MLB Draft Big Board 2014: Mike Rosenbaum's Final Predraft Rankings

With the 2014 MLB Rule 4 draft less than two weeks away, one would think that the teams with early first-round picks already know who they’re going to take. However, due to a lack of impact hitters in this year’s class as well as the injuries to some of its more talented arms, there’s little clarity as to how the draft’s first five picks will unfold.

Since publishing my initial rankings in mid-May, many of the prospects that appeared in the top 150 have either maintained or improved their respective draft stock, with a few notable late-risers also finding a home on the board.

Yet as is the case every year, there’s still plenty of time for players to improve their stock before the draft, especially with the College World Series on the horizon and most prep prospects busily working out for potential suitors.

With that being said, here are the top-100 overall prospects for this year’s draft, including a look at how the class stacks up at each position. For each positional superlative, one high school prospect and one college prospect will be presented.

Top 100 Overall

Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

OF Bradley Zimmer (No. 6)

Rank	Player	Pos.	School	Round
1	Brady Aiken	LHP	Cathedral Catholic HS (Calif.)	1
2	Carlos Rodon	LHP	N.C. State	1
3	Alex Jackson	C/OF	Rancho Bernardo HS (Calif.)	1
4	Tyler Kolek	RHP	Shepherd HS (Texas)	1
5	Nick Gordon	SS	Olympia HS (Fla.)	1
6	Bradley Zimmer	OF	San Francisco	1
7	Jeff Hoffman	RHP	East Carolina	1
8	Aaron Nola	RHP	Louisiana State	1
9	Grant Holmes	RHP	Conway HS (S.C.)	1
10	Sean Newcomb	LHP	Hartford	1
11	Touki Toussaint	RHP	Coral Springs Christian Academy HS (Fla.)	1
12	Michael Conforto	OF	Oregon State	1
13	Max Pentecost	C	Kennesaw State	1
14	Kyle Freeland	LHP	Evansville	1
15	Trea Turner	SS	N.C. State	1
16	Michael Chavis	3B/2B	Sprayberry HS (Ga.)	1
17	Kyle Schwarber	C/1B	Indiana	1
18	Tyler Beede	RHP	Vanderbilt	1
19	Jacob Gatewood	SS	Clovis HS (Calif.)	1
20	Sean Reid-Foley	RHP	Sandalwood HS (Fla.)	1
21	Derek Fisher	OF	Virginia	1
22	Monte Harrison	OF	Lee's Summit HS (Mo.)	1
23	Brandon Finnegan	LHP	Texas Christian	1-1S
24	Luis Ortiz	RHP	Sanger HS (Calif.)	1
25	Casey Gillaspie	1B	Wichita State	1-1S
26	Kodi Medeiros	LHP	Waiaka HS (Hi.)	1-1S
27	Marcus Wilson	OF	J Serra HS (Calif.)	1-1S
28	Spencer Adams	RHP	White County HS (Ga.)	1-1S
29	Braxton Davidson	OF/1B	T.C. Roberson HS (N.C.)	1-2
30	Erick Fedde	RHP	UNLV	1-3
31	Derek Hill	OF	Elk Grove HS (Calif.)	1-2
32	Jake Bukauskas	RHP	Stone Bridge HS (Va.)	1-3
33	Foster Griffin	LHP	First Academy (Fla.)	1-1S
34	Michael Gettys	OF	Gainesville HS (Ga.)	1-1S
35	A.J. Reed	1B	Kentucky	1-2
36	Nick Burdi	RHP	Louisville	1-2
37	Ti'Quan Forbes	SS	Columbia HS (Miss.)	1S-2
38	Scott Blewett	RHP	Baker HS (N.Y.)	1S-2
