2026 MLB Draft Review: Athletics

Full list of draftees

The A's used a bit of a reverse strategy in this draft. Rather than saving up some bonus space on early picks to make a splash later, they went all-in with over-slot signing bonuses on their first three picks, going nearly $900,000 over in that span. That meant the only over-slot signings later were relatively modest, just twelfth rounder Nathan Aceves ($150,000 over) and fourteenth rounder Cade Sivrich ($75,000 over). After going first round position player, the A's went three straight college pitchers to inject the system with upside arms, all three with very different profiles. It was also one of the most college-heavy classes in the draft, with fourteenth Sivrich representing the only prep in the class to sign.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.
Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. For example, "2-50" would indicate that a player was taken in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.

1-8: OF Drew Burress, Georgia Tech
Slot value: $6.98 million. Signing bonus: $7.5 million ($517,400 above slot value).
My rank: #7. MLB Pipeline: #7. ESPN: #7.
Rather than try to save money for later, the A's went all-in and went half a million above slot value right here at #8 overall to get their guy. In a class where scouts had nagging questions about many of the draft's top talents outside of the big three of Roch Cholowsky, Vahn Lackey, and Grady Emerson, Drew Burress largely impressed and left scouts with little doubt. A high profile prospect out of high school in 2023, he decided to go to school and hit the ground running at Georgia Tech. His electric freshman 2024 saw him slash homer nine times in his first eight games and ultimately slash .381/.512/.821 with 25 home runs in 58 games, earning National Freshman of the Year honors in several publications and rocketing him to the top of the 2026 draft class. While he hasn't quite matched his massive freshman season since, he does finish his Georgia Tech career with 60 home runs and a .357/.484/.720 across 179 games, making him arguably the most offensively accomplished player in this entire draft. Listed at 5'9", 185 pounds, Burress might not stand out in the handshake line but he sure does on the field. Extraordinarily athletic with an uncanny ability to create rotational force well beyond his size, he takes ferocious right handed swings that create plus raw power that he taps every bit of in games. Despite a noisy setup with a deep barrel tilt heading into that exaggerated swing, he still rarely strikes out because he makes excellent swing decisions with a professional approach and a strong game plan. The bat to ball might be closer to average, but you'll take that with low chase rates and plus game power that helps him project for 25-30 home runs per season with high on-base percentages. Burress is an above average runner that has shown very well in the outfield at Georgia Tech, where his plus arm makes him a very strong net-positive in the grass. He has a shot to stick in center field, though he could also be plus in right field. The Macon-area native has also received praise for his makeup and hard-nosed style of play, giving him a shot to not only become an impact player but a fan favorite in Las Vegas if the A's ever get there. There are a lot of similarities for 2023 second overall pick Dylan Crews, who similarly shined bright in high school, posted monster numbers for three years in school, and came out as a smaller right handed hitter with plus power and strong swing decisions outshining more average bat to ball. Crews hasn't quite broken out yet in Washington, so the A's will hope for a smoother path for Burress.

2-47: LHP Mason Edwards, Southern California
Slot value: $2.13 million. Signing bonus: $2.4 million ($268,700 above slot value).
My rank: #26. MLB Pipeline: #36. ESPN: #22.
The A's kept going for it in round two, again going several hundred thousand above slot value to pull in a high performing college star. Mason Edwards' ascension at USC has been very impressive, improving from a 7.88 ERA as a swingman in 2024 to a 3.86 ERA again as a swingman in 2025 before blowing the doors off in 2026. Taking the reins for his first full season in the rotation, he struck out 49 batters and tossed 29 innings before he even allowed his first run, a full month into the season and in his fifth start. He kept cruising from there, dominating nearly every single lineup he faced before finally hitting some turbulence in the NCAA Tournament against Lamar and UNC. In all, Edwards finished the season 8-0 with a 1.97 ERA and an Division I-leading 169 strikeouts (a full 32 ahead of second place Ethan Lund of Oklahoma State). He's not a power pitcher like most strikeout artists, but rather kept hitters off balance all year long by making the ball dance wherever he wanted it. The fastball sits in the low 90's and touches 96 at peak, not overwhelming velocity but he does get left handed privilege in that regard. The strength comes in his offspeed stuff, including a pair of big diving breaking balls in a slider and a curveball which both have excellent finish across the plate. There is a plus changeup in the tank as well, showing tremendous fade to miss a ton of bats. It's a four pitch mix that helped him rack up strikeouts in bunches, finishing at an absurd 42.7% strikeout rate, and all of his pitches play up because he really hides the ball well. The 6'2" lefty has improved his command considerably and has shown aptitude to locate all four of his pitches to both sides of the plate, though his walk rates are still just a tick higher than you'd like to see from a pitcher who doesn't throw all that hard. He does repeat his easy, over the top delivery well and should be durable across a long big league season. The Los Angeles native is young for the class, still 20 on draft day, and brings very real mid-rotation upside. It remains to be seen whether his velocity will limit him to a back-end role but the floor is pretty high here, especially if he can tighten up his command just a little bit. He has the deep arsenal, handedness, feel for spin, deception, and handedness that all point to a solid big league starting pitcher.

