Article: Mock Draft v.4.0 (Final Edition): Brewers Draft Third Baseman

[Jeremy Nygaard]

It's Draft Week! And there are lots of rumors out there. Smokescreens? Probably. But here's our (probably) final mock of the season.

Image courtesy of © Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

1. Cleveland Guardians - Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State
While I still think Condon is the best prospect available, it does make sense to cut a deal. Wetherholt would bring more savings and maybe even makes more sense. But I’m going to stick with who I believe is the second-best prospect.

2. Cincinnati Reds - Charlie Condon, 3B, Georgia
The fall shouldn’t be a long one for Condon - unless Cincinnati goes with a pitcher - and I really like this fit for the Reds.

3. Colorado Rockies - Chase Burns, RHP, Wake Forest
Maybe I just value lefties too much and that’s why I think Hagan Smith is the way to go, but either way, the Rockies need to take pitching, in my opinion. Burns seems like the industry's consensus pick as the top pitcher. I also think Jac Caglianone seems very Rockies-ish.

4. Oakland Athletics - Jac Caglianone, 1B, Florida
If it weren’t for the injury to Braden Montgomery, I’d have left him here. And I’m not even that concerned about the injury. Cags is scary as a first baseman profile, but I think there's enough athleticism to try him in right field. The bat (and arm) would certainly play.

5. Chicago White Sox - J.J. Wetherholt, SS, West Virginia
It’s possible that Wetherholt goes first and that everyone gets knocked down a rung… which would leave me looking for someone other than Cags for the White Sox. But I think Wetherholt would be a good fit here if he’s available.

6. Kansas City Royals - Hagen Smith, LHP, Arkansas
The Royals should take Smith if he’s available, and introduce him into their bullpen for the stretch run. He’s a long-term top-of-the-rotation pitcher, but that process won’t begin until next season.

7. St. Louis Cardinals - Konnor Griffin, SS, Jackson Prep (Miss.) HS
Would have loved a Smith/Cardinals match, but in this scenario, they’ll settle for the top prep and potentially highest-ceiling prospect available.

8. Los Angeles Angels - James Tibbs, OF, Florida State
I’m going to stick with my first mock draft and pair the Angels with a bat they can be aggressive with and maybe save some money.

9. Pittsburgh Pirates - Braden Montgomery, OF, Texas A&M
Montgomery is better than the ninth-best prospect in this draft, but suffered a season-ending ankle injury that cost him the College World Series showcase opportunity and which will scare a couple of teams away. I love this fit for the Pirates, and he’ll be a part of their current wave soon enough.

10. Washington Nationals - Bryce Rainer, SS, Harvard Westlake (Calif.) HS
Still lots of smoke around the Nationals going the prep route.

11. Detroit Tigers - Cam Caminiti, LHP, Saguaro (Ariz.) HS
I always feel like prep pitchers tumble, but I have a hard time dropping Caminiti past this spot.

12. Boston Red Sox - Christian Moore, 2B, Tennessee
What a huge climb for Moore, who looked like a late first-round pick a month ago and then tore up the College World Series.

13. San Francisco Giants - Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest
I’m not a fan of drafting college first basemen, so that’s probably why I always seem to have Kurtz falling. He would provide pretty good value here, though.

14. Chicago Cubs - Seaver King, SS, Wake Forest
King represents the last of the top tier of hitters and wouldn’t fill a need, but the bat will play, and you can never have enough of them.

15. Seattle Mariners - Theo Gillen, 2B, Westlake (Texas) HS
The Mariners have been hitting (and succeeding with) this demographic hard lately. Might be a tad early, but he’s the next-best prep hitter.

16. Miami Marlins - Trey Yesavage, RHP, East Carolina
This would end a decent-sized fall for one of the top college pitchers. The Marlins needs help and Yesavage could provide it much quicker than going the prep route.

17. Milwaukee Brewers - Cameron Smith, 3B, Florida State
The Brewers dominated the 2023 draft, and this would be a great first move of 2024. The positional fit isn't ideal, but add quality players and figure the rest out later.

18. Tampa Bay Rays - Ryan Waldschmidt, OF, Kentucky
Waldschmidt has been a solid mover and should hear his name called in the back half of the first round. He's also analytics-friendly, which makes the Rays a good fit.

19. New York Mets - Vance Honeycutt, OF, North Carolina
This is one that feels like a great match. Honeycutt's in-zone swing-and-miss is a turn-off to many teams, but he's an above-average outfielder with speed on the basepaths right now.

20. Toronto Blue Jays - Tommy White, 3B, LSU
White has a bigger name than profile as a professional, but it only takes one team. I also think this is the first spot where we might hear a catcher called.

21. Minnesota Twins - Carson Benge, OF, Oklahoma State
When in doubt, match the Twins with a college hitter. I like Benge (along with Waldschmidt and Smith), but fear he may be off the board. Then it becomes a question of if they dip into the next tier of polished bats, or if they lean into a different demographic and get a college hitter 12 picks later.

22. Baltimore Orioles - Jurrangelo Cijntje, RHP/LHP, Mississippi State
The latest steam has Cijntje solidly in the first round, and the Orioles are already loaded with hitters.

