UPDATE (7 p.m.): The Tigers drafted high school pitcher Jacob Turner with their first-round selection. He's a 6'5" right-hander out of St. Louis. There's some discrepancy over how hard he throws between the MLB.com (90-92 m.p.h) and ESPN (94-96 m.p.h.) scouting reports.
Like Rick Porcello, Turner is being advised by Scott Boras and is currently committed to pitch at North Carolina.
The MLB Draft begins this evening at 6 p.m. EST, and with first pitch for the Tigers-White Sox game set for 8:11 p.m., Detroit should make their selection well before game time. The Tigers have the ninth pick in the first round, which will be broadcast live on MLB Network. Here are a couple of notes to take with you, if you watch:
ESPN.com's Keith Law posted his final mock draft yesterday. He sees the Tigers picking right-handed high school pitcher Jacob Turner with the ninth selection. Here's our note on Turner from last week.
For those hoping the Tigers select USC shortstop Grant Green, Law doesn't have him going in the first round (though he ranks him as the 15th best player), so perhaps he'll be available in the second round. But probably not, with the 17 supplemental picks sandwiched between the first and second rounds.
Little bit of a different story at MLB.com, where Jonathan Mayo has the Tigers drafting Aaron Crow, a 6'3" right-hander who's pitching with the Forth Worth Cats of the independent American Association. (He was selected by the Nationals last year, but didn't sign.)
In his previous mock draft, Mayo had Detroit taking high school left-hander Matthew Purke. (You might remember him as the guy who wants "Rick Porcello's deal.") Mayo also has Green going to the A's with the 13th selection.
Baseball America's Jim Callis has Rex Brothers going to Detroit in his mock draft, which is a name I confess to know nothing about. (And I haven't even been following this stuff all that closely, though I'm familiar with many of the players said to be going in the top 10.) He's a 6'1" left-hander out of Lipscomb University.
What makes this prediction interesting is that Callis hears that the Tigers won't pay above draft slot this time around, which is why they might opt for Brothers instead of someone like Turner, Purke, or Shelby Miller.
(Hat tip to Billfer on this one, and The Detroit Tigers Weblog has more on the draft, including other mock drafts and reports.)
More links you might be interested in:
- A Tigers draft preview from Jason Beck
- MLB Network's main draft page
- ESPN.com's draft site
- Baseball America's draft hub
- The MLB Draft order, and how it's determined
- Keith Law's Top 100
You'll also be able to follow the draft on Twitter. Follow @JonathanMayoB3, @LisaWinstonMLB, or @MLBDraft.
So do any of you follow this stuff closely? Are you pretty familiar with any of the players being linked to the Tigers in these mock drafts? Is there someone else you think Detroit should look at? And we sort of had this debate a few weeks ago, but do you think the Tigers should try to fill position needs or take the best player available? What would you like to see happen this evening?