CBB-73: RHP Gabe Gaeckle, Arkansas
Slot value: $1.16 million. Signing bonus: $1.25 million ($93,600 above slot value).
My rank: #87. MLB Pipeline: #96. ESPN: #169.
The A's may be departing Northern California soon, but they did bring in a NorCal native in Gabe Gaeckle, who starred at Aptos High School about seven miles east of Santa Cruz and 56 miles south of the old O.Co Coliseum. Like Drew Burress, he turned down sizable offers to attend Arkansas where his results have been very mixed. He shined as a freshman reliever with a 2.32 ERA and a 57/19 strikeout to walk ratio over 42.2 innings, but a transition to the rotation as a sophomore was uneven and he found himself back as a long reliever in the second half of the season, finishing with a 4.42 ERA and a 92/31 strikeout to walk ratio across 71.1 innings. Giving the rotation another shot in 2026, he again lost his spot and finished with a 4.14 ERA and an 87/35 strikeout to walk ratio over 71.2 innings. Gaeckle is a very, very different pitcher from Mason Edwards. Right now, the A's see tantalizing pure stuff that has never quite been put together even after various attempts by a very strong pitching development program down in Arkansas. The fastball sits in the mid 90's and touches 98 in short stints with explosive ride from a lower slot, blowing by hitters when he sets it up right. He snaps off a nasty sweeping slider with late, tight bite to profile as a plus pitch, and he can turn it over into more of an average curveball with some hammer 12-6 action. His firm upper 80's changeup has some run and shows some promise, but he'll need to separate it off his fastball further. While Gaeckle has explosive stuff, his high octane delivery can lead to spotty command and leave him behind in the count, where hitters can hit pitches left over the plate. There is also a lack of deception in his delivery which causes his stuff to play down, combining with the fringy command to give hitters a real leg up the second and third time through the order. If the A's want to develop the 6' righty as a starter, he'll need to get better at executing his game plan that second and third time through the order, especially with a smaller stature potentially limiting his durability. The A's love the way he moves on the mound and believe they can help him find the missing thread to tie things together. If he does end up in the bullpen, the stuff will absolutely play and he can let loose even more than he does now. It's an extremely talented arm just waiting to put it all together.

3-83: RHP Jacob Dudan, North Carolina State
Slot value: $988,700. Signing bonus: $865,000 ($123,700 below slot value).
My rank: #74. MLB Pipeline: #78. ESPN: #89.
The A's finally started to save some money with their fourth pick, and I personally think it's a nice bargain on one of the more talented pitchers in the class. Jacob Dudan spent his first two seasons as NC State's closer, then jumped into the rotation in 2026 with his best numbers yet. Unfortunately, he went down with Tommy John surgery after eight starts and will miss much of the 2027 season. The stuff is loud and would belong at least a round higher if he was healthy. His fastball sits in the mid 90's and touches 99 at peak with running action to blow by hitters. His sharp slider is at least a plus pitch with late, hard dive to get under bats in bunches, while his changeup has coming along as a useful third pitch. Dudan creates some deception with a rocking delivery and a lower arm slot, but his command has improved considerably at NC State as he's dropped his walk rate from 15.8% as a freshman to 12.7% as a sophomore to just 5.9% as a junior. Because he only made eight starts, that command is not fully proven over long stretches, but it is certainly a good sign that he can repeat his funky delivery deep into games. Should the Charlotte-area native come back fully healthy, his fastball/slider combination gives him a great floor as a high leverage reliever, but he'll of course be aiming for more than that. The development of his changeup and command as of late give him a great shot to stick in the rotation, while the funk in his delivery helps make all of his stuff tougher to pick up. There's nice upside here once the A's get him healthy and throwing again.

