The MLB draft is this weekend, and I haven’t even looked at the prospects yet.
Anybody have a favorite for us? Or a prospect I should be looking at?
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Does Jack Fox have any cousins or kin that are in this draft?
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# A beginner’s guide to the 2025 MLB Draft: Storylines, top prospects and biggest questions
Theathletic: Full article at link.
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Tigers pick at 24, see if Harris and co continue their impressive streak i the draft.
Tigers also have a competitive balance Type A pick at #34
Keith Law, fwiw…
Sean Gamble
Player Profile
School: IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.), Bats: L, Throws: R
Gamble is the kind of high-upside athlete Tigers scouting director Mark Conner has always favored, and the IMG Academy infielder — although I think he moves to center eventually — has such a strong commitment to Vanderbilt that I think he either goes in the first round or goes to school. I think the Tigers would take Hall if he’s here, and they could take a fast-moving college arm here like Riley Quick. They pick again at 34.
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IMO, we need to get a pitcher with one of our two picks that can be on the same level as a prospect as our current top 6 guys.
I know that’s harder than I make it seem, but our guys seem to be pretty good at scouting and developing.
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I have complete faith in Harris. If there is a star to be had with those top 2 picks…he will find them.
I feel like he’s the baseball version of Brad Holmes. A real talent finding guru.
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Thanks
A lot of good HS shortstops. I get that you guys are pretty full up there but shortstops can typically play anywhere if the bat will function at that other position.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but teams are allowed to trade competitive balance picks…correct?
That could come in handy.
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Tampa just traded their Type A pick iirc to Baltimore for a reliever its on mlbtraderumors
I think there are limits to teams trading newly drafted players, have to wait a certain time period. But that may have changed.
I think you have to wait a year before you can trade a drafted player. So it’s weird that they allow you to trade draft picks, even if they are throw ins.
I don’t know if it’s changed but it used to be one year but you could trade that player as a player to be named later and then finalize the deal after one year. That happened to Scott Kazmir way back when.
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Yep. I was actually meaning to mention that but I forgot.
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DetNews: Tigers like drafting hitters early; here are some who might entice them
Full article at link.
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Figure on hitters being grabbed quickly by the new Tigers draft kings (they were hired almost immediately when Scott Harris took over the franchise’s front office in October 2022) who seem to agree with conventional wisdom that hitting is best-found in early rounds and pitching can be added later.
National outlets keeping score of Tigers scouts’ appearances (Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, ESPN, etc.) have acknowledged the Tigers are looking seriously at the following position players:
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Kayson Cunningham (turns 19 on Sunday), shortstop, 5-10, 182, LH batter, Johnson High, San Antonio: Here is a hitter whose bat-to-ball skills are reminiscent of what the Tigers saw two years ago in McGonigle. Cunningham is not projected to stick at shortstop and more likely will move to second base.
Slater de Brun, 18, outfielder, 5-9, 192, LH batter, Summit High, Bend, Oregon: All the skills, beginning with his bat, you want in a prep player. Not surprisingly, he is a Vanderbilt commit. The Tigers might find de Brun is long gone by the time they pick. Even if available, they may be more sold on Cunningham.
Coy James, 18, shortstop, 6-0, 185, RH batter, Davie County High, Advance, North Carolina: He is a hard commit to Ole Miss with more power potential than the above gents. Had a bit of a rough 2024 summer that dropped his stock significantly. But note that Rainer’s 2023 was a bit off-key and didn’t stop the Tigers last July.
Josh Hammond, 18, shortstop, 6-1, 210, RH batter, Wesleyan Christian Academy, High Point, North Carolina: More power than Cunningham, with lesser contact skill. Great arm, thus a move to third base because of his body-type seems inevitable. Wake Forest has Hammond wrapped up if he weren’t to sign.
Xavier Neyens, 18, third base, 6-4, 210, LH batter, Mount Vernon (Washington) High: Big left-handed power with shortstop-grade defense and an equally impressive arm makes Neyens one of those top-25 draft probabilities.
Jaden Fauske, 18, catcher, 6-3, 200, LH batter, Nazareth Academy, La Grange Park, Illinois: Considered for now a catcher, but chances of him moving to corner outfield are regarded as strong. Good bat with reasonable power potential. LSU is waiting for him to decide against a MLB contract, but likely will be disappointed.
Dax Kilby, 18, shortstop, 6-2, 190, LH batter, Newnan (Georgia) High: Another left-handed stick who has a bit of Cunningham/McGonigle about him, if McGonigle comparisons can be forgiven. As with so many prospects, playing shortstop in high school and sticking there through pro ball can be different realities altogether. Clemson is his college commitment.
Josh Owens, 18, shortstop/outfielder, 6-3, 185, LH batter, Providence Academy, Jonesborough, Tennessee: Once again, we have a left-handed prep hitter whose upside could toss him into the first round. Not on a power level with Hammond, but MLB teams’ body-projection scientists often see a future ceiling that isn’t apparent today.
Nick Becker, 18, shortstop, 6-4, 190, RH batter, Don Bosco Prep, Ramsey, New Jersey: Becker is from Thiells, New York, and has the kind of hitting makeup the Tigers like — that is, he’s a hard-contact batter who knows the strike zone. A lot to appreciate here for a University of Virginia commit who might be higher on the Tigers board than some suspect.
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Could pitching slip into the early mix?
Of course. A year ago, the Tigers, with their first second-round turn (49), nabbed right-handed prep prodigy Owen Hall. They followed up with another prep star, this time left-handed, in Ethan Schiefelbein (72).
But the trend, the science, the percentages, that point to hitters being taken early in the MLB Draft and pitchers — in general — selected later, all further suggest bats will be grabbed in those initial Tigers turns. That’s particularly evident in a team’s track record under Metzler and Conner.
As for budget, the Tigers naturally know that with later draft slots due to better teams in Detroit, their MLB-authorized bonus pool also has lessened: $10,990,800. It is middle-of-the-pack and not a sum MLB allows a team to exceed without flak from Commissioner Rob Manfred’s office, as well as heavy taxes, and if a team is particularly naughty, forfeiture of draft picks.
In any event, the Tigers won’t be finished Sunday. They pick 62nd (second round) and 98th (third round) as the draft’s first night wraps up, with rounds 4-20 set for Monday.
All time year for Oregon HS baseball prospects.
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In terms of the draft the trend for at least the half decade has been for college bats to rise late. So the HS route is usually where you’ll find the talent where the Tigers are picking. Typically RHP bc that demographic is so despised by many teams but after Hernandez this HS RHP class seems to be uniquely meh.
I think Hernandez is easily the most talented player in this draft and he may go nine bc of how averse teams are to HS RHPs.
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Think I read somewhere that HS pitchers are viewed a little differently now by teams.
As the TJ recovery has improved from a decade or two back teams would rather control them earlier and monitor them longer than have a college team ruin the arms.
HS RHP’s have been hated for quite a while. The scarcity of LH power pitching makes them more open minded about that HS cohort.
The thing with College bats is if you get it right you both get them in the show very soon and with a higher degree of opportunity that they hit the floor running and let you maximize first contract WAR.
Watch. After pick 20 a couple supplemental college bats will get over-drafted. This often goes hand and hand with saving some bonus money for a high upside gamble later. MLB draft strategy is pretty fun TBH.
I agree with you completely.