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The Rockies will be picking third in the upcoming MLB amateur draft on June 8th. How the first round will shake out is still up for discussion, with experts disagreeing about who will go where. Indeed, the three mock drafts analyzed below have the Rockies choosing three different players.
1. Arizona Diamondbacks: Dansby Swanson, SS, Vanderbilt
2. Houston Astros: Alex Bregman, SS, LSU
3. Colorado Rockies: Dillon Tate, RHP, UC Santa Barbara
4. Texas Rangers: Brendan Rodgers SS, Lake Mary High School (FL)
5. Houston Astros: Kyle Tucker, OF, Plant High School (FL)
6. Minnesota Twins: Kolby Allard, SS, San Clemente High School (CA)
7. Boston Red Sox: Daz Cameron, OF, Eagles Landing HS (GA)
8. Chicago White Sox: Carson Fulmer, RHP, Vanderbilt
9. Chicago Cubs: Trenton Clark, OF, Richland HS (TX)
10. Philadelphia Phillies: Walker Buehler, RHP, Vanderbilt
Law sees the Rockies as conflicted between choosing the player that most have annointed as the best pitcher available in Tate, and the consensus top talent in the draft in Rodgers. Law sees the choice as a tough one, but he believes the organization's continued dificulty acquiring pitching will win out. John Sickels over at Minor League Ball had this to say about the Tate pick.
Considering that the few of the organizations top pitching prospects are currently below High-A Modesto, the prospect of adding more pitching isn't a bad idea. I just hope they are choosing a pitcher based on their belief that he is the best player available. Law had this to say about Tate in his top 100 prospect writeup.
"Dillon Tate, RHP, UC Santa Barbara The best pure college starter in the class, Tate will show 98 mph in most starts, albeit without great command. His best fastball is going to be more 92-95, with good location. His slider is his one swing-and-miss pitch right now, with the changeup being a work in progress."
Baseball America's Top 10, Version 3.0 (Version 1.0, Version 2.0)
1. Arizona Diamondbacks: Tyler Jay, LHP, Illinois
2. Houston Astros: Dansby Swanson
3. Colorado Rockies: Brendan Rodgers
4. Texas Rangers: Dillon Tate
5. Houston Astros: Kyle Tucker
6. Minnesota Twins: Daz Cameron
7. Boston Red Sox Alex Bregman
8. Chicago White Sox: Carson Fulmer
9.Chicago Cubs: Jon Harris, RHP, Missouri State
10. Philadelphia Phillies: Garrett Whitley, OF, Niskayuna HS (NY)
In a similar vein as Law, the Baseball America crew predicts that the Rockies would like pitching as well, but reach a different conclusion as to their final decision.
"Colorado is in on Jay, and likely would scoop him up if he falls here. The Rockies have seen Tate good and not as good. It’s not as clear how firm their interest is."
In this case, they see the Rockies going for the consensus top talent of the draft in Rodgers. Baseball America has predicted Rodgers to the Rockies in all three of their mock drafts so far, predicting three different college starters to the Diamondbacks at number one, and consistently assigning college shortstop Dansby Swanson to the Astros.
Minor League Ball's Matt Garrioch's Top 10
1. Arizona Diamondbacks: Dillon Tate
2. Houston Astros: Brendan Rodgers
3. Colorado Rockies: Dansby Swanson
4. Texas Rangers: Jon Harris
5. Houston Astros: Daz Cameron
6. Minnesota Twins: Alex Bregman
7. Boston Red Sox: Carson Fulmer
8. Chicago White Sox: Tyler Jay
9. Chicago Cubs: Mike Nikorak, RHP, Stroudsberg HS (PA)
10. Philadelphia Phillies: Trenton Clark
Garrioch went a similar route as Baseball America, giving a college starter to the Diamondbacks. But he flipped Swanson and Rodgers, the former going to the Astros and the latter going to the Rockies, giving the Rox the top college bat of the draft. The consistent note in all these drafts is that because the Astros have two of the top five picks and are known for being tight lipped and close to the vest about their thinking, there's a lot of uncertainty heading into a draft where there are no "sure thing" type players.