Baseball America’s Jim Callis posted his second mock draft today (no subs. req’d), and he has the Astros taking former Yankees draft pick/Oklahoma RHP Jonathan Gray with the first overall selection. Callis notes Houston is rumored to be seeking a pre-draft deal with a college bat — likely San Diego 3B Kris Bryant or UNC 3B Colin Moran — so they can redistribute the draft pool savings elsewhere. The Cubs and Rockies are projected to take Stanford RHP Mark Appel and Bryant with the second and third overall picks, respectively.
The Yankees have three first round picks, and Callis has them selecting New Jersey HS LHP Rob Kaminsky (26th overall), Indiana State LHP Sean Manaea (32nd), and Oklahoma HS C Jon Denney (33rd). Click the links for my profile of each player. The Yankees have been connected to Denney, an offense-first catcher, in every single mock draft so far. Callis suspects the Yankees will roll the dice on Manaea — he missed his last start with shoulder stiffness and hip soreness that has lingered all spring — thanks to their extra picks and draft pool money ($7.96M), but they have become risk-averse in recent years, at least when it comes to their highest selections. Those three players might represent the best case scenario for the Yankees, unless they’re willing to take on an another injury risk in Minnesota HS OF Ryan Boldt.
Other Mock Drafts: Baseball America (v1.0), Keith Law (v1.0), and MLB.com (v1.0).
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