2018 MLB Draft Results: Grades for Overall Team-by-Team Results

The Major League Baseball draft does not get anything close to the publicity that its NFL counterpart gets every year, but don't think that the national pastime's selection process is not just as important than the one that takes place in football or any of the other major sports.

MLB teams don't get the instant feedback on their selections because the players drafted Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are not likely to see big-league competition any time soon.

In rare cases, a player might make a contribution in 2018 or 2019, while other players may not make their debuts until 2020 or 2021.

However, that doesn't make it any less important. Teams that succeed in the draft will have a pipeline of talent that they can use for their own roster or to trade for established talent, while teams that struggle in the draft will have to figure out alternatives if they are going to play solid baseball.

However, consistently coming up empty in the draft is a recipe for disaster.

The Detroit Tigers had the No. 1 selection in the 2018 draft, based on their 64-98 record in 2017. They used that choice to select right-handed pitcher Casey Mize from Auburn.

The Tigers are hoping that the 6'4", 220-pound Mize can become a key performer in the not-too-distant future. He has a powerful fastball and an even better split-fingered pitch that he often uses to put away hitters. 

Mize has struck out 140 batters in 102.2 innings and a superb 12.27-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He also has a 9-5 record and a 3.07 ERA this season.

Here's a look at the grades and most important selections for each team, along with an analysis of three teams that had superior drafts.

MLB Draft Grades

(A team's most important selection listed in parentheses)

Arizona Diamondbacks: A- (Matt McClain, SS, Beckman HS, California)

Atlanta Braves: B+ (Carter Stewart, RHP, Eau Gallie HS, Florida)

Baltimore Orioles: C+ (Grayson Rodriguez, RHP, Central Heights HS, Texas)

Boston Red Sox: B (Triston Casas, 3B, American Heritage HS, Florida)

Chicago Cubs: C (Nico Hoerner, SS, Stanford)

Chicago White Sox: A- (Nick Madrigal, 2B, Oregon State)

Cincinnati Reds: B (Jonathan India, 3B, Florida)

Cleveland Indians: A- (Noah Naylor, C, St. Joan of Arc HS, Ontario, Canada)

Colorado Rockies: B- (Ryan Rolison, LHP, Mississippi)

Detroit Tigers: A- (Casey Mize, RHP, Auburn)

Houston Astros: C (Seth Beer, OF, Clemson)

Kansas City Royals: A- (Brady Singer, RHP, Florida)

Los Angeles Angels: B+ (Jordyn Adams, OF, Green Hope HS, North Carolina)

Los Angeles Dodgers: B- (J.T. Ginn, RHP, Brandon HS, Mississippi)

Miami Marlins: C+ (Connor Scott, OF, Plant HS, Florida)

Milwaukee Brewers: B (Brice Turang, SS, Santiago HS, California)

Minnesota Twins: B (Trevor Larnach, OF, Oregon State)

New York Mets: C+ (Jarred Kelenic, OF, Waukesha West HS, Wisconsin)

New York Yankees: C+ (Anthony Seigler, C, Cartersville HS, Georgia)

Oakland Athletics: A- (Kyler Murray, OF, Oklahoma)

Philadelphia Phillies: B (Alec Bohm, 3B, Wichita State)

Pittsburgh Pirates: B- (Travis Swaggerty, OF, South Alabama)

San Diego Padres: B+ (Ryan Weathers, LHP, Loretto HS, Tennessee)

San Francisco Giants: B (Joey Bart, C, Georgia Tech)

Seattle Mariners: B (Logan Gilbert, RHP, Stetson)

St. Louis Cardinals: B (Nolan Gorman, 3B, O'Connor HS, Arizona)

Tampa Bay Rays: A- (Matthew Liberatore, LHP, Mountain Ridge HS, Arizona)

Texas Rangers: C+ (Cole Winn, RHP, Orange Lutheran HS, California)

Toronto Blue Jays: B- (Jordan Groshans, SS, Magnolia HS, Texas)

Washington Nationals: B (Mason Denaburg, RHP, Merritt Island HS, Florida)

Full draft results available at MLB.com.

Brace Hemmelgarn/Getty Images

Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays opened their draft by taking a pair of left-handed pitchers in Matthew Liberatore and Shane McLanahan.

Liberatore was a risky pick at No. 16 overall to some because he is a prep pitcher, but many of the talent evaluators considered him to be the best pitcher in the draft. McLanahan has a fastball that has reached triple digits.

Outfielder Nick Schnell has excellent tools and needs some development after coming from the prep ranks, but the third-rounder should be able to work his way up fairly quickly. Florida Atlantic's Tyler Frank should be able to play second base or shortstop, and he has shown he has game-changing ability in the batter's box.

The Rays selected right-handed pitcher Justin Montgomery from California Baptist late in the draft. While he has struggled in 2018 with a 4.55 ERA, Montgomery was highly thought of prior to the season and could be a contributor if he can get back to his previous form.

Matt Ryerson/Associated Press

Kansas City Royals

The Royals concentrated on building up their pitching resources early in the draft, selecting a pair of Florida pitchers in Brady Singer and Jackson Kowar with their first two selections.

Singer was considered to be one of the elite pitchers in the draft before he slipped to No. 18, and Jim Callis of MLB.com says Singer's competitive streak should motivate him after that drop. Kowar also dropped from the middle of the first round to just outside at No. 33. He throws a top fastball and couples that pitch with a changeup.

The Royals also went after left-handed pitchers Daniel Lynch from Virginia and Kris Bubic from Stanford with supplemental first-round picks.

Singer has a 10-1 record with a 2.25 ERA this season for the Gators, while Kowar is 9-4 with a 3.21 ERA. Lynch struck out 105 batters in 88.2 innings, and Bubic has an 8-1 record with a 2.73 ERA.

Cleveland Indians

The Indians picked up the best catcher in the draft when they selected Canadian Noah Naylor with their first pick.

Naylor is considered to be an excellent hitter, and he is hitting .421 for the Ontario Blue Jays, an elite 18-and-over team.

The Indians also selected Ethan Hankins from Forsyth Central High School in Georgia high in the draft as well as Lenny Torres, a prep pitcher from New York.

Hankins can reach 98 mph with his fastball, while Torres struck out 85 batters in 41 innings, per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com.

Stats courtesy of The Baseball Cube unless otherwise noted.