Bringing back an old series I have done iterations of at previous stops along the way, not really grading drafts, but highlighting a few picks for each team. I will let you know my favorite pick, least favorite, and a sleeper from the draft class to keep an eye on. Now, with this, some of these will be published before the signing deadline, for those, I will work on the assumption that every pick in rounds 1-11, yes 11 as most round 11 picks do sign, will sign and 12-20 won’t (unless announced otherwise).

Favorite: Ryder Helfrick – Round 1 Pick 15 – There is not a long track record of successful first round draft picks who hit under .300 in college, but you don’t need to be an elite offensive performer to be a valuable first round catcher. Helfrick is as good a catcher on the defensive side as any in this class, and he has some pop in the bat. Ultimately the Diamondbacks get a highly valued defensive backstop with plenty of offensive upside, which is absolutely quality value in the middle of the first round which is why we had his ranking at 15, the number he went in the draft.

Least Favorite: Blake Bryant – Competitive Balance Round A Pick 31 – Bryant has massive upside, but I am not as high on him as others. the next six high school selections I like better than Bryant and there are some projection plays I like better that went later too. It is a risk reward play, I am just not big on the value here.

Sleeper: Cody Boshell – Round 11 Pick 326 – He was announced as a 1B, and that is his future despite still having LHP next to his name on our tracker. I do like what he has done on the mound, good life and into the 90s, which will actually give him a quality arm at 1B even if that isn’t something that is used too much. He has real power and has middle of the order upside with an aggressive but smart approach that allows him to draw his share of walks, but still does plenty of damage.

Overall Thoughts: Overall value pick to pick I am not the highest on the D-Backs draft. You can see ranks vs. pick number, Helfrick and Boshell are the only two that didn’t go ahead of our ranks. I am in no way saying this is a bad draft, I actually like the class as a whole, there were just some guys I think they could have gotten better value on at times. To put it in baseball terms, they hit a nice double in the gap, not a massive home run.

Favorite: Logan Reddemann – Round 2 Pick 38 – I really liked the first four picks for the Rockies but this one felt like the best value. Reddemann would have been a slam dunk first rounder if not for injury concerns at the end of the season. He was the unquestioned ace of a UCLA team that was #1 in the country from the start of the season until regionals, where they were surprisingly eliminated, but without their ace available. This is a pick with mid-rotation upside and a real value given where they got him at pick 38.

Least Favorite: Tyler Putnam – Round 5 Pick 136 – This really isn’t about Putnam at all, I actually do like him a good bit, more a minor miss in approach by the Rockies. I really felt the Rockies had a chance in this draft to take the high floor college bat with their first pick, which they did, then swing for the fences with their next two, but they didn’t do that until their sixth selection, meaning they get a guy with solid upside in Putnam rather than massive upside they coulda gotten with their third or fourth pick.

Sleeper: Lorenzo Carrier – Round 14 Pick 404 – Carrier is a fifth year year senior, so there is little to no risk in picking him here, and he was among the best hitters in the ACC in 2026. He showed massive power numbers from the moment he set foot at Miami, but had plenty of swing and miss to go with it. He fell out of favor while there and transferred to Pittsburgh where he had an underwhelming 2025 before a career year this season. Best case scenario the Rockies got themselves a power bat off the bench, which is a massive win at 404 for a guy we had ranked 150+ spots higher.

Overall Thoughts: I mentioned it some in the Least Favorite portion, but I didn’t wholly love the approach they took, but I still love this draft for them none-the-less. Tyler Bell-Daniel Jackson-Reddemann-Jack Natili are all guys I could see making a real impact at the big league level in the not too distant future. They add Putnam and Gavin Swartz as prep arms with some upside. I have been a critic of the Rockies more often than not, but it is hard to really poke holes in this draft class.

Favorite: Bo Lowrance – Round 1 Pick 40 – We had Lowrance on the fringes of the traditional first round. He has seen time at short but his future is at third and there is plenty of raw power in the profile. The Dodgers have plenty of talent in the upper minors and obviously aren’t afraid to spend on free agents at all, so taking a big upside prepster this year made a lot of sense.

