Cleveland Sports Forum

Guardians Prospective
@CleGuardPro
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2h
Look for the Cleveland #Guardians to have a signing ceremony for their 2024 MLB Draft Class on Saturday July 27th out at the organizations Goodyear Development Complex.

#ForTheLand
Guardians Prospective
@CleGuardPro
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2h
Cleveland #Guardians have a deal in place for their 2024 MLB 11th Round Draft Pick 22-year-old (SS) Garrett Howe out of Samford University. Howe will receive a $150.00K signing bonus.

#ForTheLand
Guardians Prospective
@CleGuardPro
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2h
Cleveland #Guardians have a deal in place for their 2024 MLB 8th Round Draft Pick 21-year-old LHP Donovan Zsak out of Rutgers University. Zsak will receive a $200.00K signing bonus. (Slot Value $222.80K)

Guardians Prospective reposted
Carlos Collazo
@CarlosACollazo
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5h
The #Guardians signed 6th rounder Caden Favors for $75,000. Slot value for the 175th pick is $357,000.

I'm looking forward to Oakie and Doughty being major additions to the pitching pipeline; Sullivan and Mobley rate well into the top 100 prospect lists too.
Cleveland did a great job using their record bonus pool and top choice to leverage $ for depth of talent.
We have to hope we get better luck than some recent years on player health

BA's final summary of the draft:

following the 2024 MLB Draft, we’re taking a deeper look at each individual draft class. Below, find one overarching takeaway from the draft, plus a full scouting report on the most interesting pick on days two and three. You can see all 30 draft reviews here.

Draft Theme: Overslot Prep Pitchers
After finally making their 1-1 choice of Travis Bazzana known, Cleveland hammered a demographic strength of the class (at least in terms of quality depth players) by taking four high school pitchers on the second day of the draft. Righthanders Braylon Doughty, Joey Oakie, Chase Mobley and Cameron Sullivan all ranked inside the top 110 players on the BA Board. The assumption is the prep arms will take up plenty of Cleveland’s historic bonus pool, but the draft doesn’t end with them. Second round catcher Jacob Cozart was considered a first round talent at various stages throughout the draft cycle and provides power and patience from the left side, while righthander Logan McGuire and catcher Bennett Thompson were two BA 500 players selected on day three.

Most Interesting Day 2 Pick: RHP Chase Mobley, 10th round
Mobley was one of the early standouts in the 2024 draft class, a notion reinforced after he went to the WWBA World Championship in October 2021 before his sophomore season. At Jupiter, he ran his fastball up to 93 mph as a 15-year-old while striking out five with no walks in five scoreless innings. Mobley has continued to make strides over the years and is now one of the younger pitchers in the 2024 class with a 6-foot-6, 200-pound frame and a fastball that has been up to 99 mph this spring. He’s a hard-throwing righthander who is consistently in the mid 90s, meaning he doesn’t require much projection to get to a plus fastball. He has thrown both a mid-70s curveball and a low-80s slider, though those pitches both blend together and he needs to improve the release point on both. Mobley’s best secondary pitch is a low-80s changeup that has impressive fade and tumbling action with swing-and-miss qualities, though scouts don’t get to see it often because his velocity is enough to overpower prep hitters and he’s also often behind in counts. Improving his control and command is a key piece of Mobley’s development, and some scouts wonder about his compact arm action and effort. Mobley is committed to Florida State but could be selected in the first three rounds. [that's what they wrote before the draft and Cle got him 7 rounds later]

Most Interesting Day 3 Pick: C Bennett Thompson, 13th round
Thompson is a 5-foot-10, 196-pound catcher who hit extremely well for Oregon in parts of two seasons in 2022 and 2023. In his first full season for the Ducks in 2024 his offensive numbers back up a bit, as he slashed .281/.386/.431 with less power than he had flashed in each of the previous two seasons. Thompson has a pull-heavy approach at the plate and generally stays within the strike zone on his swing decisions and rarely misses a fastball, but he profiles as a bottom-of-the-order type bat. He did an excellent job controlling the run game in 2024 and threw out 9-of-19 (47.4%) base stealers with a compact arm action and solid arm strength. He has the actions to stick behind the plate with solid mobility and hands and will need to be an above-average defender at the position to make up for his offensive questions. Thompson has a fairly extensive history in wood bat summer leagues but never did much to impress in that capacity beyond putting up solid strikeout and walk rates.

Now all they have to do is sign everyone. Many deals are done pre-draft. The reduced time line requires all deals to be signed by the end of this month. So they're obviously hard at work right now and will likely announce everything at one time right at the deadline

Guardians Prospective
@CleGuardPro
·
2h
Look for the Cleveland #Guardians to have a signing ceremony for their 2024 MLB Draft Class on Saturday July 27th out at the organizations Goodyear Development Complex.

