With just over six weeks until the Cleveland Guardians make their first pick in the 2024 draft, MLB Pipeline has released a newly expanded and re-ranked list of the top 200 draft prospects.
A lot can happen between now and then in terms of determining who goes where, and there will likely be a lot of movement when we expand the list to 250 again, as well as in our regular projections for the first round, but there seems to be clarity on the names at the top.
Top 10:
1. Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State University
2. Charlie Condon, outfielder/third baseman, Georgia
3. Jack Caglianone, first baseman/left-handed pitcher, Florida
4. Nick Kurtz, first baseman, Wake Forest
5. Chase Barnes, RHP, Wake Forest
6. Hagen Smith, left-handed pitcher, Arkansas
7. JJ Weatherholt, SS/2B, West Virginia
8. Braden Montgomery, outfielder, Texas A&M University
9. Connor Griffin, SS/OF, Jackson Prep (MS)
10. Bryce Rayner, SS, Harvard-Westlake High School (California)
Full list »
While we’re not sure, the top 10 names seem to be pretty set in stone (eight of the 10 are college players), although the rankings may still be subject to some fluctuation. Hoping to get a consensus on this top group, we sent out a survey to team executives from all 30 organizations, asking them to rank this group.
A total of 26 senior members of the scouting industry, from crosscheckers to scouting directors to general managers, responded to the poll, which resulted in changes to the top list and saw Oregon State’s Travis Bazzana move to the top spot, beating out Georgia’s Charlie Condon, who was in first place when the Top 150 list was released. Bazzana, the Beavers second baseman, is batting .418/.581/.939 with 26 home runs and 15 stolen bases entering this weekend’s regional games, and received 17 of 26 first-place votes. Condon, who is batting .443/.558/.1043 with an NCAA-leading 35 home runs, received seven votes for first place.
Some of the evaluators who favored Bazzana cited his confidence as a left-handed batter, the opportunity to target average and slugging as well as his speed, and the fact that he would likely thrive as a middle second baseman at the next level as reasons for ranking him first.
“They’re both great talents,” a National League executive said of Bazzana and Condon, “and Bazzana has been more consistent in the way he’s worked all year compared to Condon.”
“He’s the best hitter in his grade who has a chance to play on the ground,” said the National League’s scouting director.
“He has great talent and great potential,” the general manager said simply.
Condon, who came in a clear runner-up with 12 second-place votes, garnered enough support to point out the incredible numbers he put up and that there may be a ceiling on them.
“He’s having his best year in a long time in the best conference in baseball,” another National League scouting director said. “He can do everything with the bat.”
“He’s the best hitter in college, but he still has room to improve,” said the American League scouting director.
So how do the overall rankings look? Using a scoring system of 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, the top 10 look like this:
Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State: 245
Charlie Condon, outfielder/third baseman, Georgia: 225
Chase Barnes, RHP, Wake Forest: 177
Jack Calianone, 1B/LHP, Florida: 156
Nick Kurtz, first baseman, Wake Forest: 134
JJ Weatherholt, SS/2B, West Virginia: 120
Hagen Smith, LHP, Arkansas: 118
Braden Montgomery, outfielder, Texas A&M: 106
Bryce Rayner, SS, Harvard-Westlake High School (California): 74
Connor Griffin, SS/OF, Jackson Prep (Mississippi): 66
Survey respondents were given the option to select players outside of this group for their top 10 picks, and five other players also received votes: East Carolina right-hander Trey Yesavage was eighth, Tennessee second baseman Christian Moore and Arizona left-hander Cam Caminiti each received ninth-place votes, and Oklahoma State outfielder Carson Benge and Iowa right-hander Brody Brecht each received 10th-place votes.
Besides ranking the top draft picks, the survey included an overall evaluation of this year’s prospects as well as a number of other questions looking at different demographics of the class.
Who is the best high school pitcher in this class?
Cam Caminiti, left-handed pitcher, Saguaro High School (Arizona): 50%
William Schmidt, RHP, Catholic High School (Louisiana): 16.67%
Ryan Sloan, RHP, York High School (Illinois): 16.67%
Kash Mayfield, LHP, Elk City High School (Oklahoma): 12.5%
Chris Lebonas, RHP, Christian Brothers High School (New Jersey): 4.17%
Who is the best catcher in this class?
Caleb Lomavita, Cal: 45.83%
Walker Janek, Sam Houston: 41.67%
Malcolm Moore, Stanford University: 8.33%
Jacob Cozart, North Carolina State University: 4.17%
How would you rate this draft class on a scouting scale of 20-80?
Average: 44.6 (Total 25 votes)
40:11
50:7
45:4
30:1
55:1
60:1
