2022 MLB Draft thread, July 17- 19 - Jays select HS LHSP Brandon Barriera 23rd overall

[Schad]

Held during the ASB this year, July 17-19, rather than at a random date midseason when the college World Series is still occurring.

The Jays will draft:

23rd overall.
60th overall.
77th overall.
78th overall.
98th overall.
And every 30 picks thereafter (as it was last year, there will be 20 rounds, up from 5 in 2019, and down from 2.4 million in 2019 and earlier).

Overall bonus pool: $8,367,700 (15th-largest leaguewide).


If you are a fan of Large Adult Sons, this is the draft for you. The currently-projected first overall pick? Matt Holliday's kid. Second overall? Andruw Jones' kid. Carl Crawford and consummate turn-of-the-millennium Guy Lou Collier's sons are projected mid-first-rounders. Do you have some recollection of an older player from, I dunno, 2010? Great, their kid is in this draft. Congrats: you are old. Your body is decaying and infirm and does gross things without your input. But Sons? Sons are forever.

A list of quality names will be added just as soon as MLB publishes the full draft-eligible list in a few weeks.

[polo007]

2022 MLB Mock Draft 1.0 - Kiley McDaniel projects the first round - ESPN.com

18. Cincinnati Reds

Cole Young, SS, North Allegheny HS (Pa.), Duke commit

The Reds are on Young, who likely goes by about the 20th pick, and also are tied to some players based in Florida as usual, including prep lefty Jackson Ferris.

19. Oakland Athletics

Justin Campbell, RHP, Oklahoma State

Campbell has been steady all season and has lots of interest all over the first round. He might go a bit higher than expected, akin to Michael McGreevy last year. I've also heard some college bats connected here from the glut of hitters that figure to go in the next dozen picks, headlined by Tennessee's Drew Gilbert.

20. Atlanta Braves

Cooper Hjerpe, LHP, Oregon State

I've heard mostly under-slot college pitchers here including Georgia's Jonathan Cannon, Campbell's Thomas Harrington and Iowa's Adam Mazur, along with rising righty Jacob Miller. Miller and Robby Snelling are the two high school pitchers with a shot to get a slot-or-better bonus in the 20s behind the Lesko/Porter/Barriera group.

21. Seattle Mariners

Zach Neto, SS, Campbell

Neto is in play as high as the seventh pick to the Cubs and figures to go by the Jays at 23. He fits the Mariners' preference for polished position players with defensive value.

22. St. Louis Cardinals

Connor Prielipp, LHP, Alabama

Prielipp had his first post-Tommy John bullpen for clubs last week and sat in the low 90s with a plus slider. He comes with more upside than the typical college pitcher since he was a top-10 talent before surgery and is still building back up.

23. Toronto Blue Jays

Tucker Toman, 3B, Hammond HS (S.C.), LSU commit

The Jays seem like a floor for Neto and are also on one of my favorite players in the class in Toman. As with most teams in this range, their mix isn't set and includes lots of the players I'm projecting to go around their pick.

24. Boston Red Sox

Dylan Beavers, RF, Cal

Beavers draws a wide range of opinions and could easily find a landing spot in the teens but seems more likely to last into the 20s due to the divisive hand move in his swing.

25. New York Yankees

Sterlin Thompson, RF, Florida

I'm hearing the Yankees are mostly focused on the college hitters who are all over this juncture of the draft, but they've also shown a lot of interest in prep righty Jacob Miller.

[polo007]

Read on Twitter

Kumar Rocker Looks Strong In 2022 Debut - Baseball America

Troy, N.Y. — Nearly a year after the Mets selected him in the first round of the 2021 draft, Kumar Rocker returned to competitive baseball. The righthander made his first start for the Tri-City ValleyCats, an MLB Partner League team in the Frontier League.

In all, Rocker lasted four innings and allowed two runs on three hits and no walks. He struck out six and threw 60 pitches. His fastball sat at 95-97 mph and he mixed in a slider at 83-84 mph and a cutter at 86-87 mph. He also threw two 89 mph changeups, which he sold well with solid arm speed.

Rocker opened his outing by sitting 95-97 mph over the first few innings while also showing a low-80s slider and a high-80s cutter. Rocker allowed a bloop base hit in the first but struck out two batters in the inning while getting swinging strikes on his fastball and cutter.

Rocker opened the second inning by getting a grounder to second base on a 97 mph fastball. He struck out the next batter on three pitches, including a 99 mph fastball on the first pitch of the at-bat. He finished the frame by getting a pop up to the catcher. In all, Rocker needed just eight pitches in the second inning.