4-111: SS Roman Martin, UCLA
Slot value: $704,900. Signing bonus: $704,900.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #128. ESPN: #117.
Returning to the Golden State, the A's dipped into a loaded UCLA roster to grab Roman Martin. A high profile prospect out of the Southern California prep scene in 2023, he joined a loaded recruiting class heading to UCLA alongside Roch Cholowsky, Grant Gray, and Justin Lee, all of whom had interest in the top five rounds, as well as Mulivai Levu, Cal Randall, and Cashel Dugger, who would all get drafted in 2026. Martin himself has had as steady a three year career as any in that class, hitting .321/.437/.512 with 21 home runs over 159 games. The Whittier native is an interesting player. A skinny teenager when he came to Westwood, he has bulked up in school and is now listed at a solid 6'2", 210 pounds. He has become and extremely passive hitter running some of the lowest chase rates around, though he also lets pitches go by in the zone as well. He can get himself into trouble late in counts and if pitchers can land breaking balls on the black, he'll often let them go by early in the count or swing through them late in the count. That doesn't happen so often at the college level, where he hit .333/.446/.549 as a junior, but it could happen more often in pro ball. Martin has grown into some power and now appears average in that regard with the chance to hit around 15 home runs per season at the big league level. He uses a simple setup at the plate and rarely tries to do too much, making for a very clean look overall. The A's will look to find balance in his approach where he is attacking more hittable pitches and keeping himself out of those 2-2, 3-2 counts where pitchers can get the best of him. Defensively, he shined as a shortstop at Servite High School in Anaheim, but moved to third base in deference to superstar Roch Cholowsky at UCLA. The A's drafted him as a shortstop, where they will hope his smooth hands, advanced instincts, and strong arm will help him overcome fringy speed to become an average defender. If a quicker, more dynamic defender pushes him back to the hot corner, he could be a plus defender there where his speed will be less of a factor but everything else will play up.

5-143: 3B Alex Hernandez, Georgia Tech
Slot value: $516,300. Signing bonus: $516,300.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #146. ESPN: #172.
A year after Drew Burress took home 2024 ACC Freshman of the Year honors (in addition to National Freshman of the Year honors), Alex Hernandez made it two Georgia Tech hitters in a row when he did so in 2025. A year later, much like Burress, he has put up some incredible numbers in Atlanta by slashing .339/.435/.593 with 29 home runs in 114 games, teaming with Burress (and virtually every other hitter in that loaded lineup) to torment pitchers day in and day out. Hernandez has a disciplined approach at the plate that enabled him to make that immediate contribution as a freshman and should aid his transition to pro ball as well. He rarely chases and ran an impressive 16% walk rate in 2026, helping cover up some swing and miss questions that especially rear their head against breaking balls. He's similar to Roman Martin in that regard, laying off those chase pitches very consistently but getting beaten in the zone with those breaking balls. Similarly, it will be something for him to clean up in pro ball. Hernandez has a leg up on Martin in the power department, projecting above average in that regard with the ability to really make the ball jump off the bat. He's very strong at the exact same 6'2", 210 pounds of Martin, creating great leverage from the right side even if that swing can get stiff at times and cause swing and miss. It's mostly an opposite field approach for now, and while he had plenty of raw power to tap to the opposite field with metal bats in college, he'll want to turn on the ball more often to fully take advantage of it in pro ball. Defensively, the Atlanta-area product is a well below average runner whose best case scenario is right field, where improving his reads and routes could make him a fringy defender. His plus arm does provide value out there and he has been up to 93 on the mound. The A's did draft him as a third baseman, where the arm would help but he'd need to significantly improve his glovework. There's a real chance he moves to first base, where as a right handed bat, there would be a lot of pressure to hit. If he can clean up his swing a little bit, he should be able to do so. As a draft-eligible sophomore, he was younger than most juniors and only turned 21 just after the draft.

6-172: C Alex Sosa, Miami
Slot value: $393,100. Signing bonus: $393,100.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #164. ESPN: #217.
Alex Sosa, like Drew Burress, Gabe Gaeckle, Roman Martin, and to a slightly lesser degree, Alex Hernandez in this A's class, was a high-profile prospect in the 2023 prep class. He made it to campus at NC State, where he took his freshman year to find his footing but put up a nice junior year in 2025 to regain his prospect status. Transferring closer to home at Miami in 2026, he put up his biggest season yet by hitting .338/.448/.671 with 18 home runs in 59 games for the Hurricanes. Sosa lacks a standout tool, but does a lot of things well, especially a very in-demand position. He has fringy raw power but has done a better and better job of maximizing it in games, effectively launching balls to his pull side to hit 28 home runs in 111 games over the past two seasons. He has improved his approach and cut his strikeout rate from 25.2% as a freshman to 21.9% as a sophomore to 17.8% as a junior while maintaining a walk rate above 14% each year. Together, after a step forward in his lone season in Coral Gables, it all projects to a legitimate bat that can produce in pro ball. Defensively, he has worked hard on his defense and has become passable behind the plate, making his bat much more attractive. The Florida native has quick hands to help with blocking and framing, which also helps his fringy arm play up. Together, Sosa projects as a bat-first backup catcher who could pop for some solid offensive seasons in years he gets more playing time.