39	Alex Blandino	2B/3B	Stanford	1S-2
40	Bryce Montes De Oca	RHP	Lawrence HS (Kan.)	1S-2
41	Michael Kopech	RHP	Mount Pleasant HS (Texas)	1-2
42	Matt Imhof	LHP	Cal Poly	1S-2
43	Cameron Varga	RHP	Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (Ohio)	1S-2
44	Justus Sheffield	LHP	Tullahoma HS (Tenn.)	1S-3
45	Mike Papi	OF	Virginia	1S-3
46	Sam Travis	1B	Indiana	2-3
47	Mac Marshall	LHP	Parkview HS (Ga.)	1S-3
48	Forrest Wall	2B	Orangewood Christian HS (Fla.)	2-3
49	Luke Weaver	RHP	Florida State	1S-2
50	Matt Chapman	3B	Cal State Fullerton	2-3
51	Matt Railey	OF	North Florida Christian Academy (Fla.)	2-3
52	Keith Weisenberg	RHP	Osceola HS (Fla.)	2-3
53	Zech Lemond	RHP	Rice	2-3
54	Dylan Cease	RHP	Milton HS (Ga.)	2-5
55	Chase Vallot	C	St. Thomas More HS (La.)	2-3
56	Taylor Sparks	3B/2B	UC Irvine	1S-3
57	Alex Verdugo	LHP/OF	Sahauro HS (Ariz.)	1S-3
58	Nick Howard	RHP/3B	Virginia	1S-3
59	Daniel Gossett	RHP	Clemson	2-3
60	Trey Supak	RHP	La Grange HS (Texas)	2-4
61	Cole Tucker	SS	Mountain Pointe HS (Ariz.)	2-3
62	Bobby Bradley	3B/1B	Harrison Central HS (Miss.)	2-4
63	Michael Cederoth	RHP	San Diego State	1S-4
64	Jake Godfrey	RHP	Providence Catholic HS (Ill.)	2-4
65	Keaton McKinney	RHP/1B	Ankenny Centennial HS (Iowa)	2-5
66	Grayson Greiner	C	South Carolina	2-5
67	Chris Ellis	RHP	Mississippi	2-5
68	Jake Stinnett	RHP	Maryland	2-4
69	Garrett Fulencheck	RHP	Howe HS (Texas)	2-4
70	Cody Reed	LHP	Ardmore HS (Ala.)	1S-4
71	Milton Ramos	SS	American Heritage HS (Fla.)	2-4
72	J.J. Schwarz	C	Palm Beach Gardens HS (Fla.)	3-4
73	Jeren Kendall	OF	Holmen HS (Wisc.)	2-5
74	Carson Sands	LHP	North Florida Christian Academy (Fla.)	2-5
75	James Norwood	RHP	St. Louis	3-4
76	Joe Gatto	RHP	St. Augustine HS (N.J.)	2-4
77	Aramis Garcia	C	Florida International	2-4
78	Jordan Luplow	OF	Fresno State	3-4
79	Grant Hockin	RHP	Damien HS (Calif.)	3-4
80	Brian Anderson	2B/OF	Arkansas	3-4
81	Gareth Morgan	OF	Blyth Academy (Toronto)	3-5
82	Trace Loehr	SS	Putnam HS (Ore.)	2-4
83	Jack Flaherty	RHP/3B	Harvard-Westlake HS (Calif.)	2-5
84	Jakson Reetz	C/OF	Hickman HS (Neb.)	2-5
85	Spencer Turnbull	RHP	Alabama	3-4
86	Andrew Suarez	LHP	Miami	3-5
87	Austin DeCarr	RHP	Salisbury HS (Conn.)	2-5
88	Josh Morgan	SS/3B	Orange Lutheran HS (Calif.)	3-5
89	Brett Graves	RHP	Missouri	3-4
90	Jordan Brink	RHP	Fresno State	3-5
91	Cobi Johnson	RHP	Mitchell HS (Fla.)	3-5
92	Jacob Lindgren	LHP	Mississippi State	3-5
93	Dylan Davis	OF/RHP	Oregon State	3-5
94	Evan Skoug	C	Libertyville HS (Ill.)	3-5
95	Michael Cantu	C/1B	Carrol HS (Texas)	4-5
96	Rhys Hoskins	OF	Sacramento State	4-5
97	Eric Skoglund	LHP	Central Florida	4-5
98	Heath Fillmyer	RHP	Mercer Community College	4-5
99	David Peterson	LHP	Regis Jesuit (Colo.)	3-5
100	Justin Steele	LHP	George County HS (Miss.)	3-5

Right-Handed Pitcher

USA TODAY Sports

RHP Aaron Nola (No. 3)

