MLB Mock Draft 2015: Predictions for Every 1st-Round Prospect

While it won't receive the press coverage of the three other major professional sports, the 2015 MLB draft is among the more interesting in recent memory.

At the top of the draft, there's really not much consensus. Florida prep shortstop Brendan Rodgers is atop most draft boards, but it would be reasonable for the Arizona Diamondbacks to go in one of a handful of directions. Selecting Rodgers means waiting on him to develop for years; in the meantime, Nick Ahmed may establish himself as a useful big league talent.

There is the option of taking a college pitcher like Dillon Tate or Tyler Jay, a ready-made positional player like Dansby Swanson or perhaps even a high school arm like Kolby Allard. It's all theoretically on the table.

Of course, that's the case because this draft is a little weak at the top. There's no surefire All-Star in this crop. ESPN Insider Keith Law called it "one of the weakest in recent memory." Guys at the top of this class would probably land somewhere late in the top 10 or even in the teens in most classes. All of this makes these picks even harder to evaluate.

With that in mind, let's take a look at how the first round is shaping up and assess some of the most interesting teams.

Mock Draft

Pick	Team	Player	Pos	School
1	Arizona Diamondbacks	Brendan Rodgers	SS	Lake Mary HS (FL)
2	Houston Astros	Dillon Tate	RHP	UC Santa Barbara
3	Colorado Rockies	Dansby Swanson	2B/SS	Vanderbilt
4	Texas Rangers	Alex Bregman	SS	LSU
5	Houston Astros	Kyle Tucker	OF	Plant HS (FL)
6	Minnesota Twins	Daz Cameron	OF	Eagle Landing HS (GA)
7	Boston Red Sox	Walker Buehler	RHP	Vanderbilt
8	Chicago White Sox	Tyler Jay	LHP	Illinois
9	Chicago Cubs	Carson Fulmer	RHP	Vanderbilt
10	Philadelphia Phillies	Jon Harris	RHP	Missouri State
11	Cincinnati Reds	Trenton Clark	OF	Richland HS (TX)
12	Miami Marlins	Mike Nikorak	RHP	Stroudsburg HS (PA)
13	Tampa Bay Rays	James Kaprielian	RHP	UCLA
14	Atlanta Braves	Tyler Stephenson	C	Kennesaw Mountain HS (GA)
15	Milwaukee Brewers	Kyle Funkhouser	RHP	Louisville
16	New York Yankees	Brady Aiken	LHP	IMG Academy
17	Cleveland Indians	Kolby Allard	LHP	San Clemente HS (CA)
18	San Francisco Giants	Phil Bickford	RHP	Southern Nevada JC
19	Pittsburgh Pirates	Kevin Newman	SS	Arizona
20	Oakland Athletics	Ian Happ	2B/OF	Cincinnati
21	Kansas City Royals	Cornelius Randolph	SS	Griffin HS (GA)
22	Detroit Tigers	Nathan Kirby	LHP	Virginia
23	St. Louis Cardinals	Michael Matuella	RHP	Duke
24	Los Angeles Dodgers	Chris Betts	C	Wilson HS (CA)
25	Baltimore Orioles	Garrett Whitley	OF	Niskayuna HS (NY)
26	Los Angeles Angels	Cody Ponce	RHP	Cal Poly Pomona
27	Colorado Rockies	D.J. Stewart	OF	Florida State
28	Atlanta Braves	Ke'Bryan Hayes	3B	Concordia Lutheran HS (TX)
29	Toronto Blue Jays	Ashe Russell	RHP	Cathedral HS (IN)
30	New York Yankees	Nick Plummer	OF	Brother Rice HS (MI)
31	San Francisco Giants	Andrew Benintendi	OF	Arkansas
32	Pittsburgh Pirates	Scott Kingery	2B	Arizona
33	Kansas City Royals	Dakota Chalmers	RHP	North Forsyth HS (GA)
34	Detroit Tigers	Donny Everett	RHP	Clarksville HS (TN)
35	Los Angeles Dodgers	Richie Martin	SS	Florida
36	Baltimore Orioles	Donnie Dewees	OF	North Florida

Teams to Watch

Houston Astros

The Astros will have two picks in the top five after failing to sign top overall selection Brady Aiken last year. Their first priority should be finding a pseudo-Aiken replacement.

UC Santa Barbara righty Dillon Tate fits the bill as a flamethrower who could find his way to the top of a big league rotation. He probably lacks Aiken's ceiling but is a much smaller risk, especially given Aiken's recent injury issues. Adding Tate at No. 2—especially if Arizona goes with a bat at No. 1—seems like a no-brainer.

The fifth pick should allow Houston to find a developmental bat. Alex Bregman, Daz Cameron and Kyle Tucker are all fine values in that spot and will get consideration if they're on the board. A dream scenario would see Tate and Dansby Swanson somehow wind up in the team's clutches. Tate and Swanson are the two most projectable players in this class, and Houston may be interested in getting an instant bang for its buck with these picks given its uptick in play.

Either way, with two picks in the first five, the Astros hold a ton of cards at the top of this draft.

Colorado Rockies

Peter Aiken/Getty Images

The Rockies are in a situation not too dissimilar to Houston's a couple of years ago. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Troy Tulowitzki or Carlos Gonzalez elsewhere come July, assuming another team meets the club's desire for a war chest of prospects.

Colorado is probably a half-decade away from even remotely competing in the NL West; focusing on the future is really the only option.

Luckily, the Rockies are in a position to continue bolstering their farm system. They have the No. 3 and No. 27 selections, spots where legitimate talents should be on the board. Barring a surprise situation where Tate falls to No. 3—a dream scenario that would allow the Rockies to secure a needed power arm—they'll go offense at the top, with shortstop being the most likely target position.

Swanson, Bregman and even Rodgers are possibilities. Rodgers would be a dream come true; he's a young, ascending talent who would reach the majors right about when the Rockies can expect to start competing. Of course, that would also involve Houston and Arizona passing on the consensus top player. A more realistic possibility is Swanson, who isn't such a bad consolation prize.

The No. 27 pick becomes a best-player-available scenario. Colorado would probably prefer to go with a pitcher, especially if it's going with a bat at No. 3. But in the scenario listed above, it would be hard to pass on someone like D.J. Stewart.

New York Yankees

I'm choosing to focus on the Yankees here only because it gives us a chance to talk about Aiken. The No. 1 pick in last year's draft, he was unable to agree to terms with Houston after the Astros made modifications to their offer due to injury concerns. He'll re-enter the draft this year having undergone Tommy John surgery, hoping to stick in the latter half of the first round.

The Yankees are one of only a handful of teams I can see realistically rolling the dice on him. For one, they can pay him. Aiken isn't going to take slot or even below-slot value wherever he's selected; he'll expect an above-slot number. Even in a more restrictive era of MLB rookie contracts, the flush Yankees are in a position to make that happen.

They're also an organization that could use a little risk-taking. The farm system has long failed to develop replacements for the team's elderly roster—problems we see now as New York attempts to find a more cost-efficient way to run a franchise. Cost efficiency is great whenever you have low-cost players who can actually contribute.

The Yankees don't. As it stands, they'll need to take risks on talented players like Aiken and Nick Plummer to jump-start the organization.