MLB 2026 Draft ~ Mocks, Rankings, Discussions and More

[craviduce]

several more mocks trickled in today. And I'm NOT going to make a thread for each individual mock. I won't be maintaining this during the Spring, but you all can use this if you want to keep a centralized location for all things MLB Draft, it makes following so much easier, in my humble opinion...it's your choice.

Thought I'd give a nod to a great poster here on CT, 82birds, he always liked Draft Threads and a place for Mocks and such. 82birds is one of the best of us on this Forum. Thanks, bro, for always making me fill welcomed when I first started out here. And thanks for all the discussions on Prospects, College kids, HS kids throughout the year. As well as the Minor Leagues.


---------------

Anyways...the mocks...they're all over the place, but this early, I believe that's a good thing. It gives us a chance to get to know all the potential picks and who would be a proper prospect to follow.

I've always believed BA, Prep Baseball and ProspectsLive give the best coverage of the Draft all year long. Unfortunately, I let my PL sub expire, and won't be around to use it if I had it, so I have nothing for you from them.

New Mocks :

PrepBaseball ~ 13th Cardinals ~ Derek Curiel, OF, LSU ; 32nd Cardinals ~ Aiden Ruiz, SS, Stony Brooks HS (NY ~ Vandy commit)

https://www.prepbaseballreport.com/news ... mock-draft

Scouting on Ruiz from MLB.com https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2026 ... uiz-830855

PB has a clickable scouting report on Curiel. MLB.com's https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2026 ... iel-815156

------------------------------

Battery Power (Braves Blog) ~ 13th Cardinals ~ Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech .... https://www.batterypower.com/atlanta-br ... mock-draft

https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2026 ... ess-806039 Buress' MLB.com scouting report

-------------------

BleacherNation ~ 13th Cardinals ~ A.J. Gracia, OF, Virginia ....https://www.bleachernation.com/mlb/2025 ... mock-rd-1/

https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2026 ... cia-806088 Gracia's MLB.com scouting report

Note ~ Kudos to Bleachernation for courageous restraint in NOT mocking Cholowsky 23rd overall to the Cubs. LOL. Those who've followed their mocks throughout the years, they seem to try and mock top prospects to the Cubs....Wetherholt, Holliday, Seth Hernandez, Condon, Bazanna, Skenes.

-----------------

And I'll repost BA's and MLBpipeline (MLB.com) mocks for you

BA: 13th Cardinals, Tyler Spangler, SS, De La Salle HS (California)







Spangler's MLB.com scouting report https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2026 ... ler-828811

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MLBPipeline ~ 13th Cardinals, A.J. Gracia, OF, Virginia

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you likely won't see anymore mocks until March and April....those will be from the usual suspects like BA, Justbaseball, and PrepBaseball...also, Bleachnation will give you a weekly update from March on as well...but I urge you to read it with caution and humor filled laugh.

Enjoy

Crav.

[BleedingBleu]

ESPN’s Top 5

1. Chicago White Sox: Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA
2. Tampa Bay Rays: Grady Emerson, SS, Fort Worth Christian (Texas) HS, Texas commit
3. Minnesota Twins: Justin Lebron, SS, Alabama
4. San Francisco Giants: Drew Burress, CF, Georgia Tech
5. Pittsburgh Pirates: A.J. Gracia, OF, Virginia

I don’t see Burress going Top 10…

[craviduce]

I believe HS prospect LHP Boleman is the best pitcher in the upcoming draft. I don't think he'll be selected as the first pitcher b/c so many teams get spooked by pitchers, but my money is on him as the best....just like Seth Hernandez was last year. I rank Boleman 3rd overall behind Cholowsky and Emerson

[craviduce]

ESPN’s Top 5

1. Chicago White Sox: Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA
2. Tampa Bay Rays: Grady Emerson, SS, Fort Worth Christian (Texas) HS, Texas commit
3. Minnesota Twins: Justin Lebron, SS, Alabama
4. San Francisco Giants: Drew Burress, CF, Georgia Tech
5. Pittsburgh Pirates: A.J. Gracia, OF, Virginia

I don’t see Burress going Top 10…

so small, eh? I agree with you....or maybe like 8th-12th? Seems like a good landing spot. His power last year, though...for his size...pretty incredible at 5'9"....if he can replicate last year in the ACC, he'll be tough to remove from the Top 10.