Best Prospect: Jeff Hoffman/Tyler Kolek

Most MLB-Ready: Aaron Nola/Sean Reid-Foley

Highest Ceiling: Hoffman/Touki Toussaint

Most Helium: Nick Burdi/Jake Bukauskas

Biggest Risk: Hoffman/Kolek

Sleeper Candidate: Jordan Brink/Bryce Montes de Oca

Best Command: Nola/Reid-Foley

Bust Candidate: Tyler Beede/Kolek

Best Velocity: Nick Burdi/Kolek

Best Curveball: Hoffman/Toussaint

Best Slider: Burdi/Michael Kopech

Best Changeup: Nola/Keaton McKinney 

Rank	Player	School	College Commitment	Previously Drafted	Overall
1	Tyler Kolek	Shepherd HS (Texas)	Texas Christian		4
2	Jeff Hoffman	East Carolina		Never Drafted	7
3	Aaron Nola	Louisiana State		Blue Jays 2011 (22)	8
4	Grant Holmes	Conway HS (S.C.)	Florida		9
5	Touki Toussaint	Coral Springs Christian Academy HS (Fla.)	Vanderbilt		11
6	Tyler Beede	Vanderbilt		Blue Jays 2011 (1)	18
7	Sean Reid-Foley	Sandalwood HS (Fla.)	Florida State		20
8	Luis Ortiz	Sanger HS (Calif.)	Fresno State		24
9	Spencer Adams	White County HS (Ga.)	Georgia		28
10	Erick Fedde	UNLV		Padres 2011 (24)	30
11	Jake Bukauskas	Stone Bridge HS (Va.)	North Carolina		32
12	Nick Burdi	Louisville		Twins 2011 (24)	36
13	Scott Blewett	Baker HS (N.Y.)	St. John's		38
14	Bryce Montes de Oca	Lawrence HS (Kan.)	Missouri		40
15	Michael Kopech	Mount Pleasant HS (Texas)	Arizona		41
16	Cameron Varga	Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (Ohio)	North Carolina		43
17	Luke Weaver	Florida State		Blue Jays 2011 (19)	49
18	Keith Weisenberg	Osceola HS (Fla.)	Stanford		52
19	Zech Lemond	Rice		Pirates 2011 (50)	53
20	Dylan Cease	Milton HS (Ga.)	Vanderbilt		54
21	Nick Howard	Virginia		Never Drafted	58
22	Daniel Gossett	Clemson		Red Sox 2011 (16)	59
23	Trey Supak	La Grange HS (Texas)	Houston		60
24	Michael Cederoth	San Diego State		Diamondbacks 2011 (41)	63
25	Jake Godfrey	Providence Catholic HS (Ill.)	Louisiana State		64
26	Keaton McKinney	Ankenny Centennial HS (Iowa)	Arkansas		65
27	Chris Ellis	Mississippi		Dodgers 2011 (50)	67
28	Jake Stinnett	Maryland		Pirates 2013 (29)	68
29	Garrett Fulencheck	Howe HS (Texas)	Dallas Baptist		69
30	James Norwood	St. Louis		Never Drafted	75
31	Joe Gatto	St. Augustine HS (N.J.)	North Carolina		76
32	Grant Hockin	Damien HS (Calif.)	UCLA		79
33	Jack Flaherty	Harvard-Westlake HS (Calif.)	North Carolina		83
34	Spencer Turbull	Alabama		Never Drafted	85
35	Austin DeCarr	Salisbury HS (Conn.)	Clemson		87
36	Brett Graves	Missouri		Cardinals 2011 (26)	89
37	Jordan Brink	Fresno State		Never Drafted	90
38	Cobi Johnson	Mitchell HS (Fla.)	Florida State		91
39	Heath Fillmyer	Mercer Community College		Rockies 2012 (28)	98

Left-Handed Pitcher

USA TODAY Sports

LHP Carlos Rodon (No. 2)

