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2014 MLB Draft: Big Draft Board - The Top 50

A completely subjective ranking of the Top 50 2014 draft prospects

Below is my list for the Top 50 prospects in the 2014 draft. Nothing fancy here or anything that's gonna need a ton of explanation. Just a few preferences I have before we begin:

1. I like hitters more than pitchers and if I had to choose between a pitcher and a hitter who were two of the same caliber prospects, I'd probably go with the hitter 10/10 times.

2. I prefer college guys generally to high schoolers. College players face much more parity and a higher skill level in their seasons than their prep counterparts and they have had more time to develop. This can be broken down even further that prep players from warm weather climates are better than cold weather climate players generally given their ability to play ball almost year round. Further touching upon the the competition point, those prep guys who attend the summer showcases are higher to me than those who don't.

3. Power is great and it can completely change the game, but you only hit home runs when you make contact with the ball. I'll take the lower power bat and the higher hit tool than the high power low hit tool unless you're bringing speed and defense to the table as well (such as Jacob Gatewood vs Bubba Starling).

4. Defense matters, but at the end of the day it's the bat that wins out for me. I'll take a below average defender and plus hitter over an above average fielder and below average hitter even if the defense is plus defense.

# Name Position School
1 Brady Aiken LHP Cathedral Catholic HS, CA
2 Alex Jackson OF Rancho Bernardo HS, CA
3 Carlos Rodon LHP North Carolina State
4 Tyler Kolek RHP Shepherd HS, TX
5 Nick Gordon SS Olympia HS, FL
6 Max Pentecost C Kennesaw State
7 Michael Conforto OF Oregon State
8 Brad Zimmer OF  University of San Francisco
9 Grant Holmes RHP Conway HS, SC
10 Aaron Nola RHP LSU
11 Sean Newcomb LHP Hartford
12 Jeff Hoffman RHP East Carolina
13 Forrest Wall 2B Orangewood Christian HS, FL
14 Trea Turner SS North Carolina State
15 Casey Gillaspie 1B Wichita State
16 Kyle Schwarber 1B Indiana
17 Michael Chavis 3B Sprayberry HS, GA
18 Derek Fisher OF Virginia
19 Spencer Adams RHP White County HS, GA
20 Kodi Medeiros LHP Waiakea HS, HI
21 Michael Gettys OF

Gainesville, GA

22 Derek Hill OF Elk Grove HS, CA
23 Braxton Davidson 1B TC Roberson HS, NC
24 Touki Toussaint RHP Coral Springs Christian HS, FL
25 Chase Vallot C St Thomas Moore HS, LA
26 Monte Harrison OF Lee summit West HS, MO
27 Luis Ortiz RHP Sanger HS, CA
28 Kyle Freeland LHP Evansville
29 Erick Fedde RHP UNLV
30 Brandon Finnegan LHP TCU
31 Alex Blandino 3B Stanford
32 Sean Reid-Foley RHP Sandalwood HS, FL
33 Tyler Bedde RHP Vanderbilt
34 Nick Howard RHP Virginia
35 Jacob Bukauskas RHP Stone Bridge HS, VA
36 Ti'Quan Forbes 3B Columbia HS, MS
37 Foster Griffin LHP First Academy HS, FL
38 Nick Burdi RHP Louisville
39 Michael Kopech RHP Mount Pleasant HS, TX
40 Jacob Gatewood 3B Clovis HS, CA
41 Aramis Garcia C FIU
42 Mike Papi OF Virginia
43 AJ Reed 1B Kentucky
44 Justus Sheffield LHP Tullahoma HS, TN
45 Brian Anderson OF Arkansas
46 Carson Sands RHP North Florida Christian HS, FL
47 Cody Reed LHP Ardmore HS, AL
48 Matt Chapman 3B Cal-State Fullerton
49 Marcus Wilson OF Junipero Serra HS, CA
50 Sam Travis 1B Indiana

If you want to see basically every single one of these guys on video check out the Perfect Game All-Star Game from last year.