Eye Black

The Baseball America Mock Draft 4.5 is up. Looks like they have some similarities to the one posted at MLB.com overnight. BA has McKay going first, Wright going at #5 to the Braves. Under slot deals projected here include HS OF Bubba Thompson to the Rays at #4 and Keston Hiura doing a deal with the A's at #6. They have the Brewers taking Austin Beck. One other notable update is it appears UCLA pitcher Griffin Canning is likely to fall out of the first round due to medical issues that have surfaced.

MLB Network coverage begins at 5:00pm CT, the selections start at 6:00pm CT.

Interesting twist this morning in the MLB.com Mock Draft in that both Callis and Mayo project Keston Hiura to go 5th overall to the Braves in an underslot deal. They also both now have Kyle Wright now going outside the top five overall. Mayo has the Brewers taking Jordon Adell while Callis projects the Brewers taking Austin Beck.

Not a big surprise, but confirmation that UW-Milwaukee catcher Daulton Varsho has worked out for the Brewers (as well as at least three other major league teams. Varsho is likely to go somewhere in the 2nd to 4th round range. ARTICLE LINK: UWM catcher Daulton Varsho worked hard for chance to be taken in major-league draft

Brinson is starting in LF and batting lead-off. Happy Lewis Brinson MLB Debut Day everyone!

This is another article that provides an interesting connection between a draft prospect and the Brewers. ARTICLE LINK: Millville High School (NJ) third baseman Buddy Kennedy not only has befriended a certain major league star that attended his same high school (hint: he was the selected one pick before Eric Arnett in 2009), but he also has a famous grandfather in former infielder Don Money who has more recently served as the Brewers special instructor of player development. That connection led Buddy to an opportunity to spend a week with the Helena Brewers when he was 16 years old...

Nice find on the Chris Seise info. Seise is someone that could certainly be in play for the Brewers at their second or third pick. Here is a LINK to the photo of Seise at Miller Park that accompanied that tweet.

Maybe it is the anticipation of the draft mounting, but I think tomorrow carries some high stakes for the Brewers in terms of putting together the perennial championship contending roster we all hope to see built over the next decade. Patrick mentioned this in his previous post as well as the linked article, but the Brewers really need to hit on some of these high draft picks. They will be a lot better off if they can draft and develop a handful of players the caliber of Lewis Brinson and Luis Ortiz than they will be by giving up significant assets to acquire them down the road. Having three selections inside the top 50 is a rare opportunity, and in a way the #34 and #46 selections are nearly as important as the #9 pick. Finding future quality major league talent becomes extremely more difficult after the first couple rounds of the draft. The odds tell us they aren't likely to hit on all three picks, but I am hoping they can find at least one future organizational difference maker among those first three selections.

In case you haven't had a chance to read it yet check out Madison.com's article on tomorrow's draft. It includes several insightful quotes from board contributor, Patrick Ebert (colbyjack). Milwaukee will have some intriguing options with No. 9 pick in the draft - By Dennis Punzel

Looks like you are correct per this TWEET from Colorado Mesa outfielder Bligh Madris.

This thread has been notably quiet this year compared to the past couple of years. It doesn't appear that the Brewers hosted a pre-draft workout at Miller Park this year, and if they did then they kept word of it buttoned up publically. One article from this morning does link the Brewers to draft prospect Adam Oviedo, a high school shortstop from Alvarado, TX. The Brewers are mentioned among many teams that have worked Oviedo out over the past year. Oviedo is likely to get drafted on the second day of the draft (rounds 3-10). ARTICLE LINK: Alvarado's Adam Oviedo awaits MLB Draft as he decides baseball path / By A.J. Crisp

I thought it might be interesting to some here to see a consolidated list of past Brewers draft selections that went unsigned and are eligible for the 2017 MLB draft. I sifted through the past few drafts to accumulate the list. I stuck with "draft eligible in 2017" as my criteria so there are a couple of players listed that are highly unlikely to be drafted this year, but are technically eligible. Since some of you may be curious what players have done statistically since being drafted by the Brewers I have linked each player's Baseball Cube player page with the exception of Brandon Gonzalez who doesn't have one. I sorted the list by the year and round each player was drafted by the Brewers. I will update this original post as the draft plays out to note which players are re-drafted including round and team. If you think I missed a former unsigned selection that is eligible for this year's draft or you notice any other errors please let me know. Unsigned Brewers Draft Picks Eligible for 2017 MLB Draft 2013 Ky Parrott (26th round selection), OF, James Madison Nick Eicholtz (29th round selection; drafted in 2016 13th round by Marlins), RHP, Alabama Kenny Meimerstorf (40th round selection), OF, Florida International 2014 Ben Onyshko (16th round selection), LHP, Stetson J.J. Schwarz (17th round selection), C, Florida - Drafted by Rays (Round 38) Tate Blackman (20th round selection), SS, Ole Miss - Drafted by White Sox (Round 13) Cre Finfrock (26th round selection), RHP, Central Florida Turner Larkins (28th round selection), RHP, Texas A&M - Drafted by Blue Jays (Round 21) Eric White (32nd round selection), RHP, Dallas Baptist Hunter Tackett (36th round selection), OF, Miami Eric Ramirez (37th round selection), 1B, Hawaii Carl Chester (38th round selection), OF, Miami - Drafted by Rays (Round 12) John Gavin (39th round selection), LHP, Cal State Fullerton - Drafted by Giants (Round 8) Taylor Lane (40th round selection), SS, Arizona State 2015 Willie Schwanke (22nd round selection), IF/RHP, Wichita State Tristan Beck (34th round selection), RHP, Stanford - Drafted by Yankees (Round 29) Brandon Gonzalez (37th round selection), IF/RHP, Hope International 2016 Brennan Price (29th round selection), RHP, Felician College Kyle Serrano (40th round selection), RHP, Tennessee - Drafted by Astros (Round 10)

