Mock Draft Has A's Taking Ohtani-esque Player in 2024 MLB Draft
Immediately after the Draft lottery concluded, Baseball America already had a mock draft up an available. With the Oakland A's landing the fourth pick in the 2024 Draft, they're in an interesting spot. This isn't considered to be as good of a draft class as last year's version, or even as good as 2025's is expected to be. The A's slipping to fourth obviously wasn't ideal, but it could eliminate some of the noise from this group and leave them to focus on two or three players for their selection.
In the mock draft that BA put up, they had the A's taking Jac Caglianone out of Florida. The 20-year-old is a first baseman and a left-handed pitcher that has been clocked in the mid-90's and has topped out at 99. There will obviously be Shohei Ohtani comps leading up to the Draft, which will be unfair.
The caveat with Caglianone is that he does have some flaws. His command on the mound isn't the best, and per BA's write-up, of the players that hit 20 plus home runs (he hit 33) last season, his 5.3% walk rate was the lowest. He also chases out of the zone and whiffs consistently. He finished the season with a 4.34 ERA in 74 2/3 innings, striking out 87 and walking 55. He also only allowed 51 hits, so if his command can be reined in, then the team that drafts him could have something there.
These will be things to look for improvements upon when next season rolls around. If he patches some of those holes, he could be a player the A's circle on their draft board. Then again, if he eliminates some of the question marks surrounding him, he could also be selected before the A's have a chance to draft him.
Caglianone represents something that the A's have been after, but have tended to miss in recent years, and that's taking a big swing on players with upside. The most notable example was when they took Kyler Murray ninth overall in the 2018 Draft. Murray had a ton of upside but was also the quarterback at Oklahoma and ended up being drafted by the Arizona Cardinals. He now plays in the NFL.
The one big mistake with the Murray pick was that the A's actually agreed to terms with him, making it so that they didn't get a compensation pick the following year. It was just a wasted top-10 pick.
The good news is that Graham Mertz, not Caglianone, is the quarterback at Florida. Perhaps because of the Murray selection, the A's selected Jacob Wilson with the sixth overall pick in 2023. Wilson is a solid player, but was ranked a little lower than where the A's took him, leading to an underslot deal. He's also more of a sure thing.
If the A's want to shoot for the moon, Caglianone may be their guy. If he works out, he'd be a great attraction for the club if they move to Las Vegas. If he doesn't work out on either side of the ball, then the A's would have wasted a top-5 pick, which they can't really afford to do.
How much risk are the A's willing to take on when the team isn't expected to be much better in 2024 and they need to start making strides ahead of their ballpark's proposed opening in 2028?
The answer to that question could determine the fate of a few player's careers.