Best Prospect: Carlos Rodon/Brady Aiken

Most MLB-Ready: Rodon/Kodi Medeiros

Highest Ceiling: Rodon/Aiken

Most Helium: Sean Newcomb/Cody Reed

Biggest Risk: Rodon/Aiken

Sleeper Candidate: Matt Imhoff/Mac Marshall

Best Command: Kyle Freeland/Aiken

Bust Candidate: Brandon Finnegan/Foster Griffin

Best Velocity: Finnegan/Medeiros

Best Curveball: Dillon Peters/Aiken

Best Slider: Rodon/Medeiros

Best Changeup: Newcomb/Marshall

Rank	Player	School	College Commitment	Previously Drafted	Overall
1	Brady Aiken	Cathedral Catholic HS (Calif.)	UCLA		1
2	Carlos Rodon	N.C. State		2011 Brewers (16)	2
3	Sean Newcomb	Hartford		Never Drafted	10
4	Kyle Freeland	Evansville		Phillies 2011 (35)	14
5	Brandon Finnegan	Texas Christian		Rangers 2011 (45)	23
6	Kodi Medeiros	Waiaka HS (Hi.)	Pepperdine		26
7	Foster Griffin	First Academy (Fla.)	Mississippi		33
8	Matt Imhof	Cal Poly		Never Drafted	42
9	Justus Sheffield	Tullahoma HS (Tenn.)	Vanderbilt		44
10	Mac Marshall	Parkview HS (Ga.)	Louisiana State		47
11	Alex Verdugo	Saharuo HS (Ariz.)	Arizona State		57
12	Cody Reed	Ardmore HS (Ala.)	Vanderbilt		70
13	Carson Sands	North Florida Christian Academy (Fla.)	Florida State		74
14	Andrew Suarez	Miami		Blue Jays 2011 (9)	86
15	Jacob Lindgren	Mississippi State		Cubs 2011 (12)	92
16	Eric Skoglund	Central Florida		Pirates 2011 (16)	97
17	David Peterson	Regis Jesuit HS (Colo.)	Oregon		99
18	Justin Steele	George County HS (Miss.)	Southern Mississippi		100

Catcher

USA TODAY Sports

C/OF Alex Jackson (No. 1)

Best Prospect: Alex Jackson

Most MLB-Ready: Max Pentecost

Best Athlete: Pentecost

Highest Ceiling: Jackson

Most Helium: Pentecost

Biggest Risk: Kyle Schwarber

Sleeper Candidate: Jackson Reetz

Bust Candidate: Chase Vallot

Best Plate Discipline: Schwarber

Best Bat: Jackson/Schwarber

Best Power: Jackson/Schwarber

Best Speed: Pentecost

Best Arm: Chase Vallot

Best Defense: Pentecost

Rank	Player	Pos.	School	College Commitment	Previously Drafted	Overall
1	Alex Jackson	C/OF	Rancho Bernardo HS (Calif.)	Oregon		3
2	Max Pentecost	C	Kennesaw State		Rangers 2011 (7)	14
3	Kyle Schwarber	C/1B	Indiana		Never Drafted	17
4	Chase Vallot	C	St. Thomas More HS (La.)	Mississippi State		55
5	Grayson Greiner	C	South Carolina		Never Drafted	66
6	J.J. Schwarz	C	Palm Beach Groves HS (Fla.)	Florida		72
7	Aramis Garcia	C	Florida International		Cardinals 2011 (20)	77
8	Jakson Reetz	C/OF	Hickman HS (Neb.)	Nebraska		84
9	Evan Skoug	C	Libertyville HS (Ill.)	Texas Christian		94
10	Michael Cantu	C/1B	Carrol HS (Texas)	Texas		95

Corner Infield

Nati Harnik/Associated Press

3B Matt Chapman (No. 5)

Best Prospect: Michael Chavis

Most MLB-Ready: Casey Gillaspie

Best Athlete: Taylor Sparks

Highest Ceiling: Chavis

Most Helium: Sam Travis

Biggest Risk: Sparks

Sleeper Candidate: Bobby Bradley

Bust Candidate: Reed

Best Plate Discipline: Gillaspie

Best Bat: Gillaspie

Best Power: A.J. Reed

Best Speed: Sparks

Best Arm: Matt Chapman

Best Defense: Chapman

Rank	Player	Pos.	School	College Commitment	Previously Drafted	Overall
1	Michael Chavis	3B/2B	Sprayberry HS (Ga.)	Clemson		16
2	Casey Gillaspie	1B	Wichita State		Never Drafted	25
3	A.J. Reed	1B	Kentucky		Mets 2011 (25)	35
4	Sam Travis	1B	Indiana		Reds 2011 (40)	46
5	Matt Chapman	3B	Cal State Fullerton		Never Drafted	50
6	Taylor Sparks	3B/2B	UC Irvine		Indians 2011 (24)	56
7	Bobby Bradley	3B/1B	Harrison Central HS (Miss.)	Louisiana State