12-351: RHP Nathan Aceves, UC Santa Barbara
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $300,000 ($150,000 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #244. ESPN: unranked.
The A's spent most of their remaining bonus pool on Nathan Aceves, a sophomore-eligible arm out of UC Santa Barbara where he pitched alongside the best pitching prospect in the nation, Jackson Flora. Aceves was dominant as a freshman reliever in 2025, running a 1.65 ERA and a 28.1% strikeout rate across 27.1 innings, then jumped to the rotation as a sophomore this year and held his own. The Huntington Beach product has a good fastball, sitting in the low to mid 90's and touching 97 with nice life to lead off his arsenal. His best swing and miss pitch is an excellent changeup that he sells convincingly as it falls off the table. The breaking balls are a bit behind, with a deeper curveball that might be a bit ahead of a firmer slider. Neither project as a big league swing and miss pitch at this point. Aceves has some jerk in his delivery with a pause in the back of his arm stroke, though he has maintained fringe-average command that should be playable at the next level. The 6'3" righty has the size and potentially the command to start, but in order to succeed in that role, he will have to find a reliable breaking ball to work through lineups multiple times. If he can't, his fastball/changeup combination is already proven in the bullpen and should make him a useful big league arm. As a draft-eligible sophomore, he only turned 21 just before the draft and has some youth advantage over other college draftees in this class.

2026 MLB Draft Review: Atlanta Braves

Full list of draftees

The Braves' loaded draft class sure is an interesting one, as they moved money all around with some of the most significant bonus pool games in this year's draft. In signing first rounder AJ Gracia and third rounder Jensen Hirschkorn for the same $4 million bonus, they essentially traded the #9 and #84 picks for two #23 picks by bonus value. In fact, they saved over $3.5 million with their first two picks then unloaded roughly the same $3.5 million above slot value over the next two picks. Despite starting with two college bats, it was yet another high school-heavy class for Atlanta with five prep arms and two prep bats. Athleticism and projection were a theme throughout the draft, as they chased upside, not unusual for this organization. Most teams will save money by signing seniors for $10K, $5K or less in rounds 7-10, but the Braves took that to the extreme by getting eighth rounder Jacob Jarrell, ninth rounder Parker Brosius, and tenth rounder Ben Zeigler-Namoa for a puny $500 each, saving about $653,000 in the process.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.
Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. For example, "2-50" would indicate that a player was taken in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.

1-9: OF AJ Gracia, Virginia
Slot value: $6.68 million. Signing bonus: $4 million ($2.68 million below slot value).
My rank: #19. MLB Pipeline: #19. ESPN: #24.
When the Braves first made this pick, I was a little bit skeptical of spending a top ten pick of AJ Gracia, whom I saw as more of a second half of the first round pick. When they got him to sign for more than two and a half million below slot value, just above the value of the #23 pick, I suddenly think it's really interesting. Gracia began his career at Duke, where he burst onto the scene with a huge freshman season in 2024 by starting every game and setting school freshman records for home runs (14) and RBI (58). After similar numbers as a sophomore, he followed head coach Chris Pollard to UVA and had his best year yet, finishing his college career with 43 home runs and a .317/.459/.583 slash line across 176 games. Gracia is as professional a hitter as you'll find in this class. Built like a power hitter at 6'3", 195 pounds, he takes a very patient, almost passive approach at the plate and never seems to get rattled. He's probably more likely to take a strike than swing at a ball, and can often end up in two strike counts without lifting the bat off his shoulder. Even so, he has plus bat to ball ability and rarely strikes out, consistently looking calm and collected in those two strike counts. Gracia has consistently tapped his power in games, homering at least fourteen times in each of his three college seasons, by looking to turn on and lift the ball to the pull side and letting his size provide the natural leverage. The exit velocities are lower than you'd expect given his profile, grading out for fringe-average raw power if that's how you look at it and making him one of the rare players whose game power plays significantly better than his raw power. Another hitter with a similar profile was Marlins 2022 #6 overall pick Jacob Berry, who so far has stalled in AAA. EV data can be noisy in college ball with metal bats and the Braves are clearly comfortable with the power, so if he continues tapping his power in games in pro ball, he should profile for 20+ per season with high on-base percentages and hit in the middle of the lineup. Defensively, he is a fringy runner with a fringy arm but his instincts help him hold his own in the outfield, where he likely fits as an average left fielder.

