Every D1 conference in the country has now officially been featured on the site. Feels good. Click on the links below to find the landing page for each conference’s 2016 MLB Draft page. Check the bottom of this page for a quick and dirty (unranked) 2016 MLB Draft College Top 150…

America East
American Athletic
Atlantic 10
ACC
Atlantic Sun
Big 10
Big 12
Big East
Big South
Big West
Colonial
Conference USA
Horizon
Independents
Ivy
Metro Atlantic
MAC
Mid-Eastern
Missouri Valley
Mountain West
Northeast
Ohio Valley
Pac-12
Patriot
SEC
Southern
Southland and (Part 2)
Southwestern
Summit
Sun Belt
West Coast
Western Athletic

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And now to slip some actual original content in…

Quite honestly, this really couldn’t have worked out better. What started as a project to pass time when I was away from my computer turned into a great big list of college prospects that have stood out to me, for one reason or another, as being the best of the best at their respective positions. I wasn’t sure what to do with the list, if anything, but I thought it might be fun to make it public and see if anybody notices any glaring omissions (quite possible) or wildly overrated prospects (less likely, but I’m a little biased).

So as the list started taking shape — on pen and paper, mind you — I began to get curious as to how many players I’d eventually finish with. Took the list to Word, sorted them alphabetically by first name (i.e., these are not yet rankings, though I’d hope the lack of numbers beside each name would tip you off), and then started adding them up. Wouldn’t you know we hit 150 right on the nose? What a fun accident. Glad I cut Hayden Stone at the last minute! I figured I’d then take that number and see how far in the draft it would take us. In last year’s draft, the 150th college (all levels) player (Hutton Moyer for those curious) was drafted with the thirtieth and final pick of the seventh round. So as a rough guideline, one could expect the players listed below to be available until around the end of the seventh round. Now I’m almost always light on junior college and non-D1 prospects, plus I’m sure I’ve rated some guys higher than the industry while underrated others. After correcting for all that, I think it’s fair to say that, at minimum, we can consider all of the players below top ten round talents. We being me. You’re free to think I’m a dope.

In a more perfect world, I would combine the middle infielders, cut two outfielders, and add 13 pitchers. That would give me groups of 20 (C), 5 (1B), 20 (MIF), 10 (3B), 30 (OF), and 75 (P). I suppose I’m not quite detail-oriented enough to care to go that far; the occasional imperfectly numbered group doesn’t bother me in the least.

My weighted process for this included the following: publicly available scouting reports and 2016 season performance (heavy on this), privately shared scouting reports and the overall statistical body of work (moderately weighted), and my own two eyes when applicable (used mostly as a tie-breaker for guys I was on the fence about).

It’s worth pointing out that (as always) some of the catchers may not be catchers and some of the shortstops may not be shortstops. I kept that in mind, so consider the rankings of those guys an endorsement of being worthy for the list even if they had to switch positions (1B/OF for the catchers, 2B/3B for the shortstops). If they had to go on those lists, they still would have been included…I consider the small chance some of them have at staying at their college positions a perk more than an indictment.

It’s a very good year for fans of pitchers named Kyle and whatever iteration of Zack/Zach/Zac you’re into. The catching class is loaded. Many pitchers have disappointed, but it’s still a really good year for arms. The rest of the position groups can probably charitably be called average at best. I still think it’s an above-average draft class on balance, but it’s more about solid depth than obvious top of the first round talents. Great year to have multiple extra shots.

I’m happy to keep chatting about college prospects in the comments or via email, but consider this the last post solely about college guys you’ll see here over the next two weeks. It’s time to immerse myself in the prep game for a while once again. I’ll be kicking that reintroduction off in style with what might be my final look at Nolan Jones — he’s really, really great, FWIW — tomorrow morning. By the time we’re back to college, the regular season will be wrapped up and final rankings will begin.

So tell me who I missed and I’ll let you know why I callously left them off. Or, more likely, I’ll thank you for pointing out a transcription mistake.

Catcher (20)

Andrew Knizner
Austin Athmann
Brett Cumberland
Chris DeVito
Chris Okey
Dempsey Grover
Gavin Stupienski
Handsome Monica
Harrison Wenson
Jake Rogers
Jameson Fisher
Jarrett Rindfleisch
Jeremy Martinez
Keith Skinner
Logan Ice
Matt Thaiss
Sean Murphy
Tyler Lancaster
Tyler Lawrence
Zack Collins

First Base (5)

Carmen Beneditti
Keaton Wright
Pete Alonso
Preston Palmeiro
Will Craig

Second Base (6)

Cavan Biggio
Jake Noll
JaVon Shelby
Nate Mondou
Nick Solak
Tommy Edman

Third Base (10)

Blake Tiberi
Bobby Dalbec
Carson Shaddy
Clayton Taylor
Danny Hudzina
Logan Gray
Lucas Erceg
Nick Senzel
Sheldon Neuse
Spencer Gaa

Shortstop (14)

Bryson Brigman
CJ Chatham
Colby Woodmansee
Daniel Pinero
Errol Robinson
Garrett Hampson
Kevin Santa
Nicky Lopez
Riley Delgado
Ryan Howard
Stephen Alemais
Tate Blackman
Trever Morrison
Zack Short

Outfield (32)

Alex Call
Anfernee Grier
Austin Hays
Bradley Jones
Bryan Reynolds
Buddy Reed
Cole Gruber
Corey Ray
Dan Holst
David Martinelli
Dom Thompson-Williams
Granger Studdard
Heath Quinn
Hunter Tackett
Jacob Heyward
Jacob Robson
Jake Fraley
JB Woodman
Josh Palacios
Kel Johnson
Kyle Lewis
Luke Bonfield
Matt Albanese
Nick Banks
Ronnie Dawson
Ryan Boldt
Shane Billings
Stephen Wrenn
Trenton Brooks
Troy Montgomery
Tyler Ramirez
Willie Abreu

Pitcher (63)

AJ Puckett
AJ Puk
Alec Hansen
Andrew Lantrip
Anthony Kay
Bailey Clark
Bailey Ober
Ben Bowden
Braden Webb
Brandon Bailey
Brett Adcock
Brett Morales
Cal Quantrill
Cameron Vieaux
Cody Sedlock
Cole Irvin
Connor Jones
Corbin Burnes
Dakota Hudson
Dane Dunning
Daniel Brown
Daulton Jefferies
Devin Smeltzer
Eric Lauer
Garrett Williams
Griffin Jax
Ian Hamilton
Jacob DeVries
Jake Elliott
Jake Kelzer
Jason Foley
JD Busfield
John Kilichowski
Jon Duplantier
Jordan Sheffield
Justin Dunn
Keegan Akin
Keegan Thompson
Kyle Cody
Kyle Funkhouser
Kyle Serrano
Kyle Weatherly
Lake Bachar
Logan Shore
Matt Anderson
Matt Crohan
Matt Krook
Michael Rucker
Mike Shawaryn
Mitchell Jordan
Mitchell Traver
Robert Tyler
Ryan Hendrix
Shane Bieber
Shaun Anderson
TJ Zeuch
Tyson Miller
Wil Crowe
Zac Gallen
Zach Jackson
Zach Plesac
Zack Brown
Zack Burdi