The 2015 MLB Draft is underway, and we’ll track the first-round picks as they come in — starting with the first 26 picks (worst-to-first, and excepting teams that sacrificed picks to sign qualifying offer-declining free agents) and continuing into the “sandwich” choices (selections awarded to clubs that lost QO-declining free agents).
Click here for bonus pools and other important context, including links to scouting reports and other assessments.Ā Here are the picks:
- Arizona Diamondbacks —Ā SS Dansby Swanson, Vanderbilt
- Houston Astros —Ā SS Alex Bregman, LSU
- Colorado Rockies —Ā SS Brendan Rodgers, Lake Mary (FL HS)
- Texas Rangers —Ā RHP Dillon Tate, UC Santa BarbaraĀ — Agreed to $4.2MM bonus
- Houston Astros —Ā OF Kyle Tucker, Plant (FL HS)
- Minnesota Twins — LHP Tyler Jay, Illinois
- Boston Red Sox —Ā OF Andrew Benintendi, Arkansas
- Chicago White Sox —Ā RHP Carson Fulmer, Vanderbilt
- Chicago Cubs —Ā OF Ian Happ, CincinnatiĀ — Agreed to $3MM bonus.
- Philadelphia Phillies —Ā SS Cornelius Randolph, Griffin (GA HS)
- Cincinnati Reds —Ā C Tyler Stephenson, Kennesaw Mountain (GA HS)Ā — Agreed to sign for slot value of $3.141MM
- Miami Marlins — 1B Josh Naylor, St. Joan of Arc (Canada HS)
- Tampa Bay Rays —Ā OF Garrett Whitley, Niskayuna (NY HS)
- Atlanta Braves —Ā LHP Kolby Allard, San Clemente (CA HS)
- Milwaukee Brewers —Ā OF Trenton Clark, Richland (TX HS)
- New York Yankees —Ā RHP James Kaprielian, UCLA
- Cleveland Indians —Ā LHP Brady Aiken, IMG Academy (JuCo)
- San Francisco Giants —Ā RHP Phil Bickford, Southern Nevada (JuCo)
- Pittsburgh Pirates —Ā SS Kevin Newman, ArizonaĀ — Signed for $2.175MM bonus
- Oakland Athletics —Ā SS Richie Martin, Florida
- Kansas City Royals —Ā RHP Ashe Russell, Cathedral Catholic (IN HS)
- Detroit Tigers —Ā RHP Beau Burrows, Weatherford (TX HS)Ā — Agreed to sign for slot value of $2.154MM
- St. Louis Cardinals —Ā OF Nick Plummer, Brother Rice (MI HS) — Agreed to $2.124MM bonus
- Los Angeles Dodgers —Ā RHP Walker Buehler, Vanderbilt
- Baltimore Orioles —Ā OF D.J. Stewart, FSU
- Los Angeles Angels —Ā C Taylor Ward, Fresno StateĀ — Agreed to $1.67MM bonus
Compensation
- 27. Colorado Rockies —Ā RHP Mike Nikorak, Stroudsburg (PA HS)
- 28. Atlanta Braves —Ā RHP Mike Soroka, Bishop Carroll (Canada HS)
- 29. Toronto Blue Jays —Ā RHP Jon Harris, Missouri StateĀ — Agreed to sign for slot value of $1.944MM
- 30. New York Yankees —Ā SS Kyle Holder, San Diego
- 31. San Francisco Giants —Ā 1B Chris Shaw, Boston College
- 32. Pittsburgh Pirates —Ā 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes, Concordia Lutheran (TX HS)Ā — Agreed to sign for slot value of $1.855MM
- 33. Kansas City Royals —Ā RHP Nolan Watson, Lawrence North (IN HS)
- 34. Detroit Tigers —Ā OF Christin Stewart, TennesseeĀ — Agreed to sign for slot value of $1.795MM
- 35. Los Angeles Dodgers —Ā RHP Kyle Funkhouser, Louisville
- 36. Baltimore Orioles —Ā SS Ryan Mountcastle, Hagerty (FL HS)
3 shortstops!!!
The odds are they won’t all stick.
So much pitching talent in the draft, and the Sox take an outfielder. x_x
Draven and I touched upon it yesterday, I thought Benintendi would be the best option for them if Bregman was gone. All the pitching talent seems to project as bullpen pieces or mid rotation ceilings. I actually support this pick
I wanted Fulmer, but it is what it is. Benintendi seems like he could be a good player. We will just have to wait and see.