Least Favorite: None – Look, they had two picks in the first 222 picks of the draft, they essentially punted on this draft, so it is hard to pick a least favorite when there just really wasn’t many picks to choose from. I could argue Russell Sandefer was a bit of a reach at 132, but I don’t think he gets to them 3 rounds later, so I am going with no least favorites here.

Sleeper: Cody New – Round 11 Pick 343 – I was really high on new coming into the year, but injuries meant his season really never go started. A year ago the Dodgers took the oft injured Cam Leiter with their first pick, they get another injury risk arm this year but at a much lower cost and one with genuine rotation upside. Don’t be shocked when you look at the Dodgers prospect ranks in a couple years and see New near the top, or as a headliner in significant trade.

Overall Thoughts: Their first three picks were 40, 132, and 223, so clearly they weren’t getting the elite talent. With all the anger the Dodgers organization gets from fans of 29 other teams, they have had success in the draft seemingly every year and this year I expect to be no different. Lowrance has plenty of upside, Sandefer could be a quick mover in a bullpen or a longer term back of rotation piece, I talked about my fondness of New, there will undoubtedly be solid big leaguers to come out of this draft class that is historically light in terms of pick quantity.

Favorite: Coleman Borthwick – Round 1 Pick 21 – Until the week or so heading into the draft it was pretty trendy to put Brody Bumila to the Padres, a big prep lefty kinda fits their trend, but they go with a high upside prep righty instead, and I like it so much more for them than I would Bumila. Borthwick was dominant for the U18 USA squad last Fall and the ace of his South Walton HS team in the Spring, a team that had a pretty good arm as you can see in Denton Lord who they also selected in the 17th.

Least Favorite: Robbie Lavey – Round 4 Pick 124 – Honestly, I am forcing this one, apparently I really like the NL West draft classes. I could argue that Lavey was a reach compared to our board, and he was, but about 75-225 or so was a pretty big tier that you could argue for or against all throughout. He is a quality defender as a catcher and a smooth left handed stroke, a duo that is hard to argue against, I just don’t see any real impact in terms of power long term and the pick lacks upside, that is really why it falls into this category.

Sleeper: Ben Stubbs – Round 9 Pick 275 – Stubbs didn’t make our top 650 and he clearly should have, and he was one of the first players left off. He is a senior with only one season at the D1 level, but he was arguably the best arm on a Troy squad that made it to Omaha. There is a real chance he become a swing starter in the big league in time, and that is a massive win for a 9th round senior sign.

Overall Thoughts: Padres did what the Padres do and got high upside young players early before a bunch of really good college performers later on, then a few dart throws at the end of the draft. It is a well balanced mix of floor and upside with a bunch of guys who, if history is any indication, will be packaged to bring in headliner names at a future trade deadline.

Favorite: Jackson Flora -Round 1, Pick 4 – This was as big a no brainer as any in the draft. The Giants needed a safe, quick moving win at the top of the draft and they get the top arm by a mile in Flora. He has massive stuff, good pitchability, and plenty of projection all wrapped into one package. Do I think he is a future Cy Young Award winner, no, an ace of a staff, probably not, a very good number two or three on a successful baseball team, absolutely!

Least Favorite: Carlos Martinez – Round 4 Pick 118 – Again, I don’t hate it, just not great value. he creates uncomfortable angles and has big stuff, but there is a lack of track record against elite talent and he has a history of struggling with command. Add to that a pretty early senior selection (and needed to sign all their picks) it is just a pick that leaves a lot to be desired, although it allows for the great values ahead of him.

Sleeper: Eric Nachtsheim – Round 6 Pick 179 – A big fastball with a ton of IVB and elite command is good enough on it’s own. Add to that multiple breaking balls that can land him in the big league bullpen relatively quickly, or even developed into a back end starter. Getting that kind of player in the sixth round is great value, the fact he is a senior means the value is just that much greater.

Overall Thoughts: Well, the Giants went with a trend, and that was arms, and good ones too. There is a non-zero chance when we look back at this draft in 10 years the three best arms were taken by the Giants in Flora, Carson Bolemon, and Kaden Waechter. Peyton Bonds and Luke Nixon were not just selected because of bloodlines, they are genuine quality prospects in their own right, and there are a handful of guys taken after round 11 that I believe not only sign, but become ranked prospects at a number of outlets in the coming years.

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