PPI-26: OF Carter Beck, Indiana State
Slot value: $3.58 million. Signing bonus: $2.68 million ($894,700 below slot value).
My rank: #59. MLB Pipeline: #193. ESPN: #70.
Based on these three rankings (plus Baseball America at #69), it appears I was the high guy on Carter Beck and he still went 33 picks above where I ranked him, though he signed way below slot value for roughly the value of the #37 pick. Beck has steadily built his prospect status from the ground up in what has been a pretty remarkable rise to stardom. He grew up in the tiny town of Carnduff, Saskatchewan (population 1,150) about 150 miles from the nearest city of any size, Regina, and about 215 miles from Winnipeg. Lightly recruited out of Carnduff High School, he ended up at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota and made the most of his still-limited exposure there. He transferred to Indiana State and immediately rose to the occasion, swatting 27 home runs and slashing .342/.432/.600 over 113 games across two seasons in Terre Haute. By now, the secret was fully out, and Beck rose through the draft rankings to eventually settle in the second round range by the time his junior year came to a close. The Braves, of course, are even bigger fans. Not huge at 5'11", he has gotten stronger and now taps above average power in games, while the exit velocities indicate that he could have potentially plus power in the tank. He makes a ton of contact and in 2026, walked more (12.3%) than he struck out (11.6%). The big question, of course, is whether that production will continue to come against better competition given much of his 2026 schedule came against mid major programs throughout the Midwest, though he did go 4-11 (.364) with a triple, a walk, and just one strikeout in a three game stretch against NC State, Wake Forest, and Miami in February. Defensively, his athleticism and plus speed help him play a solid center field, which could improve further as he gets more refinement in the Braves' system. In fact, he also starred in hockey, volleyball, and track in high school. Atlanta is buying great athleticism, all-around offensive ability, speed, and a rocket ship upward trajectory in what they think is a potential significant offensive and defensive contributor. He has a chance to hit 20+ home runs per season with high batting averages and a handful of stolen bases every year at the big league level.

2-48: RHP Kaiden McCarthy, Vermont Academy [VT]
Slot value: $2.08 million. Signing bonus: $2.5 million ($415,600 above slot value).
My rank: #70. MLB Pipeline: #61. ESPN: #52.
After saving over $3.5 million with their first two picks, Atlanta started to spend a little bit of those savings on Kaiden McCarthy, signing him away from a Tennessee commitment for the value of pick #40. One of the best prospects to ever come out of the state of Vermont, he has tremendous upside and is coming off an excellent spring. The stuff has blossomed as of late and his fastball now sits in the low to mid 90's, reaching as high as 99 this year with some ride on his four seamer and run on his two seamer. He has a hard, high spin slider that is still searching for its identity a little bit but should take another step forward in pro ball. There is a hard downer curveball as well, again more of an average pitch but a useful starting point going into pro ball. McCarthy's changeup is very advanced for a small town, cold weather arm, showing great fade and looking like an above average pitch already. Listed at 6', 185 pounds, he's not huge but is extremely athletic and has some room to add more good weight. He works well down the mound and despite showing some head whack and effort in his delivery, he repeats it well and shows surprisingly average command. With further refinement of his delivery, he should get to above average command given his athleticism and with his velocity, that's dangerous. Further refinement of his breaking balls as well gives him upper half of the rotation upside, especially combined with his youth having still been 17 on draft day. There's significant risk here with a shorter track record, some inconsistent performances, and a lack of size, but he has plenty of ingredients become the best player in this Braves draft.

3-84: LHP Jensen Hirschkorn, Kingsburg HS [CA]
Slot value: $973,900. Signing bonus: $4 million ($3.03 million above slot value).
My rank: #53. MLB Pipeline: #56. ESPN: #58.
The Braves' money saved virtually all went to Jensen Hirschkorn, who received the same $4 million signing bonus as their 9th overall pick, AJ Gracia, making this the largest over-slot bonus in draft history. It took roughly the value of the #23 pick to pry him away from an LSU commitment, and the Braves believe he is their future ace. He really jumped onto the radar with some extremely loud performances last summer on the showcase circuit, then while he didn't necessarily build on them in the spring, he did maintain what ultimately became a first round (bonus-wise) profile. The fastball sat in the low 90's in the spring but had reached as high as 96 over the summer, showing running and riding action to blow past hitters. He has a nice low 80's slider with tilt to miss bats, and in pro ball he'll work on selling it a little better with his arm slot. The changeup is behind the first two pitches and will be a development priority, though again it has taken steps forward and scouts are comfortable that it will become at least an average pitch. Hirschkorn's outlier traits begin with his size, listed at 6'7", 205 pounds with tons of room to continue to fill out. He's an excellent athlete who starred on the basketball court as well, and that athleticism translates beautifully to the mound. There are all kinds of lanky young pitchers out there, and they usually pick one or the other as soft-tossing command artists (think Sean Hjelle out of Kentucky a few years back) or wild  power pitchers (the classic example is early career Randy Johnson), but Hirschkorn may have the rare combination of both. That athleticism allows him to repeat his delivery very well for above average command across his arsenal while still throwing with intention and running his velocity up into the mid 90's. The Braves believe focusing solely on baseball in a pro development program will help him tap even more velocity while maintaining that command, and if his secondary stuff takes a step forward as well, he has ace upside. The Central Valley product brings the clay, and the Braves will hope to mold it.

