Bazzana and some serious draft scenarios
Jun 20, 2024 22:33:38 GMT -8
wilkyisdashiznit and NativeBeav like this
Post by chinmusic on Jun 20, 2024 22:33:38 GMT -8
TRAVIS BAZZANA IS THE BEST PROSPECT IN THIS DRAFT:
Most MLB Scouts are in agreement, Travis Bazzana is the best baseball prospect in the 2024 draft. He is said to have the best hit tool, impressive pull-side power and plus speed. Defensively, he grades out well, the only minor question concerns his arm. The intangibles that go into his makeup grade are 70’s and 80’s, or literally off the charts. Some scouts have wondered if taking a 6 foot second baseman with the first pick in the draft is the right call. Two scouts in Surprise thought he was closer to 5-10 than 6’. I would think his 28 home runs this year would arrest any size concerns a club would have. Bazzana is characterized as having a high floor with an even higher ceiling. A pertinant question: Who is his Agent?
BUT WILL HE GO 1-1 ?
Some organizations think Georgia’s Charlie Condon might be the one-one guy – he’s 6’6” with immense power hitting 36 home runs this year. One G.M. noted, “you are getting a multi-position player and a 40+ HR bat with Condon”. West Virginia MIF J.J. Wetherholt is also mentioned as a one-one possibility. He has a plus hit tool, speed, never chases, walks frequently, projects to hit 20+ HR’s and is a standout defender. Wetherholt has a recurring hamstring issue that caused him to miss a good part of this season - medical evaluation will be part of his draft. Several clubs think Florida’s Jac Calignianone is the best prospect in the draft. At 6-5, 248 Calignianone has terrorized SEC pitching, smashing 68 HR’s with 162 RBI in the last two years for the Gators in addition to pitching effectively. The 460’ home run power and 100 mph fastball ooz athleticism. Caglianone is a little raw in some areas but scouts are enamored with his MLB hitting and power potential. His pitching days are over, the risk of a second TJ surgery isn't in his professional future.
THE RICHEST DRAFT EVER:
MLB increased the Slot Bonuses this year by 8.7% setting the 1-1 selection at $10,570,600. It might be important to remember the 2023 draft first round - 18 of the first 30 players selected in the first round were signed for less than slot money. Cleveland has the largest draft pool in this draft with $ 18,334,000.
WILL THE DRAFT GO ACCORDING TO FORM?
Because there are differing opinions in this draft, and the one-one slot is a little murky, we could see some teams maneuvering. There has been some buzz that both the Guardians and Reds might slide down the board and sign a player for $ millions less than the one-one and one-two slot, thereby retaining more money in their pool for later round bonuses. Do they want to spend almost 60% of their bonus pool on a single player? For example, if Wetherholt is slated to go with the 4th or 5th selection, you could see Cleveland select him 1-1 but sign him for 4th pick money saving $2.5 mil for their bonus pool. You have to wonder what effrecft of having the 36th and 48th pick will have on the Guardians. They will draft three Top-50 payers in this draft. The Reds are said to be taken with Chase Burns, a RHP out of Wake Forest and they could possibly grab him at $ millions below slot. They get the best college pitching prosopect and save $3-4 mil in the process. The Athletics have the 4th pick and they are set to take the best college hitter that falls to them - Condon, Bazz or Wetherholt. Prospects like Nick Kurtz, Hagen Smith, and Braden Montgomery are prospects that could move up in the draft in “below slot signings”.
THIS DRAFT CLASS IS BELOW AVERAGE:
G.M.’s and Scouts say this is a below average draft class. The strength of the class is college hitters, the weakness is the number or depth of quality college arms and shortage of promising prep prospects. Historically over the past 43 drafts, the breakdown of 1-10 picks has a collegiate lean as opposed to the high school picks; College Pitchers 29.5%, College Hitters 26.9%, High School Hitters 25.6%, High School Pitchers 15.8%, Junior College 2.1%
A DOWN YEAR FOR PREPS:
Only 3 preps are projected to go in the 11-20 selection range of the first round and 2 or 3 more in the 21-30 range. Connor Griffin, a 6-4, 214 pound OF phenom from Mississippi is the only prep considered to possibly be an early pick in the draft but Scouts think he falls into the 11-14 range. The first 3 preps off the board are expected to be, OF Connor Griffin (LSU) from Florence, MS-Jackson Prep, 3B Bryce Rainer (Texas) from Harvard-Westlake, CA, and LHP Cam Caminiti (LSU) from Scottsdale, AZ-Saguaro. A college dominated draft in the early rounds of this draft is being forecasted by just about everybody. That is good news for Travis Bazzana and Aiden May.
