before
12. Oakland- Christian Friedrich, LHP- Polished, college pitcher? A's are all over it
13. St. Louis- Jemile Weeks, 2B- With Friedrich off board, Cards take advanced college player at position of need
14. Minnesota- Brett Wallace, 3B- Twins take advanced hitter, hope to fill long term 3B hole
15. Los Angeles (NL)- Aaron Hicks, RHP/OF- Dodgers love high upside, HS arms, and take local two way product
That's all I got.
I'll stick the game thread up above this one a little closer to game time.
Happy draft day!