Middle Infield

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

SS Jacob Gatewood (No. 3)

Best Prospect: Nick Gordon

Most MLB-Ready: Trea Turner

Best Athlete: Forrest Wall

Highest Ceiling: Jacob Gatewood

Most Helium: Gordon

Biggest Risk: Turner

Sleeper Candidate: Wall

Bust Candidate: Gatewood

Best Plate Discipline: Turner

Best Bat: Wall

Best Power: Gatewood

Best Speed: Turner/Wall

Best Arm: Gordon

Best Defense: Milton Ramos

Rank	Player	Pos.	School	College Commitment	Previously Drafted	Overall
1	Nick Gordon	SS	Olympia (Fla.) HS	Florida State		5
2	Trea Turner	SS	N.C. State		Pirates 2011 (20)	15
3	Jacob Gatewood	SS	Clovis (Calif.) HS	USC		19
4	Ti'Quan Forbes	SS	Columbia (Miss.) HS	Mississippi		37
5	Alex Blandino	2B/3B	Stanford		Athletics 2011 (38)	39
6	Forrest Wall	2B	Orange Christian HS (Fla.)	North Carolina		48
7	Cole Tucker	SS	Mountain Pointe HS (Ariz.)	Arizona		61
8	Milton Ramos	SS	American Heritage HS (Fla.)	Florida Atlantic		71
9	Brian Anderson	2B/OF	Arkansas		Twins 2011 (20)	80
10	Trace Loehr	SS	Putnam HS (Ore.)	Oregon State		82
11	Josh Morgan	SS/3B	Orange Lutheran HS (Calif.)	UCLA		88

Outfield

ANDREW SHURTLEFF/Associated Press

OF Derek Fisher (No. 3)

Best Prospect: Bradley Zimmer

Most MLB-Ready: Michael Conforto/Zimmer

Best Athlete: Monte Harrison

Highest Ceiling: Michael Gettys

Most Helium: Harrison

Biggest Risk: Gettys

Sleeper Candidate: Derek Hill/Jeren Kendall

Bust Candidate: Gettys

Best Plate Discipline: Conforto

Best Bat: Derek Fisher

Best Power: Braxton Davidson

Best Speed: Kendall/Harrison/Hill/Gettys

Best Arm: Gettys/Harrison/Dylan Davis

Best Defense: Gettys/Kendall

Rank	Player	Pos.	School	College Commitment	Previously Drafted	Overall
1	Bradley Zimmer	OF	San Francisco		Cubs 2011 (23)	6
2	Michael Conforto	OF	Oregon State		Never Drafted	12
3	Derek Fisher	OF	Virginia		Rangers 2011 (6)	21
4	Monte Harrison	OF	Lee's Summit HS (Mo.)	Nebraska		22
5	Marcus Wilson	OF	J Serra HS (Calif.)	Arizona State		27
6	Braxton Davidson	OF/1B	T.C. Roberson HS (N.C.)	North Carolina		29
7	Derek Hill	OF	Elk Grove HS (Calif.)	Oregon		31
8	Michael Gettys	OF	Gainesville HS (Ga.)	Georgia		34
9	Mike Papi	OF/1B	Virginia		Angels 2011 (30)	45
10	Matt Railey	OF	North Florida Christian Academy (Fla.)	Florida State		51
11	Jeren Kendall	OF	Holmen HS (Wisc.)	Vanderbilt		73
12	Jordan Luplow	OF	Fresno State		Never Drafted	78
13	Gareth Morgan	OF	Blyth Academy (Toronto)	N.C. State		81
14	Dylan Davis	OF/RHP	Oregon State		Never Drafted	93
15	Rhys Hoskins	OF	Sacramento State		Never Drafted	96