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2019 MLB Draft: Halos Heaven Consensus Big Board

Let the prospect hounds bay in unison. The Draft approacheth!

The 2019 MLB Draft begins a week from Memorial Day, Monday, June 3rd, at 4pm Pacific. Reprising a grand old Halos Heaven tradition begun in 2014, we bring you the Halos Heaven Big Board, our pseudo-scientific attempt to bring you a stack-ranked list of the top talent available from the high school and collegiate ranks in this year’s draft. See a sample of previous years here: 2015, 2016, 2017.

Version 1.0 of the Board is a weighted average drawn from 12 sources, including the talent rankings of Baseball America, ESPN, MLB and Fangraphs, plus eight mock drafts from the likes of Law, Mayo, Callis, Ellis, CBS, FG, BA, et al. These are the gents that sweat the radar guns, squint at video, and boogie with crosscheckers across the Americas. As we are averaging a combination of pure talent rankings and predictive mocks, you can get a sense of the zones of possibility around the Angels’ first three picks (#15, 55, 92), and let reasonable conversations begin about whether the team has seized an opportunity or let one slip by once the names are called in. We’ll update the list the weekend prior to the Draft in order to reflect final public mocks.

As we say every year, these aren’t our predictions! It’s an attempt to synthesize the “best player available” (more thoughts on that here) from a chorus of experts, and a way to follow along as 30 organizational strategies play out in real time. There are always names that slide down the board at the last moment (hello Sean Newcomb! hello Griffin Canning!), as some teams work out deals with young players ahead of time, and front offices are aware of bonus demands and medical reports that the average fan is not.

A few thoughts follow below the board, but give it a look over and let’s chat in the comment thread about where Matt Swanson, Billy Eppler and team might take the organization this June.