#ForTheLand
Guardians Prospective

The Guardians have agreed to terms with No. 1 overall draft pick Travis Bazzana, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com. The Oregon State second baseman will receive an $8.95MM bonus that checks in $1.62MM shy of the No. 1 pick’s $10.57MM slot value.

It’s the fourth-highest bonus in draft history but only the second-highest among this year’s draftees; Reds righty Chase Burns, selected with the No. 2 overall pick, received the largest bonus in draft history at $9.25MM when he agreed to his deal with Cincinnati earlier this week. Pirates ace Paul Skenes ($9.2MM) and Nationals top prospect Dylan Crews ($9MM) hold the second- and third-largest bonuses in draft history.

These teams scored the best '24 Draft hauls
July 18th, 2024

Jim Callis

@JimCallisMLB


When the Guardians won the 2024 Draft Lottery, they not only secured the No. 1 overall selection but also more spending power than any team has ever enjoyed before.

Cleveland had just the ninth-best lottery odds of grabbing the top choice and the record $10,570,600 assigned pick value that came with it. Their bonus pool for the first 10 rounds is an unprecedented $18,334,000, and they can push that to $19,250,700 without losing any future first-round selections as a penalty.

The Guardians could give $150,000 to each of their choices in Rounds 11-20 without any of those bonuses counting toward their pool, bringing their potential total to $20,750,700. To put that in perspective, the 2015 Astros set the spending standard with $19,103,000 in bonuses for a class that included Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, Myles Straw, Patrick Sandoval and a key piece in their first Justin Verlander trade (Daz Cameron).

So considering the No. 1 overall pick and its spending might, it should be no surprise that at first glance, Cleveland harvested the best crop from the just-completed Draft. With the usual caveat that we won't know how picks truly will play out until several years in the future and the assumption that every player selected in the first 10 rounds will turn pro, here are the six teams that fared the best:

1. Guardians
The Guardians started the Draft with Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana, the best pure hitter available, and never let up. California prep right-hander Braylon Doughty was the second-best high school pitcher in the Draft for some clubs, and Cleveland floated him down to the supplemental first round before finishing the first day with North Carolina State's Jacob Cozart, one of the top defensive catchers, in the second. On Day 2, it loaded up on more high school righties who belonged much higher in the Draft: Joey Oakie (third round vs. No. 46 on our Draft Top 250), Cameron Sullivan (seventh vs. No. 118) and Chase Mobley (10th vs. No. 80). Miami left-hander Rafe Schlesinger (fourth) and West Virginia righty Aidan Major (fifth) are likely relievers, and Major requires elbow surgery.

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Bazzana meeting the major leaguers over the weekend; will start his career next week with Lake County

another signing underslot, as predicted, for 4th year college senior $75,000 bonus Slot value was $357,000. So add $282,000 to the bonus pool allowed for picks in the top 10.

6th round Cadem Favors is a 6-foot-3, 205-pound righthander who pitched a season at Seminole State (Fla.) JC before heading to Wichita State where he pitched as a reliever for two seasons before taking on a starting role this spring. He posted a 3.21 ERA over 106.2 innings and 16 starts with a 24.1% strikeout rate and 4.5% walk rate. Favors has impressive command of a five-pitch mix that includes a fastball that averages 90 mph and touches 93, as well as a low-80 slider, upper-80s cutter, low-80s changeup and rarely used upper-70s curveball.

The Gs have saved $1,902 M in draft slot value with their 2 signings to date.
5th rounder is set for surgery and will miss a season, he should come in under slot too maybe saving $200,00 or so.
The "savings" will be needed for the 4 high school pitchers especially those taken in round 3 7 and 10. The slot values for the 4 are

Round 1A Doughty $2.57M he was rated No 47 which is right about where he was drafted so I guess he wouldn't expect too much more than slot
Round 3 Oakie $906,000 rated No. 49 which means he could expect to get close to what Doughty's slot value is
Round 7 Sullivan $279,100 rated by BA No. 106 which has a slot value of close to $700,000
Round 10 Mobley $183,600 rated No. 84 [which is where Oakie was drated] so would expect about $900.000

Unless someone else is signed for below slot they don't have enough to give each of those 4 what their pre-draft rankings suggested they could expect.

I looked through the entire draft list for bonuses given to HS kids who have signed. Many for about double their prescribed slot values, and these guys were all rated lower than all of Oakie, Mobley and Sullivan. Clearly CLE took a very aggressive approach to the draft, not sure they'll be able to met them all. It will be quite an impressive collection if they are successful

All draftees signed. Far Overslot for No. 10 rounder Chase Mobely

Guardians make clean sweep in signing their 2024 draft class

Updated: Jul. 28, 2024, 10:31 a.m.|Published: Jul. 28, 2024, 12:19 a.m.

By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

PHILADELPHIA -- The Guardians had the biggest bonus pool in the history of the MLB draft, $18.334 million to be exact, and it appears they put it to good use.

