Keith Law's draft recap: AL team-by-team breakdown

Our breakdown of the 2018 draft began with a recap of the National League's most notable picks, so it's now time to examine -- you guessed it -- the American League. 

The Orioles started their draft with a prep arm for the second year in a row, taking Grayson Rodriguez (1), a big right-hander from East Texas who has reached up to 97 mph and has the makings of two plus breaking balls. His changeup remains a work in progress, but he has been trying to throw it more. He's already starter size, but with some effort in the delivery there's at least a little risk he ends up in the bullpen. Cadyn Grenier (2) was one of the top college shortstops in the class, a fringe first-round talent out of high school who had a breakout year for Oregon State in the spring, hitting .335/.420/.477 and playing shortstop well enough to project to plus on defense. I'm probably being stubborn, but I think there's still more upside left in his bat as well, both to hit and to show average power. Arkansas starter Blaine Knight (3) will touch the mid-90s and throws strikes with four pitches but has been homer-prone, and the lack of a true plus pitch makes him more fourth/fifth starter material. He turns 22 later this month, and I would hope he's a fast mover given his control and age.

Prep lefty Drew Rom (4) came on at the end of the spring, sitting in the low 90s with a solid-average breaking ball and an athletic body with some projection and a delivery that works. Iowa outfielder Robert Neustrom (5) has a big, strong power bat, showing power even the other way. He's a below-average runner who'll start in right but could end up in left. Yeankarlos Lleras (6) is a smaller right-hander with a fast arm who bumped 96 mph at the end of the spring and flashed a real slider.

Florida prep first baseman Triston Casas (1) has been on the showcase circuit for years and played at American Heritage, one of the best high school programs in the country (producing first-rounders Eric Hosmer, Deven Marrero and Zack Collins), and has always shown good feel to hit. He's big enough for power, but his swing is more geared toward hard contact -- if he ends up with 30-homer power it'll be of the Paul Goldschmidt variety, line drives hit so hard they still leave the park. He's a fringy defender at first but good enough to stay there as long as he hits as expected.

Nick Decker (2) is a left-handed-hitting outfielder from southern New Jersey who has plus raw power but was pitched around a lot this spring. He's listed at 6 feet, 200 pounds but looks shorter and wider than that and has a plus arm (and a decent high school breaking ball too). His upside is an everyday right fielder with 25 to 30 homers and a solid OBP. Durbin Feltman (3) struck out 46 percent of the batters he faced this spring as TCU's closer, pitching at 96-99 mph with a slider at 86-89 and a max-effort, almost comical delivery. He's the type of guy you draft with the intention of moving him fast while his stuff is still at this peak level.

Kentucky catcher Kole Cottam (4) has plus power with great rotation in his swing along with some swing-and-miss. He's an adequate receiver but on the big side for the position. Central Florida right-hander Thad Ward (5) is a pure reliever, 91-93 mph with a tight mid-80s slider.

Devlin Granberg (6) hit a comical .442/.541/.680 this spring for Dallas Baptist with 26 steals in 27 attempts, and he is indeed a plus runner. His swing has a short path to the ball without a lot of loft for power. Second baseman Jarren Duran (7) is a little slap hitter with some speed, although he did lead Long Beach State in home runs ... with two.

The White Sox were college-heavy as usual, taking eight college players in their first 10 picks.

Oregon State second baseman Nick Madrigal (1) missed about two months this spring with a broken wrist but did hit consistently when he did play, rarely striking out, though showing no power. He was bumped to second base by Cadyn Grenier and probably won't be a shortstop in the long run. His floor is extremely high -- as long as he's healthy, he will hit enough to see the majors -- but his ceiling, as a likely second baseman without power, is somewhat limited.

Oklahoma outfielder Steele Walker (2) has hit for average everywhere he has played -- the last two years for OU, one summer in the Northwoods League, one summer with Team USA -- and could end up an everyday player in an outfield corner on that basis, with middling power and limited defensive value. Lefty Konnor Pilkington (3) could have been a first-rounder with a strong spring, but his velocity kept slipping and he was just in the mid-80s by the end of his disastrous regionals start, which may be how the White Sox could get him in the third round. He's a command guy who had touched the low 90s.