2019 MLB Draft: Consensus Rankings

Slot Team Player Position Level / School Raw Rank
Slot Team Player Position Level / School Raw Rank
1 Baltimore Orioles Adley Rutschman C Oregon State 1.00
2 Kansas City Royals Bobby Witt Jr. SS Colleyville (Texas) Heritage HS 2.09
3 Chicago White Sox Andrew Vaughn 1B California 3.55
4 Miami Marlins CJ Abrams SS Blessed Trinity (Roswell, Ga.) HS 3.91
5 Detroit Tigers JJ Bleday OF Vanderbilt 5.18
6 San Diego Padres Riley Greene OF Hagerty (Oviedo, Fla.) HS 5.55
7 Cincinnati Reds Nick Lodolo LHP Texas Christian 7.45
8 Texas Rangers Hunter Bishop OF Arizona State 8.18
9 Atlanta Braves Bryson Stott SS Nevada-Las Vegas 11.09
10 San Francisco Giants Alek Manoah RHP West Virginia 11.18
11 Toronto Blue Jays Jackson Rutledge RHP San Jacinto (Texas) JC 12.27
12 New York Mets Shea Langeliers C Baylor 13.45
13 Minnesota Twins Zack Thompson LHP Kentucky 13.45
14 Philadelphia Phillies Corbin Carroll OF Lakeside HS, Seattle 13.91
15 Los Angeles Angels Matthew Allan RHP Seminole HS, Sanford, Fla. 14.55
16 Arizona Diamondbacks Brett Baty 3B Lake Travis HS, Austin 16.09
17 Washington Nationals Josh Jung 3B Texas Tech 17.55
18 Pittsburgh Pirates Quinn Priester RHP Cary-Grove HS, Cary, Ill. 19.45
19 St. Louis Cardinals George Kirby RHP Elon 19.55
20 Seattle Mariners Brennan Malone RHP IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla. 20.55
21 Atlanta Braves Logan Davidson SS Clemson 21.55
22 Tampa Bay Rays Will Wilson SS North Carolina State 22.40
23 Colorado Rockies Michael Busch OF/1B North Carolina 23.91
24 Cleveland Indians Gunnar Henderson SS Morgan Academy, Selma, Ala. 24.36
25 Los Angeles Dodgers Kameron Misner OF Missouri 26.45
26 Arizona Diamondbacks Keoni Cavaco 3B Eastlake HS, Chula Vista, Calif. 26.50
27 Chicago Cubs Daniel Espino RHP Georgia Premier Academy, Statesboro, Ga. 26.73
28 Milwaukee Brewers Kody Hoese 3B Tulane 27.91
29 Oakland Athletics JJ Goss RHP Cypress Ranch HS, Houston 28.00
30 New York Yankees Jack Leiter RHP Delbarton HS, Morristown, N.J. 29.67
31 Los Angeles Dodgers Maurice Hampton OF Memphis University HS 29.75
32 Houston Astros Braden Shewmake SS Texas A&M 30.17
33 Arizona Diamondbacks Seth Johnson RHP Campbell 32.50
34 Arizona Diamondbacks Tyler Callihan 3B Providence HS, Jacksonville 33.33
35 Miami Marlins Hunter Barco LHP Bolles HS, Jacksonville 34.67
36 Tampa Bay Rays Brooks Lee SS San Luis Obispo (Calif.) HS 35.80
37 Pittsburgh Pirates Anthony Volpe SS Delbarton HS, Morristown, N.J. 37.60
38 New York Yankees Matthew Lugo SS Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy, Florida, P.R. 38.00
39 Minnesota Twins Nasim Nunez SS Collins Hill HS, Suwanee, Ga. 38.80
40 Tampa Bay Rays Greg Jones SS UNC-Wilmington 40.00
41 Texas Rangers Matt Canterino RHP Rice 40.50
42 Baltimore Orioles Blake Walston LHP New Hanover HS, Wilmington, N.C. 40.80
43 Boston Red Sox Rece Hinds 3B IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla. 41.00
44 Kansas City Royals Josh Wolf RHP St. Thomas HS, Houston 42.00
45 Chicago White Sox Chase Strumpf 2B UCLA 42.25
46 Miami Marlins Logan Wyatt 1B Louisville 43.33
47 Detroit Tigers Sammy Siani OF Penn Charter HS, Philadelphia 44.00
48 San Diego Padres Isaiah Campbell RHP Arkansas 46.50
49 Cincinnati Reds Kyren Paris SS Freedom HS, Oakley, Calif. 47.20
50 Texas Rangers Drey Jameson RHP Ball State 47.67
51 San Francisco Giants Jimmy Lewis RHP Lake Travis HS, Austin 47.75
52 Toronto Blue Jays Bryce Osmond RHP Jenks (Okla.) HS 48.00
53 New York Mets Kendall Williams RHP IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla. 48.00
54 Minnesota Twins John Doxakis LHP Texas A&M 48.67
55 Los Angeles Angels Michael Toglia 1B/OF UCLA 50.00
56 Arizona Diamondbacks Tommy Henry RHP Michigan 53.00
57 Pittsburgh Pirates Ethan Small LHP Mississippi State 54.50
58 St. Louis Cardinals Matt Wallner OF/RHP Southern Mississippi 55.00
59 Seattle Mariners Andrew Dalquist RHP Redondo Union HS, Redondo Beach, Calif. 57.67
60 Atlanta Braves Davis Wendzel 3B Baylor 58.00
61 Tampa Bay Rays Matthew Thompson RHP Cypress Ranch HS, Houston 59.00
62 Colorado Rockies Jerrion Ealy OF Jackson (Miss.) Prep HS 62.50
63 Cleveland Indians Noah Song RHP Navy 63.00
64 Chicago Cubs Ethan Hearn C Mobile (Ala.) Christian HS 64.00
65 Milwaukee Brewers Josh Smith SS Louisiana State 64.00
66 Oakland Athletics Brady McConnell SS Florida 65.00
67 New York Yankees Drew Mendoza 3B Florida State 65.50
68 Houston Astros Evan Fitterer RHP Aliso Niguel HS, Aliso Viejo, Calif. 65.50
69 Boston Red Sox Spencer Jones LHP La Costa Canyon HS, Carlsbad, Calif. 65.67
70 Kansas City Royals Jack Kochanowicz RHP Harriton HS, Rosemont, Pa. 66.50
71 Baltimore Orioles Will Holland SS Auburn 67.00
72 Pittsburgh Pirates Yordys Valdes SS McArthur HS, Hollywood, Fla. 67.33
73 San Diego Padres Ryan Pepiot RHP Butler 68.33
74 Arizona Diamondbacks TJ Sikkema LHP Missouri 69.00
75 Arizona Diamondbacks Ryan Zeferjahn RHP Kansas 70.00
76 Seattle Mariners Matt Cronin LHP Arkansas 72.00
77 Colorado Rockies Trejyn Fletcher OF Deering HS, Portland, Maine 74.50
78 Los Angeles Dodgers Riley Cornelio RHP Pine Creek HS, Colorado Springs 77.00
79 Baltimore Orioles Graeme Stinson LHP Duke 77.50
80 Kansas City Royals Nick Quintana 3B Arizona 79.50
81 Chicago White Sox Erik Miller LHP Stanford 83.50
82 Miami Marlins Ryne Nelson RHP Oregon 84.50
83 Detroit Tigers Brandon Williamson LHP Texas Christian 85.00
84 San Diego Padres Will Rigney RHP Midway HS, Waco, Texas 86.00
85 Cincinnati Reds Zack Hess RHP Louisiana State 86.00
86 Texas Rangers Cameron Cannon 3B/2B Arizona 87.00
87 San Francisco Giants Will Robertson OF Creighton 88.50
88 Toronto Blue Jays Tyler Baum RHP North Carolina 89.00
89 New York Mets Christian Cairo SS Calvary Christian HS, Clearwater, Fla. 90.00
90 Minnesota Twins Kyle Stowers OF Stanford 90.50
91 Philadelphia Phillies Chris Newell OF Malvern (Pa.) Prep HS 91.00
92 Los Angeles Angels Ryan Garcia RHP UCLA 93.50
93 Arizona Diamondbacks Cade Doughty 3B Denham Springs (La.) HS 94.50
94 Washington Nationals Brett Thomas RHP Riverwood HS, Atlanta 96.00
95 Pittsburgh Pirates Dominic Fletcher OF Arkansas 99.00
96 St. Louis Cardinals Dasan Brown OF Abbey Park HS, Oakville, Ont. 100.00
97 Seattle Mariners Alec Marsh RHP Arizona State 100.00
98 Atlanta Braves Zach Watson OF Louisiana State 101.00
99 Tampa Bay Rays Ryan Jensen RHP Fresno State 104.50
100 Colorado Rockies Aaron Schunk 3B Georgia 105.00

