2017 Live Draft Coverage with Eric Longenhagen and Chris Mitchell

June 12, 2017

Keith Law will unfortunately not be able to join Eric tonight, as previously announced. Chris Mitchell will be replacing him as Eric’s co-host.

Tonight, the MLB draft begins at 7 pm eastern. Lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen will be covering the first round as it happens, via Google Hangout, and he’ll also be joined by Chris Mitchell. Together, they’ll discuss the first 27 picks, and when possible, take questions from you guys as well.

To help facilitate the conversation, we’re going to have a Jotcast queue open for you guys to submit questions, and they’ll pick from that queue and answer them as they can. As they’ll be answering the questions on video, this isn’t a traditional chat, but they’ll hopefully have time to answer some of your queries in between selections.

Bookmark this post for your live draft coverage with Eric and Keith tonight, and we’ll have the Google Hangout embedded in this post when they go live right before the draft begins.

6:59	Ola Velund: Is there a team where the potential health-related Canning fall ends?

7:04	Eric A Longenhagen: late 20s, still ines up well vs other college arms

7:04	Dave: How likely are the A’s to take Hiura at 6 if he’s there? How much could they really save with an uderslot with him?

7:09	Mark: How much can minor league overall rankings change in one draft? How many spots could the Twins and Reds rise, or the Cards fall?

7:13	Eric A Longenhagen:

7:19	Eric A Longenhagen:

7:24	J Jonah Jameson: How bummed are the Padres if they miss out on Green and pick Gore or Lewis instead?

7:27	Matt: Which team do you think will probably take the biggest reach?

7:29	Eric A Longenhagen:

7:32	Matt: You putting McKay at 4 to Tampa – are they a team that’s more likely to maybe be open to the whole two-way thing?

7:33	Eric A Longenhagen: Perhaps, I’ve heard they prefer him as a hitter but the numbers favor him as a pitcher. I’m out on the two way thing

7:35	Eric A Longenhagen:

7:41	John: Is wright considered to be a difficult sign?

7:41	Eric A Longenhagen: Not particularly.

7:48	Todd: Is there any trackman data on Beck?

7:51	Eric A Longenhagen: The publicly available data is old, maxed out at 97.6mph i n2015 WWBA

7:56	Bill: Does Jeren Kendall stay in middle of first round? White Sox or KC perhaps?

7:57	Eric A Longenhagen: yup, you’re on it.

7:57	Adam: Why did Wright fall to 5, would you say?

7:58	Carson Cistulli: I do not agree with teams hating on Adam Haisely

7:58	Eric A Longenhagen:

8:01	Eric A Longenhagen:

8:04	Eric A Longenhagen: JMh1a26Cjos

8:06	Matt: How did that mustache fall so late?

8:06	Eric A Longenhagen: Red flag for some clubs

8:06	Paul: Can Pavin Smith play the outfield?

8:06	Eric A Longenhagen: Some think he can. Has enough arm for it. I think it’s worth a try.

8:10	Eric A Longenhagen: https://streamable.com/2v9d2

8:11	Eric A Longenhagen: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/fangraphs-2017-mock-draft-final-edition…

8:13	Jeff: just curious, but are teams required to take the full allotment of time, or could they just give their pick immediately when they are on the clock?

8:17	Eric A Longenhagen: s3XP82oUmfQ

8:17	Eric A Longenhagen:

8:19	Dan: Well his name is burger, you can’t expect much

8:19	Eric A Longenhagen: Nominative determinism.

8:19	Greg: Its Erics “covfefe”!!

8:19	illlegalblues: what password is that

8:20	Eric A Longenhagen: It’s the youtube ID code

8:20	Nick: His comp is Jedd Gyorko?

8:26	jules: who will be the 1st canadian taken?

8:27	Eric A Longenhagen:

8:28	Eric A Longenhagen:

8:32	Pegleg Pete: Is Baz the type of pick that will force the Pirates to pick guys that will sign below slot with the rest of their top 10?

8:32	Eric A Longenhagen: Maybe not below, but probably will have to make sure they’re doing math.

8:33	Theo: Who would you take Braxton Garrett (pre tommy John) or McKenzie Gore?

8:33	Eric A Longenhagen: Gore.

8:39	John W: How big of a knock is Jeren Kendall’s disappointing performance with wooden bats?

8:44	Jake: Unrelated, has anyone let Chris know Gosuke Katoh has a 136 wRC+ in Tampa (A+), .292/.365/.462 slash?

8:48	Scott: How many 2017 draftees will slot immediately into your top 100? Is that something you could tell at this point or do they need to see pro-action?

8:51	John: Terriez Fuller, does he get an 80 raw?

8:58	Eric A Longenhagen: 70 for me, wouldn’t argue with 80

8:58	Anthony: Is Nick Allen an all-glove guy like Ahmed, or is there more upside there?

8:58	Eric A Longenhagen: Has some bat to ball ability but very little power

8:58	Brendan: Who do you see as the fastest mover in this class?

9:02	Joe: I totally understand that 1B don’t project well, but what if we project White, Smith, McKay, as LF?

9:04	Eric A Longenhagen: That’s not ridiculous. Not sure the value between LF and 1B is such that it makes a difference.

9:06	Stros: What do you think of JB sliding to the Astros?

9:06	Eric A Longenhagen: Great value, think there’s a chance they ‘pen him and move him very quickly.

9:07	Seattle206: Is Evan White a CF or a 1B? Or could he be both?

9:07	Eric A Longenhagen: 1B for me because the glove is elite, but has the speed to try CF

9:12	John: What’s the difference between raw power and game power and, maybe the more pertinent part of my question, why would we want to evaluate and/or care about raw power if there’s a difference when it comes to game power? Thanks, Eric!

9:14	Eric: Do you think Sam Carlson will be available for Twins at 35?

9:20	Eric A Longenhagen:

9:26	Eric A Longenhagen:

9:31	Eric A Longenhagen:

9:43	SpicyBoy: why are dan o’dowd’s eyes so dreamy

9:43	Eric A Longenhagen: Splicing

9:43	Momus: Do you think Canning and his high-mileage arm will be available at #28 and might the Jays take a high risk guy like that paired with a lower risk one at #22?

9:44	Eric A Longenhagen: Yes, would be an interesting way to mitigate risk.

9:45	Anthony: Looking through video and scouting reports, everything seems average or better for Drew Waters. Any reason why he doesn’t get more run? Just a lack of an impact tool?

9:46	Eric A Longenhagen:

9:48	Eric A Longenhagen: Waters might have plus hit, falling either due to a team targetting him over slot in the 40s or because of the way teams have prep OFs evaluated, which is very uniform on paper but won’t play out that way for real.

9:49	Sean: Have you ever written about how organizations handle prospects? Are there noticable philosophical differences? Or is it largely prospect by prospect? It would be interesting to hear about how teams handle placement and development for their own farm systems.

9:55	Eric A Longenhagen: Complex answer. Yes, there are differences. At times they are baseball-related, at times not. It’s hard to say, team-to-team, because so much player dev personnel turns over, but there are clear differences in quality and philosophy.

9:58	ResumeMan: If Luis Robert were drafted instead of being an International FA, where would you rank him in this class?

9:59	Eric A Longenhagen: 3-5 range

9:59	Stros: So far, what is your favorite pick? What is your best value pick? And last one, highest upside pick?