4-112: RHP Cole Dennis, Bishop Snyder HS [FL]
Slot value: $697,700. Signing bonus: $523,275 ($174,425 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #242. ESPN: #116.
Dipping back into the high school pitching demographic, Atlanta actually saved money on Cole Dennis, a pop-up arm out of Jacksonville committed to stay home and attend Jacksonville University. Not as well-known as other arms around the talent-rich state of Florida, his stuff took a big step forward during his senior year and saw him rocket up draft boards, culminating in an impressive performance at the MLB Draft Combine in June. Dennis' fastball now sits in the low to mid 90's and reaches 97 in short stints, though it can be fairly ordinary in shape. He has sharpened up his downer slider which now looks like a power breaking ball, giving him a real potential swing and miss weapon, while his firm changeup remains behind the other two. His strikes can get scattered at times as well, giving Atlanta another area to hone in. The 6'4" righty is very physical already despite still being 17 on draft day, looking the part of a big league starting pitcher if he can develop the rest of his game. For now, Dennis carries significant reliever risk given his two pitch mix and spotty command, so it will take adding the changeup and sharpening the command in order to stick in a big league rotation. The idea of a two pitch power arm always sounds good out of the bullpen, and the stuff usually takes a step forward when thrust into that role as well. It's nice value for half a million when most high upside high school arms usually go for a lot more.

5-144: LHP Wil Libbert, Mississippi
Slot value: $511,400. Signing bonus: $447,500 ($63,900 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #181. ESPN: #178.
Back on the college side, the Braves dipped into the SEC to take Wil Libbert out of Ole Miss. A highly regarded prep prospect out of rural Central Missouri, Tommy John surgery ended his senior season and wiped out his freshman year at Missouri as well. Returning as a sophomore in 2025, he showed big stuff but was hit hard. Ole Miss liked the stuff and brought him to Oxford, where they made some mechanical tweaks in hopes of getting the most out of the talented lefty. He again pitched to an ERA over six and failed to reach a 24% strikeout rate for the second year in a row, but the stuff remains as enticing as ever and now the Braves will give it a crack. The fastball sits in the low to mid 90's and reaches as high as 98, though its life is ordinary and it gets hit over the plate. Ole Miss had him lean heavily on his offspeed stuff in 2026, which consists of a solid slider with nice depth, a tighter cutter that creates weak contact, and a solid changeup with nice separation off his fastball and especially off his cutter. The 6'1" lefty moves very well on the mound and the ball explodes out of his hand, checking the visual boxes scouts like to see as a potentially talented future big league arm. The Braves may play around with Libbert's arm slot to create more movement on his fastball, allowing him to more aggressively attack the zone with it, and indeed getting better results with the heater may be the key to sticking in the rotation. He's strong and repeats his delivery fairly well, with a deep enough arsenal to make it work over longer outings. Atlanta would like to develop him as a back-end starter, with long relief a fallback role if he continues to get hit over the plate like he did at Missouri and Mississippi.

6-173: RHP Tyson Grulkowski, Muskego HS [WI]
Slot value: $389,900. Signing bonus: $597,500 ($207,600 above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. ESPN: #222.
The Braves got another interesting prep arm in Tyson Grulkowski, who signed a bit above slot value to eschew a South Florida commitment. Like many preps in this Braves class, Grulkowski's fastball has ticked up as of late and sat in the low 90's this spring, touching as high as 95 when he had previously mostly lived in the upper 80's. The fastball comes with nice run and sink, playing extremely well off his big, diving slider in the mid to upper 70's that can cut across the plate end to end with high spin rates. He can turn it into more of a curveball at times, but he's still working to separate those shapes. A decent changeup rounds out the arsenal and will need more refinement but has the makings of a solid pitch. Grulkowski is a true sidearmer who creates great angle with his pitches, making hitters cover a wide range of movement profiles and protect both sides of the plate at all times. Like most preps, especially of the sidearm variety, his command is still coming along but he is repeating his delivery well. The 6'5" righty brings plenty of size to help him profile as a potential starting pitcher as well. To get there, he'll have to continue to add power across his arsenal while also getting more consistent with his secondary stuff. If not, he could live as a sidearming fastball/slider reliever whose velocity should get the necessary boost just by virtue of shortening to one inning stints.

