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Draft  | Story  | 12/26/2019

Year in Review: MLB Draft

Patrick Ebert      Brian Sakowski     
Photo: Adley Rutschman (Scobel Wiggins)

Year in Review: PG Events | College

Top Prospects, 2020 MLB Draft
Top 300 Overall | Top 145 College | Top 150 JUCO

Perfect Game has been covering the draft for over a decade, and we’re excited for all of the young players that have the opportunity to continue their baseball careers onto the next level, whether that be college or as professionals. We’re honored to see so many of these players up close and personal during their amateur careers.

Thirty-five of the 41 first and supplemental first round picks from the 2019 MLB Draft had previously attended a Perfect Game event, starting with the draft’s second overall pick, Bobby Witt Jr. Seventy of the 78 players taken on the first day (top two rounds) had also attended a PG event. Thirty-five of those players had previously attended a National Showcase (18 of which did so in 2018) and 21 of the day one picks had previously attended the PG All-American Classic, 15 of which did so in 2018.

Below we list some of the bigger draft-related storylines that emerged from 2019.


No. 1 Prospect Goes No. 1

Given the way the bonus pool allotment and slotting system works in the draft, it's not always a slam dunk that the No. 1-ranked prospect goes with the first overall pick. In 2019 (and in 2018 with Auburn's Casey Mize), it did end up working out that way, with Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman being selected first overall by the Baltimore Orioles. Viewed as a potential franchise cornerstone type of backstop, Rutschman spent the entire year atop the Perfect Game draft board, going wire-to-wire at No. 1, something that hadn't happened in quite some time. 

Rutschman is a no-doubt catcher who has the type of athleticism, catch-and-throw, blocking, receiving and intangibles necessary to be an impact defender behind the plate at the game's highest level for many years to come. Combine that with the fact that he's a switch-hitter with impact hit and power tools from both sides of the plate, and it's easy to see why he retained such a lofty ranking for such a long time. 

Rutschman had a solid pro debut, slashing .254/.351/.423 with 13 extra-base hits and a 20-to-27 K:BB ratio across three evels, doing a fine job of getting acclimated to professional baseball. While, generally speaking, college hitters selected at the top of the draft are usually very quick to the major leagues, catchers are a bit of a different story and take a little more time given the intricacies and physical demands of the position. With that being said, Rutschman is still likely ticketed for an MLB debut of some time in 2021. 

No. 2 Prospect Goes No. 2

While Rutschman was the No. 1 player on the draft board for a full year, Bobby Witt Jr was right behind him at No. 2 for that span of time as well, and retained the No. 1 spot in the prep class of 2019 rankings for much longer than one year as well. An extremely talented, potential five-tool shortstop from Texas, Witt put on a show statistically during his senior year that will be talked about for many years to come, OPSing 1.609 with 38 extra-base hits in just 42 games, including 15 home runs. The Kansas City Royals were linked to him for months leading up to the draft, and when Rutschman went No. 1 overall, they didn't hesitate to select Witt. 

As smooth a defender as you'll see in the middle infield, Witt projects to stay at shortstop and be an impactful glove there for many years to come. The footwork, instincts, twitch and arm strength are all plus tools at his disposal, giving him a high-end, well-rounded defensive profile. He's still growing into his frame, and yet still produces easily plus raw power from the right side of the plate, with double-plus bat speed and the kind of barrel control and hit-ability that should allow him to reach that lofty five-tool ceiling. He has perennial all-star written all over him and we're excited to follow his career. 

Big Bats Go Early and Often

In a draft that was considered to be bat-heavy at the top, both collegiately and in the prep ranks, we saw 14 of the first 16 picks be used on positional players, including the first six selections overall. Rutschman and Witt went 1-2, as detailed above, and they were followed by Cal slugger Andrew Vaughn (3rd, White Sox), Vandy all-world JJ Bleday (4th, Marlins), high-level prep hitter Riley Greene (5th, Tigers) and athletic freak CJ Abrams (6th, Padres) before the first pitcher was even selected. 

There's obviously variance class-to-class on what is considered to be the strength of the draft, and from both our perspective prior to the draft as well as now looking back six months later, it certainly seems to be a hitter-heavy class. With the first pitcher not taken until seventh overall in TCU's Nick Lodolo to the Reds, and the first prep pitcher not being selected until the Pirates took Quinn Priester at 18, the evidence speaks for itself, though obviously we won't really be able to evaluate this draft class for several years.

All In

Since 2012, when assigned bonus pool allotments were introduced, unsigned draft picks, particularly in the top 10 rounds of the draft, have been dramatically reduced. While players can still sign for the amount they negotiate for, meaning they don’t have to sign for each slot’s pre-determined value, each of the 30 teams much stay within their allotted pool to avoid receiving a penalty.

