I’m totally cheating here in calling this a mock draft when it pretty obviously is not a mock draft. This is a mock draft only in that I put team names in front of my first 2014 big board. This is a mock draft in much the same way that Jonathan Givony at Draft Express puts together his early season pre-lottery mock drafts. This is a mock draft only because mock drafts hold much more mainstream appeal than a straight ranking. Calling this a “2014 MLB Draft Mock Draft” (!) gets you 100x the amount of eyeballs. I hate the idea of “selling out” with a mock draft, but I put a lot of time and thought into this list so I’m good with getting it a little extra attention if I can. So, really, it’s a ranking masquerading as a mock draft. Sneaky, right?

I’m also calling it a mock because I want to play around with mocks a lot more in 2014. I’ve toyed with some alternative mock drafts in the past, and I’d like to revisit the idea in the coming year. Subversive mock drafts sound like fun to me, so stay tuned for that. Also, any “real” mock drafts I do in the coming year — maybe I’ll do one, maybe two, maybe three…maybe none, still not sure yet — will be jam packed with what I consider interesting/entertaining/better than sitting in the cubicle pretending to work in the office information. There’s nothing I hate more — well, maybe a few things — than mock drafts written by anybody but Jim Callis (and, to a lesser extent, Keith Law and Kiley McDaniel) that offer up nothing but teams and players. Mocks are only interesting in that they provide either a) well-sourced knowledge about a team’s intentions (something that Callis, Law, and McDaniel can do when indy guys like me can’t..and shouldn’t pretend to), or b) insight about teams and players. Future real mocks will have the latter, but this initial iteration is just a straight ranking. I started with about 100 players — mostly college guys — and winnowed it down to 30. I might do another post about the college players that didn’t make the list, but I’m in big time wait-and-see mode with the prep class. Much will be learned in the next few weeks on that front.

[I should also mention that I’ll be around to get back to some comments and emails in the coming days, but will be a bit of a stranger over the next few weeks. As far as draft writing goes, this is what I consider the yearly dead period. Recapping the most recent draft can wait until after signing day while updating scouting impressions based on summer action — both HS showcases and college summer leagues — is best done behind the scenes, at least as far as I’m concerned. So I’ll be recharging the batteries, watching as much baseball as I can, and updating the offline scouting database, all with the intention of coming back bigger and better than ever in July.]

[I should also also mention that this draft season has been the most fun I’ve had while running this site. The discussions I’ve had in the comment section and via email really make it all worthwhile. So thanks to all that read, participate, and help spread the word. I have some big, exciting changes to announce in the coming weeks, changes I wouldn’t have had the motivation to go through with without the support of all who keep up with the site. Thanks, everybody.]

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Draft order was made up by me. If you hate it, you’re kind of missing the point. Here are the players…

1.1 Houston Astros | RHP Touki Toussaint (Coral Springs Christian HS, Florida)

1.2 Miami Marlins | San Diego State SO RHP Michael Cederoth

1.3. New York Mets | North Carolina State SO SS/OF Trea Turner

1.4. Seattle Mariners | North Carolina State SO LHP Carlos Rodon

1.5. Chicago Cubs | C Alex Jackson (Rancho Bernardo HS, California)

1.6. Minnesota Twins | 3B/RHP Jacob Gatewood (Redwood HS, California)

1.7. Milwaukee Brewers | Vanderbilt SO RHP Tyler Beede

1.8. San Diego Padres | Indiana SO OF/C Kyle Schwarber

1.9. Chicago White Sox | Florida State SO RHP Luke Weaver

1.10. Kansas City Royals | Louisiana State SO RHP Aaron Nola

1.11. Colorado Rockies | San Francisco SO OF Brad Zimmer

1.12. Toronto Blue Jays | SS/RHP Nick Gordon (Olympia HS, Florida)

1.13. Cleveland Indians | Cal State Fullerton SO SS/3B Matt Chapman

1.14. Philadelphia Phillies | 3B/RHP Jack Flaherty (Harvard-Westlake HS, California)

1.15. Los Angeles Angels | OF Gareth Morgan (North Toronto Collegiate SS, Ontario)

1.16. Los Angeles Dodgers | Florida JR RHP Karsten Whitson

1.17. Washington Nationals | RHP/SS Dylan Cease (Milton HS, Georgia)

1.18. San Francisco Giants | Oregon State SO OF Michael Conforto

1.19. Pittsburgh Pirates | Louisville SO RHP Nick Burdi

20. Baltimore Orioles | East Carolina SO RHP Jeff Hoffman

21. Tampa Bay Rays | San Diego State SO OF Greg Allen

22. Oakland Athletics | OF Matthew Railey (North Florida Christian HS, Florida)

23. Arizona Diamondbacks | Hartford SO LHP Sean Newcomb

24. Cincinnati Reds | Texas Christian SO LHP Brandon Finnegan

25. Texas Rangers | OF Dalton Ewing (Milton HS, Georgia)

26. Boston Red Sox | OF Stone Garrett (George Ranch HS, Texas)

27. New York Yankees | RHP Grant Holmes (Conway HS, South Carolina)

28. Atlanta Braves | LHP Mac Marshall (Parkview HS, Georgia)

1.29. Detroit Tigers | RHP Ryan Castellani (Brophy Prep, Arizona)

1.30. St. Louis Cardinals | 1B/OF Braxton Davidson (Roberson HS, North Carolina)