Baseball America ran their own mock draft - but with a caveat:
This isn't a prediction of how the first round will unfold, but rather what would happen if our lead draft writers were in charge of each team's scouting department.
Who did they have the Astros picking?
#8: Zack Cox - 3B, Arkansas
Whitson has become the No. 2 prep pitcher in this draft, though I wonder if the Mets' on-the-hot-seat front office won't rather have a guy who could help quicker. As for the Astros, I'm sold on Zack Cox, so I'm taking him here. The questions some teams have about Cox don't bother me. He's the best pure hitter in the draft, and he has enough strength in his 6-foot, 215-pound frame for me to believe he'll have at least average power. He has a strong arm and works hard, and if there's a position where you can become a decent defender by taking a ton of grounders, it's third base. I see him as a .300 hitter with 15-20 homers per year at the hot corner, and the Astros don't have a guy like that. Cox is a draft-eligible sophomore who's reportedly angling for an above-slot deal, but if gambles on re-entering the draft, I don't see how he can do any better in 2011, when there should be a deeper pool of talent.
#19: Brandon Workman - P, Texas
It might be tempting for the Astros to redraft Arkansas two-way talent Brett Eibner with this pick, making up for not signing him out of high school in 2007. Instead, I'm going to go with Brandon Workman. He has been part of the nation's best college pitching staff at Texas this year and could move quickly to the big leagues.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
