A's MLB Draft Targets for 2024
Baseball's Draft lottery is on Tuesday, and the Oakland A's have the highest odds of landing the top selection after a 50-112 season. The way the lottery works is that the three worst teams each have the best chances to land the top pick. This year, it's the A's, Kansas City Royals, and Colorado Rockies that each have an 18.3% chance of picking first.
The Washington Nationals were a lottery team in the previous Draft, and because of the new rules in the CBA, teams that pay into revenue sharing aren't allowed to have a lottery pick in consecutive Drafts. Because of this, the A's, Royals, and Rockies each have a slightly higher chance than is normal for landing the top prize.
So who are some names that are being talked about at the top of the 2024 draft class?
Nick Kurtz, a first baseman with Wake Forest, appears at the top of both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America's Draft lists. He's a lefty bat that stands at 6-foot-6 and last season he walked 63 times compared to 50 strikeouts. Baseball America wrote in their review, "His long levers and advanced bat-to-ball skills make Kurtz perhaps the most difficult hitter in the country to pitch to, and he can barrel the baseball no matter where it’s thrown."
The A's have tended to go with position player prospects with their top selection in recent Drafts, so Kurtz would fit that profile. The one question mark for the A's here would be where they see Tyler Soderstrom fitting in long term. If John Fisher is as committed to spending when the team gets to Las Vegas as he claims, then locking up Soderstrom would be a must. He also just turned 22, so he's not much older than Kurtz, and could make first base a position that's not needed at the top of the Draft. That said, it's usually not wise to pick for positional needs in the Draft.
JJ Wetherholt, a second baseman out of West Virginia, is ranked second by both Pipeline and BA and will be approaching his 22nd birthday come Draft day. Pipeline thinks he could be the best pure hitter in the Draft, and he put up 16 homers and 36 steals in 2023. While he's listed as a second baseman, he played 48 games at third base in 2023 and only 12 at second.
If Wetherholt is more of a third baseman, then he could be a great fit for Oakland. If he's relegated to second base, then they may choose to go with someone a little more athletic, which is an attribute they've targeted of late.
Travis Bazzana is a second baseman out of Oregon State that hit 11 homers and stole 36 bags in 39 attempts in 2023. He also won the MVP of the Cape Cod League during the summer. While he has been a second baseman at school, he roamed from second to short to third base and also got a few games in left field during the CCL.
The A's will have the same questions about Bazzana as they do with Wetherholt. If their selection comes down between the two, signability could become a big factor with the two players fairly evenly matched.
Jac Caglianone is a left-handed first baseman that also held a 4.34 ERA as a weekend starter with Florida. From BA: "He has double-plus raw power and averaged 95 mph from the left side, though he needs to refine both his offensive approach and control on the mound." Pipeline also mentions that he tends to chase pitches out of the zone.
The idea of selecting someone with Ohtani-esque potential will be hard to overcome, because if he turns into the next big thing then you're the team that passed on him. If he continues to struggle with the bat against higher competition, then he may also not have one sure pathway to the big leagues.
Mike Sirota is the highest-ranked outfield prospect in the class out of Northeastern. He's a right-handed stick and set career-highs in home runs (18) and stolen bases (19) in 2023. Baseball America has him ranked fifth on their list, and they believe that he has the toolset to stick at centerfield long-term with 20/20 potential.
Sirota seems like a nice blend of all of the tools that the A's have been after recently. He's athletic, plays a premium position, and could impact the game on both sides of the ball. No matter where the A's end up picking, he will be high on their draft board.
This year's class may not be as top-heavy as last year's, but with the A's tending to go for position players over pitchers in the early rounds, this class may be right up their alley--if they can land a top pick.