The third inning was more of the same. He needed just 12 pitches in that inning and continued to hold his mid-90s velocity.

The fourth inning wasn’t as kind to Rocker.

The righthander struggled with his command in the inning, hitting the first batter of the frame before allowing a two-run home run to the following batter. He labored through the inning, showing less command and needing 22 pitches to retire the side.

[polo007]

2022 MLB Mock Draft 2.0: Kiley McDaniel projects first 41 picks, with odds for No. 1 overall - ESPN.com

23. Toronto Blue Jays

Sterlin Thompson, RF, Florida

The Jays are tied mostly to bats here, with Tucker Toman and Zach Neto the two most mentioned players. There are a number of college position players whose camps think they are almost certain to be picked by the mid-to-late 20s, so I'd expect a run of the leftover college bats to start right around here. The Jays have oddly been connected to a lot of old-for-the-class high school position players at later picks, to the point that it seems like a strategy this year.

[polo007]

MLB Mock Draft 2.0: Druw Jones goes No. 1 to Orioles in Keith Law’s latest projection - The Athletic

23. Toronto Blue Jays: Peyton Graham, SS, Oklahoma

It sounds like the Jays are more likely to go college position player here, which makes sense given the best players available in this range.

Scouting report: A midseason swing adjustment that has him staying back more with less extra movement turned Graham from a guy who might have gone back for his senior year to a potential day one pick. Graham was hitting .282/.351/.541 through the end of March, with a 27 percent strikeout rate; since then, he’s hit .370/.454/.721 (through June 10) with a 17 percent strikeout rate, even though most of that latter period was in the Big 12. He’s a plus runner who has played a ton of third and shortstop plus a little outfield on the Cape, with enough of a chance to stay at short that he’ll almost certainly start his pro career there. Even with the changes to his approach, he still has some swing and miss concerns, especially on sliders, and probably isn’t a quick-through-the-minors guy. His upside as an above-average regular at short or third could be enough to get him into the late first round.

[polo007]

Vanderbilt’s Spencer Jones could be the MLB Draft’s powerful, fast, late-blooming steal - The Athletic

“His future is well ahead of him, and you can’t say that about every kid,” Corbin said. “Sometimes they max themselves out. You can’t say that about Spencer. He’s just starting to climb the stairs right now. I think 10 years from now we’re going to look back and say, ‘Whoa, what a big-league career he’s having.’”

Well before that, we’ll see if the MLB draft perpetuates the thought. To summarize it in a question: How good can a 6-foot-7, 230-pound outfielder with a unique combination of speed and power, called an “outlier athlete” by one scouting service, who just posted a .370/.460/1.103 line with 12 homers as a Vanderbilt junior, in his first healthy season after elbow injuries delayed his career and ended his pitching hopes, who just turned 21 and just started packing muscle onto his frame, be?

“First round? I don’t know,” said Jones, who is ranked the No. 79 prospect in the draft on Keith Law’s big board for The Athletic but has a path (and a rising mock-draft profile) that suggests he could be some team’s early surprise. “Like, this is just the next step on the ladder, right? I know I’m good. So hopefully we’re gonna find a happy union at some point.”

The team that extends its hand will be acting on a lot of information from the past year while hoping the biggest knock on Jones — he “still swings and misses in the zone too often,” Law wrote — continues to diminish after he brought his strikeout rate from 30 percent as a sophomore down to 23.5 percent as a junior. Go back a year and questions prevailed.

A few of them came from Brewster (Mass.) Whitecaps coach Jamie Shevchik in a phone call as Jones closed in on one of the main goals he had when he chose Vanderbilt — to play center field for the Whitecaps, in the same town where his grandparents live and where he loved watching the Whitecaps play as a kid. Shevchik told him he’d be able to play center field and lead off. After a successful, confidence-building, championship-winning summer, Shevchik thanked Jones for his contributions and reminded him of that initial phone call.

“He told me, ‘I thought you were gonna suck,’” Jones said of Shevchik. “He’s a JUCO coach, too. He takes a lot of stock in how people sound. He thought I sounded too soft.”

There’s a laid-back vibe to Jones, but from the time his father laid a foundation by getting him lessons on proper running form as a young child in Encinitas, Calif., he has projected athletic excellence. Basketball and football made way for baseball, and though hitting was Jones’ true love, he was a coveted two-way, left-handed prospect who was no sure bet to end up on the Vanderbilt campus in the fall of 2019. Two years earlier, USA Baseball testing administered by Matt Pajak of the Prospect Development Pipeline indicated an extraordinary mix of gifts.