7-202: C Jack Brenner, Fond du Lac HS [WI]
Slot value: $307,300. Signing bonus: $1.25 million ($940,200 above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. ESPN: #158.
Making it two straight prep picks out of the state of Wisconsin, the Braves believe they have found a real sleeper in Jack Brenner, who signed for far more money than expected rather than attend Oklahoma. Receiving roughly the value of the #69 pick, he has a chance to be the Braves' catcher of the future if he continues to develop like they expect. Brenner is an extremely athletic, six foot tall catcher who turns in plus run times at a position where average is considered "fast." He pops out of the crouch quickly and gets down the lines to make plays in front of him, giving him great ceiling defensively. The finer aspects of his glovework still need polish, but nothing Atlanta believes they can't teach. His above average arm as well provides a boon to his defensive value. At the plate, Brenner has a tight, gashing right handed swing with really quick hands that help him make a ton of contact, so despite coming from a smaller city in the Upper Midwest, scouts are confident he'll hit at the next level. Because his swing is flatter, he doesn't show much game power yet, but the quick hands and some impressive exit velocities at the MLB Draft Combine could point to average or better power if the Braves can successfully implement some swing changes. In all, it is a lot of upside as a potential 15 home run, high batting average catcher who can swipe a few bags to boot. So despite ranking outside the top 150 on virtually every public board, he seems well worth the investment of a top-75 signing bonus.

9-262: OF Parker Brosius, Georgia Tech
Slot value: $212,000. Signing bonus: $500 ($211,500 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. ESPN: unranked.
Saving money in the ninth round, the Braves looked into their own backyard to sign Parker Brosius for a puny $500 (though like all other draftees, he does get a $2,500 contingency bonus). Brosius grew up in Suwanee, a northeastern suburb about 27 miles from downtown Atlanta, where he attended Lambert High School then stayed home to attend Georgia Tech. He was mostly a defensive replacement as a freshman in 2023, then posted a .442 on-base percentage in a larger role as a sophomore. He had never hit for much impact and the offense dried up in his junior year, when he hit just .234/.376/.323 across 55 games, and he entered his senior year with just three total career home runs in 131 games. However, he turned things around in a big way in 2026, crushing twelve home runs and slashing .329/.504/.859 in a part-time role, catching his hometown Braves' eye and earning him a spot as a money-saving senior sign. Despite the power uptick, Brosius is a speed and on-base type who walked (22.0%) far more than he struck out (14.6%) in 2026. He's a very patient hitter who has always run high on-base percentages, and for the first time in 2026, began to do real damage when pitchers did challenge him in the zone. The power is probably fringy, but with the way he has learned to turn on the ball, it may play up in pro ball with wood bats. Brosius is also an excellent baserunner who has stolen 28 bases in 30 tries (93.3% success) in his career in Atlanta, with his plus speed also helping him play a strong center field for the Yellow Jackets. Atlanta will work him up through the system as a potential defensive replacement down the road, with the hopes that he can continue to do enough damage in the zone to keep pitchers nibbling and keep drawing his walks. He turned 23 a month after the draft, but may move quickly through the minors. Not bad for $500.

11-322: 3B Ryne Barker, Casteel HS [AZ]
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $697,500 ($547,500 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #197. Baseball America: #323.
Dipping back into their bonus pool to start off the back half of the draft, the Braves gave Ryne Barker fourth round money to sign him away from a Texas Tech commitment. He's a leadoff type with a slappy, all-fields approach that plays very well with his plus speed. Barker loves to gash line drives around the field and put his wheels to work, and the Braves believe he'll make enough contact to hit for a reasonable average in pro ball. He's very skinny at 6'1", 175 pounds, but shows solid bat speed and can turn on the ball for some sneaky power, including launching a ball 429 feet at the MLB Draft Combine – the fifth longest max-distance for a high school player at the event. It remains to be seen where the Braves direct his approach, whether to make him a .270-ish hitter with 10-15 home runs per season or a .250-ish hitter with 15-20 or more, both at his peak projection. Defensively, he has the athleticism to profile virtually anywhere on the field, having played third base at his high school in the Phoenix suburbs and finding himself drafted at that position for the Braves. He has the speed and arm strength to stick on that side of the field, with some thinking the speed could play at shortstop if he gets more consistent with his glovework, but either way he will need refinement. There is also a chance he ends up in the outfield, where his speed and arm strength could make him a solid center fielder. The median outcome is probably that of a super-utility type who hits for some average and steals a few bases. Barker is extremely old for a high school pick, having turned 19 back in December which would have made him an age-appropriate college freshman. For that reason, the Braves would have to evaluate him more as a JuCo prospect rather than a prep, but it seems regardless that they were very excited by the profile.

2026 MLB Draft Review: Colorado Rockies

Full list of draftees

Colorado is in a rough spot as an organization, running their stretch of losing seasons to eight in a row and now losing over 100 games for four years in a row. Their farm system has made some progress but is still a long way off from the game's elite like Milwaukee and Los Angeles. It's hard to say that the road to changing that narrative starts with this draft, because they've had the better part of a decade to "start" that road, but it's certainly a step in the right direction. I really like the way the Rockies took advantage of a top ten pick and an extra CBA pick to load up on talent. They deployed their large bonus pool effectively, saving over $900,000 over their first five picks before unloading on several young arms later. Colorado brought on several big power hitters, including one of the hardest hitters in the country in fourteenth rounder Lorenzo Carrier, and also focused heavily on positive trajectory picks who were all at their very best as the draft cycle drew to a close.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.
Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. For example, "2-50" would indicate that a player was taken in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.

