The #1 Pick: Dansby Swanson - Initial Thoughts

The Diamondbacks have selected Vanderbilt shortstop Dansby Swanson with the first overall pick in the 2015 Rule 4 amateur draft. This doesn't come as much of a surprise to anyone, as all day long more and more folks have been calling that Swanson would be the pick. By the time Manfred made the announcement, the entire Twitterverse had already announced it.

The scouting report can be found here, as part of our pre-draft coverage. The big takeaways are that he is an on-base machine with great speed that has the defensive tools to stick at short. He does not project to have much in the way of home run power, but over the last three weeks, he seems to have been muscling up in some of the biggest moments. Reports vary, but Swanson is expected to be a 10-15 home run talent. If he is a 15 home run talent, with his advanced bat, he is an all-star caliber player. Defensively, Swanson's arm is not the best, but it is more than sufficient for him to stick at short stop.

The 1-1 slot allotment this year's draft is set at $8,616,900. Swanson is currently expected to sign for an amount around the $6.5 million bonus point, leaving the Diamondbacks with a sizeable chunk of cash to spend in the later rounds on a coveted prep prospect. Swanson tentatively slots in as at #5 in my listing for the Diamondbacks' top prospects, behind Touki Toussaint, but ahead of Yoan Lopez. Swanson is far and away the best position talent on the farm and projects to be in the majors in late 2017, depending on where he is assigned once the diamondbacks sign him.

Dansby reacts to being drafted No. 1 by @Dbacks !!! pic.twitter.com/6AALJHWEZo

— Vandy Baseball (@VandyBaseball) June 8, 2015