Keith Law has released his top 100 draft prospects for ESPN Insider subscribers. The rankings show several changes from his previous list, which was a top 50 that was released about a month ago.
Law still has Byron Buxton ranked first overall, which is where Buxton has appeared in the previous two rankings. He has moved Carlos Correa up to second, after Correa previously appeared around 5th and 6th in the previous lists.
Kevin Gausman and Mike Zunino come next, which isn’t a big surprise, since both are constantly ending up in the top five of most lists.
The number five prospect is a bit of a surprise. Law has prep pitcher Max Fried ranked fifth, up from his number nine ranking a month ago. Law mentions that more than one national guy has said they would consider Fried first overall.
Mark Appel and Albert Almora are the next two on the list. Appel started the season ranked third in Law’s rankings, and was number one in other lists. He hasn’t dominated this year, dropping his ranking. Almora started the year 27th on Law’s list, but has really improved his draft stock this year on all lists.
The Pirates pick eighth, and Law has Kyle Zimmer ranked at that spot. However, Law mentions that this is just his ranking, and not his prediction of where players would end up. He will release those next week, but gave a preview of the top three, with Zimmer going second overall to Minnesota.
Lucas Giolito came in at ninth, and Deven Marrero dropped down to 13th. Marrero was ranked 7th in the previous list, while Jonathan Mayo and Baseball America each had him 13th. He mentioned that a fully healthy Giolito probably would have topped the list.
If the top seven went in order, I’d probably take Giolito. It’s a bit of a gamble because of his injury, but the injury is minor, and his upside is huge. You’re not going to get that potential upside from anyone else in the draft.