Most MLB Scouts are in agreement, Travis Bazzana is the best baseball prospect in the 2024 draft. He is said to have the best hit tool, impressive pull-side power and plus speed. Defensively, he grades out well, the only minor question concerns his arm. The intangibles that go into his makeup grade are 70’s and 80’s, or literally off the charts. Some scouts have wondered if taking a 6 foot second baseman with the first pick in the draft is the right call. Two scouts in Surprise thought he was closer to 5-10 than 6’. I would think his 28 home runs this year would arrest any size concerns a club would have. Bazzana is characterized as having a high floor with an even higher ceiling. A pertinant question: Who is his Agent?
BUT WILL HE GO 1-1 ?
Some organizations think Georgia’s Charlie Condon might be the one-one guy – he’s 6’6” with immense power hitting 36 home runs this year. One G.M. noted, “you are getting a multi-position player and a 40+ HR bat with Condon”. West Virginia MIF J.J. Wetherholt is also mentioned as a one-one possibility. He has a plus hit tool, speed, never chases, walks frequently, projects to hit 20+ HR’s and is a standout defender. Wetherholt has a recurring hamstring issue that caused him to miss a good part of this season - medical evaluation will be part of his draft. Several clubs think Florida’s Jac Calignianone is the best prospect in the draft. At 6-5, 248 Calignianone has terrorized SEC pitching, smashing 68 HR’s with 162 RBI in the last two years for the Gators in addition to pitching effectively. The 460’ home run power and 100 mph fastball ooz athleticism. Caglianone is a little raw in some areas but scouts are enamored with his MLB hitting and power potential. His pitching days are over, the risk of a second TJ surgery isn't in his professional future.
THE RICHEST DRAFT EVER:
MLB increased the Slot Bonuses this year by 8.7% setting the 1-1 selection at $10,570,600. It might be important to remember the 2023 draft first round - 18 of the first 30 players selected in the first round were signed for less than slot money. Cleveland has the largest draft pool in this draft with $ 18,334,000.
WILL THE DRAFT GO ACCORDING TO FORM?
Because there are differing opinions in this draft, and the one-one slot is a little murky, we could see some teams maneuvering. There has been some buzz that both the Guardians and Reds might slide down the board and sign a player for $ millions less than the one-one and one-two slot, thereby retaining more money in their pool for later round bonuses. Do they want to spend almost 60% of their bonus pool on a single player? For example, if Wetherholt is slated to go with the 4th or 5th selection, you could see Cleveland select him 1-1 but sign him for 4th pick money saving $2.5 mil for their bonus pool. You have to wonder what effrecft of having the 36th and 48th pick will have on the Guardians. They will draft three Top-50 payers in this draft. The Reds are said to be taken with Chase Burns, a RHP out of Wake Forest and they could possibly grab him at $ millions below slot. They get the best college pitching prosopect and save $3-4 mil in the process. The Athletics have the 4th pick and they are set to take the best college hitter that falls to them - Condon, Bazz or Wetherholt. Prospects like Nick Kurtz, Hagen Smith, and Braden Montgomery are prospects that could move up in the draft in “below slot signings”.
THIS DRAFT CLASS IS BELOW AVERAGE:
G.M.’s and Scouts say this is a below average draft class. The strength of the class is college hitters, the weakness is the number or depth of quality college arms and shortage of promising prep prospects. Historically over the past 43 drafts, the breakdown of 1-10 picks has a collegiate lean as opposed to the high school picks; College Pitchers 29.5%, College Hitters 26.9%, High School Hitters 25.6%, High School Pitchers 15.8%, Junior College 2.1%
A DOWN YEAR FOR PREPS:
Only 3 preps are projected to go in the 11-20 selection range of the first round and 2 or 3 more in the 21-30 range. Connor Griffin, a 6-4, 214 pound OF phenom from Mississippi is the only prep considered to possibly be an early pick in the draft but Scouts think he falls into the 11-14 range. The first 3 preps off the board are expected to be, OF Connor Griffin (LSU) from Florence, MS-Jackson Prep, 3B Bryce Rainer (Texas) from Harvard-Westlake, CA, and LHP Cam Caminiti (LSU) from Scottsdale, AZ-Saguaro. A college dominated draft in the early rounds of this draft is being forecasted by just about everybody. That is good news for Travis Bazzana and Aiden May.