Fulmer had White Sox all over him. He might be the first arm in the class to get to the majors. Hes on that Chris Sale-Carlos Rodon path the Sox seem to like.
Absolutely …. At least a closer …
I agree …Fulmer would have been a better pick …
Watch him somehow make the 2015 Red Sox roster.
We could use 6 or so more OF
Such is the burden of having so many potential aces, FO doesn’t want to draft them with any priority š
Like with 2014 IFA Anderson Espinoza, who is already throwing 99MPH?
My thoughts as well but I’m guessing he was the best talent available according to their board? Its all a waiting game now. By the time hes up (if he makes it that far) it will be a whole different Sox team. I hope the Sox find another Anthony Rizzo in the draft.
UBER talent
Or Sox would not have gone that way
They didn’t want another Trey Ball situation. As their current minor league depth has shown, they can find pitching prospects in later rounds
Trust me, Benintendi is pretty dang good and I’m a Bama fan so I hate Arkansas. That kid is a gamer! I know we (I say we because I’m a BoSox fan) need some pitching but they can do that from here on out. But Benintendi WILL BE GOOD!
Agreed
Passing on Carson Fulmer …. Kid can be a closer … Filthy stuff ! Goes to the White Sox in the 8 th pick …
Is it me, or did Manfred just butcher Benintendi’s name?
He also messed up “Boston” so he set the bar kinda low
Yeah, that was brutal
Would rather hear that than Bud Selig every draft saying the “2000 Draft”
Don’t forget him butchering the word, “amateur.”
How do the Cubs just disregard pitching prospects?
The best arms are already gone.
Funkrouser, Harris, Nikorak, Allard, are all decent options. They are all better than the options in their system.
Aiken
Aiken isn’t going before 20th-ish overall.
Aiken went to Cleveland and that’s phenomenal
No they are not. CJ Wilson and Pierce Johnson are better than any of those you listed.
They don’t disregard them… The last two seasons they have drafted college bats in the first two rounds and gone with high school arms with high upside in the middle rounds. Guys like Cease, Sands and Steele all were guys who last year would have been tough signs had the Cubs used more of their slot money in the first two rounds. By saving money in the first two rounds they can go after some of these tough sign pitchers in the mid rounds and load up on young/raw potential arms.
Also by loading up on hitting prospects they allow themselves the ability to use those hitting prospects to get a proven arm. Let’s face it, would you rather have a guy like Funkhouser, who hasn’t proven anything at the Major League level or someone like Cole Hamels (just an example not saying the Cubs will trade for him) who has proven to be successful. The Cubs are going to load up on the best hitters and use a few as trade bait in a future trade for an arm.
Theo says the strategy is the best player available, despite need. I think they should start trading some of the excess infield prospects for pitching.
Cornelius Randolph over Tyler Stephenson? Okay Amaro, watcha doin’.
Great hitter. They took the best bat available.
Both sentences there are a pretty big stretch. Could be a Solid bat for a non-1B infielder.
Strong pick by the Reds. Quality catching is scarce in this draft. Imagine Tyler Stephenson catching Robert Stephenson.
Love that we got Stephenson. Can’t believe he made it past the tenth pick.
Someone tell me about the pitcher the yankees drafted.
6’4” 200lb 91-92 on the FB can hit around 94 with good command. Can
probably add a mile or two per hour when he adds on some bulk.
“He had a 2.29 ERA with a 108/35 K/BB in 106 innings last year and has a
1.94 ERA with a 105/27 K/BB in 92.2 innings so far this year” as of May 20th,from Mike Axisa.
He’s a true four pitch pitcher, his slider and curve are good, his change-up is his most consistent off speed pitch. He’s projected to make the MLB before any other starters in the class.
Thanks!
i’m going to bet that James Kaprielian is gonna replace Sabathia by the time his contract is up after the 2016 season is over.
All I know is that his last name is hard to pronounce. Seems like Jacoby got you covered on the technical details!
Jay goes to MN and Fulmer to the White Sox…played out like they seemed to have wanted.
Aiken should’ve fallen to 30th! Grrr
He will probably end up being the steal of the draft. Former #1 pick with TJ behind him.
It depends how his medicals look. If he has a genetic defect in his arm, I doubt he becomes a steal.
True but I’m sure the Indians did their homework. I think he was expected to drop into the 20s.
Possible defect aside, at the MLB level 20% never pitch again, almost 15% pitch less that 10 games after TJS and of those that do pitch more than 10 games over 50% hit the DL with arm trouble after returning
1 in 5 players to have TJS never pitch again? I’d like to see a source on this, that’s much higher than I could imagine.