[polo007]

MLB Mock Draft: Top 5 shuffle as Rocker enters 1st round - MLB.com

23. Blue Jays: Tucker Toman, 3B, Hammond HS, Columbia, S.C. (No. 35)

One of the best high school bats in the Draft, Toman could climb into the top half of the first round as a discount possibility. Every club from 23-28 seems to have interest in Florida outfielder Sterlin Thompson. The Jays could target other college bats, such as DeLauter, Beavers, Graham, Gilbert and Wallace.

[polo007]

Druw Jones leads The Athletic’s latest MLB mock draft as beat writers make the first 30 picks - The Athletic

23. Toronto Blue Jays — Peyton Graham, SS, Oklahoma

Over the last 12 months, the Blue Jays have moved their last two first-round picks in trades, including shortstop Austin Martin, who was shipped to Minnesota in the José Berríos deal. They’ve still got a robust supply of middle infielders in their system — not to mention a couple of pretty good young ones on their MLB team — but this could be an opportunity to add another player with above-average upside at shortstop or third base to their system. Graham’s defensive versatility — he can play in the outfield, as well — seems to align with the team’s preference to acquire athletic, versatile players. He has speed, too, and the bat has the potential for power. — Kaitlyn McGrath

[Schad]

We're barely a week out, and MLB hasn't updated the Draft Tracker with the 2022 crop. How the hell am I supposed to comb through 2500 names to find 10-15 funny ones, MLB? Why even have a draft if that's not on the table?

[polo007]

Toronto Blue Jays 2022 MLB Draft: Picks, bonus pool, slot values - The Athletic

Draft bonus pool

$8,367,700 — 16th-largest bonus pool in this draft

Source: MLB.com

Blue Jays draft picks with top-10 round slot values

Round 1, Pick No. 23: $3,075,300

Rd. 2, Pick No. 60: $1,216,100

FA comp, Pick No. 77: $846,500 (compensation for losing Marcus Semien)

FA comp, Pick No. 78: $833,200 (compensation for losing Robbie Ray)

Rd. 3, Pick No. 98: $623,200

Rd. 4, Pick No. 128: $465,400

Rd. 5, Pick No. 158: $346,800

Rd. 6, Pick No. 188: $268,300

Rd. 7, Pick No. 218: $210,300

Rd. 8, Pick No. 248: $173,800

Rd. 9, Pick No. 278: $158,500

Rd. 10, Pick No. 308: $150,300

Rd. 11, Pick No. 338:

Rd. 12, Pick No. 368:

Rd. 13, Pick No. 398:

Rd. 14, Pick No. 428:

Rd. 15, Pick No. 458:

Rd. 16, Pick No. 488:

Rd. 17, Pick No. 518:

Rd. 18, Pick No. 548:

Rd. 19, Pick No. 578:

Rd. 20, Pick No. 608:

Source: MLB.com

[Schad]

Names!

The trend in recent years has resulted in 95% of players having names that sound like they ought to be finance majors at Penn State, and another 4.5% having names that sound like they ought to be 19th century blacksmiths (looking at you, Silas Ardoin, Elijah Birdsong and Farmer Abendroth). The other 0.5% aren't bad, though.


Sam Horn - We should draft him simply to cause cognitive dissonance for Red Sox fans: https://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php

Vinny Bologna - Hormel's cartoon mascot for a new line of processed meat product.

Rocko Brzezniak - just a quality 1930s-era baseball name. Rocko Brzezniak played five seasons for the Cleveland Browns, before succumbing to tuberculosis.

Zeddric Burnham - 'Zeddric' is such an uncommon first name that if you Google just that, the top link is Zeddric Burnham.

Brenner Cox/Brennan Cox - two different players, one of them is going to experience a crushing moment of despair when the other gets drafted.

Cam Chick - back from a previous draft! I guess his OnlyFans didn't work out.

Gary Gill Hill - there is no hyphen. If you're going to go with a 1980s-ass first name, Phil was right there.

Brycin Hernandez - rhymes with 'ricin'. When you can't choose between two flavours of insufferable born-in-the-early-aughts names.

Jaymz Knowlton - didn't get drafted last year, and god willing, he won't get drafted again. I'm sorry kid, that name just isn't right.

Scout Knotts - one of the harder badges to earn, I understand.

Cade McGarrh - just your garden-variety, Irish pirate name.

Hunter Mink - more humane and less smelly than Farmer Mink.

Paulshawn Pasqualotto - the alliteration really elevates the car crash that is smashing two names together.

