2026 Draft Grades

Dj sent me this picture of himself running the draft yesterday. He thinks its 2007.

Regarded as one of the better drafts of the last few years, only time will tell. Not going to spend to much time on the intro because its pretty self explanatory. This is obviously opinionated and I plan on using the full range of F-A. I do not claim to know every circumstance of how picks were acquired so I'll be judging mainly off the the actual picks made.

Arizona Dbacks
Grade: C
Best Value: RF Manny Terrace (105th Overall) Venezuela

Arizona dealt some of his picks in acquiring pitcher Greg Attaway from the Braves prior to the draft. He was able to acquire Attaway at a discount price and used his draft picks to his advantage by making a major splash. Based on the prospects themselves that he came away with, there is certainly nothing jumping off the page but he came away with decent picks in the 3rd and 4th round.

Atlanta Braves
Grade: C
Best Value P Javier Sapagosa (12th Overall) Mexico

Atlanta had only three picks in the entire draft but all of them were in the 1st round. I consider all of the prospects that he drafted boom or bust, which is why he gets the C grade. Sapagosa is the player that has the most upside in his draft but will likely spend his career in the bullpen regardless. The selections of 2B Benevides and CF Taylor, I considered risky picks.

Baltimore Orioles
Grade: D
Best Value: P Nicholas Trombley (46th Overall) San Bernardino, CA

Baltimore likely wiffed with their first round pick of 3B Vargas who's contact is not very projectable. His pick of Trombley in the 2nd round was OK but was the best value by default because no other picks jump off the page in my eyes. His draft grade may have been higher if he didn't try to trade his 3rd rounder twice which was a major blunder and caused confusion in the draft.

Boston Red Sox
Grade: B+
Best Value: C Lloyd Richard (34th Overall) Wolf Creek, IL

I thought Boston overall did a very good job overall in this draft. No single pick blew my away but I thought he did his research and made the most out of almost all of his picks. He would have been in the A range if I believe one of his players could be an absolute stud. C Richard looks like he could be quite good and anything is possible with his progression. Kudos to Boston on a overall solid draft.

Chicago Cubs
Grade: A-
Best Value: 1B Cletus Corbett (5th Overall) Seattle, WA

I thought Chicago came away with great value at every slot he picked at in this draft. He would have gotten an A or A+ had he come away with arms but he decided to go all offense in this draft. Corbett looks like he could be a legitimate all star down the line and almost every one of his picks he made looks like they could be helpful to his major league team in the future. Good job to Jason this year.

Chicago White Sox
Grade: A+
Best Value: P Alan Pritchard (24th Overall) Philadelphia, PA

Anytime you come away with 25 draft picks, you are bound to hit on a couple of them at least. I thought JHC reached at the right times by selecting P Linn and P Enriquez in the 1st compensation round. I thought not only did he get a great quantity of picks, he shall have made some quality picks when we look back 5 or 10 seasons from now.

Cincinnati Reds
Grade NA
Best Value NA

JPS traded some of his picks in acquiring P Gonzaba from LAA. He may have paid a lot but Gonzaba is a great pitcher.

Cleveland Indians
Grade: B-
Best Value: P Rick Clemens (40th Overall) Montgomery, AL

Cleveland did some decent things in this years draft but I am just not sold on his first rounder SS Dionn. He had a jump once already this year and has no skills that jump out and slap you in the face. P Clemens is certainly a long ways away but he seems to show some predictability and is overall a good pick in the 2nd round.

Colorado Rockies
Grade: NA
Best Value: NA

Traded some of his picks to Chicago to acquire 1B Quintanalr at a pretty decent price so it is hard to argue with that move.

Detroit Tigers
Grade: NA
Best Value: NA

Detroit traded their picks in hopes of a World Series championship this year. After that major trade, anything less than a new shiny ring is a disappointment.

Florida Marlins
Grade: B
Best Value: 3B Carmelo Kivlehan (28th Overall) Seattle, WA

Florida snatched up the slipping Kivlehan in the late 1st round and for the slot, was a solid pick. Kivlehan shows some similarities to his current 3B, Julio Ramos. Im sure hokes would be plenty happy if his first rounder turned into a similar player. Overall a solid performance for hokes in this draft, not time wise though :)

Houston Astros
Grade: B
Best Value: P Chris Ciuffreda (65th Overall) Cleveland,OH

DJ had a lot of picks to like with his first few selections; like P Pebbles and OF Tobon. Some of selections in the middle rounds had me scratching my head but based on the overall talent he came away with, he had a very good draft. P Pebbles likely has a strong future in the bullpen ahead of him after being drafted as a SP. If I personally felt more confident in some of the mid range picks, DJ would have been smiling in the A range.

Kansas City Royals
Grade: C-
Best Value: LF Mattieu Aucoin (107th overall) Columbia, SC

His highest pick was a comp pick and after that didn't have a pick until the 4th round. I like the strategy of having a lot of picks there and trying to win the lottery but I just don't see a whole lot of projectability in the individual picks. His comp pick P Elson is a true boom or bust pick but I'm personally leaning towards the bust side of that equation.

LA Angels
Grade: B+
Best Value: P Mario Aquino (8th Overall) Venezuela

The owner of the number 1 overall pick took a very exciting player in SS Castello and then followed up with a very promising P Aquino. There are a lot of things to like regarding 1st 2 selections and the picks after that didn't impress me the same. Overall its hard to argue with any draft walking away with two players as the quality of his first two selections.

LA Dodgers
Grade: B
Best Value: LF Norberto Achondo (18th Overall) DR

His grade would have been higher if I didnt believe he made a bit of a trade blunder by trading P Wolfson and picks to Toronto to move up. As far as the individual talent he drafted, I believe Mav did actually a great job. Achondo and P Mcbord look like sure thing major leaguers to me and I wouldn't rule out a couple of all star appearances between the two of them.

