Notable Draft Signings: 7/22/23
Here are the latest signings from near the top of the amateur draft board. For more on these and other prospects, check out the pre-draft rankings and scouting reports from Fangraphs, MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, The Athletic’s Keith Law, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel.
- The Guardians signed first rounder Ralphy Velazquez and second rounder Alex Clemmey earlier this evening, per MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis (Twitter links). Velazquez, a prep catcher from California, was the 23rd overall selection in this year’s draft and signed for $2,500,000. That number clocks in well below the 23rd pick’s slot value of $3,380,900. Velazquez receives universal praise for his power production, though opinions vary on his ability to stick at catcher and his hit tool. Those differences of opinion create some discrepancies in where Velazquez ranks among this class’s draft prospects, with Baseball America ranking him as high as #29 in the class while Fangraphs has him as low as #45. The savings on Velazquez allowed Cleveland to sign Clemmey, a high school pitcher whose #58 overall selection came with a slot value of $1,402,600, to an overslot deal worth $2,300,000. As a left-handed prep prospect with a fastball touching 100 mph, Clemmey’s stuff garners near universal praise, though he also earns widespread questions regarding his command due to an inconsistent delivery. Overall, Clemmey is considered a top-50 prospect in this year’s draft class by most services, though Fangraphs has him as low as #62.
2023 MLB Draft, First Round Results
The 2023 MLB Draft begins tonight, and this post will be constantly updated with each team’s selections from the first round. The Mets and Dodgers are the only teams without a first-rounder, as their top picks were each dropped 10 places overall as part of their punishment for exceeding the highest luxury-tax tier in 2022. As a result, the Mets won’t have a selection until the 32nd overall pick, and the Dodgers won’t select until 36th overall.
The first-round selections….
- Pittsburgh Pirates: Paul Skenes, RHP, LSU
- Washington Nationals: Dylan Crews, OF, LSU
- Detroit Tigers: Max Clark, OF, Franklin Community High School (IN)
- Texas Rangers: Wyatt Langford, OF, University Of Florida
- Minnesota Twins: Walker Jenkins, OF, South Brunswick High School (NC)
- Oakland Athletics: Jacob Wilson, SS, Grand Canyon University
- Cincinnati Reds: Rhett Lowder, RHP, Wake Forest
- Kansas City Royals: Blake Mitchell, C, Sinton High School (TX)
- Colorado Rockies: Chase Dollander, RHP, University of Tennessee
- Miami Marlins: Noble Meyer, RHP, Jesuit High School (OR)
- Los Angeles Angels: Nolan Schanuel, 1B/OF, Florida Atlantic
- Arizona Diamondbacks: Tommy Troy, SS, Stanford
- Chicago Cubs: Matthew Shaw, SS, University of Maryland
- Boston Red Sox: Kyle Teel, C, University of Virginia
- Chicago White Sox: Jacob Gonzalez, SS, University Of Mississippi
- San Francisco Giants: Bryce Eldridge, 1B/RHP, Madison High School (VA)
- Baltimore Orioles: Enrique Bradfield Jr., OF, Vanderbilt
- Milwaukee Brewers: Brock Wilken, 3B, Wake Forest
- Tampa Bay Rays: Brayden Taylor, 3B/SS, TCU
- Toronto Blue Jays: Arjun Nimmala, SS, Strawberry Crest High School (FL)
- St. Louis Cardinals: Chase Davis, OF, University of Arizona
- Seattle Mariners: Colt Emerson, SS, Glenn High School (OH)
- Cleveland Guardians: Ralphy Velazquez, C, Huntington Beach High School (CA)
- Atlanta Braves: Hurston Waldrep, RHP, University of Florida
- San Diego Padres: Dillon Head, OF, Homewood-Flossmoor High School (IL)
- New York Yankees: George Lombard Jr., 3B/SS, Gulliver Prep High School (FL)
- Philadelphia Phillies: Aidan Miller, 3B/SS, Mitchell High School (FL)
- Houston Astros: Brice Matthews, SS, University of Nebraska
This year’s draft will again be 20 rounds long, and split over three days. Rounds 11-20 will take place on Tuesday, rounds 3-10 on Monday, and the draft’s first 70 picks will be made tonight. Those 70 picks cover the first two official rounds, the two Competitive Balance Rounds, the two sets of compensatory rounds (giving picks to teams who lost qualifying offer-rejecting free agents), and the first-ever Prospect Promotion Incentive Pick. The Mariners received the PPI selection at 29th overall, since Julio Rodriguez filled the criteria of winning the Rookie Of The Year Award, being part of his team’s active roster from Opening Day onwards, and he ranked as a preseason top-100 prospect by at least two of Baseball America, ESPN, and MLB Pipeline.
The PPI is one of several new wrinkles to the 2023 draft, as this is the first draft held under the new guidelines established by the 2022-2026 Collective Bargaining Agreement. The process for determining the 14 teams in the Competitive Balance Rounds was also tweaked, though the teams (all in the bottom 10 in market size or revenue size) will still have their picks split up over two mini-rounds sandwiched around the second round. The most obvious change came at the very top of the board, as this was the first year of the lottery process to determine the draft’s top six picks. This is how the Pirates ended up with the first overall selection, even though the Nationals and A’s each had worse records in 2022.
This year’s draft class is considered to be one of the deepest and most talent-laden in years, so several potential franchise-changing players could be starting their pro careers tonight. More details and scouting reports on all these young players are available in pre-draft rankings from Baseball America, Fangraphs, MLB Pipeline, The Athletic’s Keith Law, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. As well, Pipeline has the breakdown of the slot values assigned to each pick in the first 10 rounds, as well as the bonus pool money available to all 30 teams.