Two. Round. Mock.

It’s finally here, draft week. Hopefully everyone has enjoy all of the draft #content over the last few week especially, and I’ve been working up to this monster two round mock for a while. Was going to wait until Monday, but fuck it, it’s Friday and I want to have some fun. Now, I’m mostly going off of the Baseball America Hot 100 and other websites First Year Player Draft lists for the players here, rather than my own board, for obvious reasons. Will it shake out this way? Probably not. But it’s fun to consider the possibilities, right? On with the show!

1. Banacolates- Spancer Tarkelson- Ok, now that we’ve got that out of the way…
2. Pro Bowlers- Austin Martin– I think Martin is being overlooked in this draft a bit, in that in several other years, he would be #1 with a bullet. Also, it’s possible he makes the majors with some kind of position versitility, which is nuts for a bat that could be as good as his.
3. Pro Bowlers- Zac Veen- The more I’ve thought about this pick since it was traded, the more it makes sense that Pat doesn’t take the obvious choice with Kim here, and goes for upside. Is Pat’s team close? Absolutely. But is he competing this year? I don’t think so, and Pat is aware of that. Veen could be a monster if the Rockies don’t fuck him up.
4. G.I. Zo’s- Nick Gonzales– Zobrack trading up to this pick was a very curious move for me, but Zobrack is quickly turning into the CPL Draft wildcard year in and year out since he’s gotten back into actually having draft picks. In the end, Kim makes even less sense for him than Pat, and Gonzales is kind of the consensus pick here, and bit of a safe option after Zo loading up on J2’s last year.
5. Motley Shue- Ha-Seong Kim– Shue is never one to be scared away by a little bit of risk, and Kim’s game translating to MLB certainly is risky, but maybe that’s just my pessimistic view. Anyway, Kim obviously fits the title contender Shue better than any other team in the first round of the draft, except Dan, who now picks…after…him.
6. Banacolates- Asa Lacy– Jeff is infamously averse to taking pitching, but I think with the stockpile of hitters he has, bolstered by Tork in this draft, and as good as Lacy is, this is a fine exception to the rule. He’s got to get some not terrible pitching at some point for the future?
7. Banacolates- Heston Kjerstad- Back to the warm cozy blanket of college hitters, Jeff takes Kjerstad, whose double plus power will likely play enough to make him a solid CPL OF for many years. Plus did I mention he’s a college hitter? He’s a college hitter.
8. Banacolates- Emerson Hanmeat– Now, this is where it gets tricky. Does Jeff actually take two pitchers in the first 8 picks? I would ordinarily say hell no, but it’s also no guarantee that Lacy falls to him, and the relative safety of Haneggplantemoji is *almost* like the safety of a college hitter. Plus, the same argument for Lacy applies here. He’s got the hitters, now he can pick and choose what pitchers he thinks will be safe enough for him to compete.
9. The Big Units- Max Meyer– Carroll is new to the CPL, and likely operating off a premade big board, and lacks all of the batshit biases that the rest of us have against certain types of prospects, the lucky bastard. With that said, Meyer is a guy that has been ranked highly by many, and could very well prove to be a dynamite pitcher in the majors soon, which fits his team needs perfectly.
10. Baby Seals- Garrett Mitchell– I asked Fred for some intel and he told me ‘He only drafts studs’ so this is what I’m going with. As predicted by Tom in a backwards way on the podcast, Fred takes the relatively safety of Mitchell, also seeing that there’s considerable upside there too.
11. Danimals- Austin Hendrick– I’m not sure if I should believe intel from JK on Dan liking Hendrick, but I’m going to anyway. It certainly doesn’t fit his mold, but if he’s in other dynasty leagues, undoubtedly he’s seen the love and helium that Hendrick has gotten recently. Could be a good building block for Dan’s future as he looks to get younger.
12. Danimals- Garrett Crochet– Trading back may really work out for Dan if he was looking to get some MLB talent, as Crochet should be available here, and that fits Dan’s usual style. It also works for his long term needs too, potentially, as his pitching staff is old as hell, and if Crochet does indeed follow Chris Sale’s path, he’s got a good young arm for years to come.
13. Tomcats- Aaron Sabato– With so many double plus tools taken off the board in front of him, I struggle to think of what Tom will do with this pick, so I’m leaning with a bit of a panic pick here, with a player Tom mocked me to take a pick later. Sabato will sneak into the first somehow, I think, and Tom taking a plus bat with plus power is a fine consolation prize.
14. Fajita Eaters- Robert Hassell– If Robert Hasell falls this far, I’ll be amazed, actually. Scouting reports have gushed over this kid, and when a name like Griffey is thrown out there, it’s going to turn some heads. Not that Hassell will hit for that kind of power, but with baseballs still juiced to the gills, I’m not sure his slight build matters as much.
