The 2021 Major League Baseball Draft will begin tonight at 7pm ET. You can follow the draft on both MLB Network and ESPN. MLB Network will also have an hour long preview show beginning at 6pm ET. The draft tonight will encompass only the 1st round and the competitive balance round A picks, which will total 36 picks on the night. There will be four minutes between each of the 1st round picks (29 of them) and then two minutes between the competitive balance round A picks (six of them). Day two of the draft will begin on Monday at 1pm ET and include rounds 2-10. Day three will begin on Tuesday at noon ET and be for rounds 11-20. Both days will be on MLB.com.
No team has more selections on day one than the Cincinnati Reds, who have three picks. Cincinnati will select 17th, 30th (compensation for losing Trevor Bauer in free agency) and 35th (competitive balance pick).
Cincinnati will have the 4th highest bonus pool amount to spend in the draft thanks in large part to their additional picks on day one. Their total pool amount is $11,905,700.
| Round | Slot Value |
| 1 | $3,609,700 |
| 1(A) | $2,365,500 |
| 1(A) | $2,095,800 |
| 2 | $1,370,400 |
| 3 | $667,900 |
| 4 | $483,000 |
| 5 | $357,100 |
| 6 | $272,500 |
| 7 | $213,300 |
| 8 | $172,100 |
| 9 | $153,600 |
| 10 | $144,800 |
Every pick after the 10th round can sign for up to $125,000 without counting towards the draft pool amount. Any dollar spent above that amount counts towards the overall pool amount for the team. If a team goes over their total amount by 0-5% then they just owe MLB a check for 75% of the amount they spent over their pool allotment. If a team goes beyond 5% then they lose their first round pick next year and also owe a 75% overage check. No team has ever gone over the 5% threshold.
As far as coverage goes – once the Cincinnati Reds begin making their picks, I will create a new post for that player with information, scouting reports, videos, comments, etc. for that selection. Usually those are up and ready to go within about 10 minutes with most information and will be added to as the night goes on.
Latest Mock Drafts
Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis had their final mock draft this morning at MLB.com. They both have the Reds selecting Miami of Ohio’s Sam Bachman with the 17th overall pick.
Baseball America’s latest mock draft was updated this afternoon. You’ll need a subscription to read the entire thing, but they’ve got the Reds selecting high school outfielder Will Taylor.
My Thoughts for the Reds
The Cincinnati Reds don’t ask for my opinion on these things – or any things, really – but if anyone is reading here goes: Pick the best player available to you at 17. Just because you have extra money to work with doesn’t mean you should try to get cute. Take the best player at 17 and worry about taking less talented players at 30 and 35 when you get there. You don’t know who will be there for you then and trying to play games could lead to having three lesser players than you otherwise could have had if you simply selected the best guy with your first pick. That’s it. Pretty simple advice from me, person who is not in the draft room, has never been in the draft room, and will never be in the draft room.
Resources
MLB Pipeline’s Top 250 Draft Prospects
Fangraphs Top 71 Draft Prospects
ESPN’s Top 200 Draft Prospects ($$)
Baseball America’s Top 500 Draft Prospects ($$)
Agree take BPA.
Need have now, could be different Need down the line.
Did well with Picks in the 30’s before.
Traded the Players for most though.
Which is another Option you have if draft BPA and draft Well.
Who is BPA?
Best Player Available
It will be nice one day If all teams could trade first round picks! While It may not make much of a difference it would be fun to think about and allow flexibility seeking trades and not giving up your top 3 or 4 prospects.
MLB doesnt make sense. I know its not like NFL or NBA drafts with instant impact guys but still every years there are a handful of guys who are studs.
The competitive balance picks are tradable, so there’s at least that small amount of intrigue (though not like the other drafts where you can “Trade up” to pick someone else).
Very true. it would be fun to see how much a top 5 pick is worth and what it could command. would make baseball funnier but MLB doesnt want that now lol.
Nice swing Jose baby.
Future game HR.
Barrero goes yard in his first AB in the futures game.
Doug, do you think Bubba Chandler is a realistic target at 17?
Fangraphs 3.0 mock draft has the Reds taking Bubba in the 1st round. I don’t know if it will play out that way but there appears to be a good chance of this happening
He’s been rumored with them for a while now. But so have a handful of other guys.
When you’re drafting outside of the top 5-10 you really can’t “lock in” your guy. Too many things could happen ahead of you.
I’ve been in a few drafty rooms and couldn’t have said it better.
Close to draft excited.
Get feeling take a Pitcher first.
College is my feeling.
Since have extra Picks.
Board will determine it though.
Just fun to speculate and Conversate about.
Wow first pick Henry Davis. That shows how wrong mock drafts are. I can’t think of a mock draft that had Davis at 1. Most had him 4-6.
First overall to Pirates.
Seemed no Guaranteed number 1 this year.
So anybody could for 1st.
Shocked but happened.
Almost all mocks had Red Sox at 4 taking Davis or Leiter. Now they are off the board at 1 and 2, so will be interesting choice at 4.
Mayer, which many mocks had at 1. They’re probably happy about that slip.
Fangraphs draft player rankings, not their mock, is pretty spot on so far. 5 or their top 6 off the board in the first 6 picks, with the other one being 8 on their list (Jobe).
Anyone watching besides me and kevin?
*Raises hand*
duh, lol
@ “allthehype” I’m listening to the draft while getting ready for the work week
Interesting pick by Royals, gotta be an under slot, likely pre negotiated deal. They’ll probably be targeting a slip in round 2.
