2021 Draft Thread

[Bertz]

Jim Callis mock:

 

 

21. Cubs: Will Taylor, OF, Dutch Fork HS (Irmo, S.C.)

 

The Cubs are considering every demographic -- high school bats (Taylor, Colson Montgomery) and arms (Solometo), college hitters (Florida outfielder Jud Fabian) and pitchers (McGreevy).

 

I believe a week or two ago Keith Law very explicitly said that the Cubs like Taylor, so this is starting to sound kind of real.

[Tim]

Jim Callis mock:

 

 

21. Cubs: Will Taylor, OF, Dutch Fork HS (Irmo, S.C.)

 

The Cubs are considering every demographic -- high school bats (Taylor, Colson Montgomery) and arms (Solometo), college hitters (Florida outfielder Jud Fabian) and pitchers (McGreevy).

 

I believe a week or two ago Keith Law very explicitly said that the Cubs like Taylor, so this is starting to sound kind of real.

Never trust anyone with two first names.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Jim Callis mock:

 

 

21. Cubs: Will Taylor, OF, Dutch Fork HS (Irmo, S.C.)

 

The Cubs are considering every demographic -- high school bats (Taylor, Colson Montgomery) and arms (Solometo), college hitters (Florida outfielder Jud Fabian) and pitchers (McGreevy).

 

I believe a week or two ago Keith Law very explicitly said that the Cubs like Taylor, so this is starting to sound kind of real.

 

There's also been enough for me to believe they're very into McGreevy (and Ford, but I'm beginning to think he won't be there at 21).

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Gavin Williams is making himself some money today.

[toonsterwu]

Williams was damn good today. As exciting as someone like Jack Leiter is, I might prefer someone like Gavin Williams over the long haul. Dunno, he's had a good year. His stuff isn't at the level of Leiter or Rocker, but it's plenty good. Still think he should junk a breaking ball.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

They only got to 17 but interesting read:

[Hrubes20]

Some Josh Hartle love, still think he reminds me of Darvish but LH:

 

https://journalnow.com/sports/high-school/the-josh-hartle-experience-the-sights-and-sounds-around-the-game-of-reagans-star-pitcher/article_5e9ebb66-c3c6-11eb-a8f5-eb366595c0de.html

 

The scout

 

“I think it starts with the frame. He’s got good size and arm strength, and we saw velocity today in the low 90s. I thought he pitched very well and threw a ton of strikes and had great command so he was impressive today. We will take into consideration how much he wants to go to school or if he wants to get drafted.” – a 15-year Major League Baseball scout who was granted anonymity

 

and fluff:

 

The principal

 

“He’s just a special kid and with somebody like that who has his talents, he could have a different attitude but he doesn’t have that. He’s appreciative of everything and he’s humble and our teachers notice that about him also. He’s a great student and he’s always on top of that but from a baseball side of it he’s special. I’m a baseball guy, and I don’t think I’ve ever been around someone like him who can do those things on the mound. It’s been a lot of fun to watch, and he’s certainly made our school a better place.” – Reagan principal Brad Royal

 

I need to look into the prep pitchers a lot more than I have thus far. This regime has avoided prep arms in the 1st round, so I guess it has led to me not paying much attention to the top 50 prep pitcher types this year. The little I just read/watched about Hartle looks solid though.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

21. Cubs: Colson Montgomery, 3B, Southridge HS (Huntingburg, Ind.)

We’ve had McGreevy here a lot, and that could still be a fit, and if they wanted to go high school arm, they could consider Painter or New Jersey flamethrower Chase Petty. A college bat like Trey Sweeney starts coming up around here, but so does Colson Montgomery, who has a lot of helium.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

21. Chicago Cubs

Jud Fabian, CF, Florida

 

The Cubs seem to be embracing variance more in recent years, and Fabian has that in spades with his massive upside and uneven spring. He may be a tough sign much lower than this, but it seems like someone will meet his price.

 

I'm just not keen on Fabian and his numerous strikeouts.

[Hrubes20]

 

21. Chicago Cubs

Jud Fabian, CF, Florida

 

The Cubs seem to be embracing variance more in recent years, and Fabian has that in spades with his massive upside and uneven spring. He may be a tough sign much lower than this, but it seems like someone will meet his price.

 

I'm just not keen on Fabian and his numerous strikeouts.

 

I'm 100% with you. I would pass on Fabian. I'm actually warming up a bit to Trey Sweeney at 21, depending on who is still on the board.

[OleMissCub]

Fabian is a great athlete, BUT, he’s not so hot against elite pitching, at least from what I saw of him.

 

In the series against Ole Miss:

Hoglund faced him twice and K’d him twice

Nikhazy faced him three times and K’d him three times

 

He did hit 2 homers in a row against Leiter though, but didn’t do anything against Rocker.

 

Nevertheless, he shouldn’t be a first rounder IMO

[Bertz]

 

21. Chicago Cubs

Jud Fabian, CF, Florida

 

The Cubs seem to be embracing variance more in recent years, and Fabian has that in spades with his massive upside and uneven spring. He may be a tough sign much lower than this, but it seems like someone will meet his price.

 

I'm just not keen on Fabian and his numerous strikeouts.

 

I don't really think Kiley has much of a read on this team, so I'd imagine this is more speculation than rumor. I actually don't know who does have their finger on the pulse for the team at this point. Callis did for a really long time but I don't know if that's still true here in the Kantrovitz era.