Q Phillips - it's...just Q. Paulshawn should lend the poor guy a first name.

Cannon Peebles - surely, this is the best Cannon-related name we'll get in this draft.

Cannon Pickell - I stand corrected.

Maxx Yehl - somewhere out there is a screamo band that doesn't know what they're missing.



And my top three:

Zebulon Vermillion.

Jurrangelo Cijntje.

Kip Fougerousse.

Nothing I can say will improve those. Perfect names, no notes.

[polo007]

2022 MLB Mock Draft 3.0 -- Kiley McDaniel predicts the first two rounds - ESPN.com

23. Toronto Blue Jays

Tucker Toman, 3B, Hammond HS (SC), LSU commit

The Blue Jays are tied mostly to bats here, with Tucker Toman and Zach Neto the two most-mentioned players -- and Toman always the one most likely to get here. Justin Crawford also has some real support if he gets down here. The Jays have been tied to Florida prep 3B Cameron Smith and CF Jordan Taylor at later picks.

[polo007]

Compensatory picks give Blue Jays options and opportunity for an impact draft - Sportsnet.ca

TORONTO – Shane Farrell is heading into his third draft as the Toronto Blue Jays’ amateur scouting director and GM Ross Atkins has used his two first-round picks so far in win-now trades.

So, taking it personal?

“No, no, no, no," Farrell said with a laugh Friday. “It's been great to see the additions help out with our with our major-league club. So it’s been fun.”

The draft, which begins Sunday, is a pivotal opportunity for the Blue Jays on both fronts, as they hold their own first-rounder, 23rd overall, their second-rounder at No. 60 plus two compensatory picks for the departures of Marcus Semien and Robbie Ray at Nos. 77-78 on the first day.

Throw in their third-rounder at No. 98 when the selections resume Monday and they have five picks in the top 100, the area where the vast majority of players who reach the big-leagues are selected.

“We just have more access to the higher end talent pool throughout the draft,” said Farrell. “Sunday night will be a really exciting night walking out there with four players we really like.”

The Blue Jays will have the 16th largest signing bonus pool to work with at $8,367,700, boosted nearly $1.7 million by the two comp picks.

That gives them more opportunity to be creative by moving money around to grab players who slide over signability concerns or due to health reasons, a not insignificant factor after a rash of injuries to draft-eligible collegiate pitchers.

Farrell said the spring has “decimated that demographic, specifically,” and it’s an interesting value-play market the Blue Jays haven’t been shy about shopping in."

[SharoneWright]

Names!

The trend in recent years has resulted in 95% of players having names that sound like they ought to be finance majors at Penn State, and another 4.5% having names that sound like they ought to be 19th century blacksmiths (looking at you, Silas Ardoin, Elijah Birdsong and Farmer Abendroth). The other 0.5% aren't bad, though.


Sam Horn - We should draft him simply to cause cognitive dissonance for Red Sox fans: https://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php

Vinny Bologna - Hormel's cartoon mascot for a new line of processed meat product.

Rocko Brzezniak - just a quality 1930s-era baseball name. Rocko Brzezniak played five seasons for the Cleveland Browns, before succumbing to tuberculosis.

Zeddric Burnham - 'Zeddric' is such an uncommon first name that if you Google just that, the top link is Zeddric Burnham.

Brenner Cox/Brennan Cox - two different players, one of them is going to experience a crushing moment of despair when the other gets drafted.

Cam Chick - back from a previous draft! I guess his OnlyFans didn't work out.

Gary Gill Hill - there is no hyphen. If you're going to go with a 1980s-ass first name, Phil was right there.

Brycin Hernandez - rhymes with 'ricin'. When you can't choose between two flavours of insufferable born-in-the-early-aughts names.

Jaymz Knowlton - didn't get drafted last year, and god willing, he won't get drafted again. I'm sorry kid, that name just isn't right.

Scout Knotts - one of the harder badges to earn, I understand.

Cade McGarrh - just your garden-variety, Irish pirate name.

Hunter Mink - more humane and less smelly than Farmer Mink.

Paulshawn Pasqualotto - the alliteration really elevates the car crash that is smashing two names together.

Q Phillips - it's...just Q. Paulshawn should lend the poor guy a first name.

Cannon Peebles - surely, this is the best Cannon-related name we'll get in this draft.

Cannon Pickell - I stand corrected.

Maxx Yehl - somewhere out there is a screamo band that doesn't know what they're missing.



And my top three:

Zebulon Vermillion.

Jurrangelo Cijntje.

