Will LSU's Crews or Skenes (or neither) go No. 1 in MLB Draft?
For much of the past year, LSU outfielder Dylan Crews was the prospect circled as the likely No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.
Then came chatter that Crews might be wanting more of a pay day than the Pittsburgh Pirates were preparing to give the No. 1 pick, which shifted the conversation to LSU pitcher Paul Skenes. Across the past two weeks, multiple MLB Mock Drafts shifted to Skenes as the potential top pick.
24 hours out from the start of the draft, Florida’s Wyatt Langford has surged to the top of mock drafts – jumping both Crews and Skenes.
Here’s the latest buzz from around the baseball community.
Is there a chance of neither going No. 1?
On Friday, The Athletic’s Keith Law updated his mock draft, and he’s now circling Florida’s Wyatt Langford as the potential first selection.
“Langford has clearly been on the short list for the Pirates all year, but with Dylan Crews appearing to want over slot to sign here and the team’s apparent preference for a bat over an arm possibly leading them away from Paul Skenes, Langford is the best fit as someone who’s absolutely good enough to be the first overall pick but would sign at a number that will let the Pirates go over slot with later picks,” Law said. “Don’t discount Max Clark here either, for the same reasons, although I think the Pirates would prefer the college guy who’ll get there faster. Clark is motivated to go first overall and there’s a very good argument that he has the highest upside of any candidate to go here.”
If Langford does go No. 1, Law sees LSU’s two stars quickly coming off the board at No. 2 and No. 3.
On Friday, Law had Skenes going No. 2 to the Washington Nationals and Crews No. 3 to the Detroit Tigers.
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“Tough call for the Nats if both LSU kids are here, but a source familiar with the team’s thinking told me the Nats would probably still take Skenes because he has the profile of a pitcher who’s in the majors in a year à la Stephen Strasburg,” Law said. “Neither is a wrong choice and I could easily see them taking Crews.”
Skenes carrying best odds for LSU
When it comes to the debate between Dylan Crews and Paul Skenes, it’s Skenes who carries the best odds (as of Saturday morning) to go No. 1 overall.
DraftKings has Skenes with +250 odds at going No. 1, while Crews checks in with +500 odds. Both are behind Florida’s Wyatt Langford (+140), and Crews trails Max Clark (+350) for the No. 1 overall spot.
On Caesers, the odds look similar. Langford sits with the best odds (+120) to be the No. 1 pick, while Skenes has the second-best odds (+220). Clark (+400) is also carrying better odds than Crews (+450) to go No. 1.
