2012 MLB Draft

Well today(6/4/12)  is the day where MLB teams get to load up on young prospects in the MLB Draft. This year there is a new team with the #1 pick. The Houston Astros sit at the top of the draft board and have the opportunity to go in multiple directions whether it be a pitcher like Mark Appel from Stanford, or a catcher like Mike Zunino from Florida. During the draft you will see tons of high level high school prospects taken early and often as teams try to get young player in their hands to hopefully mold them into the future of their team. For now let’s just start with the draft order for the 2012 MLB Draft.

1. Houston Astros

2. Minnesota Twins

3. Seattle Mariners

4. Baltimore Orioles

5. Kansas City Royals

6. Chicago Cubs

7. San Diego Padres

8. Pittsburgh Pirates

9. Miami Marlins

10. Colorado Rockies

11. Oakland Athletics

12. New York Mets

13. Chicago White Sox

14. Cincinnati Reds

15. Cleveland Indians

16. Washington Nationals

17. Toronto Blue Jays

18. Los Angeles Dodgers

19. St. Louis Cardinals (From Los Angeles Angels)

20. San Francisco Giants

21. Atlanta Braves

22. Toronto Blue Jays (T. Beede – unsigned)

23. St. Louis Cardinals

24. Boston Red Sox

25. Tampa Bay Rays

26. Arizona Diamondbacks

27. Milwaukee Brewers (from Detroit)

28. Milwaukee Brewers

29. Texas Rangers

30. New York Yankees

31. Boston Red Sox (from Philadelphia)

The Angels, Tigers and Phillies are 3 teams who do not have a 1st round pick after making trade that they made giving up their 2012 first round picks while the Brewers and Cardinals both hold 2 first round picks.

Now when looking at the top prospects you have guys like Mark Appel who had a stellar year at Stanford. Appel is a 6’5 215lbs starting pitcher who runs his fastball in the mid 90′s and tops at 96 with good movement on his off speed pitches. Mark and the Stanford Cardinals are still playing after winning the Palo Alto regional this past weekend. Appel’s current season stats look like this, 10-1 with 5 complete games. He has thrown 119 innings and only allowed 30 earned runs in those innings. Mark has a 2.27 ERA and team’s are putting up a .210 batting average against him.

Florida catcher Mike Zunino is another top prospect. Mike is a wall behind the plate. At 6’2 220lbs he’s not the biggest but he moves very well and has a solid arm to go along with a great bat. Zunino is hitting .316 for the Florida Gators in 2012 as they advance to the Super Regional’s. Mike leads the team with 18 home runs and 60 RBI’s. Mike also has been calling his own games behind the plate for the last two years which is a huge bonus because not many other college catchers are doing that at the age of 21.

Other top prospects include:

Byron Buxton. 18-year-old OF from Appling High School. GA

Kevin Gausman. 21-year-old RHP from LSU.

Carlos Correa. 17-year-old SS from the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy, PR.

Kyle Zimmer.  20-year-old RHP from San Francisco.

Lucas Giolito. 17-year-old RHP from Harvard-Westlake High School, CA.

Max Fried. 18-year-old LHP from Harvard-Westlake High School, CA.

Michael Wacha. 20-year-old RHP from Texas A&M

Courtney Hawkins. 18-year-old OF from Carroll High School, TX.

Deven Marrero. 21-year-old SS from Arizona State.

Richie Shaffer. 21-year-old 1B from Clemson

Andrew Heaney. 20-year-old LHP from Oklahoma State

David Dahl. 18-year-old OF from Oak Mountain High School, AL

Chris Stratton. 21-year-old RHP from Mississippi State.

It will be interesting to see which direction teams go with their picks. Who is the first player to “fall” from his projected high pick and who is the guy that a team takes a chance on when others would have suggested to wait a little longer to make him their pick. The 2012 MLB Draft will being at 6PM central on the MLB Network. Tune in and check out either who your favorite MLB team takes in the 1st round or where some of your favorite college or high school player goes in the draft.