Baseball America’s latest mock draft has Jack Leiter falling to the Red Sox

As the Red Sox continue to hang onto first place for as long as they possibly can right now, the front office also has an eye towards July and the draft. Boston has their highest draft pick in decades this year, selecting with the number four overall pick. For a long time, it has seemed like the top four was almost set in stone, with Jack Leiter, Kumar Rocker, Marcelo Mayer and Jordan Lawlar going in those spots in some order. That made things pretty easy for Boston, as they could just take who was left.

Well, things are changing. The Vanderbilt pitchers (Leiter and Rocker) are slipping, and there are players like Brady House and Henry Davis who are starting to work their ways into the conversation. Baseball America’s latest mock draft was released on Monday, and they have Leiter falling to the Red Sox at number four.

I think a lot of fans would be very excited if this were to happen because Leiter was absolutely the story of the first half of the college season where he looked unhittable and like a future number one starter at the highest level. He’s taken a step back of late, though, and went from the consensus number one to a guy who the Red Sox could even pass on. At this point I don’t think they would, but there are other names to consider.

Right now, BA’s mock has three high school shortstops — Lawlar, Mayer, and House — going in the top three spots, leaving the Red Sox their pick of any college player they wanted. Obviously they went Leiter here, but Davis appears to be a possibility as well. He is a college catcher from Louisville having a monster season. Rocker, for what it’s worth, falls down to number seven in this mock.

I think the biggest takeaway from this mock is less about the specific player falling to Boston and more of a reminder of how much things change. It really wasn't that long ago that this top four appeared to be set in stone with the two Vandy pitchers out of reach for the Red Sox in the most likely scenario. Now, it looks like there’s a chance they could actually pass on both of those arms. All of which is not to say it will stay this way. We could be looking at new mocks a few weeks from now with Leiter and Rocker again both going ahead of the fourth pick. Draft season moves quickly, with top names shuffling every which way.