[Hrubes20]

Will Bednar with an eye-opening performance last night. 15 Ks in only 6 innings against #2 ranked Texas. Have to think he's in the mix at 21 if they decide to go collegiate arm. Fits their prior philosophy a little bit as well, as I seem to recall reading somewhere that Bednar is a Rapsodo giant.

[Hrubes20]

The NCAA made more off my mostly accidental click than Bednar made from this start working their likely publicly funded fields:

 

 

Had to take a phone call mid-post and you beat me to it. Great outing.

[toonsterwu]

I wouldn't mind Bednar in the first. Really good season, the slider looks better than I thought, and the fastball plays. I don't think I love the idea of Bednar there for the Cubs (for a college arm, he's still relatively raw) but if he's the best talent on the board, go for it.

 

Quick note on Abbott - that circle change has really come on strong of late. It's at least an average offering, and in the last outing against Tennessee, it looked better than that with it's movement and velocity. I have to admit, I had my doubts on Abbott as a starter, but with solid velocity for a lefty, a plus breaking ball, and an improving changeup, plus fairly loose mechanics that he seems to repeat well, he definitely should get a long run as a starter in a system.

 

Going to be interesting to see how Griff McGarry does tonight against Mississippi State. If he continues performing like the last two starts, I could see a team saying, screw it, let's pop him earlier than expected, save a little money, and see if we can fix him enough to get a usable starter out of it. That's elite level stuff, and it's been on enough in the last two outings.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Keith Law: https://theathletic.com/2669873/2021/06/24/2021-mlb-mock-draft-2-0-jack-leiter-to-tigers-pirates-take-a-high-school-shortstop-in-keith-laws-latest-look/?amp

 

21. Chicago Cubs: Will Taylor, OF, Dutch Fork (SC)

 

Nothing new here — which includes nothing new from Taylor, who still hasn’t indicated to scouts whether he plans to play baseball or play football for Dabo Swinney at Clemson. If he’s willing to sign, he could go higher than this, maybe to St. Louis or Philly.

[Hrubes20]

Gross to both Fabian and McGreevy being linked to the Cubs in multiple places. Not a fan of either.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

BA Mock 5.0:

 

21 Joe Mack C Williamsville East HS, East Amherst, N.Y.

Notes:

Mack wasn’t great out of the gate but he is getting some late upward momentum for his play. The Cubs have been tied to a few prep bats including Colson Montgomery, as well as the college arms that are coming off the board around this range like Bednar, Michael McGreevy and Gavin Williams.

 

The White Sox got Colson Montgomery at the next pick but they mentioned this in his blurb:

 

Montgomery seems to be one of the hottest names in recent weeks with plenty of landing spots, but both Chicago teams are mentioned most frequently with him.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Our friend Named After Maddux has a new mock and I like his Cubs pick. And he notes a name for possibly the Cubs second round pick who is in Billy Swoope’s territory (Swoope had Herz and Moreno picked in the Cubs last two drafts).

https://ivyfutures.com/2021/06/25/mlb-mock-draft-2021-version-3-0/

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

Cubs get Colson Montgomery (though Ford falls to 23 somehow).

[Named After Maddux]

 

 

Updated pool of players I'd want at 21:

 

Kumar Rocker RHSP

Kahlil Watson SS/IF

Harry Ford C

Jordan Wicks LHSP

Andrew Abbott LHSP

Edwin Arroyo SS/IF

Gage Jump LHSP

 

Good list Tom.

Rocker, Watson, and Ford are all upper first round players to me. I’m definitely higher on Arroyo than most, but I still think a team could squint and see a first round caliber player there. Abbott as well probably should go high.

I’ll be honest I’m not as high on Wicks or Jump. I’m just not a huge believer in the smallish LHP who are FB/CH. i didn’t see him spin as many quality breaking balls. Pipeline has the slider as a 55, Callis and company probably saw better ones than I did, but it didn’t inspire much confidence. Still a guy who should go high. He’s a quality LHP. I just don’t like the profile.

Jump is metrically amazing, but I wonder if the Cubs are interested much. Talked to a scout in the organization who doesn’t feel like he’s a starter long term. He looks athletic enough to me, but with TB, LAD, SD, MIN picking right after, I dunno if the Cubs go there in the first. Mostly conjecture there admittedly. And Mason loves Jump. He’s one of his favorite players in the last couple draft classes. I wasn’t surprised when he was his Prospects Live pick. He’s also higher on Christian Franklin than most. He wanted me to pick Franklin for the Cubs in the second round of that draft.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

21. Chicago Cubs

Colson Montgomery, SS, Southridge

 

There’s an awfully good chance Montgomery doesn’t make it this far, but should he fall to the Cubs, it’s an awfully good value. He won’t make it past 22 and their cross-town rival White Sox. The Cubs have been connected to several high school players, including Harry Ford, Lonnie White, and Andrew Painter.

[Hrubes20]

Ooh. I like the Lonnie White connection

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Ooh. I like the Lonnie White connection

 

Same. I'm super intrigued by him and the org needs power.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

21. Chicago Cubs

 

Pick: Anthony Solometo, LHP, Bishop Eustace (NJ)

 

Solometo was in for a private workout. South Alabama outfielder Ethan Wilson also needs to come off the board somewhere in this range but we haven’t been able to attach his name to any club.