Happy Draft Day! The event that I and many others have been looking forward to for months is finally upon us. I have done multiple versions of a mock draft, and after gathering all the information I could I am ready to give you my final mock for the 2011 draft.

1. Pittsburgh Pirates – RHP Gerrit Cole – UCLA
2. Seattle Mariners – 3B Anthony Rendon – Rice
3. Arizona Diamondbacks – LHP Danny Hultzen – Virginia
4. Baltimore Orioles – RHP Dylan Bundy – Owasso HS(OK)
5. Kansas City Royals – RHP Matt Barnes – Connecticut
6. Washington Nationals – RHP Trevor Bauer – UCLA
7. Arizona Diamondbacks – SS Francisco Lindor – Montaverde Academy(FL)
8. Cleveland Indians – RHP Sonny Gray – Vanderbilt
9. Chicago Cubs – OF Bubba Starling – Gardner-Edgerton HS(KS)
10. San Diego Padres – OF George Springer – Connecticut
11. Houston Astros – RHP Taylor Jungmann – Texas
12. Milwaukee Brewers – RHP Archie Bradley – Muskogee HS(OK)
13. New York Mets – LHP Jed Bradley – Georgia Tech
14. Florida Marlins – OF Mikie Mahtook – LSU
15. Milwaukee Brewers – RHP Alex Meyer – Kentucky
16. Oakland Athletics – SS Cory Spangenberg – Indian River CC
17. Los Angeles Dodgers – SS Javier Baez – Arlington County Day School(FL)
18. Los Angeles Angels – RHP Taylor Guerrieri – Spring Valley HS(SC)
19. Boston Red Sox – C Andrew Susac – Oregon State
20. Colorado Rockies – SS Levi Michael – North Carolina
21. Toronto Blue Jays – 1B CJ Cron – Utah
22. St Louis Cardinals – 2B Kolten Wong – Hawaii
23. Washington Nationals – LHP Daniel Norris – Johnson City HS(TN)
24. Tampa Bay Rays – RHP Jose Fernandez – Alonso HS(FL)
25. San Diego Padres – LHP Joe Ross – Bishop O’Dowd HS(CA)
26. Boston Red Sox – OF Brandon Nimmo – East HS(WYO)
27. Cincinnati Reds – LHP Tyler Anderson – Oregon
28. Atlanta Braves – LHP Henry Owens – Edison HS(CA)
29. San Francisco Giants – RHP Robert Stephenson – Alhambra HS(CA)
30. Minnesota Twins – OF Brian Goodwin – Miami Dade JC
31. Tampa Bay Rays – OF Alex Dickerson – Indiana
32. Tampa Bay Rays – LHP Josh Osich – Oregon State
33. Texas Rangers – C Blake Swihart – Cleveland HS(NM)

In part 1 of what will end up being a 4 part series of Q+A’s on the MLB Draft, and more specifically how it pertains to the Mets. I touch on both the draft outside of the Mets because I really want readers to have an idea about the draft as a whole, not just people the Mets could consider when they pick #13 this year. For part 1 I got the opportunity to talk with ESPN and Prospect Insider‘s Jason Churchill. Jason does a fantastic job covering the draft for ESPN and PI. The content him and Keith Law put up at ESPN are well worth the ESPN Insider fee. Below is the transcript of my Q+A with Jason.

PSL2F: Who do you like at #1 Gerrit Cole or Anthony Rendon and why?

Jason Churchill: Cole. Rendon has not shown the kind of power this spring that warrants such a pick. There are concerns about his shoulder (I have it on good authority that it’s a fairly serious injury, not just soreness) but am unable to report what I have heard.

PSL2F: Personal favorite of mine is Trevor Bauer from UCLA. What is your take on him, and where in the draft do you think he goes?

Jason Churchill: I like Bauer, but even if we ignore the unorthodox delivery and training regimen, his stuff doesn’t warrant a top 5 pick for me. No. 2 starter ceiling, though, and it is difficult to see him lasting past 10.

PSL2F: Who do you think is the biggest sleeper that will go much higher than people think?

Jason Churchill: Francisco Lindor, SS, Montverde Academy. All the mocks and draft boards have Lindor between No. 9 and No. 18 but teams seem to like him enough for him to be gone between 4 and 7. Another one is Henry Owens, the lefty out of Hunting Beach, California. Very projectable, has a four pitch mix and I know of one club in the top 20 that really, really likes him and will consider him with that pick. UCLA commit Austin Hedges is another. Catchers don’t grow on trees.

PSL2F: On the other side of the scale who do you think is losing the most stock and will go much later than people think?

Jason Churchill: I think it’s Rendon, to be honest. He could change that with a strong final few weeks, however. Sonny Gray is losing some steam as well, as I wrote Wednesday.

