MLB Draft 2026: Turk’s GM Sim

Note: I’m currently on a Midwest family roadtrip – the worst possible timing for the MLB Draft, I know! My intent is to fill this feature out with lots of links and short videos, but it’ll probably take me the next 24 hrs to do so. In the meantime, I wanted to get some preliminary thoughts out in advance of tomorrow’s Day One action.

Recent and Present Strategy

My draft strategy always tends to emulate asset allocation in an investment portfolio. Much like value/growth, domestic/international, industrial sectors in investing, there are four primary asset classes (prep/college arm/bat), and ideally you want a little of each, but depending on the cycle, you bias a touch to where that year’s draft class is deepest, and go overweight a bit according to where your systemic portfolio is weakest.

Last year’s draft class was richest in prep bats, and the Angels’ system for a half decade or more has been weakest in positional talent, especially IF/OF corner bats with any playable power. I also think their starting pitching depth is a bit oversold at times – there aren’t a lot of stable starter looks progressing through the upper levels of the system, and many of their top picks in recent drafts carry heavy relief risk, including a number of the prep arms they selected last year. 

In drafting, I value the whole class over individual hits and misses. I’m always a bit skeptical of the concept of precise BPA (best player available). I think instead there are tiers of players with comparable projectable value, and what matters is how they hold together and balance each other in the full draft class.

And let it be said again: most prospects fail. A good draft will produce a couple everyday players, and a couple role players. More than that, and you Bane-tier killed it. Less, and you’re on your heels and have to compensate in the free market. And typically, most of the value in each draft comes from the top 100-200 picks.

Rounds 1-3

Here’s my take on five potential draft classes encompassing all the Angels’ picks in the top 100 (here, the top three rounds), including players I like and think are potential fits for the team, and each row reflecting a slightly different drafting strategy. 

Each strategy is defensible to my mind – there’s no one way to go! As many analysts have pointed out, beyond the top 6-7 names in this draft, it’s a very horizontal group. Prospect gurus are a bit underwhelmed by the college class, though they agree that there’s some depth here, and risk as well – any high school class is inherently risky. Players taken in the second round may well outperform those taken in the first this year – there’s a lot of uncertainty near the top.

The first thing you’ll notice here is that something is amiss! What’s that bizarre column between the #12 and #45 picks?

Well, notice that I’m calling this piece a “sim”, not a “mock draft”.

In each of these annual Fantasy Draft / GM sims, there’s plenty of the capital-F fantasy involved. Much like last year, I think this is a draft where draft position might matter less than the quantity of picks available. Some of the talent that intrigues me most is in the “tweener” range (26-37) between rounds one and two, where tradeable comp picks are located.

In my alternate timeline as Angels GM, I’m dangling my AAAA arms (Caden Dana, Ryan Johnson, George Klassen) or my redundant positional depth (Oswald Peraza, Vaughn Grissom, Wade Meckler, Jose Siri) for a potential comp round pick from teams like the Royals, Rays, DBacks, Pirates and Cardinals in hopes of deepening my draft class and reeling one of the promising players inevitably squeezed out of round one. At this late stage, John Mozeliak doesn’t appear to be taking this tack, but in this sim, I like to demonstrate what would be possible with GM more focused on enlarging his bonus pool and harvesting additional picks.

Reading left to right, here are some potential draft classes I like for the Angels based on different strategies. Reading top to bottom, you can see a sample of five players I like in each zone, who I believe are solid value at those picks.

Scenario A: Miracles Happen

This is the most unlikely scenario – a bit like Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson falling into the Angels’ lap last draft (uh…whoops!), this is the scenario where players thought to likely go a touch earlier, by strange and good fortune, slide down the boards directly to the Angels at the podium.

Past the top 6-7 players most draft mocks are fairly confident (usually ending with OF Drew Burress being selected by Baltimore or Atlanta), Tyler Bell is my top pick for the Angels in the next tier. No doubt shortstop, true switch hitter, hit .343/.510/.608 (152 wRC+) and thrived against elite competition in conference play, despite playing all season with a shoulder injury. A power ceiling comparable to Neto, but with high OBP, an arguably stronger defensive profile, and offense from both sides of the plate. That’s a profile that holds its value. I expect him to go in the 5-11 range, but should Bell drop, the team should grab him. 

