2015 MLB Draft Results: Full Listings of Grades for 1st-Round Picks

A new wave of shortstops swam into Major League Baseball to kick off 2015's first-year player draft on Monday night.

Based on the season's early happenings, baseball can use a new batch of talent at a position where five players possess an on-base percentage above .325. Such scarcity helped lead to a trio of shortstops opening the first round.

Nobody can claim shock and awe for a draft which never offered a predictable blueprint. With an evening of selections in the books, here's a look at each choice along with a premature catalog of grades.

MLB Draft Results

Number	Team	Pick	Grade
1	Arizona Diamondbacks	Dansby Swanson, SS, Vanderbilt	A
2	Houston Astros (compensation for not signing 2014 No. 1 pick Brady Aiken)	Alex Bregman, SS, LSU	B+
3	Colorado Rockies	Brendan Rodgers, SS, Lake Mary HS (Fla.)	A
4	Texas Rangers	Dillon Tate, RHP, UC Santa Barbara	A-
5	Houston Astros	Kyle Tucker, OF, H.B. Plant HS (Fla.)	B+
6	Minnesota Twins	Tyler Jay, LHP, Illinois	B
7	Boston Red Sox	Andrew Benintendi, OF, Arkansas	A-
8	Chicago White Sox	Carson Fulmer, RHP, Vanderbilt	A
9	Chicago Cubs	Ian Happ, OF, Cincinnati	A-
10	Philadelphia Phillies	Cornelius Randolph, SS, Griffin HS (Ga.)	B
11	Cincinnati Reds	Tyler Stephenson, C, Kennesaw Mountain HS (Ga.)	B+
12	Miami Marlins	Josh Naylor, 1B, St Joan of Arc Catholic SS (Ontario)	C+
13	Tampa Bay Rays	Garrett Whitley, OF, Niskayuna HS (N.Y.)	B+
14	Atlanta Braves	Kolby Allard, LHP, San Clemente HS (Calif.)	A-
15	Milwaukee Brewers	Trent Clark, OF, Richland HS (Texas)	B+
16	New York Yankees	James Kaprielian, RHP, UCLA	B
17	Cleveland Indians	Brady Aiken, LHP, IMG Academy	A
18	San Francisco Giants	Phil Bickford, RHP, Southern Nevada	B
19	Pittsburgh Pirates	Kevin Newman, SS, Arizona	A-
20	Oakland Athletics	Richie Martin, SS, Florida	B+
21	Kansas City Royals	Ashe Russell, RHP, Cathedral HS (Ind.)	B+
22	Detroit Tigers	Beau Burrows, RHP, Weatherford HS (Texas)	B-
23	St. Louis Cardinals	Nick Plummer, OF, Brother Rice HS (Mich.)	B
24	Los Angeles Dodgers	Walker Buehler, RHP, Vanderbilt	A
25	Baltimore Orioles	D.J. Stewart, OF, Florida State	B+
26	Los Angeles Angels	Taylor Ward, C, Fresno State	C+
Compensation Pick
27	Colorado Rockies (Michael Cuddyer)	Mike Nikorak, RHP, Stroudsburg HS (Pa.)	B+
28	Atlanta Braves (Ervin Santana)	Michael Soroka, RHP, Bishop Carroll HS	B-
29	Toronto Blue Jays (Melky Cabrera)	Jon Harris, RHP, Missouri State	A-
30	New York Yankees (David Robertson)	Kyle Holder, SS, University of San Diego	B
31	San Francisco Giants (Pablo Sandoval)	Chris Shaw, 1B, Boston College	B+
32	Pittsburgh Pirates (Russell Martin)	Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B, Concordia Lutheran HS (Texas)	B
33	Kansas City Royals (James Shields)	Nolan Watson, RHP, Lawrence North HS (Ind.)	B-
34	Detroit Tigers (Max Scherzer)	Christin Stewart, OF, Tennessee	B
35	Los Angeles Dodgers (Hanley Ramirez)	Kyle Funkhouser, RHP, Louisville	A-
36	Baltimore Orioles (Nelson Cruz)	Ryan Mountcastle, SS, Hagerty HS (Fla.)	C+
Competitive Balance A
37	Houston Astros	Daz Cameron, OF, Eagle's Landing Christian Academy (Ga.)	A
38	Colorado Rockies	Tyler Nevin, 3B, Poway HS (Calif.)	B
39	St. Louis Cardinals	Jake Woodford, RHP, H.B. Plant HS (Fla.)	B
40	Milwaukee Brewers	Nathan Kirby, LHP, Virginia	B+
41	Atlanta Braves	Austin Riley, 3B, DeSoto Central HS (Mo.)	B-
42	Cleveland Indians	Triston McKenzie, RHP, Royal Palm Beach HS (Fla.)	B

Notable Picks

3. Colorado Rockies: Brendan Rodgers, SS, Lake Mary HS (Fla.)

A potential No. 1 pick, Brendan Rodgers instead followed Dansby Swanson and Alex Bregman. As a reward for waiting a few extra minutes, Rodgers can one day call Coors Field home.