Kip Fougerousse.

Nothing I can say will improve those. Perfect names, no notes.

I understand you do these primarily for yourself… But I’ve got to say, Schad, that was hilarious!

[polo007]

Blue Jays draft preview: Toronto can take advantage with four picks on day one - The Athletic

Who are players to keep an eye on?

In The Athletic’s most recent mock draft, Law linked Toronto to several college bats including Jordan Beck, an outfielder from Tennessee. Law writes that Beck had a solid but hardly spectacular performance this spring, but has tools and athleticism and scouts have “reason to believe he can continue to improve in pro ball.”

Other names to watch, Law suggested, are outfielders Drew Gilbert (Tennessee) and Dylan Beavers (Cal) and Peyton Graham, a shortstop from Oklahoma. Gilbert is “a premium defensive center fielder,” who has a good eye at the plate and can hit for average, Law wrote. Beavers is a strong outfielder with power, but an unusual swing path that invites questions about his hit tool. Graham is a shortstop who can also play third and outfield and has upside as an above-average regular at short or third, according to The Athletic’s assessment.

Over at MLB.com, their latest mock draft also linked the Blue Jays to a college outfielder, Chase Delauter (James Madison University), who Law wrote has some question marks regarding his ability to catch up to velocity. Over at Baseball America, they’ve mentioned college right-hander Gabriel Hughes (Gonzaga) as an option for Toronto. Law wrote that Hughes had an uptick in his command and stuff this year. He’s big — 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds — and sits 93-94 mph, touching 97 mph with a hard slider that misses bats. Another college arm that might be available here is Cooper Hjerpe, who has two strong secondary pitches in a slider and changeup, but according to Law, there are questions about a fastball that sits 88-93 mph now.

[anj]

Blue Jays draft preview: Toronto can take advantage with four picks on day one - The Athletic

Who are players to keep an eye on?

In The Athletic’s most recent mock draft, Law linked Toronto to several college bats including Jordan Beck, an outfielder from Tennessee. Law writes that Beck had a solid but hardly spectacular performance this spring, but has tools and athleticism and scouts have “reason to believe he can continue to improve in pro ball.”

Other names to watch, Law suggested, are outfielders Drew Gilbert (Tennessee) and Dylan Beavers (Cal) and Peyton Graham, a shortstop from Oklahoma. Gilbert is “a premium defensive center fielder,” who has a good eye at the plate and can hit for average, Law wrote. Beavers is a strong outfielder with power, but an unusual swing path that invites questions about his hit tool. Graham is a shortstop who can also play third and outfield and has upside as an above-average regular at short or third, according to The Athletic’s assessment.

Over at MLB.com, their latest mock draft also linked the Blue Jays to a college outfielder, Chase Delauter (James Madison University), who Law wrote has some question marks regarding his ability to catch up to velocity. Over at Baseball America, they’ve mentioned college right-hander Gabriel Hughes (Gonzaga) as an option for Toronto. Law wrote that Hughes had an uptick in his command and stuff this year. He’s big — 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds — and sits 93-94 mph, touching 97 mph with a hard slider that misses bats. Another college arm that might be available here is Cooper Hjerpe, who has two strong secondary pitches in a slider and changeup, but according to Law, there are questions about a fastball that sits 88-93 mph now.

My big takeaway is how did Schad miss the name Cooper Hjerpe who also happens to play for the Oregon State Beavers? And, yes, I'm 14 years old.

[Schad]

I haven't seen him linked to us, but a player who fits with some of our previous high draft picks: Jacob Misiorowski. Similar to Pearson and Tiedemann, he's a JuCo arm whose stuff improved significantly over the course of the year. Needs serious development, but he sits high 90s with a weird arm angle, so he profiles well as a reliever if he doesn't develop a third pitch.

[Schad]

Brandon Berrera, projected 1st rounder, showed up in Christopher from The Sopranos cosplay.

[SharoneWright]

Brandon Berrera, projected 1st rounder, showed up in Christopher from The Sopranos cosplay.

Also based loosely on the life and stylings of Chris Penn:

[SharoneWright]

Kiley McDaniel says we’re taking a bat:

23. Toronto Blue Jays

Tucker Toman, 3B, Hammond HS (SC), LSU commit

The Blue Jays are tied mostly to bats here, with Tucker Toman and Zach Neto the two most-mentioned players -- and Toman always the one most likely to get here. Justin Crawford also has some real support if he gets down here. The Jays have been tied to Florida prep 3B Cameron Smith and CF Jordan Taylor at later picks.