Zion Rose is a former catcher with a big hit tool and great wheels who has played all over the outfield for Louisville. While his defensive home is uncertain, he’s athletic enough to play a bit everywhere, even potentially in center, as he’s a grinder type with 60 grade speed. He had video game numbers in the ACC: .417/.491/.646. Good balance of hit, power and run, though it was more doubles-power in college. Was able to hit velocity with wood bats on the Cape. He’s projected to go somewhere near the comp round (thus his placement here), but he’s an exciting enough player that if the Angels popped him at #12 at a discount, I wouldn’t blink.

In this scenario, UCLA’s ace Logan Reddemann falls further than expected due to medicals (“arm fatigue” during the college season, with ultimate TJ worry), but given the pending lockout and the Angels’ contention window, being patient with a mid-rotation starter with #2 upside seems well worth the risk. Before he went down in April, he sliced up Rutgers to the tune of 18 strikeouts on 104 pitches. I caught some of that game and was convinced he was an ideal fit for the Angels at #12, until the Bruins put him on pause for the season. Floating him down to #45 would be tough, but it also wouldn’t be the first time an early first rounder slips on medical concerns (that’s what happened with another UCLA starter, Griffin Canning, in the Jo Adell draft of 2017).

Owen Hull is a 6’4” athletic lefty, currently in CF, with an intriguing speed/power combo, but it begins with the hit tool (notice a theme? I want my prospects to make contact…). .393/.500/.615 with max EVs of 110+ in conference play, and not shrinking violet during the playoffs for North Carolina. He falls to the third round here on concerns about launch angle (he’s more of a hard groundball / line drive gap hitter at the moment), but I think with slight swing adjustments, there’s more over-the-fence power to be had with Hull.

Scenario B: Power Players & Hedged Bets

In this scenario, I’m selecting players with some standout tools, especially power, that marry a little risk to reward, hunting for upside. There are a number of starters in this draft that the Angels might sign in the first round at a discount. Guys like Cameron Flukey, Mason Edwards and Logan Reddemann wouldn’t bother me at all in this scenario, but my pick is Hunter Dietz – a massive power lefty who looks a lot like John Lackey on the mound if Lackey were a southpaw. Big FB – 92-96, touching 98 this year – plus slider, solid curve and cutter, developing (but rarer) change. He can look dominant on the mound, and has the body of a workhorse 2 or 3, but an elbow stress fracture and some soft tissue injuries earlier in his career are the only real issues stopping him from being a clear top 10 pick. A real risk/reward play here.

Daniel Jackson was the Golden Spikes winner for Georgia this year. Like many Georgia mashers, he’s power-over-hit, and contact issues loom over his projection. He was a specimen in college ball, he did it as a catcher (tbd whether he remains one, but his defense improved in 2026). I could drop any number of stats here, but suffice to say that he hits the ball awfully hard when he finds it, though Fangraphs probably puts it best: “Whether or not Jackson will hit in pro ball is up for debate. His underclass strikeouts, including on Cape Cod, were out of control, and even as they improved in 2026, he still had some markers of a player whose whiffs are going to be a problem.” 32 HRs, 26 SBs as a receiver though is likely to tempt more than one team to consider him back of the first round.

Blake Bowen was my favorite SoCal prep bat through much of the early season. He’s had a little inconsistency since, but there are all the hallmarks of a five tool athlete here if the hit tool stabilizes, and he looked good at the Combine – strong hands, big bat speed, big EVs. It’s a rightfield cleanup hitter profile if it all comes together. There’s risk here, but he’s one of an intriguing class of OF prep power bats (Martin Shelar, Kevin Roberts Jr, Dominic Santarelli, Jack Beck, Genson Veras) and Anaheim’s system really has little to none of this profile in its system. The lack of corner positional power is its most glaring deficit. It’s time to take some risks here, and rebalance the farm with prep bats with oomph.

