2017 Draft Discussion

[Tom Servo]

Ya'll ready for this?

http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft...wu3LfbuWwsV.97

One strength of this year’s class appears to be the depth of college pitching, particularly in power conferences. Tanner Houck, Alex Lange, Alex Faedo, Clarke Schmidt, Tristan Beck and J.B. Bukauskas have all shown explosive stuff, and they are just a few of the college arms with the potential to be first-round picks.

There’s also strength in the prep outfield class, which looks like it’s going to offer both impact and depth. Jordon Adell and Quentin Holmes are two high-upside prospects. Adell has a chance to be a five-tool player. He has at least plus arm strength and speed and shows explosive bat speed in the box. He also throws in the mid-90s off the mound and has a lean, athletic body. Holmes is also an exceptionally quick-twitch athlete, with the ability to run the 60-yard dash in 6.4 seconds. Holmes has also shown offensive potential at some heavily-scouted events.

Adell is a Louisville boy (and Kentucky commit), which I'm sure won't factor in to any opinions at all.

Here is a list of 10 prospects that have the potential to fit at the top of this class, in no particular order:

Name Position State School
Hunter Green ss/rhp Calif. Notre Dame High, Sherman Oaks, Calif.
Tristan Beck rhp Calif. Stanford
Alex Faedo rhp Fla. Florida
Jordon Adell of/rhp Ky. Ballard High, Louisville
Alex Lange rhp La. Louisiana State
Tanner Houck rhp Mo. Missouri
J.B. Bukauskas rhp N.C. North Carolina
Quentin Holmes of N.Y. McClancy Memorial High, New York
Conner Uselton of Okla. Southmoore High, Moore, Okla.
Ricardo De La Torre ss P.R. Puerto Rico Baseball Academy, Gurabo, P.R.
Kyle Wright rhp Tenn. Vanderbilt

I still like everything I've heard about Mark Vientos personally so I'm a little surprised he didn't make this 10, though as we've seen with Blake Rutherford sometimes being hyped the furthest in advance doesn't mean a whole lot.

[Rojo Rijo]

Give me Mark Vientos, JJ Schwarz, or Alex Faedo and i'll be happy

[WrongVerb]

Draft BPA, but hope that BPA is a shortstop. This club needs to develop a franchise SS. After that, college arms and OF/1b depth.

[Benihana]

Also surprised JJ Schwarz isn't mentioned.

I like Schwarz, Vientos, Holmes, or Adell.

Give me the best hitter in the draft, and hope he's an outfielder or middle-of-the-diamond guy.

[RedTeamGo!]

Over/Under January 2017 Ricardo De La Torre will be compared to Carlos Correa and/or Francisco Lindor

[SoTxRedsFan]

3 or 4 prep SS with early top of draft hype. Another Puerto Rican kid at SS also. Like Benihana said, middle of the field please.

[Cannon]

It's going to be tough to look into, but I figure if we're drafting in the 5-10 range a guy like Vientos MIGHT be available.

http://www.fangraphs.com/scoutboard....type=0&pos=all

That's a neat little ranking though somewhat outdated. I don't really have a favourite right now because it's so early but I'd watch Tristan Gray as a guy that might fit in not only with our draft slot but with the timeline of our 'rebuild'. Royce Lewis is kind of interesting too.

[RedTeamGo!]

The Reds should be drafting in the 1-5 range. I don't see them finishing better than anyone not named the Twins or Braves.

[Cannon]

The Reds should be drafting in the 1-5 range. I don't see them finishing better than anyone not named the Twins or Braves.

San Diego, Oakland, Philly and arguably Milwaukee are all also worse than us, especially when our starting pitching is healthy. I would bet at least San Diego and Philly end up below us.

[19braves77]

When the Brewers trade Braun, Garza, and Lucroy, they are going to be bringing some hot garbage up to replace them.

[RedTeamGo!]

When the Brewers trade Braun, Garza, and Lucroy, they are going to be bringing some hot garbage up to replace them.

This is a good point.

[Tom Servo]

The Reds should be drafting in the 1-5 range. I don't see them finishing better than anyone not named the Twins or Braves.

I think the Twins are due for an upswing at some point, there are a lot of kids to call up who can play ball.

I think the Braves will land the #1 pick, after that it's all up in the air. I agree that we are likely top 5 at the least.

[OnBaseMachine]

Tom, I kid you not I started to make a thread on the 2017 draft yesterday evening but I ran out of time before work and decided to hold off until today.

A top SS prospect is high on my list along with an outfielder. Adell sounds intriguing and he's a local kid. Ricardo De La Torre has the coolest name in the draft.

I watched Kyle Wright pitch on TV a few weeks ago. He looked like a guy that could go in the top 3 next season. His stuff was really good; reminded me of Sonny Gray.

[NC Reds]

Hardcore draft junkies should consider paying attention to the Tournament of Stars next week here in Cary. The best rising HS seniors usually attend. Here is the roster list from last year:

http://www.usabaseball.com/article.j...vkey=news_usab

Lots of familiar names. If I were not flying to Cincy for Hall of Fame weekend I would check it out.

[OnBaseMachine]

Man it would be nice if the Reds could luck into another first round lottery pick next year along with another top 5 pick.