PSL2F: What are the strengths and weaknesses of this draft class?

Jason Churchill: Pitching is far and away the strength, both college and prep. The weaknesses are power bats and quality talent at premium positions such as catcher and shortstop, but that is pretty typical. There could be 20 pitchers taken in the first round.

PSL2F: The Mets have been near the basement as far as draft spending goes over the last few years. Do you believe that will change under the new regime as they claim? Or do you think it’s a smokescreen and we will be reading excuses come August 15th?

Jason Churchill: I do not think they will break the bank, but I also don’t believe for one second that they will go “cheap” per se. I could see them taking the offensive equivalent of Matt Harvey. Maybe someone like George Springer, Mikie Mahtook or a prep bat with upside. Blake Swihart makes a lot of sense. Money isn’t going to be a huge problem, at least not in round 1.

PSL2F: How big do you think this draft is for the Mets? They right now have a roughly middle of the pack farm system, and with the possibility that they trade Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez among others is there a legit chance this team has a top 10 farm in baseball come August 15?

Jason Churchill: I think every draft is enormously important for clubs with money problems and in need of young talent. The draft is the best — and cheapest — way to acquire young talent. Clubs that miss on their high picks end up spending on unnecessary free agents, rushing their other prospects or losing 90-100 games per season. Take Seattle, for example. They chose No. 3, No. 5, and No. 11 in three successive seasons in 2005-2007. They selected Jeff Clement, Brandon Morrow and Phillippe Aumont with those picks. Clement didn’t pan out, Morrow was traded before he gave value and Aumont was traded for Cliff Lee. So now, the M’s are without any potential production any of those three drafts and it makes them a rebuilding upstart type at best rather than a potential contender. Are the M’s contenders in 2011 if they had taken Ryan Braun, Ryan Zimmerman or Troy Tulowitzki in ’05? Or had they kept Morrow or taken Lincecum instead in ’06? Or taken Jason Heyward in ’07?

What if they did two of the above three? The answer is probably YES. So, absolutely, I think it’s imperative that the Mets start hitting and hitting big in the draft, and the overall greatness of this class makes it that much more important that they get two or three big leaguers out of it, and at least one impact player.

PSL2F: If you ran the Mets who are three players that you would be targeting that could realistically be there at #13?

Jason Churchill: I like Swihart there, one of the college arms; Gray, Matt Barnes, Jed Bradley, and one of the prep arms; Dylan Bundy will be gone, but Taylor Guerrieri or Archie Bradley could be there. If George Springer is there, I would strongly consider him, too. If Lindor slips, though, he’s probably my pick.

PSL2F: Lastly, who are your three favorite draft prospects not named Cole or Rendon and why?

Jason Churchill: I like Oregon State’s Josh Osich, who I will see this coming Saturday, his battery mate Andrew Susac who just returned from a broken hamate bone and and Georgia Tech’s Jed Bradley. Bradley’s breaking ball is lacking right now but he carries more upside than Danny Hultzen and throws more strikes than Gray. But he’s also big and strong, unlike Bauer. More upside. Osich is a fighter and has come a long way after having Tommy John surgery. His stuff is ticking upward, though he’s not likely a first-round pick. Some team in the sandwich round or very early in round 2 may get a steal in the kid whose 90-93 mph fastball could continue to gain velocity. Susac is a leader with tools and performance to back it up. That tells me he’s Jason Varitek, Brian McCann and Brad Ausmus wrapped into one, if all works out in his favor. I know you asked for three, but it’s awfully tough not to love Lindor. Switch hitting shortstop with plus speed, plus arm, more than gap power from both sides of the plate and he’s just 17. Ridiculous.

I’d like to thank Jason for answering the questions for the site. You can again check out his work at ESPN and Prospect Insider. You can follow Jason on Twitter by clicking HERE. Part 2 of my Q+A’s should be up sometime next week.

Note to readers: This is not mock version 4.0. I decided to switch it up a little bit and I came up with my personal draft board. This is an opinion with help from information from mainstream sources such as ESPN and Baseball America as well as scouts that I’ve spoken to who watch these kids play, or work with people who watch them play. This is not necessarily the order these guys will/should get picked, but it’s how I’d rank them based on information given to me.

1. RHP Gerrit Cole – UCLA – You could easily argue Anthony Rendon here, but for me I go arm over bat unless there are concerns about the arm. Cole has struggled a bit of late, but his stuff has not regressed at all. Most equate it to trying to live up to expectations.