Dee Kennedy is one of my favorites in this draft. Totally fun watch – a little undersized, but looks like a durable shortstop to me. He got LASIK last year and went from a super-ute with inconsistent contact on the Cape, to a hitting machine with 20 HRs and 22 SBs for Kansas State. It’s probably average power overall, but he gets to it in games (53% hard hit rate last season), and there are some long-tail All Star outcomes here if it all comes together. If not, he’s a super-ute with a lot of tools who will be easy to root for – there’s a high enough floor here to get some value from the pick even with greater variance. I can talk myself into a second round selection with Dee.

Scenario C: Stable College Performers

This is the value stock draft. Three hitters with a reasonable balance of hit/power probability, strong records of collegiate performance, and profiles that the Angels have little of on their farm. Each has a mix of floor and upside that provides good value in their region of the draft.

Ace Reese is this year’s Andrew Fischer – big power at the hot corner from the left-hand side, good bat speed, has hit his whole college career. His contact rates are middling, but not alarming – a lot of durable sluggers look like this, and he probably will improve in time. It’s a coin flip whether he sticks at third – he’s probably fringe average with the glove if he does. Otherwise he’s a left-fielder or slides to first eventually and provides much more 25-35 HR likelihood than the present occupant on the team. Once again, the Angels do not have a profile like this in their system at present. This would be a hyperrational selection that Angels fans could nonetheless get excited about.

Cade Townsend sits in the fantasy column here as a proxy for a number of solid collegiate righty SP candidates – Tegan Kuhns, Jack Radel, Taylor Rabe, Flukey – who could slip into the comp or early second round, all solid value. Townsend is one of the most well-rounded – great FB, slider, change foundation – and he’s a Newport Beach kid with a black belt in taekwondo. Great story. A little inconsistency down the stretch has him dropping into the 20s, most likely, but it’s mid-rotation projection that we might look back on later and wonder – why wasn’t this guy a first-half pick?

Logan Hughes is a data darling, and although a corner OF, probably LF, is about as good as it gets in terms of batted ball data. He hits the ball where it lives, with excellent in-zone contact. Maintained an almost 20% BB rate for most of the season, while keeping his K rate below 13%. It’s not crazy raw power, it’s stable game power. Good for a 170 wRC+ at Texas Tech. One of the most underrated players in the draft, and a personal favorite. He has some helium, and might have fought his way into the back of the first round. I’m wishcasting him here to the Angels at #45.

Tyson LeBlanc was a big performer for Kansas in both conference play and the regionals. Average or better tools across the board in a good, strong frame with plenty of barrel consistency. He might slide off short to second base, but he can probably play anywhere on the dirt, and likely will, over his career. Looks like a solid, everyday player, with few holes. Maybe underrated.

Scenario D: High School Moonshots

In last year’s draft, my strategy was to pick an upside starter or two near the top (some of my names were Kade Anderson, Seth Hernandez and Anthony Eyanson if you’ve heard of those guys), and then go overweight on positional power, spending the bulk of my pool savings on prep bats. I was particularly fixated on four: Taitn Gray, Quentin Young, Jacob Parker and Josiah Hartshorn. (I outlined one fantasy where the Angels drafted both Parker twins – Jacob and JoJo – in the same draft.) Since that time, three of those four (Gray, Parker and Hartshorn) have hit big for their respective clubs (Parker didn’t get drafted, and became the cleanup hitter and phenom slugger for Mississippi State as a freshman), while Quentin Young is striking out at terrifying rates, while still showing some of the biggest exit velocities in minor league ball.

That’s the allure of prep bats – some are gonna boom, some are gonna bust. And the former can define the destiny of a club. The Angels don’t draft enough of them.

In the 2026 draft class, the general consensus is that it’s deepest in prep pitching, especially HS southpaws (making it untimely that Perry focused his young arm strategy on last year’s group). But there are also some really fascinating high school bats in this class – and I think some of its best hitters will be ultimately sourced from this group, for the canny stock pickers out there.

So in this class, I go all youth – with an even mix of arms and bats, righties and lefties, hit and power types both.

