2035 Mock Draft

1. Minnesota Twins - SP Hayato Fujioka

Perpetually in a rebuild, Minnesota needs a top young pitcher to pair with current ace Lino Murray, and Fujoka’s youth will pull GM Habsco away from Claude Lavoulle and Tyler Hudson, two more major league ready aces.

2. Philadelphia Phillies - 1B Armando Salas

The Phillies have the opportunity to make up for the fiasco of a pick that was Crandall Richter last season after lucking out in the lottery. Salas is a bit old to be picked this high, but his offensive upside is too high for Philadelphia to pass up, and he has the ability to be a plug and play offensive weapon for the Phils.

3. Cincinnati Reds (from Washington) - C Ashton Slay

Cincinnati pulled off a huge blockbuster trade to snag this pick, shipping budding stars Viggo Johnassen and JC Chan to the Nats. Moving two offensive stars puts a lot of pressure on GM Hollinn to replace them immediately. Naturally, Hollinn made this deal with one idea in mind: Ashton Slay. Slay is the best catcher prospect to come out of the draft since Minnesota’s Mike Tirico, and with Johannsen in Washington, and very little depth at the catcher position league wide, this is the only pick they can make.

4. Vancouver Canadians - SP Claude Lavoulle

Vancouver lucks out with the 2nd and 3rd picks going to playoff contenders, and finds a plug and play ace at number 4. Lavoulle is 24, so he has somewhat limited upside for a Top 5 pick, but that is only relative. He already is as good as many of the aces across the league, and Vancouver is lucky to have him.

5. Los Angeles Dodgers - LF Elmo Garrison

The Dodgers won free agency by snagging up superstar third baseman Chris Ripken, and with former  number 2 pick Jesus Medina and former number 1 pick Abe Lincoln VIII anchoring the rotation for the next decade, it is up to LA to add some young, offensive firepower to complement its veterans in the lineup. Many believe that Garrison’s fielding deficiencies will cause him to fall out of the top 5, but there are enough outfielders in LA that committing him to a full time DH position is the perfect situation for the young offensive dynamo.

6. London Knights - SP Prince Vespucci

After an active free agency, Vespucci is an excellent luxury pick to build long term rotational depth for London. He will not be forced into a poor situation, with Elijah Kohler and Israel Argeretta already ingrained as the dominant 1-2 punch.

7. Tokyo A's - SP Tyler Hudson

Tokyo has some nice pieces, but they lack a true ace-type atop their rotation. Although Hudson is a clear boom or bust pick, the potential is too high for the A’s to pass up.

8. Houston Astros - C Cameron Chapman

Robert Malone just isn’t going to cut it behind the plate for the Astros, Chapman is a plug and play guy who is solid. Don’t expect anything spectacular, just consistency.

9. Chicago White Sox - 2B Iman Baskin

Jose Calderon Jr. has been the centerpiece of the old Brooklyn franchise, but as the team transitions to Chicago, he is aging rather ungracefully. Baskin will develop over time to supplant him in the lineup, and could be a steal at #9.

10. Shanghai Crowned Cranes - 1B Jannero Lozano

There is nothing left for Shanghai to do here at 10 except draft for the highest player on the board. Lozano is no slouch, but this creates a trade market for youngster Takeshi Kaneshiro, and could be the better piece of this pick for the Crowned Cranes.

11. Texas Rangers - RF Art Bryant

Bryant rounds out a young outfield for the Rangers, makes them an offensive powerhouse for the foreseeable future.

12. San Francisco Giants - AUTO

This is likely to be a strange autopick, so there is no way for this to be predicted.

13. Boston Red Sox - SS Fabian Torres

Boston reeled in Jairo Oduro in free agency, and shortstop is the only position that they should be at all worried about in the future. Torres has a high ceiling, and could be a Top 10 in the right situation, so this is a no brainer for the BoSox as they try to unseat Toronto in the AL East.

14. San Antonio Alamos - SP Ho-Sung Pak

San Antonio is has a good rotation, but they are all entering their prime. Pak gives them a competent #4 in the rotation now, and excellent depth for the future.

15. Arizona Diamondbacks - 3B Carl Jackson

Arizona is the new Miami. Literally. That’s where the Miami franchise relocated this offseason. GM Aclilly17 took his crazy management style with the team to the Southwest, and that means that this pick must be an off-the-walls, unexpected gem. Unfortunately for him, he is shoehorned into addressing the lack of a third baseman on the roster, so Jackson is the only option. Welcome to the desert!

16. Great Lakes Tigers - SP Frankie Bacon

The Tigers have very little to like in their rotation. At least with Bacon, they can hope for better than former #1 Overall Pick Jim Speith has turned into.

17. Los Angeles Dodgers (from Chicago Cubs via Seoul) - UT Artis Prior

Prior’s versatility is too valuable to pass up this late in the 1st Round, LA gets tremendous value with their 2nd pick this year.

18. Vancouver Canadians (from Seoul) - RF Pluto Bolpelo

Bolpelo is the best player left on the board, Vancouver cannot afford to pass up on him.

19. Toronto Blue Jays (from Los Angeles Angels) - RP Manuel Cedeno

Who else but another young reliever? The Blue Jays have been gutted this offseason, look for rxk to make some bold moves to improve the 4 time defending World Series Champs. This is an enigmatic class of relievers, Cedeno presents the highest ceiling of the top part of that group.

20. Baltimore Orioles (from New York Yankees) - 2B Roberto Maradona

Baltimore really needs a quality second baseman moving forward if they believe that they can compete long term in the AL. Maradona isn’t anything special now, and will need a couple of years to come into his own, but the Orioles don’t really have a lot of other options.

21. Mexico City Aztecs - SP Guy Jones

This is a REALLY old rotation south of the border. Jones won’t be forced into a high priority role immediately, but gives Mexico City someone to develop long term to maintain a competitive rotation.

22. New York Mets - SP Roberto Hernandez

The Mets are always good for a few surprise moves, and Hernandez could be the coup of the draft if he figures out his control issues.

23. Boston Red Sox (from Atlanta) - LF Dardan Kojo

Boston grabs another developmental outfielder with their second pick in the round, Kojo is good value at a point in the draft where value begins to disintegrate.

24. Seattle Cascades - CL Jesus Quintana

Seattle loves their young relievers, and Quintana is further along than most coming out of the draft. He is also 24, which means the Cascades won’t get nearly as much use out of him as they usually do with their homegrown bullpen pieces, but for a team with few young prospects, they cannot afford to complain.

25. Tokyo A's (from St. Louis) - CF Alfonso Dhlakama

Tokyo just needs value here, Dhlakama is another barnburner on the basepaths that needs to work on his offense, but could develop into something nice in the Far East.

26. Minnesota (from Baltimore) - Ryu Saito

Saito could be a steal late here as a boom or bust offensive dynamo. It depends on his usage in Minnesota, but he could end up being a steal along the lines of the two Diego-Villa brothers.

27. Cincinnati Reds - RP Nikita Rachmaninoff

Too much value for Cincy to pass on this late. Even though he is 26, Rachmaninoff gives the Reds a good bullpen piece to take down the vaunted Blue Jays in the immediate future.

28. Toronto Blue Jays - SP Jabari Samuels

Rxk likes his flamethrowers, and Samuels can definitely chuck the pill. Again, his success will depend on how much Toronto needs him - and how much more the rest of the league is willing to allow the Blue Jays to stay dominant.