So the saying goes, "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me." Last year I was certain that the several mock drafts tying the Brewers to Corey Ray were rooted more in guess work than concrete evidence. I was fairly confident (as much as someone with no real knowledge of the truth can be at least) the Brewers were going a different direction. I was wrong, obviously. So this year faced with mock after mock tying the Brewers to Jordon Adell I find myself in a strange state of deja vu. It seems like there is an awful lot of smoke surrounding the pairing of the Louisville prep star and the Brewers. So here we are and surely the passing of a calendar year has left me one year further down the road of "lessons learned", and the mistakes of the past have become the guide for the future. Well in the words of Lee Corso, "not so fast my friend"... This is guess work (obviously), but I think there is a chance the Brewers end up being one of the teams that find a guy they can save some money on with their first selection in order to target guys at #34 and #46. I am admittedly working backwards here, but I am going to take the Brewers reported ties to Drew Waters and Tristan Beck to mean they are going to attempt to get one or both of those players at the #34 and #46 spots. I am also going to guess that they go after a high school player with the first selection. I think Shane Baz would be a great selection in terms of talent, but it would likely come at full slot cost at #9, and there is a chance he could use his strong commitment to TCU to leverage an over slot ask. I think the next likely high school options (removing the HS outfielders Adell and Beck from the first selection consideration) are D.L. Hall, Trevor Rogers, or Nick Pratto. I have heard zero connection between the Brewers and Pratto so I am crossing him off the list. It seems like a coin toss between the two pitchers, Hall and Rogers, although the Brewers have been connected to Hall slightly more than Rogers. In this scenario I am going to say the Brewers float a slightly greater than $4 million signing number to each player which would save the Brewers ~$500,000 in pool value for other picks. It also represents a slot value somewhere between the #11 and #12 draft selections. For a pairing with a player currently projected to go a few picks beyond that range it may provide a win-win for both sides. 1.9 Milwaukee Brewers - Trevor Rogers, LHP, Carlsbad HS (NM)

Agree with MrTPlush that this is a tough one with both UVA hitters off the board. For me it's between Baz and Bukauskas. 1.8 Philadelphia Phillies - J.B. Bukauskas, RHP, North Carolina

It has been quieter this year so far as compared to the past couple of years at this point leading up to the draft. Still, the next few days should hopefully pick up as more articles and draft workout information becomes available. USA Today published a pair of articles yesterday that tied specific players to the various teams picking throughout the first round. The insight was the work of Frankie Piliere, a prospect writer for D1Baseball.com and a former scout with the Rangers. I have linked both articles and extracted some of the Brewers related content. I would highly recommend checking out the articles for yourself. Maybe more notable than the players Piliere connects with the Brewers are some of the names he doesn't connect to them such as Jo Adell and Jeren Kendall. Also, while he doesn't specifically link the Brewers to J.B. Bukauskas, he does mention that Bukauskas "is unlikely to fall beyond the first nine selections". Top 12 HS Draft Prospects: MLB Draft: 12 high school players who could be selected in Round 1 Overall Top 30 Draft Prospects: Hunter Greene or Brendan McKay? Top prospects in the MLB draft

I think the D-backs go college performer with their selection. 1.7 - Arizona Diamondbacks - Adam Haseley, OF, Virginia

I go to a game at Pohlman about once a year. If you decide to make the trip, go for the baseball. There isn't much to see in terms of the facility, but you can have your pick of seats. [sarcasm]One added bonus is if you use the restroom between innings you are likely to be standing one urinal over from a player for the visiting team.[/sarcasm]

Provided the Braves don't pop him at #5, I think Beck goes here. 1.6 Oakland Athletics - Austin Beck, OF, North Davidson HS (NC)