Trevor Condon is the hot high school name outside the top six on the board. He gets some Pete Crow Armstrong comps as a “hair on fire” speedster in centerfield with solid contact and good barrel feel. It’s a top of the order profile that might only get to fringe-average power, but sometimes guys like this exceed their marks. I think his floor is Derek Curiel, which is why I like him more here than that stable college bat. Why settle when Condon might grow into more?

Carson Bolemon is one of my favorite lefties in this class – competing with Gio Rojas, who would be just as fine a selection as Condon above. He might well go higher than here to a team that likes him. He already has uncommon feel for three secondaries (slider, curve, change) for a high school pitcher, great deception and plus control. The FB velocity has been the most inconsistent, but the Angels have shown ability to tease more velo from their prep arms as they develop. Bolemon could be the Slawinski of this group.

Connor Comeau is one of the prep slugger profiles, like Blake Bowen above, I feel have tracked a bit under the radar this draft. Great contact, great projection. Physical specimen at 6’4”, he’s been a showcase shortstop who probably moves to 3B, maybe an OF corner, as he matures. It’s above-average hit and power, and there are no sure things with projection bats, but this is a real ‘pick to click’ type – a personal favorite in this draft.

Rounding out this young group is the big power righty, Ethan Wachsmann. Touches 100, look of a workhorse starter. Of course, at this age, the secondaries are behind. This is a two pitch TGA type selection at the moment. Big thrower with some relief risk, but ace upside. He’s got a slider, cutter and cambio he’s working on, but it’s a long horizon project here – one with a potential big payoff down the road.

Scenario E: High Probability, No Goofs

This class is perhaps the least exciting of the five, but it’s the “don’t f*ck us” draft – high floor, high probability players who each have a good likelihood of contributing 2-3 WAR as regular or semi-regular players due to very stable tools likely to play in the MLB. It’s a variation of scenario C, maximizing floor.

AJ Gracia is a well-known lefty OF prospect with strong underlying data who started a bit slow in 2026, but ended the season as the hottest hitter in the ACC during the second half. It’s a pretty swing with lots of coverage that generates impact to all fields. Probably more of a 20-25 HR hitter than a true slugger, with solid average tools and plus contact to sustain decent batting averages. Probably not a franchise player, but could be durable LF with an adequate glove in the Garret Anderson mode in an optimal scenario.

Jarren Advincula is a contact beast that puts everything in play, but is devoid of any over-the-fence power. He’s Jacob Wilson at second base, though he’s athletic enough to probably play all over the field. It’s all singles and doubles with plenty of chase, and you shouldn’t hope for more. But it’s probably enough. Fangraphs again: “slashed an incredible .434/.503/.629 while striking out a microscopic 5.3% of the time…the best pure contact hitter in the 2026 draft, with bat control from his eyes down to his shoe tops, tracking pitches like a hawk and moving his barrel all over the zone to spoil tough pitches and slice singles and doubles into play.”

Wes Mendes is a classic command lefty – a #3/4 guy, always underrated in drafts like these. Athletic and consistent, he has five pitches, and he throws them for strikes. Plus changeup, intriguing cutter that’s evolving. Very reliable profile which, while lacking ceiling, looks very useful, if “be reasonable and avoid goofs” is the goal. He made the D1Baseball first team rotation this year with guys like Jackson Flora and Mason Edwards with a 2.90 and 1.02 WHIP for Florida State. Undervalued.

In the third round here is a kid in Roman Martin who played in the shadow of Roch Cholowsky as UCLA’s everyday 3B, but would probably be a solid shortstop on any other club. Super patient hitter who handles velocity. Above average defender who can likely handle any position on the dirt. Quiet under the radar kid who could make some noise if he were a little more aggressive at the plate, as his hard hit rate suggests some real game power is in evidence when he lets it rip. Like the rest of Scenario E, he’s part of the low-pulse, underrated class who are probably MLB contributors with greater probability than the rest.

And a few guys I’m not yet bought into for various reasons, but appear in any number of MLB Draft mocks to the Angels in the first round:

Jared Grindlinger, Sawyer Strosnider, Chris Hacopian, Justin Lebron, Cole Carlon, Liam Peterson, Ryder Helfrick, Derek Curiel

More thoughts on these gentlemen to come…