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0 out of 7
Spoiler: The Yankees might have reached.David Zalubowski / Associated press
Day one of the first Major League Baseball Draft ever outside of June is over, as the teams made the top 36 picks in the 2021 Bellco Theater Draft in Denver on Sunday.
So let’s look at who did it and who didn’t get it right.
For this, we have identified four winners and three losers of the first round and competitive balance round A. These are players whose wishes have been absolutely or very little fulfilled, as well as teams who have cleaned up or left the people shake their heads.
We’ll start with the biggest individual winner and loser from Day 1 and go from there.
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Ben McKeown / Associated press
While there was no certainty as to who would become No.1 overall on Sunday, there was general consensus in the simulated drafts – for example, B / R, MLB.com and FanGraphs – that the Pittsburgh Pirates would go for the Marcelo prep shortstop. Mayer.
Instead, they shocked just about everyone by banking on Louisville star Henry Davis.
Notice that doesn’t mean Davis was in a bad position to join Adley Rutschman as a second receiver in the past three years to become No.1 overall. His offensive potential is underscored by the 0.370 average he just posted during his junior season for the Cardinals. He also has more than enough arms to stick behind the plate.
Maybe the only question with Davis is if he can improve his reception, but it would be a moot point if MLB introduced an automated hitting zone in the near future. Otherwise, his bat would play on first base if the Pirates found it necessary to get him out of the squat.
In the meantime, Davis is reviewing the recommended bonus of $ 8.4 million for the # 1 slot machine. A small number is not.
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David Zalubowski / Associated press
As well as being the first MLB draft ever held in July, the 2021 draft was also the first to take place in front of a live audience. For the most part, this has brightened up what previously tended to be a boring affair.
For MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, however, the experience was not one to be enjoyed.
Now in his seventh year on the job after taking over from Bud Selig in 2014, Manfred has been greeted with a wall of boos when he walked to the podium to begin the procedure. And so whenever he’s appeared afterwards, so it’s no wonder he rushed into his announcements at the end of the night.
Of course, Manfred isn’t the first commissioner to be booed as he tried to host his league’s draft. He certainly won’t get any sympathy from Roger Goodell, who’s been booed in the NFL Draft every year for years.
Even still, the boos for Manfred were not unnecessary. Between his awkward pace-of-play initiatives, his cynicism ahead of the season cut short by last year’s pandemic, and his knee-jerk reactions to issues like sticky stuff, he has developed a knack for controversial decisions that have, to their turn, made him a controversial figure.
3 out of 7
Elise Amendola / Associated Press
Before the draft, there was a buzz about Vanderbilt’s ace Jack Leiter wanting to land with the Boston Red Sox at No.4. And also, that the team themselves would like to have him there.
Well, those hopes were dashed when the Texas Rangers caught Leiter at No.2. But in Marcelo Mayer, the Red Sox got one hell of a consolation prize with their best pick since 1967.
According to MLB.com, FanGraphs and The Athletic, the 18-year-old from Eastlake high school was ranked as the No. 1 talent in the draft. He just might have the best hitting tool of any player in this year’s draft, and he’s also seen as a sure thing to stay shortstop.
Admittedly, the Red Sox already have a pretty good shortstop at Xander Bogaerts. But it’s never a bad idea for a team to sign the best available player whatever the need, and now the Red Sox have long-term insurance in case Bogaerts steps down from his contract after 2022.
While Mayer could hypothetically forgo signing with Boston to follow through on his commitment to USC, turning down the recommended $ 6.7 million bonus for Slot 4 wouldn’t be that simple.
4 out of 7
Eric Gay / Associate Press
As to which team had the best draft, there’s an argument for the Vanderbilt Commodores. In Leiter (No.2) and fellow right-hander Kumar Rocker (No.10), they had two top 10 picks for the second time in seven years.
Even still, this is where we have to take our hat off to the Detroit Tigers.
As one of six teams with multiple picks on Matchday 1, the Tigers used their first pick in third overall on arguably the top high school pitcher in the draft, Jackson Jobe. It has a good fastball and an even better slider, with the potential for a more curved ball and above average shift.
While Jobe alone would have been a pretty big score for the day, the Tigers also knocked down Texas right-hander Ty Madden in their laps at No.32 in the competitive balance lap. He had been ranked among the top 10 draft talents in some places, with MLB.com placing him in 9th place because of his “front row” potential.
Either way, those are two other top-of-the-line arms for an organization that already has Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal in the majors and Matt Manning in its farming system.
5 out of 7
Julio Cortez / Associated press
When the MLB Draft rolls around, it’s inevitable that a team will leave people scratching their heads after using a high pick on a relatively low-rated player.
To that end, the New York Yankees hired perhaps the biggest reach in the draft when they selected Trey Sweeney with the No.20 pick.
That doesn’t seem to match the 21-year-old’s statistical background with eastern Illinois. He’s been a .328 hitter overall in three seasons, and his junior year saw him reach .382 with a 0.522 base percentage and 14 home runs in just 48 games.
There are, however, substantial question marks attached to Sweeney. As JJ Cooper of Baseball America noted, it is largely untested against high speed fastballs. And with many moving parts in his swing, he may need to make some changes if he hopes to pass that test at the pros.
Taking into account that Sweeney is also an inferior runner and defensive player, there are plenty of explanations as to why he only registered as the No. 55 talent in the draft for MLB.com and Baseball America and as far as # 89 at the Athletic. The Yankees better find out what they’re doing with this one.
6 out of 7
David Zalubowski / Associated press
In the nearly four hours it took for the draft to go through his top 36 picks, anyone who was there in person or watching from home had surely grown accustomed to hearing the word “shortstop.”
With Mayer leading at No.4 in Boston, 10 shortstops were made just in the top 28 picks. This is about as unusual as it sounds, as the number of shortstops usually doesn’t escape a number in the first lap. As recently as 2016, only four were taken in the first round.
The obvious problem here is that not all of these players will stay on shortstop in the long run.
For example, Chicago White Sox No.22 pick Colson Montgomery is a good bet to finish at third base. The same goes for Washington Nationals No.11 pick Brady House, although he may have the instinct and actions to stay short despite his great power and already ample 6’4 “frame, 215 books.
Nonetheless, these are all shortstops at the moment. And that group of 10 even grew to 11 by the end of day one, as Wisconsin high school student Noah Miller was also selected as a shortstop by the Minnesota Twins with the No.36 pick.
7 out of 7
David Zalubowski / Associated press
As the shortstops were busy having a good day on Sunday, it was a whole different story for the prospects who call in first base, second base and third base.
Namely, not a single player was drafted as a first or third baseman. And while two second basemen finally came out of the table, it wasn’t until Tyler Black (No. 33 Milwaukee Brewers) and Cooper Kinney (No. 34 Tampa Bay Rays) entered the round. competitive balance.
Years from now, this will be just an anecdote. It is not only the shortstops who think they will change position as they develop. Whether it’s Henry Davis or maybe Matheu Nelson, one of the four receivers who took part in Day 1 should end up elsewhere as well.
It’s strange, however, that no non-shortstop infielder was called up in the first round on Sunday. It is, after all, just a year after Spencer Torkelson became No. 1 overall in Detroit as a third baseman. And two years after first baseman Andrew Vaughn only lasted the White Sox at No.3. And so on.
Never mind. Notables like Alex Binelas, Kyle Manzardo and Izaac Pacheco should have better luck on Day 2.
Statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference.
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