Prep shortstop Lency Delgado (4) has a big frame and could outgrow the position, although he moves well right now and has the arm strength to stay at short. He has loose hands but poor bat control, although I can see how he might start hitting the ball a long way when he gets it all synced up. Indiana University right-hander Jonathan Stiever (5) is a sinker-baller who gets ground balls and throws a solid-average spike curveball with a below-average changeup. He doesn't have a real out pitch and profiles as a back-of-the-rotation starter if the changeup gets close to average and a righty reliever if not. Gunnar Troutwine (9) is an interesting senior sign, as the Wichita State catcher is rough behind the plate but has some pop and not a bad swing.

Noah Naylor (1) was one of my favorite picks of the first round, my 14th-ranked player, taken at pick 29. The younger brother of Padres farmhand Josh Naylor, Noah has played several positions as an amateur, catching at the Under Armour game last summer. He's not a catcher, but he has looked very good at third base and could certainly play second base if needed. Noah doesn't have Josh's raw power, but he is a better player in other ways -- he's a better athlete, better runner and has a great swing, keeping his head steady and rotating his hips well to at least drive the ball. I think he's an above-average regular at third or second, maybe more once he gets to stay at one position and work on his defense there full time.

Prep right-hander Ethan Hankins (1A) was my preseason No. 1 draft prospect but got hurt in his first start of the season, missing about a month with a sore shoulder. He returned to make several short starts for his prep team but pitched with slightly reduced stuff, still working 90-95 mph, but with no power to his breaking ball. Hankins' delivery is abrupt with a short stride, which is not great for shoulder health, but now Cleveland can try to lengthen his stride toward the plate while bringing him back to 100 percent arm strength.

Right-hander Lenny Torres (1A) was one of the youngest players in the draft class -- he doesn't turn 18 until October -- but has one of its fastest arms. I saw him hit 97, striking out 14 of 17 batters he faced in a high school game in upstate New York, with some feel for a curveball, below-average command and control and no changeup to speak of -- not that he needed anything but velocity to get through the opposing lineup. He has midrotation upside or more, but if he never gets his command or breaking ball to a point where he can start, he looks like a potential late-game reliever à la Dellin Betances.

Nick Sandlin (2) had an unbelievable year as a starter for Southern Miss, but he's a true sidearmer with a violent delivery -- like Tyler Danish but rougher -- and there's nobody starting in the majors who looks anything like this. The only major league starter I can think of in the past decade who came from a slot this low was Justin Masterson, who had brief spells of success that alternated with stretches when he couldn't get left-handed hitters out. I'm assuming this is an under-slot deal to help pay for Hankins and/or Torres.

Richie Palacios (3) led a bad Towson team in pretty much every category, including the three triple-slash stats -- homers, steals, walks -- and strikeout rate (just 6.2 percent). He's probably moving off shortstop because his arm is short, and I'm not sure how well he'll hit pro pitching with a deep load and very soft front side; those college home runs might become popups with a wood bat and better pitching. Prep shortstop Raynel Delgado (6) will end up at second base, but he has real power, especially from the left side, with excellent hip rotation. A somewhat disappointing spring hurt his stock, but he'd be better off going pro than attending Florida International in the fall. Sandlin wasn't Cleveland's only low arm-slot pick.  Robert Broom (10) of Mercer is a true submariner.

The Tigers picked first and they took the best guy, Auburn right-hander Casey Mize (1), easily the top talent in the class. Mize throws 92-96 mph with plus command, has a grade 70 splitter, a grade 60 cutter and will even throw a slider and a straight changeup. He walked 12 guys with 151 strikeouts in 109? innings across 16 starts for Auburn, including a no-hitter in March and a 15-strikeout game in early May. Mize is a little slight of build, but he has never had a significant arm injury, and his arm works more than well enough to project him as a starter. As long as he stays healthy, he's a future ace.