[BleedingBleu]

ESPN’s Top 5

1. Chicago White Sox: Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA
2. Tampa Bay Rays: Grady Emerson, SS, Fort Worth Christian (Texas) HS, Texas commit
3. Minnesota Twins: Justin Lebron, SS, Alabama
4. San Francisco Giants: Drew Burress, CF, Georgia Tech
5. Pittsburgh Pirates: A.J. Gracia, OF, Virginia

I don’t see Burress going Top 10…

MLB.com list those same Top 4, but foresees the Pirates going after Prep Shortstop Jacob Lombard. Their list goes through every team’s first pick (in other words, Blue Jays at 39, Dodgers at 40).

Here's Pipeline's first full 2026 mock draft

6. Royals: Carson Bolemon, LHP, Southside Christian HS, Simpsonville, S.C. (No. 7)
7. Orioles: Derek Curiel, OF, Louisiana State (No. 6)
8. Athletics: Cameron Flukey, RHP, Coastal Carolina (No. 9)
9. Braves: Gio Rojas, LHP, Stoneman Douglas HS, Parkland, Fla. (No.
10. Rockies: Vahn Lackey, C, Georgia Tech (No. 12)
11. Nationals: Liam Peterson, RHP, Florida (No. 13)
12. Angels: Sawyer Strosnider, OF, Texas Christian (No. 10)
13. Cardinals: A.J. Gracia, OF, Virginia (No. 15)
14. Marlins: Chris Hacopian, SS, Texas A&M (No. 16)
15. Diamondbacks: Tyler Spangler, SS, De La Salle HS, Concord, Calif. (No. 11)
16. Rangers: Jackson Flora, RHP, UC Santa Barbara (No. 14)
17. Astros: Ace Reese, 3B, Mississippi State (No. 18)
18. Reds: Caden Sorrell, OF, Texas A&M (No. 20)
19. Guardians: Eric Becker, SS, Virginia (No. 21)
20. Red Sox: Tyler Bell, SS, Kentucky (No. 22)

[BleedingBleu]

ESPN’s Top 5

1. Chicago White Sox: Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA
2. Tampa Bay Rays: Grady Emerson, SS, Fort Worth Christian (Texas) HS, Texas commit
3. Minnesota Twins: Justin Lebron, SS, Alabama
4. San Francisco Giants: Drew Burress, CF, Georgia Tech
5. Pittsburgh Pirates: A.J. Gracia, OF, Virginia

I don’t see Burress going Top 10…

so small, eh? I agree with you....or maybe like 8th-12th? Seems like a good landing spot. His power last year, though...for his size...pretty incredible at 5'9"....if he can replicate last year in the ACC, he'll be tough to remove from the Top 10.

Performance, his Freshman & Sophomore season aren’t too big of a departure, even though it kind of looks that way.
Fr - .381/.512/.821/1.333
So - .333/.469/.693/1.162

A couple less walks, a couple more strikeouts, but still more BB than SO. Less Homers but a lot more Doubles. More Runs, less RBI’s. So, I see the appeal.

HOWEVER, the Cape Cod League performance leaves a lot to be desired. His Walks/Strikeouts completely reversed. 13 BB, 22 SO. Hell, his hitting ability vanished, completely.
.125/.282/.219/.501

Add to that he’s the size of Tavon Austin, and I just see a guy somewhere between Sugar Shane Robinson hit tool w/less power than Harrison Bader.

I’ll put it this way… I’d be annoyed if we took him at 13

[Francis Park Thug]

Ditto on 82birds.
He never gets in tiffs,
He never toots his own horn.
He is just a consistently good poster.
Thanks, Crav, for giving him a shout out.

