PGP's 2008 MLB Mock Draft

[Jerome]

since tomorrow is my birthday, and i'm going to be ridiculously busy with school and the draft, i will post my final mock late tonight, early tomorrow morning. thank you all for taking the time to check it out.

as of right now, here are the changes to expect:
contrary to popular belief, the rays have likely already agreed on their selection, and it will be between pedro alvarez and tim beckham, with beckham getting the nod. a few of their west coast scouts still think it's hard to believe the club will select beckham over alvarez, as do i, but this seems to be the industry standard selection at this juncture. when i hear something definitive, you all will be the first to know.

the reds are set to select gordon beckham with the seventh selection, as are the white sox to select brett wallace, which means crow will slip to the number nine selection and the washington nationals. whispers of skipworth slipping appear to be unfounded, and the marlins at six will be his likely destination.

all the talk about aaron hicks and the athletics surprisingly seems to be legit, as are the giants interest in eric hosmer. however, both players won't reach these clubs, and they have solid number two's in place in smoak and posey respectively.

plenty is still up in the air with the rest of the first round, though the red sox seem poised to take nieto at the 30 spot, which is certainly a surprise. david cooper also will not be selected by the indians apparently, although one scout i spoke to thought it would be a pretty good fit, but stated "i haven't seen them pay him too much attention recently". take that for whatever it's worth. jemile weeks looks to be their guy at 29.

i'll have more for you as i make more phone calls throughout the day. check back sporadically for further updates. cheers

[Jerome]

fearless prediction at this point: brian matusz to the orioles. one of their scouts i spoke to at the stanford regional thought this was pretty much a no brainer.

biggest question mark (besides the always difficult to figure out chicago cubs): the dodgers at number 15. they are very high on odorizzi, but with the blue you just never know. they could go about a million different ways at this spot.

[Jerome]

here's a fresh update ladies.

[Jerome]

jonathan mayo wrote on his blog a few hours after i made the early "buzz update", confirming the likelihood of the reds selecting gordon beckham tomorrow. for those of you who didn't believe me, check out his blog. there you go.

[Jerome]

in other news, even if the indians were still interested in david cooper, he wouldn't have reached them anyway, as he's the rockies top guy, trailing only jake odorizzi (ike davis appears to be a comfortable third option for them). the dodgers appear set to select odorizzi, in their eyes the top prep pitcher, if hicks or lawrie don't fall to them. they are also looking long and hard at ethan martin however, but odorizzi appears to be their guy. they seem comfortable with their options with respect to position players later in the draft, with the emphasis to be on a middle infielder early on. also look for the blue to make try and make a splash with a top prep position prospect who slides due to concerns over signability on day two (they are not quite sure who will be available as of yet). pretty much everything is up in the air at this point, and many of the area scouts i've spoken to today say they are expecting plenty of phone calls throughout the early stages of the draft, as many guys projected to not be available in the later rounds are inevitably going to slide. this draft, while weak, appears to make up what it lacks in major league caliber talent in intrigue.

[Jerome]

it also appears highly likely the cardinals will go with a prep position prospect with their first selection, as they are quite content with their options in rounds 3-5.

the yankees don't seem likely to try to wait until their second pick for southpaw mike montgomery. they have been dead set on him for a while now, and don't appear ready to risk losing him by waiting it out until the compensation round. they also like anthony gose, the versatile lhp/of out of southern california. if he's available with their second pick, look for them to select him.

[Jerome]

tim melville also looks like he's going to slide down to day two, as do sonny gray and tanner scheppers. look for melville to get popped somewhere in the twentie's, while gray could be selected somewhere between rounds 40 and 45, and scheppers into late teens.

[Jerome]

take it for whatever it's worth to you.

EDIT: apparently not much :p

[Chubz]

outstanding Jerome. Thanks for the breaking information

[Jerome]

the final mock draft will be up shortly. as for updates, the last i had that would be of general interest is that tanner scheppers could get a look early on day two, but don't expect to hear his name called on day one unless something really goes haywire. melville and gray also appear to be non-factors on day one, as does the talented alex meyer. we should see these guys at the top of a lot of draft boards in about three years.

[Jerome]

final update has now been posted.

[Jerome]

final change at the top fellas

[Jerome]

beckham to get the call at number one. with that, let's update this bitch once more for ol' time sake.