MLB 2026 Draft ~ Mocks, Rankings, Discussions and More

[craviduce]

What’s our pick this year?

Hopefully we don’t blow it on a closer like last year

now, now, RR...let's us allow him to pitch a full season first

but...I tend to agree with you. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Reliever floor for a #5 pick. It was really an overall bad draft. Compared to the 2024 draft, which had 8-10 really top tier players. ~ 55 Future Value or higher players...the 2025 draft probably only has 3 55 FV players. Maybe Doyle can join that crew...that's jmo. I had him listed on "My 5 players I could live with"....So he made my Top 10 wish list last year. If he can continue to work on and actually throw the splitter with consistency, and learn to not leave his slider up on the zone....he'll be a 55FV+, maybe a 60FV.

What’s our number this year.

#13... can I offer you a Liam Peterson? Control problems but a wicked fastball and slider combo. Has a Reliever floor, but a FOTR ceiling just like Doyle?

It's gamble, but he's a signature Bloom Type player.

personally, I want Lacky, Hacopian, Gracia, Reese to fall to us....big bats with Hats.

maybe Jake Brown and Will Gasparino will continue play outside their paygrade? Or Caden Sorrell and Aiden Robbins are the real deal and A&M and UT-Austin?

better choices this year....I think we'll be okay

Is there like a lottery or something?

I thought we did way worse than 13. Hell, 15 is almost playoffs.

2 teams leap-frogged us in the Lottery....Giants and Rays. The Nats, Rockies, and Angels couldn't be moved from the 10-12 spots, so we fell from 8th to 13th.

[craviduce]

RR, check out Tre Phelps and Tyler Bell (just returned from an opening day shoulder injury, but had a great weekend with Kentucky)....ignore the infield positions, they can be moved to the OF if needed. Good bats. Tre Phelps is having GREAT early season for Georgia

[craviduce]

speaking of UGA....Junior catcher, Daniel Jackson is the first double/double with HR/SB....14 HR, 11 SB.

Justin Lebron is the next closest.......8 HR, 16 SB for Alabama. He's tracking Top 5 draft pick in most mocks.

[craviduce]

https://www.bleachernation.com/mlb/2026 ... ft-top-ss/

hard to read every other player....but the Cubs site gives us

#13, Liam Peterson, RHP, Univ. Florida

link to stats https://www.fangraphs.com/players/liam- ... s/pitching

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

My take ~ You can never have too many Liam's.....we have Doyle, Best (19th round pick, 2025...App. State.)....why not Peterson?

One of my biggest fears...that we'll draft Peterson. Looking like a prototypical Chaim Bloom pick..."High Velocity, Power Slider...some control issues. The upside overrules the High Walks concerns"

We have a LOT of those type of pitchers recently from Bloom in the draft and trades.

I'm all for BPA, but (bleep) we need some offense in our system. And the offense in this draft is looking ACES. Anyways, I like the possibility of Liam Peterson, I think his stuff nasty...but he fades after 70 pitches at Florida and get lost on a batter and before you know it he's walked 2 in a row.

Still....nasty stuff. Wouldn't be a bad pick, but you'd walk away saying "What did we just do????" Especially with the good picks that will still be available.

SEC play should clear this up quite a bit.

[craviduce]

Oh yeah....if you come across Mocks the next few months....put them here. You can keyword search on this forum "Mock Draft", and it'll more than likely show the this thread. Enjoy the thread...keep the convos going!!!.

Thanks a bunch!!!

GO CARDS DRAFT and SCOUTS!!!

PS ~ Remember...we have the 34th pick, too...so these players that are late in mocks, will more than likely be available for our 2nd pick.

I'm loving the 1st day possibilities of this upcoming draft!!!! 6 picks

[craviduce]

fast riser, Vahn Lackey, Catcher, Georgia Tech.... single away from a Cycle tonight vs. West Georgia. Highly athletic catcher...seen in many recent, Top 10 mocks .

The box score is showing him having played 7 or 9 positions tonight...only 2 not played tonight are C and P. He played 50 games as catcher last year, 10 at 3B..

All the attention is on teammate Drew Buress....but Lackey and his teammate Jarren Advincula are having better seasons. Very good chance all three go 1st round....maybe even Top 25 in the draft.

[StL Star]

Don’t we have the 32nd pick instead of the 34th pick, Duce?

[craviduce]

Don’t we have the 32nd pick instead of the 34th pick, Duce?

you're right, sorry. It's up to 32nd.

good call.

We "should" get 2 really good players

[BleedingBleu]

Zero in on a RH OF power bat who may realistically be available at #13.

