The rumors have begun to fly in mock draft discussions around baseball -- I've already heard a lot of theories during the slow moments of NCAA conference tournaments this week. There continues to be a consensus that the clear top tier of five prospects are very likely to go in the top five picks -- or top six picks if you foresee one major surprise, which is normally a good bet.
With Dylan Crews the consensus top draft prospect since Adley Rutschman in 2019 and teammate Paul Skenes the best draft pitching prospect in a dozen years (since Gerrit Cole in 2011) -- both in amateur baseball's best conference, the SEC -- there's a feeling among some fans that the top of the draft will be chalk like it was in 2019, similar to my first mini-mock, which looks pretty similar to the rankings I did alongside it.
What I think will actually happen is something similar to the mayhem we saw in 2021, when there was a top tier of eight players and none of the popular candidates for top talent in the draft went first overall. Without further ado, here's a look at my first mock draft leading up to the 2023 MLB draft on July 9.