2024 MLB Draft

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Keith Law's take:

The Nationals took Wake Forest shortstop/center fielder Seaver King (1) with the 10th pick, taking the first-year Demon Deacon, who transferred in from Division II Wingate, betting on his athleticism and upside after he hit .308/.377/.577 with a ton of hard contact. He swings hard and the ball comes off his bat really well, although he did tend to expand the zone too easily because he was such a good ‘bad-ball’ hitter for the level — which is not something I ever bank on continuing in pro ball.

They used the pick they acquired from Kansas City the day before the draft to take Cal catcher Caleb Lomavita (CBA), a solid defender with very high contact rates but also a huge allergy to taking pitches. He walked just 4.7 percent of the time this year and swung at pitches out of the zone 37 percent of the time. For a catcher to be a regular, the bar is really low, but Lomavita just swung at it.

Infielder Luke Dickerson (2) has a strong right-handed swing with the potential for 55 or 60 power down the road, and he’s a 60 runner underway who may end up in center field rather than staying at shortstop. The New Jersey prep has mostly showed average bat speed, however, and we’ll have to see if he can continue to hit when facing better velocity.

Texas Tech catcher Kevin Bazzell (3) was one of the best contact hitters in the draft, so clearly the Nats were targeting these guys, even after he missed some time with mono earlier in the spring. He doesn’t walk much and it’s below-average power, so his best path to being a regular is staying behind the plate, where he has the arm and agility to stick with some work.

Arizona left-hander Jackson Kent (4) had success in the Wildcats’ rotation this year with a four-pitch mix and enough strike-throwing to get by. He works with more control than command, showing a 90-93 mph fastball, a plus changeup, and two average breaking balls, so if he tightens up the command just a little bit he could be a mid-rotation starter. Shortstop Randal Diaz (5) is a plus defender whose power came on this spring after he recovered from a hamate injury in 2023. He’s from Bayamón, Puerto Rico, but came to Indiana State after he was undrafted out of high school.

Right-hander Davian Garcia (6) has been up to 98 with huge vertical break and an above-average slider, striking out 28.5 percent of batters in his one year at Florida Gulf Coast University after he spent two years at junior colleges. Right-hander Robert Cranz (7) transferred to Oklahoma State this year from Wichita State and was dominant out of the pen, with a 31.6 percent strikeout rate and 6.4 percent walk rate in 49 2/3 innings. He was almost all fastball/slider this spring, 92-94 with the slider a 55, but he has four pitches and may be able to start even with a relatively short arm action.

Iowa outfielder Sam Petersen ( hit .333/.459/.571 for the Hawkeyes but was limited by injuries to 33 games. He’s a 70 runner and has 60 raw power, so there’s real upside here if he can just stay on the field.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

contact guys allergic to walks. Sounds like the Nats profile.

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TalkNats says Kevin Bazzell is at the park. Golden says they both have lockers.

Lomavita and Dickerson are expected to sign shortly.

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#1 overall Bazzana signs for $1.6 million under slot.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

TalkNats says Kevin Bazzell is at the park. Golden says they both have lockers.

Lomavita and Dickerson are expected to sign shortly.

interesting because Lomavita is a Boras client and they tend to drag things out because Boras.

Todd Boss has some speculation about who signs for over slot, under slot, and slot at Nationals Arm Race. Figures King is about $1.5 under, some of that going to Dickerson ($500K or so), with savings on some of ##5-10 going to the #15 and one other guy in the 11-20 range.

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Bazzell signs for $980,300 - full slot value.

Anyone want to create a FTP for him?

[nobleisthyname]

I can create one.

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Here's the signing tracking:

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/draft/_/year/2024/team/wsh/sort/pick

Right now just 4 picks are signed. Golden says Sir Jameson Jones is expected to sign soon. 

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Via Carlos Colazzo: Nats have signed 6th rounder Davian Garcia for $425,000. Slot value for the 170th pick is $372,300.

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Per Talk Nats X feed, the remaining unsigned players are:

1st Rd. CB-A - Caleb Lomavita C California
2nd Rd. - Luke Dickerson SS Morris Knolls HS
4th Rd. - Jackson Kent LHP Arizona
14th Rd. - Yoel Tejeda RHP Florida State
15th Rd. - Sir Jamison Jones C St. Rita HS
20th Rd. - Colby Shelton 3B Florida

As mentioned above, Jones is expected to sign soon.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Shelton was supposed to be a long shot.