2014 study done by American Journal of Sports Medicine. I can’t post the link per MLBTR but you can look it up…and a slight correction…the other # is 13% not 15%
Googled “AJSM Tommy John” and the first study that showed up for me (BJ Erickson, 2014) said 83% returned to MLB pitching, 97.2% to MLB or minors, 2.8% never returned… Maybe we’re seeing different studies?
study was fully quoted and explained on another site…I can’t link…think 4 letters 4/9/2015. I don’t make stuff up…those are the #’s from that study. 147 pitchers were studied from 1999-2011 (study was published in 2014). It also shows ERA rises as does WHIP and BAA, location (% of strikes) decreases as does velocity….I don’t know what else to say…it’s out there…just look.
BTW I posted the link on another article on another site you commented on. You should be able to find it.
Holy shortstops, batman!
I really wanted to see Carson Fulmer in the other Sox uniform….
Surprised they didn’t take him seeing as Boston picked before us.. I have seen this guy ranked #3 overall in a lot of places.
What did Daz Cameron take himself out of the 1st round with his asking price?
SMH!
Look at how many teams ran away from him despite his talent.
He reportedly is asking for $5 million.
There has been speculation that the asking price is meant to make him slide to the 37th pick. The Astros have a deep bonus pool.
Edit: And that is exactly what happened. He will still get paid like a top pick. Great move by the Stros.
Angels take Fresno State catcher Taylor Ward. Good player, but position scarcity pushed him up the board. Still, a solid pick in this draft.
there were better catchers
Maybe Austin Rei of Washington. Chris Betts and Lucas Herbert are California high school catchers who might be better in the long run, but Ward is more advance for now. After the first five catchers, the drop off is significant.
Two very strong picks by the Rockies. If they sign both, that organization gets a lot better.
They need to sign picks for sure. Was there much doubt they’d take a former QB if he fell far enough?
WHO IS THE ss THE YANKEES DRAFTED . HAVE A FEELING THEY COULD HAVE DONE BETTER BUT HEY.
Glove first SS, bat is suspect. I agree, they could have done better.
Anybody hear anything about joe McCarthy UVA?
Yankees went with safe picks, it seems. Not that excited about Kyle Holder. I was hoping for Funkhouser.
High floor picks who are very likely to make an impact on the team, regardless of how much they develop. It’s not a bad way to go with money coming off the books in a few years, strong floored base to spend the money around. Nothing flashy, but effective picks imo.
Now that I am sitting here thinking about it.
Maybe, the Orioles could have drafted Hayes instead of Stewart at 25 and then drafted Stewart where they drafted Mountcastle.
Or the O’s could have signed a free agent that cost a draft pick.
I am trying to figure out if the O’s really helped themselves here in this draft.
Gotta love the Dodgers picks…even if it’s just for their last names. Ha!
Looks like the Dodgers got 2 gems so far
I see after the 1st round busts of Jared Mitchell, Courtney Hawkins, Keenyn Walker.. the White Sox only want to go after Pitching talent.. Seems they need to fire their position player scouts asap..
I’m not sure they have “position player scouts” they have area scouts and cross checkers. They’ve also brought in a few scouts since Hahn took over. Sox arent the only team to bust on some hs talent.
That and the rumor with Fulmer is the Sox want him to be a starter. If that happens, I see a guy who could be hurt a lot, or get a major injury, and be out of baseball in about 5 years. You just do not draft 6’0 tall pitchers to be starters anymore. I see potential for a major issue with his arm/shoulder ala John Danks (or for those who are way back fans, Jim Parque). If they want to use him as a reliever/ closer, maybe he will excel, but do you really want to draft a guy this high to be a closer? All in all I still see a real lack of depth in the minors with the White Sox. I just think as long as KW is in the org, and calling any shots, the Sox farm system (and by extension the big league club) is going to be mediocre to average at best unfortunately.
Then again none of this matters if they still have an issue at the manager position.
Randolph really isn’t underwhelming, he was a top-20 pick on most pre-draft boards I saw. And I’ve read the opposite in regards to him being an easy under slot sign. Not saying he will be a tough sign, but that he’s not going to come at a huge discount. I’m hoping what I read was wrong.
I know I’m swimming upstream here, but I really don’t see the point in making pronouncements as to whether a team drafted good or bad when we won’t really know for at least five years. Not trying to be a Debbie Downer, I just don’t understand the rush to judgement.