With a week left before the draft thought I would take a stab at my preference list for the Brewers first selection. For this exercise I assumed five players are close to locks to be off the board before the Brewers pick, Hunter Greene, Brendan McKay, Kyle Wright, MacKenzie Gore, and Royce Lewis. With that in mind, below are the five players I would like to see in consideration next. I realize some of them will also be drafted before the Brewers pick, but at least two of them would be available at #9. Player Pref List (Beyond top five expected to be taken) J.B. Bukauskas, RHP, North Carolina - Despite some very recent struggles I think the arm is too special to pass up if he is available. Believe he is a starter, but the fall back would appear to be one heck of a reliever. David Peterson, LHP, Oregon - The combination of command and stuff on a 6'6" college lefty seems too good to be true. I think he is a decent bet to make his way into a major league rotation by 2019, and he looks the part of a mid-rotation horse for a first division team. Shane Baz, RHP, Concordia Lutheran HS (TX) - Combines a deep repertoire of pitches with elite velocity. High School pitchers are very risky, but with Baz the potential reward of adding a front of the rotation arm to the organization is probably worth the risk. A slight concern would be strong TCU commitment. Keston Hiura, 2B/OF, UC-Irvine - If I had to pick one college hitter that I believe in above all others, here he is. I think he is going to be a special hitter, the type of doubles swing that will fit great as a future two hole hitter. He is likely going to need TJ surgery after the PRP injections apparently didn't do the trick with the elbow. TJ surgery doesn't completely scare teams away from drafting pitchers let alone a player who is going to be either a second baseman or corner outfielder. Austin Beck, OF, North Davidson HS (NC) - If I was completely convinced his bat speed was the second coming of Clint Frazier I would probably have him further up my list. Even with excellent bat speed it seems like there are some legitimate contact concerns. Still, if the Brewers want to find a tooled up high school outfielder with the best combination of ceiling/floor in this draft this is probably their best chance. Next Tier Adam Haseley, OF, Virginia Nick Pratto, 1B, Huntington Beach HS (CA) Trevor Rodgers, LHP, Carlsbad HS (NM) Sam Carlson, RHP, Burnsville HS (MN)

As we keep tabs on possibilities for the Brewers #9 selection here are some recent draft notes on teams picking right before the Brewers... - The Atlanta Braves (#5) and Oakland A's (#6) both hosted HS OF Austin Beck at their home parks for private workouts this past week. - The Arizona D-Backs (#7) and Philadelphia Phillies (#8) have both been connected to college players expected to go in the top ten and each team's top brass, including their general managers, have attended Virginia games this spring. The Phillies reportedly had very heavy representation at the ACC tournament. Both appear to be possible landing spots for the Virginia hitters (Smith and Haseley). - Back-to-back tough outings have put J.B. Bukauskas' top eight draft projection in a little bit of question. He currently seems to be the most likely guy that we thought would be gone before the Brewers selection two weeks ago to now possibly be available. Also, the note from that Perfect Game mock draft linked above (written by Brian Sakowski) included that in addition to being tied to Jordon Adell and Austin Beck this spring the Brewers have also been linked to Drew Waters (HS outfielder) and college pitching.

This is a tough one since in addition to either Royce Lewis or MacKenzie Gore, it's easy to picture the Rays making a move for a slightly under slot deal with a college player such as Adam Haseley or J.B. Bukauskas. For our purposes here I will stick with best player available, and give the slight nod to pitching. 1.4 Tampa Bay Rays: MacKenzie Gore, LHP, Whiteville HS (N.C.)

File this one under "interesting connection" as much as anything. Article Link: Bryce Montes de Oca mystery man of baseball draft The article chronicles the draft prospects of University of Missouri RHP Bryce Montes de Oca who stands 6'7" and weighs in at 262 pounds. The oft-injured hurler was an intriguing prospect coming out of Lawrence HS (Kan.) in 2014 and remains somewhat of a curiosity now as a college junior after experiencing some success both at Mizzou as well as on the Cape. Where the article gets intriguing from a Brewers perspective is that it includes several quotes from his high school and Cape Cod Summer League coach, Brad Stoll. According to the article Stoll also scouts part-time for the Brewers.

Barring something shocking surrounding Hunter Greene taking place over the next 10 days, #3 overall would seem to be Greene's floor. 1.3 San Diego Padres: Hunter Greene, RHP, Notre Dame HS (Calf.)

Keith Law's Mock Draft 2.0 includes this selection and corresponding note... Also, posted in the Names Before the Final Weeks of the Draft thread is a reported link between the Brewers and HS outfielder Austin Beck.

Some notes on prep outfielder Austin Beck from Eric Longenhagen's Fangraphs Prospects Chat It's certainly worth checking out the entire Prospect Chat recap linked above. Longenhagen also calls Corey Ray one of the best prospects he saw this Spring.