The picks are in, and let me start by saying although it was just five rounds compared to 40 in the past, this year's Simul-Draft was the most difficult one yet due to limited signability knowledge on the prospects. With the NCAA allowing a do-over for eligibility, a result of the lost 2020 spring season, the difficulty assessing a player's desires was even greater than usual, especially college juniors who get a re-do of their third season of eligibility.

Originally started two years ago, Draft HQ selected prospects in real time during both the 2018 and 2019 MLB Drafts. After assigning ourselves the 15th overall bonus pool ($8.46M) in 2018 and 10th overall pool ($10.3M) in 2019 we made selections with the 20th highest pool ($6.65M) this year. As a result, we picked directly behind the Cubs each round.

Again, it's important to note, each of our picks were made in real time as the draft was happening. This was not a mock or a post-draft of best available.

With that stated, here are our picks for the 2020 Simul-Draft.

Our selection in the 1st round at 16B, C Tyler Soderstrom (Turlock HS, CA) was selected 26th overall by Oakland. He was a potential top 10 overall pick if a team were willing to take a chance. A gifted athlete, the 6-foot-2, 202-pound catcher has a strong left-handed stroke and moves nimbly on the infield, as well, which could help his bat develop even quicker with strategic days off (on the infield) in pro-ball.

 

Next up in the second round (our pick 51B), LHP Logan Allen (Florida International) was selected 56th overall by Cleveland. He's a personal favorite and an undervalued arm in my opinion, and was a primary target heading into the Simul-Draft for that very reason. Allen pitches in the low-90s with a plus changeup and was graded by Trackman to have the 2nd best curveball in the college class of 2020.

TrackMan Grades: Top 5 College Curveball in 2020

Tune in tonight on @espn, 7 ET for live draft coverage @MLBDraftpic.twitter.com/IgQfmvNrOr

— TrackMan Baseball (@TrackManBB) June 10, 2020

 

Our 3rd rounder (pick 88B) was UTL Zavier Warren (Central Michigan). Primarily a SS at CMU, he played third base in the Cape last summer and suited up behind the dish for four games during the 2020 spring for the Chips. In addition to his switch hitting abilities, his versatility is one of his top assets to go along with his 70-grade arm, soft hands and an overall confident approach. Warren was selected 92nd overall to the Brewers.

 

Next up we took a gamble on the signability at 117B on RHP Ian Bedell (Missouri). He was rumored to have strong interest signing for slot in the top three rounds, but we rolled the dice, gathered the intel that we could and took him with the 17th pick in the 4th round. He was selected soon after by the Cardinals as the 122nd overall pick. With four distinct pitches in his arsenal Bedell profiles as a mid-rotation starter with an easy delivery, quick arm and clean arm action. He’s a strike-thrower who will run his fastball into the low-90s with a plus changeup as his best secondary offering. Both his upper-70s curve and low-80s slider are average to better pitches as well. After graduating early from high school to attend Missouri in January of 2018, Bedell is still just 20 years old and was one of the younger four-year college arms in this year’s draft.

 

Our 5th rounder and final pick at 147B was RHP Brandon Pfaadt (Bellarmine). Another personal favorite and pre-draft target for the 5th round based on my look last summer in the Cape. Pfaadt is strong and athletic with a low-90s fastball, above average changeup and good feel for his slider which has a chance to be plus or better.

 

For a look back, here's who we selected in previous years. 

In 2019 our first rounder was CJ Abrams (Blessed Trinity Catholic HS, GA) followed by Josh Smith (LSU). Check out our remaining selections here > 2ND ANNUAL SIMUL-DRAFT

In 2018 we chose Matt Liberatore (Mountain Ridge HS, AZ) with our first pick and Alek Thomas (Mount Carmel HS, IL) with our second. The remainder of our selections which includes some pretty interesting mid-later round prospects is here > 1ST ANNUAL SIMUL-DRAFT

 

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