Consider this your final prep for the 2012 MLB Draft, which kicks off this evening at 6pm CT with the first round and then the supplemental first round. In case you missed the three primer posts, which should help you get properly stoked and knowledge’d up for tonight’s first round, here they are: (1) Whom Might the Cubs Select?, (2) What Are the Draft Logistics?, and (3) What Has Changed in the Draft Thanks to the New CBA?
We’ll have a live Draft post up at 5pm CT, so you can start offering your pre-Draft thoughts, and then follow along tonight. It has, historically, been a fun post/thread to participate in.
Everyone has said the same thing about this Draft, and, for the most part, they’re right: the Cubs can’t afford to blow this Draft. Without the ability to paper over mistakes by shelling out a ton of money to sign whomever you’d like, teams have to make the right picks, especially at the top of the Draft. And, with a farm system lacking in impact talent after years of drafting well-rounded, high floor (as in: likely to be good enough to make the Majors, but not good enough to be a guy you care much about) types, the Cubs need to hit some home runs in this one. And it starts tonight with picks number 6, 43, and 56.
As the appointed hour approaches, there are a number of bits to share:
The Cubs’ top dogs have been completely buried in Draft studies for as much as a month, but now they’re in total lockdown, says Dale Sveum (from the Tribune):Â “They’re in lockdown right now. There’s a lot going on in their life right now. It’s just one of those things where you’re in situations, any organization, you want that to be the right pick. In the second round, we want to find those diamonds in the rough. There’s a lot that goes into that draft that people can’t even fathom, to make sure you find the players that can impact the big league team.”
Kevin Goldstein updated his mock draft this morning, and still has the Cubs taking high school outfielder Albert Almora, even where Mike Zunino and Kyle Zimmer are still on the board. Here’s his take on the Cubs selecting Almora: “There’s really no other names attached to the Cubs at this point. The presence of Correa could create a difficult decision, and there might be some interest in Fried, but they clearly prefer the high school position players.”
Jim Bowden reported on Twitter yesterday that the Astros were going to take Mark Appel first, but other mocks have them still considering Byron Buxton. And Jim Callis even went so far as to say that the Astros are also still considering guys like Carlos Correa and even Albert Almora at the top. Needless to say, if the Astros pick anyone but Appel or Buxton, it will be a huge surprise.
As for picks falling, if you’re a Correa fan, you want the Mariners to take Zunino or a surprise. If that happens, it’s possible that the Orioles take Kevin Gausman, the Royals take Kyle Zimmer or Max Fried, and then Correa is still there for the Cubs.
Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here.
Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.
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