The team announced Saturday that it has come to terms with its 21 players selected in the three-day lottery that ran from July 14 through July 16 as part of the All-Star Game.

On July 19, the Guardians signed Travis Bazzana, the draft’s No.1 overall pick, to a signing bonus of $8.95 million. Saturday’s announcement covered the other 20 players they selected.

It should be noted that only players taken in the first 10 rounds of the draft have slot values. Players taken after that, should they sign for $150,000 or less, do not count against the pool.

Teams that spend more than their bonus pools will be taxed and could lose draft picks depending on how much they overspend.

A big chunk of Cleveland’s bonus pool, $11,519,200, went to its first two picks -- Bazzana and high school right-hander Braylon Doughty from Chaparral High School in Temecula, California. While Bazzana signed for less than his $10.57 million slot value, Doughty signed at exactly his slot of $2,569,200.

Doughty, who had a scholarship to Oklahoma State, was the 36th player taken in the draft. The Guardians used their pick in the Competitive Balance Round A to select him.

The money the Guardians saved by signing Bazzana below slot may have helped them sign Doughty. That and any other slot-value savings definitely helped the Guards sign Chase Mobley, a high school right-hander from Florida selected in the 10th round.

Mobley’s slot value was $183,600, but the Guardians went above slot to sign him for $1.8 million to sign.

Paul Gillespie, senior vice president of scouting for the Guardians, had this to say after they selected Mobley on the second day of the draft:

“Chase is a big (6-5, 205 pounds) athletic guy. His fastball has been up to 100 mph. He creates unique angles and arm action. He has a high upside, especially with the high-impact fastball he has.”

The only other Cleveland signing bonus that has been confirmed was the $75,000 the Guardians paid to sixth-round pick Caden Favors, a left-hander from Wichita State. His slot value was $357,000, so the Guardians saved there as well.

MLB.com is reporting that the signing bonus for fourth-round pick lefty Rafe Schlesinger was $447,000; while Cameron Sullivan, taken in the seventh round, signed for $525,000. Schlesinger, who pitched at the University of Miami, had a slot value of $643,500. Sullivan, a right-hander from Mount Vernon (Indiana) High School, had a slot value of $279,100.

Here are the draft picks the Guardians signed:

First round: 2B Travis Bazzana, Oregon State.

Competitive Balance Round A: RHP Braylon Doughty, Chaparral High School in California.

Second round: C Jacob Cozart, North Carolina State, slot value $1.94 million.

Third round: RHP Joey Oakie, Ankeny Centennial (Iowa) High School, slot value $906,800.

Fourth round: LHP Rafe Schlesinger, University of Miami, signed for a reported $447,000. Slot value of $643,500.

Fifth round: RHP Aidan Major, University of West Virginia, slot value of $466,900.

Sixth round: LHP Caden Favors, Wichita State, signed for $75,000. Slot value of $357,800.

Seventh round: RHP Cameron Sullivan, Mt Vernon (Indiana) High School, signed for a reported $525,000. Slot value of $279,100.

Eighth round: LHP Donovan Zsak, Rutgers. Slot value $223,800.

Ninth round: RHP Sean Matson, Harvard. Slot value $195,700.

10th round: RHP Case Mobley, Durant (Florida) High School. Signed for $1.8 million. Slot value $183,000.

Also signing with the Guardians were 11th-round pick INF Garrett Howe, Samford University; 12. RHP Sean Hepperner, University of British Columbia; 13. C Bennet Thompson, Oregon. 14. OF Ryan Cesarini, St. Joseph College; 15. RHP Conner Whittaker, Florida State; 16. RHP Jacob Remily, Maryknoll (Hawaii) High School; 17. RHP Logan McGuire, Georgia Tech; 18. LHP Izaak Martinez, UC San] Diego; 19. RHP Cam Schuelkke, Mississippi State and 20. RHP Cam Walty, University of Arizona.

The Guardians also announced the signing of right-hander Xavier Martinez from USC as a non-drafted free agent. Martinez pitched out of the bullpen for USC this season, going 4-0 with a 2.61 ERA. He struck out 58 and walked 26 in 48 1/3 innings.

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The Cleveland Guardians today signed each of their remaining 20 selections from the recent Major League Baseball Draft, July 14-16 (all 21 picks were signed).

Additionally, the club reached agreement on a Minor League contract with NDFA RHP Xavier Martinez out of Southern Cal.

The Guardians owned 3 of the top 50 selections in this year’s draft and selected five players ranked in http://MLB.com’s Top 100 list of amateur prospects, including previously signed 2B Travis Bazzana(#1), CB-A RHP Braylon Doughty (#36), 3rd rd C Jacob Cozart (#42), 4th rd RHP Joey Oakie (#46) and 10thrd RHP Chase Mobley (#80).



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