Notable Draft Signings: 7/27/24
A trio of draft prospects agreed to signing bonuses of more than $2MM today, each of which was first reported by MLB.com’s Jim Callis. (Links from X). Pre-draft rankings and scouting reports are provided by Keith Law of the Athletic, Baseball America, FanGraphs and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel.
- The Diamondbacks signed first-rounder Slade Caldwell to a $3,087,000 deal. The agreement comes in just over the $3,045,500 slot value of the 29th overall pick. Caldwell, a high school outfielder from Arkansas, was a consensus top-50 talent in the draft class with some evaluators (including Law and BA) having him among the 20 best players in the draft. Formerly committed to Ole Miss, Caldwell is universally regarded as a plus to double-plus runner who will have little trouble sticking in center field and also features a plus hit tool. With that being said, Caldwell’s small frame (listed at 5’9”, 182 lbs) raises questions about his power potential as some reports indicated that his body is already largely maxed out.
- The Guardians signed two draftees to significant bonuses today. Supplemental first-rounder Braylon Doughty signed for the full slot value of the 36th overall pick ($2,569,200) while second-rounder Jacob Cozart signed for $2,050,000, which comes in a fair bit above the $1,938,900 slot value of the 48th overall pick. A right-handed hurler who was committed to Oklahoma State, Doughty was a consensus top-60 talent in this year’s draft with some services placing him as high as the top 30. Doughty receives universal praise for his breaking ball that he pairs it with a low-to-mid 90s fastball and is generally looked at as a possible future back-end starter. As for Cozart, the NC State product is generally considered to be a glove-first catcher who is expected to remain behind the plate long-term. With the bat, he offers solid raw power but there are questions regarding his hit tool, with Law noting that he has particular trouble with breaking pitches out of the zone.
2024 MLB Draft, First Round Results
This year’s amateur draft is officially underway, and we’ll be updating this post throughout the night with every first-round selection. 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.
The first-round picks…
- Cleveland Guardians: Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State
- Cincinnati Reds: Chase Burns, RHP, Wake Forest
- Colorado Rockies: Charlie Condon, OF/3B, Georgia
- Oakland Athletics: Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest
- Chicago White Sox: Hagen Smith, LHP, Arkansas
- Kansas City Royals: Jac Caglianone, 1B/LHP, Florida
- St. Louis Cardinals: JJ Wetherholt, 2B/SS, West Virginia
- Los Angeles Angels: Christian Moore, 2B, Tennessee
- Pittsburgh Pirates: Konnor Griffin, SS/OF, Jackson Prep High School (MS)
- Washington Nationals: Seaver King, SS/3B/OF, Wake Forest
- Detroit Tigers: Bryce Rainer, SS, Harvard-Westlake High School (CA)
- Boston Red Sox: Braden Montgomery, OF, Texas A&M
- San Francisco Giants: James Tibbs III, OF, Florida State
- Chicago Cubs: Cam Smith, 3B, Florida State
- Seattle Mariners: Jurrangelo Cijntje, LHP/RHP, Mississippi State
- Miami Marlins: PJ Morlando, OF, Summerville High School (SC)
- Milwaukee Brewers: Braylon Payne, OF, Elkins High School (TX)
- Tampa Bay Rays: Theo Gillen, OF/MI, Westlake High School (TX)
- New York Mets: Carson Benge, OF, Oklahoma State
- Toronto Blue Jays: Trey Yesavage, RHP, East Carolina
- Minnesota Twins: Kaelen Culpepper, SS, Kansas State
- Baltimore Orioles: Vance Honeycutt, OF, North Carolina
- Los Angeles Dodgers: Kellon Lindsey, SS, Hardee High School (FL)
- Atlanta Braves: Cam Caminiti, LHP, Saguero High School (AZ)
- San Diego Padres: Kash Mayfield, LHP, Elk City High School (OK)
- New York Yankees: Ben Hess, RHP, Alabama
- Philadelphia Phillies: Dante Nori, OF, Northville High School (MI)
- Houston Astros: Walker Janek, C, Sam Houston
- Arizona Diamondbacks: Slade Caldwell, OF, Valley View High School (AR)
- Texas Rangers: Malcolm Moore, C, Stanford
All 30 teams will have picks in the first round this year, though the Mets, Padres, and Yankees all had their first-round selections dropped back by 10 slots. These three teams surpassed the third luxury tax tier ($273MM) in 2023, and thus their punishment included a 10-space drop in their opening draft choice.
The 2024 draft will take place over three days, consisting of 20 rounds of selections. Rounds 3-10 will take place on Monday, rounds 11-20 will take place on Tuesday, and the draft’s first 74 picks will come off the board tonight. Those 74 picks consist of the first two proper rounds, the two Competitive Balance Rounds, two sets of compensatory rounds (giving picks to teams who lost qualifying offer-rejecting free agents), and two Prospect Promotion Incentive picks.
The two PPI selections will go to the Diamondbacks at 31st overall and the Orioles at 32nd overall, awarded since Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson fit all of the criteria for their teams to receive the bonus picks. Carroll and Henderson won Rookie of the Year honors, both young stars were included on their respective teams’ Opening Day rosters, and were rated as top-100 prospects in at least two of three sets of preseason prospect rankings from Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and ESPN.