15. Banacolates- Austin Wells– Jeff is back to the warm fuzzy blanket of college hitters here, and Wells’ bat is about as safe of a tool as you can get. He also has an equal chance to play catcher in the majors as I do, so making him out to be a Diet Schwarber is a very apt, and fairly comical comp, and I think Jeff likes him more than he puts on.
16. G.I. Zo’s- Christian Hernandez– Zobrack traded up in the first but still ends up with the top J2 on the board, and foreshadowing alert, ends up with a nice mix of levels of prospects by the time it’s all said and done.
17. Your Mom- Tyler Soderstrom– Jeff predicted Ray taking Soderstrom, and I kind of like the call. He’s a nichey hit-tool type that has a slightly better chance to stick at catcher than Austin Wells, but should hit somewhere.
18. Pro Bowlers- Carlos Colmenarez– Pat’s farm is pretty stacked, so he really has the ability to take some risks with adding upside, and Colmenarez is a good swing at that. Could be a heavy hitting guy that sticks at short, and even though Pat doesn’t really need that, it never hurts to have an extra heavy hitting shortstop.
19. Nellamaniacs- Reid Detmers– Nelly’s welcomed back to the draft with a high-ish draft pick here, and I think Detmers is a solid guy for him to take. While he probably won’t replicate his video game strikeout numbers from college, it is possible, and even more likely, he’s a high floor polished pitcher that will likely end up in a big league rotation.
20. Motley Shue- Wilman Diaz– Again, Shue doesn’t shy away from risk when there’s talent involved, and he’s certainly been willing to pop J2’s when they fall in his lap, as JK noted on the podcast this week. Diaz is the last of the ‘big three’ J2’s that I think go in the first two rounds, but more accurately all likely fall between picks 10 and 25.
21. The Big Units- Mick Abel– Carroll is still new to the prospect game, and having taken a big stuff pitcher in the first, I actually do think he’ll follow it up with a big stuff pitcher in the second. Risk aside, I do think Abel is a great pick here, and as for the risk, well, he’ll learn eventually.
22. The Big Hurts- Pete Crow-Armstrong– Vince has good young outfield on the major league side, but his prospect side is a little lighter in the grass. I’m noted as not being a PCA fan, but he certainly has his fans, and he’ll go in the second somewhere, which his higher floor and potential speed as huge selling points.
23. Danimals- Kohei Ariharah– Dan has a type, and it’s the MLB type, which has worked well for him in previous drafts. Ariharah may not be as good as some Japanese pitchers to come over, but he’s already in the Rangers rotation and should be a solid contributor, which is more than you could probably say for half the guys taken in this round.
24. G.I. Zo’s- Ed Howard– Zobrack is in a long build, so he has the time and patience to wait on a prospect like Howard, who will need time to develop his bat. I also expect Zobrack to mix some high end high schoolers into this draft as he ambles along in his rebuild, and since I didn’t get around to that in the first, I’m doing it here.
25. G.I. Zo’s- Jordan Walker- Continuing with the theme here, Zobrack grabs another upside HS kid that will likely need some time to refine his skills, but Walker’s ceiling could be emmense if it all comes around. Hit tool fans may shy away from him, but I think his power still finds him landing in the second round.
26. Baby Seals- Cade Cavalli– Fred is a Baseball America guy, and hoo boy, did they gush about Mr. Cavalli. So much so, that I had him penciled in at #14 early on in my draft mocks. I’ve cooled on him ever so slightly, but if the rest of you guys want to let him slip to #30, I’d greatly appreciate it.
27. Pro Bowlers- Bobby Miller– Miller is another college arm in this class that could go a lot higher in other draft classes, as his power mix of pitches seems like it’s almost MLB ready now. Much like his Colmenarez pick, you can never have too much of a good thing.
28. Your Mom- Nick Loftin– Ray is always hard to peg(heh), but like his Soderstrom pick, this seems like Ray taking another baseball-rat type of player that fits into Ray’s tastes, I think. I put Loftin in my hate column, but as I mentioned in there, he will definitely be a guy taken in the early rounds next weekend, and I understand why.
29. BROB’s Barnacles- Chris Flexen– Brian needs one thing, and he needs it badly- pitching. Having missed out on Mr. Ariharah, I think Brian throws a bit of a Hail Mary here to ensure he gets one of the few Starting Pitchers with jobs available here to try to bolster his pitching. It’s a bit of a wild card, but why not?
30. Fajita Eaters- Slade Cecconi– Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but here’s a college arm with a ton of upside and still a decent floor. I just don’t know if I can tolerate having a cat named ‘Slade’ on my team but we’ll see.
31. Rollin’ Goats- Bryce Jarvis– After I included him in my hate article, I was discussing a few guys with Cale, and with Jarvis he mentioned, and I quote “KLaw likes him”. That’s all I needed to hear.
32. Tomcats- Jordan Westburg– Finally, Tom gets his power-speed guy! Westburg probably doesn’t sneak into the second besides being taken here, but he’s a very toolsy upside play here for Tom, as he starts to re-tool his farm.