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A Guide Through the First Three Rounds

Anthony Calanni gives his take on the top 36 players and ranks them according to the order in which he would draft them.

By AnthonyCalanni
"Hey why am I not ranked first?" yells Miguel Cabrera
"Hey why am I not ranked first?" yells Miguel Cabrera
US PRESSWIRE

My name is Anthony Calanni and I will be your tour guide today. I am going to rank my top 36 players and place them in the position that I believe they should be drafted at. I broke the rankings up into three rounds of 12.

Mock Round 1

1. Mike Trout

2. Ryan Braun

3. Miguel Cabrera

4. Matt Kemp

5. Robinson Cano

6. Albert Pujols

7. Joey Votto

8. Prince Fielder

9. Andrew McCutchen

10. Giancarlo Stanton

11. Josh Hamilton

12. Carlos Gonzalez

Yeah, I like Trout at number 1. I know that Braun will drive in more runs, but I think that Trout has no ceiling and could easily put up 30 homers and 50 steals in 2013. I also have Pujols pretty high compared to other rankings. He may be declining, but he will bat in front of Ham-Bone and could have a season very similar to Cabrera’s triple crown year.

Mock Round 2

13. Clayton Kershaw

14. Justin Verlander

15. Yoenis Cespedes

16. Adrian Beltre

17. Troy Tulowitzki

18. Jose Bautista

19. Justin Upton

20. Buster Posey

21. Stephen Strasburg

22. Ian Kinsler

23. Jason Heyward

24. Evan Longoria

The beginning of round 2 is where I believe elite pitchers should first be taken. I really like Cespedes. He has massive power and can steal 20 bases. I threw Heyward in the late second round because he is just too explosive to slip any further. You will find Longoria in my second round, but I placed him there with reluctance.

Mock Round 3

25. David Price

26. Bryce Harper

27. David Wright

28. Cliff Lee

29. Dustin Pedroia

30. Jose Reyes

31. Felix Hernandez

32. Paul Goldschmidt

33. Cole Hamels

34. Edwin Encarnacion

35. Ian Desmond

36. Allen Craig

In round 3, you can find Bryce Harper. Like Trout, Harper has no limits. I am not crazy about Wright and Encarnacion, but they deserve to be here. I have trust issues with them. In the case of Jose Reyes, I hate drafting a stolen base guy early, but he plays shortstop, a shallow position. I decided to place Desmond in round 3 over the inconsistent Hanley Ramirez because I think he will have a 25-25 season in 2013. I am also a fan of Goldschmidt. A first baseman that can steal 15 bags is a rare find.

Let me know what you guys think and feel free to post your own rankings in the comments section.