However, in each year from 2012-18 there was still at least one unsigned first round pick, including four such players that opted not to sign after being taken in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft. The overall unsigned picks in the top 10 rounds did slowly decrease from eight to 12 to as few as just two in 2016.

In 2019 there were also just two unsigned players in the top 10 rounds. However, the first player not to sign was drafted in the seventh round and the second was taken in the 10th. That includes the record $8.1 million signing bonus received by the draft’s No. 1 overall pick, Adley Rutschman. The draft’s second and third picks, Bobby Witt Jr and Andrew Vaughn, each received bonuses in excess of $7 million.

DBacks, Rays Load Up

The Diamondbacks had seven of the first 75 picks and the Rays had five of the first 99, and both did an excellent job stocking up and using their extra slot money well in that regard, doing a very good job of mixing prep and college and moving money around to great effect. And while, again, it will be awhile before we can properly retroactively examine these respective draft classes, the early returns are positive. 

Arizona went with exciting prep outfielder Corbin Carroll at 15, a huge spring riser in prep lefty Blake Walston at 26, one of the top prep pitchers in the class in Brennan Malone at 33, power-armed and hyper-athletic college righty Drey Jameson at 34, fireballing college reliever Ryne Nelson at 56, a dominant college lefty at 74 in Michigan's Tommy Henry and Arkansas slugger Dominic Fletcher at 75. They balanced prep and college well, balanced risk and safety well, and in the early stages of looking back at this class, one could see a couple rotation arms, a couple back-end bullpen pieces and a pair of athletic, toolsy outfielders from this class. 

As for the Rays, they tabbed hyper-athletic tool-shed Greg Jones with their first pick at 22, following that with prep righty JJ Goss, a mid-first round talent, at 36 overall. Seth Johnson, a spring riser in 2019, was selected at 40 as a righthander out of Campbell, then they went right back to college pitching with Texas A&M ace lefty John Doxakis at 61. Shane Sasaki, a toolsy, high-level prep center fielder from Hawaii, was picked at 99, giving the Rays an excellent balance of toolsy outfielders to go along with two power-armed righthanders and a high-level pitchability lefthander – all of whom could be starters at the highest level.

Early Enrollees

Florida, a program that always recruits well, received a pair of early commits a year ago, which removed both from eligibility for the 2019 MLB Draft. 2018 PG All-American outfielder Jud Fabian and righthanded pitcher Nolan Crisp both opted to enroll at the University of Florida early, beginning their college careers and making them next eligible for the draft in 2021, which would be one year earlier than usual had they still come out of college and been eligible after what would normally be their junior year in school.

A bold strategy for any player who does so, but it paid off quickly for both young players.

Fabian hit .232-7-26 in his first year and reports out of fall camp are very favorable as an all-around standout both offensively and defensively in center field, leading to him recently being ranked as the No. 2 prospect for the 2021 MLB Draft. Crisp notched eight saves as the Gators primary closer and should see even more time as a sophomore.

Robert Moore has already removed himself from the 2020 draft by recently announcing he too would be enrolling to college early. An Arkansas recruit, Moore is already on campus and is expected to earn the Razorbacks’ starting nod at second base, forming a potentially dynamic double-play combination with Casey Martin. Arkansas already was considered a favorite to return to the College World Series for a third straight year and the addition of Moore would appear to make that even more of a likely possibility.

Moore was ranked 20th among high school prospects in the class of 2020 and 50th overall among those eligible for the 2020 MLB Draft prior to heading to Fayetteville early.

Another 2019 PG All-American and the starting pitcher for the East squad, Nate Savino, has also decided to forego the 2020 MLB Draft and is already on campus at Virginia. Savino has an incredibly rare combination of electric stuff and polish for a recently graduated high school senior and could be in the mix for a weekend starting role from day one for the Cavaliers.

MLB strikeout artist Trevor Bauer is one of the more notable early college enrollees in recent years. He was weekend rotation mates with recent New York Yankees free agent acquisition Gerrit Cole for three years (2009-11) at UCLA.

Key Prospects Re-Classify

Several key prospects in recent years have re-classified, changing their graduation class, which isn’t to be confused with the players that enroll to college early, as previously detailed. Trejyn Fletcher, who prior to changing classes this past spring was the No. 1 prospect in the high school class of 2020 player rankings, was one such player who opted to move up, making himself eligible for the 2019 MLB Draft.