2. 3B Anthony Rendon – Rice – Could more or less label Rendon 1a because it’s that close. I am concerned about the multitude of injuries that have hit Rendon over the last couple years with his ankles, shoulder etc. He is still only DH’ing for Rice, but scouts aren’t concerned about that. He won’t go lower than 2 to Seattle. If you are Seattle and you can pair Rendon and Dustin Ackley you are pretty happy.

3. RHP Trevor Bauer – UCLA – Concerns about workload (seems he’s throwing 134+ pitches every outing) and his delivery. People said the same thing about Tim Lincecum and he turned out pretty well. Bauer led NCAA D-1 in strikeouts last year, and is again this year. He also set UCLA’s all time strike out and wins record this year. If he stays healthy and fends off the concerns Bauer could be a #1 type starter. Having him and Cole in the same rotation isn’t half bad for the Bruins.

4. RHP Dylan Bundy – Owasso HS (OK) – Bundy is the #1 prep arm in the draft, and he is a really good one. He has a fastball that has been clocked as high as 100 with a plus 12-6 hook. Change-up lags behind but shows promise. Very polished for a high school arm, gets some comparisons to Josh Johnson. Could go as high as #3.

5. OF Bubba Starling – Gardner-Edgerton HS(KS) – Starling is what you would call a 5 tool talent. Gets comparisons to Justin Upton. Starling plays a great outfield with a plus arm. He also shows great raw power to all fields and is a phenomenal athlete. He needs some work, but he has great work ethic and looks like the kind of kid who we will talk about in a few years as a legit star.

6. LHP Jed Bradley – Georgia Tech – Bradley to me doesn’t really have much work to do. He locates all of his pitches (fastball, slider, change) well from side to side as well as up and down, has plus velocity on his fastball and has a very clean delivery. Bradley to me is the cream of the crop as far as left-handed arms go in the 2011 draft. I am very excited to follow him in his likely quick path to the big leagues. One scout told me “after Cole and Rendon, (Jed) Bradley is the guy I’d take.”

7. LHP Danny Hultzen – Virginia – Quite possibly the biggest climber in the 2011 draft. Hultzen was considered a late 1st round-sandwich round type pick coming into the year, and now he has more or less cemented his place in the top 5 due to vastly improved velocity while maintaining the same good control he had. Hultzen was never really considered a power pitcher, and still isn’t despite having a fastball that has been clocked as high as 96 mph, though that velocity has regressed some of late. Still has a chance for a very good 3 pitch mix from the left side.

8. SS Francisco Lindor – Montverde Academy(FL) – From the scouts I’ve talked to, you either love Lindor or hate Lindor. But what they can all agree on is that Lindor is a kid who will stick at shortstop all through pro ball which is an extremely valuable commodity. There are some who think his hitting has progressed enough this spring to the point where they think that will translate through pro ball, while the skeptics say he’s hitting high school pitching, and not even necessarily top notch high school pitching and he will struggle in pro ball. Will need offensive adjustments, but he has the potential to be a very good shortstop, which nowadays could equate to a top 5 selection.

9. RHP Sonny Gray – Vanderbilt – Plus 4 seam fastball, plus 2 seam fastball, plus slider, and simply a get-me-over type change-up. Max effort delivery, small build (hello Roy Oswalt comparisons) so durability is a concern. Many think his future is as a lights out closer, but there are still some who hold hope that he can be a #1/#2 starter of the Oswalt mold.

10. RHP Taylor Guerrieri – Spring Valley HS(SC) – The other guy who would compete with Hultzen for biggest climber in the draft,. I didn’t know much about him until this spring, and man, am I glad he is around. Guerrieri has been sitting 95-97 this spring with a hammer curve. He hasn’t really thrown anything else, nor has he needed anything else. Nobody I spoke to liked him as much as Bundy but all agreed that he has an electric arm and great stuff. He is a top 10 type pick.

Next week I plan to reveal 11-20.

I am going to be updating my mock draft on a monthly basis up until the draft, and the night prior to the draft I will post my final version. My 2.0 is significantly different from my Mock Version 1.0, but that’s sometimes the nature of these things. Expect Version 3.0 to be released sometime in early May. But here’s Version 2.0.