Milwaukee Brewers
Grade: B+
Best Value: 1B Rich Stone (19th Overall) Rice

Im a big fan of the players that Milwaukee ended up with. Not sure if he was autoed or had a list but regardless he should be happy with these players. Stone is a very good player and fell much further than I personally anticipated. Also like the pick of P Giogetti in the 3rd round. Overall Erick should be quite happy with his new additions to his minor leagues.

Minnesota Twins
Grade: B
Best Value: Chris Jackson (23rd Overall) Boswell, PA

Jackson slipped quite a bit in the draft and Will should be very happy with what he becomes. He looks to be solid across the board and projects well. Also liked the selection of 2B Finch in the 5th rounder but wasn't in love with every selection which is the reasoning for the B grade.

NY Mets
Grade: A-
Best Value: P Mathew Belovsky (20th overall) San Angelo, TX

I know a lot of GM were looking at Belovsky as a pitcher to improve their pitching so Corey came away with a possible gem here. I think from top to bottom of all his picks look pretty good. If I personally had liked his comp pick of CF Caines a bit more, Corey would likely be looking at an A.

NY Yankees
Grade: NR
Best Value NR

NY traded some of his picks to acquire 2B Holloway and P Mark from Chicago, so thats a good move as they are both very good players.

Oakland Athletics
Grade: B-
Best Value: NA

Oakland really focused on pitching on pitching and I thought he picked up some good pitchers but I believe every one was slotted higher because of a timely jump or a not so convenient birthday. Don't get wrong because I like some of the pitchers but its easy to see that these players were all a product of rising draft stock and the ratings as of right now might be somewhat deceiving of their true talent.

Philadelphia Phillies
Grade: B+
Best Value: 1B Dave Macgruer (33rd Overall) Auburn

Plenty of Gm's are in love with P Kingery but I personally dont see it. I certainly recognize the value of drafting based off of the league wide perception of him though so I did not knock his grade based on my opinion of Kingery. Dlee made another nice pick in 1B Macgruer and CF Dismuke also looks solid. Overall a good draft for Dlee for only having 3 picks.

Pittsburgh Pirates
Grade: Not going to grade myself
Best Value: 2B Sean Waguespack (74th Overall) Canada

Not going to spend a lot of time on my team, I obviously feel very good about my selections in the draft. P Brian Luck will be headed to the rotation and hopefully can give me some of the luck I need in pushing through talented SP (pun intended). 2B Waguespack is a very interesting 2B with a lefty bat and a very projectable skill set. Only time will tell how the future of this class looks for myself.

San Diego Dads
Grade: B+
Best Value: 3B Travis McKerlich (9th Overall) Canada

SXR did a very nice job (in his debut draft?) and made some very nice selections to hopefully launch San Diego into relevance. 3B McKerlich is very talented, has a great bat, good defense and on top of that is a switch hitter. SXR had some good sections through his draft and looks to have done his future a good favor.

San Francisco Giants
Grade: C-
Best Value: P Tom Bothwell (32nd Overall) St. Mary's, PA

I think mzy totally whiffed with his first selction of 1B Bojo at 2nd overall. Only reason his grade isnt a F or D is because he did ok with his other 2 picks and P Bothwell could make a good starter in the future.

Seattle Mariners
Grade: C
Best Value: LF Memo Vinsi (36th Overall) Cuba

HB was the recipient of the best autopick of the draft in my opinion.LF Vinsi looks very projectable in my opinion but every selection that he made for himself, I think he could have done better things with. His draft is a mixed bag of mush with one cherry on top.

STL Cardinals
Grade: B-
Best Value: 1B Bryan Woosley (7th Overall) Georgia

This draft was Utter, Lee (CF) crazy. just kidding. GD's draft was overall just OK in my opinion. Woosley certainly has the potential to be very good but struggles in the field and would be better suited in the AL. He has some decent picks but nothing that seriously made me feel like it was an excellent pick at any slot. Just solid.

Tampa Bay Rays
Grade: B+
Best Value: 3B Ken MacNeil (6th Overall) Pittsburgh, PA

MacNeil could have easily gone first overall and looks like he has the potential to be a very scary hitter in Tampa. He has a lot of things that you look for in a young hitter and defender. The Admins (DJ im guessing) did a good job managing Tampa's draft and came away with a well needed good draft.

Texas Rangers
Grade: C+
Best Value: 3B Mark Hynak (41st Overall) Baylor

JJ came away with a lot of risky picks but the picks certainly do carry a high ceiling with them. Power CF in my experience hardly ever work out but sometimes they can and become beastly but its few and far between in my experience. 3B Hynak, I feel is the safest pick of the bunch and should be a reasonable contribution in the majors someday.

Toronto Blue Jays
Grade: B
Best Value: LF Phillip MacGruer (Comp A) UC Irvine

I assumed MacGruer would go in the mid first round and he was able to snatch him 10-15 picks later and has very projectable bat, speed and D. Certainly some reaches (P Wilkie) and some risks (P Jackson) mixed in but for amount of picks and picks chosen it was overall a solid effort. Eduard Gonzalez also looks like the poor mans Costello of LAA in this draft, which is a compliment.

Washington Nationals
Grade: B+
Best Value: 1B Glen Scifo (25th Overall) Cal State Fullerton

Killa only had three picks but made the most out of at least 2 of them. There are a lot of reasons to like both 1B Scifo and C Wilson who was drafted in the 2nd round. For only having 3 picks, Killa did himself well this year.