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Jackson Kent signs for $625,000. Slot was $676,000.

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TalkNats:

As we reported yesterday, Caleb Lomavita arrived in Washington, DC on Monday. We are not sure what the delay is on announcing him as signed (Boras client). We were also told that Luke Dickerson would be signing. All indications were that Sir Jamison Jones.agreed too. That leaves Yoel Tejada and Shelton as the only question marks.

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Lomavita is signed, details not announced yet. He's at Nats park.

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Remaining:

- 2nd Rd. - Luke Dickerson SS Morris Knolls HS
- 14th Rd. - Yoel Tejeda RHP Florida State
- 15th Rd. - Sir Jamison Jones C St. Rita HS
- 20th Rd. - Colby Shelton 3B Florida

Not sure what is going on with Jones, there were lots of reports that he was set to sign this week.

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Lomavita is signed, details not announced yet. He's at Nats park.

$2,325,000. Slot was $2,395,000.

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Dickerson hits the jackpot (and this is why the Nats saved up their money) for $3.8 million (slot value was $2.122 million). Biggest ever signing bonus for a non-first rounder per Zuck.

TalkNats says Jones is still expected to sign, so that just leaves Tejeda and Shelton.

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Jones is signed.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I think Shelton is not signing. As for Tejeda, he has 2 more years of eligibility, so I'm guessing he's not signing, especially after Dickerson grabbed all the extra money saved from underslot signings.

Todd Boss at Nationals Arm Raceand his draft recap looks spot on in the late rounds:

Here’s a quick summary of 11-20 and sign-ability:

11th Beeker: Signable, maybe a little above $150k
12th Meckley, signable for $150k
13th Olson, signable for $150k or less even
14th Tejeda, may be tougher to sign, in that he’s a RS soph with 2 years of eligibilty.
15th Jones, may be tough to sign as a HS kid with a big name college commitment, but he’s also not a top 100 prep recruit. Maybe he signs if he gets a 7-figure bonus.
16th Hughes: senior draftee, signable at $150k or less even.
17th Bruni: signable
18th Banks: signable
19th Minckler: tough sign in that he just got an offer to go to ASU
20th Shelton; intriguing over-slot discussion, see below.
Do we have enough money to get both Jones and Shelton? Maybe. If my above accounting is right, we might have about $1.7M in spare bonus money. BUT, that’s before we add in the 5% buffer, worth another $700k or so. So, that’s about $2.4M total. Could we get Shelton for $1.5M and Jones for $1M? That’d be roughly mid 2nd round money for Shelton and top of 3rd round money for Jones. Maybe, Maybe. That’d make for a heck of a successful draft if they could pull it off.

https://www.nationalsarmrace.com/?p=18619

[DCsOwn]

Nats related takes in the Klawchat today:

Oz: I know you don’t grade drafts, but are there any classes you think really stand out?


Keith Law: Loved the Reds, Dbacks, Nats, Rockies, Red Sox.

—

Paul: Assuming the Nats are able to improve King’s approach (not a guarantee I understand), do you think he could justify his selection at number 10 on his own merits? I’ve seen mixed opinions on the selection and wanted to read your opinion on that specifically.


Keith Law: Yes. Loved the pick.


Keith Law: I liked King more than scouts/FO people I talked to over the spring.
—

Rick Rude: What do you think of Luke Dickerson getting 3.8m? Were teams valuing him as the top ~22 pick that this would entail?

Keith Law: I had heard of one or two teams (Yanks?) possibly on him in the late first. Good for him for getting paid. He’s pretty talented and I’m not going to bemoan a player getting $500K more than I might have thought he would get.

—

https://meadowparty.com/blog/2024/07/25/klawchat-7-25-24/

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Rick Rude??? Thought the guy died around 20 years ago?

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TalkNats says Tejada is signed

[JCA-CrystalCity]

TalkNats says Tejada is signed

he has good sources, but no other outlet has confirmed or come up with this independently.

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Just dm'd him.  He is standing by the signing.  Said he'd be in Florida on Tuesday.

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shelton is not signing