1. Pittsburgh Pirates – RHP Gerrit Cole – UCLA
2. Seattle Mariners – 3B Anthony Rendon – Rice
3. Arizona Diamondbacks – RHP Sonny Gray – Vanderbilt
4. Baltimore Orioles – LHP Danny Hultzen – Virginia
5. Kansas City Royals – RHP Dylan Bundy – Owasso HS(OK)
6. Washington Nationals – OF/P Bubba Starling – Gardner-Edgerton HS(KS)
7. Arizona Diamondbacks – OF Mikie Mahtook – LSU
8. Cleveland Indians – SS Francisco Lindor – Montverde Academy(FL)
9. Chicago Cubs – LHP Jed Bradley – Georgia Tech
10. San Diego Padres – RHP Matt Barnes – Connecticut
11. Houston Astros – RHP Taylor Jungmann – Texas
12. Milwaukee Brewers – OF George Springer – Connecticut
13. New York Mets – RHP Trevor Bauer – UCLA
14. Florida Marlins – OF Jackie Bradley Jr – South Carolina
15. Milwaukee Brewers – C Blake Swihart – Cleveland HS(NM)
16. Los Angeles Dodgers – RHP Taylor Guerrieri – Spring Valley HS(SC)
17. Los Angeles Angels – RHP Archie Bradley – Muskogee HS(OK)
18. Oakland Athletics – LHP Tyler Anderson – Oregon
19. Boston Red Sox – C Andrew Susac – Oregon State
20. Colorado Rockies – LHP Andrew Chafin – Kent State
21. Toronto Blue Jays – LHP Daniel Norris – Johnson City HS(TN)
22. St Louis Cardinals – LHP Matt Purke – TCU
23. Washington Nationals – RHP Anthony Meo – Coastal Carolina
24. Tampa Bay Rays – RHP Jose Fernandez – Alonso HS(FL)
25. San Diego Padres – RHP Dillon Howard – Searcy HS(ARK)
26. Boston Red Sox – RHP Alex Meyer – Kentucky
27. Cincinnati Reds – OF Josh Bell – Jesuit College Prep, Dallas
28. Atlanta Braves – OF Alex Dickerson – Indiana
29. San Francisco Giants – C/3B Nick Delmonico – Farragut HS (TN)
30. Minnesota Twins – SS Levi Michael – North Carolina
31. Tampa Bay Rays – 3B Travis Harrison – Tustin/Aliso Viejo(CA)
32. Tampa Bay Rays – RHP Tony Zych – Louisville
33. Texas Rangers – RHP John Stilson – Texas A+M

Last year I posted a mock draft over at NY Baseball Digest , now that I have my own blog I am going to post it here. I know it is very early, the college season is only 2 weeks deep. But I decided that now is a good time to post version 1 of my mock draft. I will post multiple versions with updates throughout the season.

1. Pittsburgh Pirates – 3B Anthony Rendon – Rice
2. Seattle Mariners – RHP Gerrit Cole – UCLA
3. Arizona Diamondbacks – LHP Matt Purke – TCU
4. Baltimore Orioles – LHP Jed Bradley – Georgia Tech
5. Kansas City Royals – OF George Springer – Connecticut
6. Washington Nationals – RHP Taylor Jungmann – Texas
7. Arizona Diamondbacks – LHP Danny Hultzen – Virginia
8. Cleveland Indians – RHP Sonny Gray – Vanderbilt
9. Chicago Cubs – OF Jackie Bradley – South Carolina
10. San Diego Padres – RHP Archie Bradley – Muskogee HS(OK)
11. Houston Astros – RHP Matt Barnes – Connecticut
12. Milwaukee Brewers – OF/P Bubba Starling – Gardner-Edgerton HS(KS)
13. New York Mets – RHP Trevor Bauer – UCLA
14. Florida Marlins – SS Francisco Lindor – Montverde Academy(FL)
15. Milwaukee Brewers – RHP John Stilson – Texas A+M
16. Los Angeles Dodgers – RHP Dylan Bundy – Owasso HS(OK)
17. Los Angeles Angels – LHP Daniel Norris – Johnson City HS(TN)
18. Oakland Athletics – 3B Jason Esposito – Vanderbilt
19. Boston Red Sox – C Blake Swihart – Cleveland HS(NM)
20. Colorado Rockies – OF Alex Dickerson – Indiana
21. Toronto Blue Jays – RHP Dillon Howard – Searcy HS(ARK)
22. St Louis Cardinals – 2B Kolten Wong – Hawaii
23. Washington Nationals – LHP Tyler Anderson – Oregon
24. Tampa Bay Rays – OF Mikie Mahtook – LSU
25. San Diego Padres – OF Jason Coats – TCU
26. Boston Red Sox – RHP Alex Meyer – Kentucky
27. Cincinnati Reds – RHP Jose Fernandez – Alonso HS(FL)
28. Atlanta Braves – OF Josh Bell – Jesuit College Prep, Dallas
29. San Francisco Giants – OF Brian Goodwin – Miami Dade JC
30. Minnesota Twins – RHP Austin Wood – USC
31. Tampa Bay Rays – RHP Anthony Meo – Coastal Carolina
32. Tampa Bay Rays – RHP Tony Zych – Louisville
33. Texas Rangers – C Andrew Susac – Oregon State