The fun part of this version of the Big Board is that it resulted in a rather uncanny outcome. If the Angels were to follow this board to a tee, and each of the names at their selection slots are available when the Adam Kennedy comes to the podium, the Angels would take the top prep pitcher in the draft class (Matthew Allen), alongside two polished college players from Los Angeles – UCLA’s best starting pitcher and their best position player.

Matthew Allen is the name most frequently associated with the Angels in the first round among the sources that went into this consensus estimate. He’s a big arm with big fastball, a frontline ceiling and three plus pitches. Choosing a prep arm with the first selection generally makes me nervous AF, but this draft features one of the weakest college pitching crops in the past couple decades, so pickings may be thin by the time the Angels select mid-round. Following up a boom-or-bust pick with more high-probability (ie, “advanced”) talent in rounds two and three would be a good hedge against catastrophe, in that case.

UCLA has a lot to hang its hat on when it comes to pitching, between alumni like Gerrit Cole, Trevor Bauer and Griffin Canning. Ryan Garcia does not have the ceilings of those names, but he has four league-average pitches and command over them to suggest a fast-moving starter with #3/4 upside. Michael Toglia, meanwhile, is a big switch-hitting power bat with a record of performance and the ability to play both corner OF and 1b, but whose streakiness and swing-and-miss tendencies have pushed him into the 2nd/3rd round territory, despite good upside.

Of course, there’s no reason to believe that the draft will play out like take one of the Board suggests, and we’ll have additional postings to discuss how different scenarios might unfold. But on first approach, this outcome would cover the three bases this team really needs to touch in this draft: high-ceiling pitching with frontline potential, high-probability pitching that can move fast and fill out the middle/back of a rotation, and bats with significant power potential, ideally on the infield corners. The Angels farm is thin in each of these areas, and there are names above that can fill some gaps.

Here we go!

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