[Ozziesfan41]

Ditto on 82birds.
He never gets in tiffs,
He never toots his own horn.
He is just a consistently good poster.
Thanks, Crav, for giving him a shout out.

+1

[82birds]

thanks for all the links Duce
you're the best

[82birds]

Ditto on 82birds.
He never gets in tiffs,
He never toots his own horn.
He is just a consistently good poster.
Thanks, Crav, for giving him a shout out.

+1

you all are too kind.

[zuck698]

Ditto on 82birds.
He never gets in tiffs,
He never toots his own horn.
He is just a consistently good poster.
Thanks, Crav, for giving him a shout out.

+1

you all are too kind.

Well deserved. Same sentiment goes to the OP.

[BleedingBleu]

Ditto on 82birds.
He never gets in tiffs,
He never toots his own horn.
He is just a consistently good poster.
Thanks, Crav, for giving him a shout out.

+1

+2

[Jobafish]

several more mocks trickled in today. And I'm NOT going to make a thread for each individual mock. I won't be maintaining this during the Spring, but you all can use this if you want to keep a centralized location for all things MLB Draft, it makes following so much easier, in my humble opinion...it's your choice.

Thought I'd give a nod to a great poster here on CT, 82birds, he always liked Draft Threads and a place for Mocks and such. 82birds is one of the best of us on this Forum. Thanks, bro, for always making me fill welcomed when I first started out here. And thanks for all the discussions on Prospects, College kids, HS kids throughout the year. As well as the Minor Leagues.


---------------

Anyways...the mocks...they're all over the place, but this early, I believe that's a good thing. It gives us a chance to get to know all the potential picks and who would be a proper prospect to follow.

I've always believed BA, Prep Baseball and ProspectsLive give the best coverage of the Draft all year long. Unfortunately, I let my PL sub expire, and won't be around to use it if I had it, so I have nothing for you from them.

New Mocks :

PrepBaseball ~ 13th Cardinals ~ Derek Curiel, OF, LSU ; 32nd Cardinals ~ Aiden Ruiz, SS, Stony Brooks HS (NY ~ Vandy commit)

https://www.prepbaseballreport.com/news ... mock-draft

Scouting on Ruiz from MLB.com https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2026 ... uiz-830855

PB has a clickable scouting report on Curiel. MLB.com's https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2026 ... iel-815156

------------------------------

Battery Power (Braves Blog) ~ 13th Cardinals ~ Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech .... https://www.batterypower.com/atlanta-br ... mock-draft

https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2026 ... ess-806039 Buress' MLB.com scouting report

-------------------

BleacherNation ~ 13th Cardinals ~ A.J. Gracia, OF, Virginia ....https://www.bleachernation.com/mlb/2025 ... mock-rd-1/

https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2026 ... cia-806088 Gracia's MLB.com scouting report

Note ~ Kudos to Bleachernation for courageous restraint in NOT mocking Cholowsky 23rd overall to the Cubs. LOL. Those who've followed their mocks throughout the years, they seem to try and mock top prospects to the Cubs....Wetherholt, Holliday, Seth Hernandez, Condon, Bazanna, Skenes.

-----------------

And I'll repost BA's and MLBpipeline (MLB.com) mocks for you

BA: 13th Cardinals, Tyler Spangler, SS, De La Salle HS (California)







Spangler's MLB.com scouting report https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2026 ... ler-828811

---------------

MLBPipeline ~ 13th Cardinals, A.J. Gracia, OF, Virginia

--------------

you likely won't see anymore mocks until March and April....those will be from the usual suspects like BA, Justbaseball, and PrepBaseball...also, Bleachnation will give you a weekly update from March on as well...but I urge you to read it with caution and humor filled laugh.

Enjoy

Crav.

Thanks Crav.

