2024 MLB Mock Draft: Early Predictions for Top 1st-Round Baseball Prospects
The first 70 picks of the 2023 MLB Draft are in the books, and fans across the baseball world are already giddy about the future.
So are we—just for different, but still future-focused reasons.
Because the talent grab is all about looking ahead, we're taking this opportunity to look ahead at next year's draft class. While the board will inevitably change over the next calendar year, this is a good time to get a stock update on the prospects in this class. After running through a mock first round (using the latest order at Tankathon.com), we'll do a deeper dive into the top two players on our board.
2024 MLB Mock Draft
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1. Oakland Athletics: Vance Honeycutt, OF, North Carolina
2. Kansas City Royals: Jac Caglianone, 1B/LHP, Florida
3. Colorado Rockies: Chase Burns, RHP, Tennessee
4. Washington Nationals: Konnor Griffin, SS/OF, Jackson Prep (Miss.)
5. Chicago White Sox: Brody Brecht, RHP, Iowa
6. St. Louis Cardinals: Derek Curiel, OF, Orange Lutheran (Calif.)
7. Detroit Tigers: Tommy White, 1B/3B/, LSU
8. Pittsburgh Pirates: Braden Montgomery, RHP/OF, Stanford
9. New York Mets: Bryce Rainer, SS, Harvard-Westlake (Calif.)
10. Chicago Cubs: Carter Holton, LHP, Vanderbilt
11. San Diego Padres: Cam Caminiti, LHP, Saguaro (Ariz.)
12. Los Angeles Angels: Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State
13. Minnesota Twins: Pierce Coppola, LHP, Florida
14. Seattle Mariners: Thatcher Hurd, RHP, LSU
15. Boston Red Sox: Paxton Kling, OF, LSU
16. Milwaukee Brewers: Peyton Stovall, INF, Arkansas
17. New York Yankees: PJ Morlando, OF, Summerville (S.C.)
18. Philadelphia Phillies: Rodney Green, Jr., OF, California
19. San Francisco Giants: Carson Benge, RHP/OF, Oklahoma State
20. Toronto Blue Jays: Michael Mullinax, OF, North Cobb Christian (Ga.)
21. Houston Astros: Slade Caldwell, OF, Valley View (Ark.)
22. Arizona Diamondbacks: Drew Beam, RHP, Tennessee
23. Cleveland Guardians: Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest
24. Cincinnati Reds: John Spikerman, OF/SS, Oklahoma
25. Miami Marlins: Noah Franco, LHP, IMG Academy (Fla.)
26. Baltimore Orioles: Dakota Jordan, OF, Mississippi State
27. Texas Rangers: Cody Schrier, 2B/SS, UCLA
28. Los Angeles Dodgers: Jalin Flores, SS, Texas
29. Tampa Bay Rays: Mike Sirota, OF, Northeastern
30. Atlanta Braves: Owen Paino, SS, Roy C Ketcham (N.Y.)
Vance Honeycutt, OF, North Carolina
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Vance Honeycutt has serious five-tool potential.
You name the baseball skill, it's in his bag. He hits for average and power, runs well and is a good defender to stay in centerfield.
He could be a middle of the order bat or a top-of-the-lineup table-setter who gives out those momentum-boosting leadoff homers. It's possible stardom eludes him, because that's a possibility for any prospect, but he could fall short of his full potential and still be an annual source of 20 homers and 20 steals.
In two seasons at North Carolina, he has compiled a .279/.413/.594 slash line. He has 37 home runs and 100 RBI in 114 games. He has stolen 48 bases and been caught just nine times.
Jac Caglianone, 1B/LHP, Florida
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Remember how Shohei Ohtani was a true one-of-a-kind when he came stateside? Well, Jac Caglianone hopes to follow in his footsteps as the next Ohtani.
"I just thought it was the coolest thing ever," Caglianone said of watching Ohtani. "I'd always done both, and it was something that I planned to do in college, and seeing the way his game grew and keeping a pretty close eye on him and studying all that he did—that was exactly who I wanted to be."
So far, Caglianone is doing everything he can to trace that path.
This past season, he batted .323 with 33 homers and 90 RBI in 71 games, while also racking up 87 strikeouts in 74.2 innings pitched. His hitting is ahead of his pitching, though that's more a credit to the former than a criticism of the latter. The 6'5" lefty can hit 99 on the radar gun and has both a slider and a changeup in his arsenal. If he can harness his control (55 walks this season), he could be baseball's next two-way star.