23. Los Angeles Dodgers - Brody Brecht, RHP, Iowa
Go ahead and watch the Dodgers develop this flamethrower into a pitcher with a complete arsenal. [Ed. note: Very 2020s Dodgers pitching prospect name, too. River Ryan, Kyle Hurt, Gavin Stone, Peyton Martin, Maddux Bruns, Brody Brecht. You wanna pitch in this organization, buddy, you'd better have a real short name that makes it immediately clear that you're white. We spent $1 billion last winter. We can't be splashing around more money on eight-letter jersey embroidery or ethnic ambiguity.]

24. Atlanta Braves - Braylon Doughty, RHP, Chaparral (Calif.) HS
I’ve heard this pairing quite a bit, even though I don’t think he’s the next-best prep pitcher. So much of where any of them will end up has to do with pre-discussed bonus demands.

25. San Diego Padres - Ryan Sloan, RHP, York Community (Ill.) HS
The Padres love this demographic and have a ton of options to choose from.

26. New York Yankees - William Schmidt, RHP, Catholic (La.) HS
Here’s the run on prep pitchers and it won’t end here either.

27. Philadelphia Phillies - Kash Mayfield, LHP, Elk City (Okla.) HS
Four prep pitchers in a row, to the dismay of teams hoping they’d drop into the comp round.

28. Houston Astros - Billy Amick, 3B, Tennessee
The Astros should be looking to maximize value, and Amick could go earlier. This would be really good value at 28.

29. Arizona Diamondbacks - Kellon Lindsey, SS, Hardee (Fla.) HS
The Diamondbacks kind of have their run of the board now. They’ll get a catcher, but since they are all available, they can take the top prep on the board and get a catcher next.

30. Texas Rangers - Walker Janek, C, Sam Houston State
The Rangers get their pick of the litter with catchers…

31. Arizona Diamondbacks - Malcolm Moore, C, Stanford
..and the Diamondbacks can’t wait til 35 to take theirs.

32. Baltimore Orioles - Caleb Lomavita, C, Cal
After going college hitter with their first pick, here they take the last of the top catchers.

33. Minnesota Twins - Wyatt Sanford, SS, Independence (Tex.) HS
I would lean prep pitcher, but Sanford is a high-ceiling hitter in a draft where there might not be a ton of signable ones. The Twins will take a ton of pitchers after this.

34. Milwaukee Brewers - Joey Oakie, RHP, Ankeny Centennial (Iowa) HS
Really like this fit for the Brewers at 34. A relatively local product and high upside.

35. Arizona Diamondbacks - David Shields, RHP, Mt. Lebanon (Penn.) HS
With their third pick of the draft, the Diamondbacks will hit their third demographic. They’ll have plenty of chances to draft heavily from their missing demo - the college pitchers.

36. Cleveland Guardians - Slade Caldwell, OF, Valley View (Ark.) HS
Caldwell’s name has gotten increasingly popular in regards to matching with a team that has extra money -- and that’s the Guardians. 

37. Pittsburgh Pirates - Bryce Meccage, RHP, Pennington (N.J.) HS
Bryce’s uncle Justin is the Pirates bullpen coach, so here’s to keeping it in the family.

38. Colorado Rockies - Jonathan Santucci, LHP, Duke
Like their first pick, the Rockies need to draft quality pitching as much as possible.

39. Kansas City Royals - Kaelen Culpepper, SS, Kansas State
After going the pitching route with their first pick, the Royals take Culpepper who gets mentioned starting in the 20s.

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Find more draft coverage here:

2024 MLB Draft Position Previews: Prep Pitchers

2024 MLB Draft Position Previews: College Pitchers

2024 MLB Draft Position Previews: First Basemen

2024 MLB Draft Position Previews: Second Basemen

2024 MLB Draft Preview: Midwest Highlights

2024 MLB Draft Position Previews: Third Basemen

2024 MLB Draft Position Previews: Shortstops

2024 MLB Draft Position Previews: Catcher

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[patrickgpe]

Cam Smith would be a great pick. Fills an organizational need. 

[nate82]

Cam Smith probably has to move off of 3B defensively but his bat plays just about anywhere.  So 1B or a corner OF spot would be fine.  He has the arm strength and athleticism to play RF or LF.

Smith actually reminds me of a former University of Miami player drafted by the Brewers.  Though that player had a bit more power than Smith.  But I think Smith could get to that same power.

[LouisEly]

5 hours ago, nate82 said:

Cam Smith probably has to move off of 3B defensively but his bat plays just about anywhere.  

https://www.mlb.com/prospects/draft/cam-smith-701358

Smith runs better than he did in high school and has the chance to be a very good third baseman, with a strong arm, at the next level.

[nate82]

30 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

https://www.mlb.com/prospects/draft/cam-smith-701358

Smith runs better than he did in high school and has the chance to be a very good third baseman, with a strong arm, at the next level.

Other scouts have him moving off of 3B.  Plus MLB tends to nearly always put a positive spin on some players.  The Athletic for example has him moving to the OF or 1B.