Georgia high school outfielder Austin Meadows is many things.
He’s a 6’3″, 200-pound prospect who has a great chance to be taken inside the top five of the 2013 MLB first-year player draft on Thursday, and many scouting reports have him listed as a potential four- or five-tool athlete roaming the outfield for a big-league club.
Add major coup to that list if he does start to slip down the draft board a little bit after the first few picks are made on Thursday.
Much has been made of Meadows and his Georgia counterpart Clint Frazier, both of whom graced the cover of Sports Illustrated this month as the national audience takes a break from the marathon 162-game regular season to see which prospect is the next Mike Trout, Bryce Harper or Stephen Strasburg.
Projections over the last few weeks in mock drafts and scouting reports alike have listed Meadows as a fringe top-five player—directly behind Georgia buddy Frazier if you listen to MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo—who could go anywhere in the first 10 picks.
Jim Rice of the Greenville News had this tweet (via a projection from Sporting News writer Anthony Witrado) noting that the projection had the Miami Marlins taking the young man with pick No. 6:
So what does it all mean?
Well, for starters, Meadows is garnering national attention as one of the best outfield prospects in the game—and he’s still in high school. The pride of Grayson High has a smooth stroke, already has the size to be considered an outfield prospect in the bigs and has a ho-hum attitude about his business on the diamond.
Bleacher Report MLB writer Adam Wells listed Meadows as a prospect with one of the biggest ceilings in this year’s draft, but noted that there might be more risk concerning his selection because of the flatter swing (less power) and consistency at the dish at the next level.
The consensus around Meadows is simple—though a slightly riskier pick than Frazier because he will likely need some time to develop at the next level, there’s a good chance he will wind up taking top honors when we revisit this draft in a few years.
And that statement has coup written all over it.
With high-profile Oklahoma arm Jonathan Gray hogging draft boards because of his immense talent and potential at the next level, there’s a good chance the second tier of the first few picks is going to be really, really good.
A college player has gone first in three of the last four drafts, so it’s nothing new that MLB’s selection process tends to fluctuate from high school stars back to college studs. Meadows falls in the first category, and his place in this draft will be determined as the first few dominoes begin to fall.
Should he go past pick No. 7 or No. 8, then there’s little doubt a team like Pittsburgh will be waiting to snatch him up right away. With the talent, the raw gifts and the mindset to compete at the next level right away, Meadows is already gaining steam as a top pick in this draft.
Depending upon where he’s selected, there’s a good chance he’ll be a coup someday, too.
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