I don't think that anyone here would trade today, with the Cub not having a pick on the first day, for the excitement of the past few years on draft day. Sure, the Cubs got Albert Almora Jr., Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber and Ian Happ in the first round of the last four drafts and that's terrific. But the reason the Cubs got those players is because they had lost 91, 101, 96 and 89 games in the years previously. On top of that, the Cubs don't have a pick today because Jason Heyward and John Lackey are Cubs.
But that doesn't mean we can't follow along anyway. The Phillies have the first pick in the draft for the first time since 1998 when they selected Pat Burrell. This year, the Phillies have played it close to the vest and even the people who study this for a living say they have no idea whom Philadelphia is going to select.
You can read about the top six candidates here, but the favorite seems to be California HS outfielder Mickey Moniak. Other candidates for the Phillies pick include Mercer outfielder Kyle Lewis, Louisville outfielder Corey Ray, Florida left-handed pitcher (and Cedar Rapids, Iowa native) A.J. Puk, Tennessee third baseman Nick Senzel and California HS outfielder Blake Rutherford.
The ones the Phillies don't take are expected to go to the teams picking next: the Reds, Braves, Rockies, Brewers, Athletics, Marlins and Padres. It's a very NL-heavy draft this year so it's very likely you'll see most of these players in the other dugout at Wrigley Field sometime in the near future.
Others expected to be taken early include New Jersey HS left-handed pitcher Jason Groome, Kansas HS right-handed pitcher Riley Pint (who combines a great name with a 100 mph fastball) and New York HS right-handed pitcher Ian Anderson. The most interesting story of the draft is going to be Puerto Rican shortstop Delvin Perez, who was expected to go in the top five, or top ten at minimum, but is now under suspicion for reportedly testing positive for a PED. It will be fascinating to see how far Perez falls.
You can watch the draft on the MLB Network or online at MLB.com starting at 6 p.m. Central time. If you want to read up about the players, the best sources are Baseball America, ESPN.com and MLB.com. However, since only MLB.com's coverage doesn't require a subscription, it's probably the go-to place for the casual draft fan.
We'll have open discussion threads tomorrow and Saturday for the rounds of the draft when the Cubs will actually make their selections.