[Jobafish]

ESPN’s Top 5

1. Chicago White Sox: Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA
2. Tampa Bay Rays: Grady Emerson, SS, Fort Worth Christian (Texas) HS, Texas commit
3. Minnesota Twins: Justin Lebron, SS, Alabama
4. San Francisco Giants: Drew Burress, CF, Georgia Tech
5. Pittsburgh Pirates: A.J. Gracia, OF, Virginia

I don’t see Burress going Top 10…

so small, eh? I agree with you....or maybe like 8th-12th? Seems like a good landing spot. His power last year, though...for his size...pretty incredible at 5'9"....if he can replicate last year in the ACC, he'll be tough to remove from the Top 10.

Performance, his Freshman & Sophomore season aren’t too big of a departure, even though it kind of looks that way.
Fr - .381/.512/.821/1.333
So - .333/.469/.693/1.162

A couple less walks, a couple more strikeouts, but still more BB than SO. Less Homers but a lot more Doubles. More Runs, less RBI’s. So, I see the appeal.

HOWEVER, the Cape Cod League performance leaves a lot to be desired. His Walks/Strikeouts completely reversed. 13 BB, 22 SO. Hell, his hitting ability vanished, completely.
.125/.282/.219/.501

Add to that he’s the size of Tavon Austin, and I just see a guy somewhere between Sugar Shane Robinson hit tool w/less power than Harrison Bader.

I’ll put it this way… I’d be annoyed if we took him at 13

So, you have judged him off of one summer in the cape cod league? Other than rock, he’s my favorite player in the draft.

[BleedingBleu]

ESPN’s Top 5

1. Chicago White Sox: Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA
2. Tampa Bay Rays: Grady Emerson, SS, Fort Worth Christian (Texas) HS, Texas commit
3. Minnesota Twins: Justin Lebron, SS, Alabama
4. San Francisco Giants: Drew Burress, CF, Georgia Tech
5. Pittsburgh Pirates: A.J. Gracia, OF, Virginia

I don’t see Burress going Top 10…

so small, eh? I agree with you....or maybe like 8th-12th? Seems like a good landing spot. His power last year, though...for his size...pretty incredible at 5'9"....if he can replicate last year in the ACC, he'll be tough to remove from the Top 10.

Performance, his Freshman & Sophomore season aren’t too big of a departure, even though it kind of looks that way.
Fr - .381/.512/.821/1.333
So - .333/.469/.693/1.162

A couple less walks, a couple more strikeouts, but still more BB than SO. Less Homers but a lot more Doubles. More Runs, less RBI’s. So, I see the appeal.

HOWEVER, the Cape Cod League performance leaves a lot to be desired. His Walks/Strikeouts completely reversed. 13 BB, 22 SO. Hell, his hitting ability vanished, completely.
.125/.282/.219/.501

Add to that he’s the size of Tavon Austin, and I just see a guy somewhere between Sugar Shane Robinson hit tool w/less power than Harrison Bader.

I’ll put it this way… I’d be annoyed if we took him at 13

So, you have judged him off of one summer in the cape cod league? Other than rock, he’s my favorite player in the draft.

I’ve judged him off of being 5’-8,” and a massive drop off in a wood bat league

[Cardinalss4Ever]

St. Louis Picks 13, 32, 50 & 88

Needs power from both hitters and pitchers.

Methodology - I figure a 3 pick variance either side is fair. First pick at 13, must choose from 10-17, etc.

SO, purely from reading about them, and admittedly I know nothing. (AKA have a good laugh, ) - Wish list

With 13th, #10 - Sawyer Strosnider - TCU - L-L - OF - Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 60 | Run: 60 | Arm: 55 | Field: 55 | Overall: 55 (Would also take Peterson or Flora as pitchers.)

With 32nd, #33 - Blake Bowen HS - R-R - OF - Scouting grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 60 | Run: 60 | Arm: 60 | Field: 55 | Overall: 50

With 50th, #51 - Savion Sims HS - 6'8" RHP - Scouting grades: Fastball: 70 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 45 | Overall: 50

With 88th, #87 - Carson Wiggens - Ark 6'5" RHP - Scouting grades: Fastball: 80 | Slider: 70 | Control: 45 | Overall: 45