Fletcher’s announcement somewhat caught teams off guard. Based on sheer talent, it wouldn’t seem likely he would fall to the second round and go to the Cardinals with the 58th overall pick. However, he also didn’t go through the same draft cycle as the other members of the high school class of 2019, meaning scouts didn’t have the same amount of homework. Considering Fletcher is from Maine didn’t make the spring evaluation process any easier.

A pair of players who were ranked among the top prospects for the high school class of 2021 re-classified earlier in the process this year. Both Blaze Jordan and Alejandro Rosario moved up a grade early this summer, and both were named Perfect Game All-Americans and competed with the best high school players this past August at Petco Park. Jordan, who is ranked second in the 2020 class, has been hitting bombs against high school seniors since he was in eighth grade while Rosario, a live-armed righthander ranked 21st, played with Jordan at both the 2017 14u PG Select Festival, meaning both were identified as top prospects early in their high school careers.

Big Pay Days for Mets Draftees

With the 12th, 53rd and 89th overall picks in the 2019 MLB Draft, the New York Mets certainly didn’t take the cheap, easy-to-sign route. Signing those three players – Brett Baty, Josh Wolf and Mat Allan – for $8.55 million, it didn’t take long for the Mets to meet, and exceed, their $8,224,600 bonus pool allocation.

Not surprisingly, the rest of their picks in the top 10 rounds signed collectively for $62,000 to avoid draft pick penalty in 2020.

Baty had a huge senior year at Lake Travis High School in Texas. Any other year he would have been a slam dunk for Player of the Year honors in the state, but big springs by Bobby Witt Jr, the second overall pick of the 2019 MLB Draft, JJ Goss, the 36th overall pick, and Wolf gave Baty stronger-than-usual competition. Allan was named Florida’s high school Player of the Year, one of the top overall pitching prospects eligible for the 2019 draft as a big-bodied righthander armed with a 98 mph fastball. Wolf had a perfectly projectable build and a fast right arm that allowed him to enjoy a significant uptick in velocity during the spring, peaking in the upper-90s, which allowed his draft stock to soar.

All three prospects participated at the Perfect Game National Showcase during the summer of 2018 and were ranked eighth (Allan), ninth (Baty) and 29th (Wolf) in the final high school class of 2019 player rankings.

JUCO Impact 

JUCO baseball, of course, played a big role in the draft in 2019, as it always does. San Jac's Jackson Rutledge was invited to the draft itself, where he was all smiles as he donned a Washington Nationals uniform on live TV after being selected with the 16th overall pick. A gargantuan righthander with equally huge stuff, Rutledge can run his fastball into triple digits, miss bats with a plus-plus slider and plus curveball, and is rounding his changeup and command into form, giving him the ingredients of a potential high-end starter. 

Wabash Valley's Antoine Kelly was next to go, this time to the Milwaukee Brewers at pick 65 in the second round. A long, lean, highly-projectable lefthander, Kelly was dominant for Wabash Valley as they spent most of the season atop the JUCO Top 25 weekly rankings. He's a rare combination of size, arm speed and projection with one high-level scout mentioning that he looks like a young Aroldis Chapman on the mound – certainly not the kind of praise that is heaped upon a player lightly. 

Chipola infielder Ivan Johnson went in the fourth round to the Cincinnati Reds where he's projected to be a quality defender at second base in addition to the lefthanded raw power he possesses, as well as the strides he made with his hit tool over the course of his time at Chipola. 

In all, there were 103 NJCAA players selected in the draft, along with several from outside the NJCAA (California and the Pacific Northwest), marking another banner year for JUCO baseball as it pertains to the draft. In the age of the transfer portal in college athletics, this number is sure to continue climbing in the coming years, as more and more players recognize the potential benefits of JUCO baseball, not only as it pertains to the draft, but in general. 

2020 Draft Heading to Omaha

In an increased effort by Major League Baseball to make a stronger connection to the college game, it was recently announced that the 2020 MLB Draft will be held in Omaha, Neb., home of the College World Series, June 10-12. The three-day event will take place immediately before the 2020 College World Series and ensures no college athletes will be playing a live event when they teams are making selections.

This will also make more college athletes readily available to be present when they are selected. The first round of the draft will continue to be nationally televised on MLB Network, and while several high school athletes have been on hand, the college postseason structure prevented the top college prospects from being there.

The day-by-day structure of the draft will also change, as the first day of the draft will only include the first round. Previously, the first two rounds had been conducted on the first day, but now Rounds 2-10 will be held on the draft’s second day (Thursday) with Rounds 11-40 taking place on the third day (Friday).

The 2020 College World Series will begin the day after the completion of the draft, Saturday, June 13.
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