If the most talented guy fits RH OF power bat great but I have always been one to draft 'the best player' over 'need' .

Sometimes you can get lucky and have both fall your way .. a great talent at a positon of need too.

Dan gets it

what happened to your Vols? Kuhns seems to be the only Day 1 prospect this year (rounds 1-3). And I like Kuhns, good pitcher with it seems impeccable control...under 2 BB/9. He has really wicked curve. Good arsenal for the pros. Won't rack up the most K's, but he'll get his share each outing.

I'm not a Henry Ford fan...didn't think much of him last year with UVA, and he's okay with Tenn this year. Needs a big SEC performance to make Day 1, imo.

I like the idea of this type of pitcher as the Minors & Bigs have gravitated to robo strike zone.

This year could get obnoxious with players tapping the helmet and balking at (bleep) near every fringe 1-1, 2-1 pitch

[BleedingBleu]

Baseball America's 2026 Mock Draft, v4.0

1. White Sox ~ Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA
2. Rays ~ Grady Emerson, SS, Ft. Worth Christian HS, (TX)
3. Twins ~ Justin Lebron, SS, U. of Alabama
4. Giants ~ Jacob Lombard, SS, Gulliver Prep HS (FL)
5. Pirates ~ Jackson Flora, RHP, UCSB
6. Royals ~ Drew Burress, OF, GTech
7. Orioles ~ Ace Reese, 3B, MSU
8. A's ~ Chris Hacopian, 2B/3B, A&M
9. Braves ~A.J. Gracia, OF, UVA
10. Rockies ~ Eric Becker, SS, UVA
11. Nationals ~ Eric Booth, Jr., OF, Oak Grove HS, (MS)
12. Angels ~ Cameron Flukey, RHP, Coastal Carolina
13. Cardinals ~ Derek Curiel, SS, LSU

still Available at #13... Vahn Lacky, C, GTech ; Jake Brown, OF, LSU ; Mulivai Levu, 1B, UCLA ; Will Gasparino, OF, UCLA ; Logan Schmidt, LHP, HS (CA) ; Tyler Bell, SS, U. Kentucky ; Caden Sorrell, OF, A&M ; Carson Bolemon, LHP, HS (SC) ; Gio Rojas, LHP, HS, (FL) ; Liam Peterson, RHP, U. Florida

if I missed anyone...sorry. These will change. I don't really agree with BA's mock assessment for now...Hacopian stock is going down (nagging back injury); Flukey is out until late April at the earliest ; Becker and Curiel are good hitters, but not the power you may be looking for that early in the draft. They don't have Vahn Lackey in the Top 10...that has to be a mistake??? The HS pitchers are missing, and they are perhaps some of the best LHP Prep stars in a long, long time....

Anyways, this will be a tough draft to mock....Very Strong college class of hitters and equally strong HS bats and pitchers class....who will fall into our laps?

Call me crazy, but out of the potentially available UCLA Players, I might be more interested in Mulivai Levu.

Will Gasparino has been terrible in Wooden Bat Leagues, whereas Levu is hitting consistently all throughout college+

Will’s a big boy (6’-6”) with BIG aluminum bat power. Just 1 Homer and 1 Double in 26 Wooden Bat League Games (78 PA). Not good.

[billybaseball]

Few things I predict will happen

#1 Cards move Nootbaar and/or Romero for more draft picks and international bonus money.

#2 Cardinals either make a massive underslot pick at 13 or draft a top prep player for a massive overslot deal.

#3 Cardinals take alot of younger players because their system is very top heavy outside of the international players. Mitchell is really the only young non international player of note in the system.

[82birds]

https://redbirdrants.com/baseball-ameri ... -mlb-draft

[Jobafish]

https://www.baseballprospectjournal.com ... rformance/
This guy is looking pretty dang good. I know we are pretty stacked at catcher. But best player available with that 13th.

[BleedingBleu]

Disclaimer: The video above is hosted on Youtube, and has not be reviewed by the staff of the Post-Dispatch.

[82birds]

Justin Lebron, SS, university of Alabama

https://pitcherlist.com/way-too-early-2 ... ock-draft/

[craviduce]

Perfect Game's Top 300 draft board and their newest Mock

https://www.perfectgame.org/articles/Vi ... icle=24219 Draft Board

https://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/Vi ... icle=24225 ...Cards #13 pick, Sawyer Strosnider, TCU, OF

I don't mind Strosnider pick...he's addressed my concerns and pundits concerns this year....better walk rate, and more consistent contact.

He was a 10/10/10 guy last year 2B, 3B, HR...but at the expense of a lot of K's....seems to have righted that ship.