The Colorado Rockies already have baseball's premier shortstop in Troy Tulowitzki, but they didn't let the current roster deter them from taking the best player available. Besides, who knows where Tulowitzki will be when the teenage slugger gets his chance?

Rodgers greeted his new fans, via the team's official Twitter page:

While they must wait a few years as the high school standout develops down in the farm, he boasts higher upside than his college competitors. Baseball America's J.J. Cooper labeled Rodgers this class' grand prize:

"

This is a down year for the top of the draft, but Rodgers is a legitimate top-of-the-draft talent, not just the best of a bad lot.

A righthanded hitter, Rodgers has plus raw power and an advanced hitting approach that gives him a chance to be an above-average hitter with above-average power. Rodgers has more present strength than most top high school shortstops. As one scouting director explained, his body looks like that of a college shortstop. Some scouts worry that he may outgrow the position, but he has the body control, soft hands and above-average arm that leads many scouts to believe he will remain at shortstop as he matures.

"

He's not alone. Along with Baseball America, MLB.com rated him this year's top prospect. While Swanson and Bregman are more big-league ready, especially defensively, neither can match Rodgers' power potential. 

The other prospects also won't receive the benefit of Coors Field, a park heavily conducive to offense in terms of home runs and extra-base hits. Like the man he'll one day replace if all goes according to plan, Rodgers could one day become baseball's most dangerous shortstop.  

6. Minnesota Twins: Tyler Jay, LHP, Illinois

BRADLEY LEEB/Associated Press

Most prospects will require patience and seasoning, but Tyler Jay is ready to make an immediate impact. If the Minnesota Twins somehow sustain their surprising start atop the American League Central, don't be shocked if the Illinois southpaw gets a September call-up.

Nearly all Round 1 pitchers are picked with the hope of anchoring a starting staff. Yet the 21-year-old offers an anomaly, as Minnesota snatched him at No. 6 despite spending the season as a reliever.

Through 66.2 stellar innings, Jay allowed eight earned runs, compiling 76 strikeouts to seven walks. Making a rare start during Monday's super-regional loss to Vanderbilt, he matched his previous total by surrendering four runs.

Although he doesn't mind the bullpen assignment that led to team success, he admitted to preferring a starting nod, per The Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro.

"Personally? Probably," Jay said, when asked if he'd rather start. "But when you have a team that's winning and we're a national seed—definitely if you had to start the season over, I'd stay in my same role to get to where we are now."

Minnesota likely wouldn't have taken the plunge unless it was confident it can convert him from the pen. He draws Billy Wagner comparisons as a dominant left-handed reliever, but no team should want 60 innings per season from a top-10 choice.

17. Cleveland Indians: Brady Aiken, LHP, IMG Academy

The name Brady Aiken should ring a bell. Last year, the Houston Astros made him the No. 1 selection, but the two sides failed to reach a contract agreement. Although the fiasco made Houston look bad, the lefty later underwent Tommy John surgery.

After having the procedure on his torn UCL, he penned an essay for The Players' Tribune in which he expressed optimism regarding a second chance.

"When I decided not to sign, I knew injuries were always a possibility," Aiken wrote in March. "Two other pitchers drafted after me in the first round last year were picked by their teams despite just having undergone Tommy John surgery. This is just a temporary setback."

While arm concerns naturally shunned him far from the top spot, Aiken preserved first-round occupancy. At pick No. 17, the Cleveland Indians took the plunge. As noted by Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan, the ordeal will cost Aiken a substantial amount in signing bonuses:

Last year, Aiken netted comparisons to Clayton Kershaw, boasting a fastball that topped out at 98 miles per hour with a lethal curveball. Scouts viewed him as future front-line starter, and the common surgery is no longer a death sentence for pitchers.

Cleveland went for the ultimate high-risk, high-reward pick. No pitcher is immune to arm trouble, so the 18-year-old phenom is worth the gamble.