After Mize, however, they didn't really target any potential over-slot guys or try to spread money around. Outfielder Parker Meadows (2), the younger brother of Pirates outfielder Austin, has plus bat speed, is an above-average runner and has an above-average arm, but he lacks Austin's power potential and has a significant hitch in his swing that may hurt his ability to make contact.

Kody Clemens (3) is, indeed, the son of Roger but is a hitter like brother Kacy. Kody had an out-of-nowhere 21 home runs this spring for the Longhorns after hitting just 10 in his first two years combined. It's hard to see that power given his grooved swing and soft front side -- if anything, I'd guess the left-hander would hit for some average but hook a lot of balls into the first-base stands. His arm strength is down since Tommy John surgery and he's limited to the right side of the infield, with the hope that he can handle second base.

Kingston Liniak (4) is at least a 60 runner and can handle center field defensively, with arm strength for any outfield spot. At the plate, he's still underdeveloped and tends to collapse his back side a little to try to generate power from his slight build. His uncle Cole was a seventh-round pick of the Red Sox in 1995 and got a cup of coffee with the Cubs. Adam Wolf (5) is a lefty finesse guy with a mid-80s cutter that he uses as his main out pitch. He might be a back-end starter but more likely falls a little short.

Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington, had just four drafted players in the program's history, the last in 2001, but this year the school had two, including Hugh Smith (6), a tall right-handed starter who throws 91-94 mph with a solid changeup, below-average breaking ball and a severely crossbody delivery. Tarik Skubal (9) throws in the upper 90s but does not often throw the ball over the plate. He's a redshirt junior who missed 2017, his first draft year, after Tommy John surgery.

Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto's draft revolved around a pair of high school teammates who'll likely eat up most of their bonus pool and a potential top-10 pick who fell after a miserable spring. Jordan Groshans (1) was just No. 51 on my big board because of concerns about his swing -- he has quick hands but doesn't use his lower half much or stay back on the ball, so while he may physically grow into power, his swing isn't geared toward taking advantage of it just yet. He has played shortstop but projects as an above-average to plus defender at third, with a very strong throwing arm to handle the hot corner. I think he's interesting and offers above-average regular upside or more, but he needs quite a bit of development help.

Griffin Conine (2), son of Mr. Marlin (unless they took that title back too) Jeff Conine, came off a smashing summer on Cape Cod as a lock to go among the top 10 picks, then promptly destroyed the lock by striking out 72 times this spring (a third of his at-bats, 27 percent of plate appearances) for Duke and hitting .278/.402/.611 on the season. It's not his swing, but his approach seemed to fall apart, and, of course, he may have started pressing when the season began so poorly. He has power and had really never struck out on a rate like this previously in his career, so I understand the buy-low idea here. He'll be at least the fifth son of a big leaguer in the Jays' system, along with the sons of Vlad Guerrero, Dante Bichette, Craig Biggio and Roger Clemens, plus the nephew of Mark Grudzielanek. It's a strategy, although I'm not sure it's a good one.

Adam Kloffenstein (3) was Groshans' teammate at Magnolia, a potential second-round pick who'll likely get over slot in the third to buy him away from a scholarship to TCU. The 6-foot-4 right-hander will pitch at 91-94 mph and has flashed even more velocity, with good spin on his breaking ball and some feel for a changeup. There's some violence in his delivery at times, but his timing is good and he seems to extend well toward the plate. He might be far from the majors but has midrotation upside.

Sean Wymer (4) is a 6-foot right-hander from TCU who mostly worked as a starter, showing three fringe-average or below pitches with good control; I don't think he's even a fifth starter unless his arsenal improves in pro ball. Shortstop Addison Barger (6), committed to Florida, has a plus arm and good hands, along with a solid left-handed swing that might lead to some future power. He's a 45 runner at best, probably heading for second base, and when I saw him this spring he had some uncomfortable swings against a lefty. He's good value in the sixth round as a middle infielder with some athleticism and upside with the bat. Notre Dame infielder Nick Podkul (7) has a decent swing for contact without power; he's an average runner whom the Jays listed as a third baseman, but he also played second for the Irish.