We have been busy with new draft prospect rankings recently, posting updates from Keith Law/The Athletic, Kiley McDaniel/ESPN and Baseball America. They all had different rankings for the top five prospects in this draft class, which we sorted out here.
Jonathan Mayo from MLB Pipeline gives us a new mock draft to look at after seeing those rankings. He has the Pittsburgh Pirates using the first overall pick on LSU right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes.
Skenes had an incredible season, while helping LSU to a College World Series title. He went 12-2, 1.69 over 19 starts this year, with a 209:20 SO/BB ratio and an 0.75 WHIP over 122.2 innings.
Mayo has LSU outfielder Dylan Crews going to the Washington Nationals with the second pick.
The rest of the elite top five from this class go to:
3. Detroit Tigers – Wyatt Langford, Florida outfielder
4. Texas Rangers – Max Clark, prep outfielder
5. Minnesota Twins – Walker Jenkins, prep outfielder
Mayo gives some thoughts on the Pirates, saying that the Pirates could be negotiating bonuses with the top five players up until the time they have to make their selection.
It seems clear that they are trying to maximize their bonus pool, which is the highest in baseball for this draft class.
The draft begins on Sunday night at 7 PM, with the Pirates making the first, 42nd and 67 overall picks on day one.