Mozzicato all the way down to 7 which pushes talent down the list in our direction….
yup, see who slips to 17.
Had a feeling going into the draft that Kumar Rocker slips a good bit. Let’s see.
Kumar might be there at 17 ? Doug do you nab him if he’s there or go best available position player?
Rocker off at 10, a small slip as most boards had him around 7. He didn’t look great in college playoffs in a couple of the games, and their are questions about command.
I’m a “take the best player on your board” every pick. If that was Rocker, you take him. But he’s not there.
Bachman off the board at 9, I was thinking Reds might target him if he was there at 17, but obviously moot now.
Wow, this is getting interesting at 17!
Glad Rocker is gone.
me too, I didn’t want him.
So is he.
I say hoglund.
Nah.
Maybe go for either Jud Fabian or Jordan Wicks? We could certainly need a really good LHP prospect we seem light in the minors except Lodolo.
pass on both for me. Wicks is the safe pick with not a ton of upside. I’d like a guy with upside.
I am really hoping for Colson Montgomery.
Knowing the Reds love of raw hs bats, either of the Montgomery boys would not surprise me.
I’d like to see Gavin Williams to Reds @ 17. He has the fastball velo and command to all quadrants that you dream about, plus a pretty good slider which he just developed in the last year. He also has 2 other pitches incl changeup, but need some work. And he seems like a bull dog. I think he’d be in the top ten if he had a longer track record as a starter, but only one year limited his exposure somewhat. He’s the high upside pick I’d like to see. If not him, then please no safe pick. Go with something high upside.
I like Williams too. Hope we could get him at 30.
Kahlil Watson still on the board? Hmmm, Fangraphs and MLB #4.
Painter gone, some mocks had him to Reds.
WOW
McClain, Madden, Watson and Wicks all left…. 4 picks to go….
Fangraphs’ mock for the Reds would be absolutely bonkers. I really hope they are right… as I type this Painter gets picked. Oh well.
shucks, Seattle Mariners took my favorite – the catcher from Atlanta, Harry Ford. I really liked his athleticism and ability to play multiple positions. and wow, the bat speed. Oh well, hopefully the scouting guys get us some good ones tonight.
Reds coming up soon. I feel like the mocks were all over the place with the Reds, and most likely the Reds just have kept everything close to the vest, which has always been the case with the Reds FO. Hence why the mocks really have no clue.
Whoever they pick, I trust this scouting group much more than in the past and I’m sure they’ve done their homework.
I’m just as interested to see how they play their pool, and what they do with 30/35.
Really get tired of the Harold Reynolds ego. Would love it when he talks to one of the kids and says Harold here, if the kids would say Harold Who? or Yes Mr. Here.
This is working out really well for the Reds.
Darts, my next favorite is gone. Sal Frelick to the dastardly Brewers. Looks like BPA is gonna be a pitcher if Reds want BPA at all.
Hoping to work the reverse jinx here so predicting St Louis at pick 18 will become a hall of famer.
Solometo would also be a good pick for Reds @ 17 to me. Him or Gavin Williams. I don’t know about Watson. Hmmm. Just never really looked at those HS SSs at the top because who expected one to slip this far.
Well Watson is off. Here we go Reds.
Don’t need to worry about it now. Guessing he would have cost a lot to buy him away from NC State.
Mcclain for me if not a Pitcher.
That’s who it is.
Well like the Pick once see He dropped.
See India Senzel etc.
All aboard the reds train Baby.
McClain
Mcclain
Ty Madden.
Never. enough. pitching.
Kevin Goldstein
@Kevin_Goldstein
·
2m
Personal opinion, because I really like the guy. Whoever takes Ty Madden at this point gets an absolute steal.
well, the Reds certainly have leverage with McLain for an under slot deal. Reds must be confident he will stick at SS.
Didn’t they announce Senzel as a SS?
We see how that worked
No, Senzel played mostly 3B in college.
Lol, no they didn’t
Just because he played 3B in college doesn’t mean that’s what the reds announced him as when drafted
Might not have been Senzel, but I do recall recently the reds picking somebody and announcing them at a different position than most places had him listed
It was Hinds in 2019
Would have had a hard time going McClain over Madden, but definitely LOVE the pick. Can’t wait to see him progress and be a part of an extended Reds decade of success starting in 2024.
Not a fan of this pick…mlb analysts are already calling him a utility guy
“Utility guy” to me means “can’t cut it every day at 1 spot”
What?? ALL of them said he could stick at SS, but also had the skill set to play 2B, 3B and CF.
No, they didn’t
About all of them said his arm is questionable if he can stick there
He’s graded out as a 60 on the 60/80 scale for arm. That is well above average
They didn’t say utility. They said he could possibly play more than one position. That means “athlete”.
If the Vandy coach thinks highly of him. I’m good with that.
If he’s a true SS than why care if he can play multiple positions
We’re splitting hairs on semantics here, but I don’t think the conversation would be “could play other positions” if there was faith in him at SS
Lots of shortstops can play all over….they are usually the best athletes on the field.
The pundits on TV’s analysis won’t be the final call. That will be up to the Reds FO. Who cares what they say what position they see him play right now.
Big fan of this pick compared to who was available . Quicker to the big leagues than a high school kid. Plus hit tool who is athletic and can play every where on the field . ”Versatile” He can play ss,3b.cf,lf,rf,2b . That is big when trying to get on a team that might have a player there already. Like the pick.
His bat and versatility will get him to the big leagues
Ok. NOW Ty Madden.
(or Adrian del Castillo. That’s cool too.)