1-10: SS Tyler Bell, Kentucky
Slot value: $6.39 million. Signing bonus: $6 million ($393,100 below slot value).
My rank: #11. MLB Pipeline: #10. ESPN: #9.
In Tyler Bell, the Rockies are getting a tremendous all-around player to try to build around, one of the most well-rounded in the entire class. He was a star prospect at Lincoln Way East HS in the Chicago suburbs and was drafted 66th overall by the Rays in 2024, only to turn them down and head to Kentucky as the highest unsigned draft pick that year. He arrived on campus amidst great fanfare and lived up to the hype, slashing .296/.385/.522 with ten home runs as a freshman and pushing himself into the top ten pick conversation for 2026. That year became a mixed bag from a results perspective, but those highest on Bell, including the Rockies, see an extremely talented player who could play twenty years in the big leagues. He tore a labrum in his left (non-throwing) shoulder in his first game and missed nearly a month of action, then came back with a very different, but ultimately successful, approach that helped him hit .343/.510/.608 with nine home runs over 41 games. Bell is a very good athlete with a 6'1", 190 pound frame that matches his game. He has some pop that could help him hit 20+ home runs per year given he'll be playing half his games at Coors Field, power which he is still growing into given he only turned 21 in June. Previously more of a high contact bat, he changed his approach as he played through his shoulder injury and became much more passive at the plate. His walk rate skyrocketed from 9.1% as a freshman to 15.5% as a sophomore as he waited for fastballs over the plate, though his in-zone contact rates left some to be desired as he was clearly still feeling the effects of that shoulder injury. Colorado, like most evaluators, believes he'll shake off that rust in 2027 when he's fully healthy and will get back to making plenty of contact, which will enable him to get more aggressive at the plate as well in a controlled manner. Offspeed stuff will be an area of development, as he understandably struggled with quality SEC breaking pitches as a freshman in 2025 and almost completely laid off them in 2026 rather than attempt to do damage. Obviously he'll need to swing at more breaking balls and make more contact against them in pro ball as pitchers get better at landing them for strikes. Defensively, Bell has every chance to stick at shortstop as a natural defender there with confident actions, a strong arm, and enough speed to get it done. It's a really strong all-around profile that should make him a contributor day in and day out in Colorado.

CBA-37: C Daniel Jackson, Georgia
Slot value: $2.7 million. Signing bonus: $2.3 million ($399,200 below slot value).
My rank: #27. MLB Pipeline: #28. ESPN: #20.
This is a really fun pick and a chance to be tremendous value for Colorado, who gets Daniel Jackson at $400K below slot value despite buzz that he could go 10+ picks higher. Jackson began his career at Wofford, where he hit .357/.460/.599 with 12 home runs in his lone season in Spartanburg and won SoCon Freshman of the Year honors. Transferring to Georgia in 2025, the power translated (14 HR) but his batting average dropped to just .218 in his first year in Athens, and then it clicked. In 2026, the Atlanta-area native exploded for 32 home runs, 87 RBI, and an absurd .379/.473/.803 slash line across 67 games, leading all of NCAA Division I runs scored (88) and total bases (212) while finishing second to only Louisville's Tague Davis in home runs and RBI. All of that effort netted him the Golden Spikes Award, and now he's a Rockie at pick #37. Jackson, nicknamed the Rhino, deploys a direct right handed swing with elite feel for the barrel to tap his plus raw power in games as consistently as anybody. That is in direct contrast to many prospects at this stage in their career who are noted for their raw power that doesn't yet show up in games and a major feather in his cap. He has always had swing and miss, running a 29.7% strikeout rate as a sophomore at Georgia and a 32.9% rate in the Cape Cod League that improved to 20.1% in 2026, still a bit higher than teams would like to see. He mitigates that swing and miss with a patient approach and, like Tyler Bell, refuses to chase offspeed stuff. Quality pro pitching will attack him in the zone and exploit holes in his swing, though even elite SEC pitching was unable to do that as he hit .392/.486/.725 in weekend conference play. Quite simply, Jackson has never stopped hitting and I don't expect that to happen any time soon. His defense is a bit of a question mark, as he has worked hard to improve his glovework to fringe-average but has farther to go. He has a strong arm and Colorado sees him as a catcher long term, though if he moves to an outfield corner, he does have more speed than the typical catcher and could be an average defender. Jackson actually stole 26 bases in 2026 to put up the first 25-25 season in Division I history from a catcher. He projects to hit around .240 with 25-30 home runs per season in Colorado.

2-38: RHP Logan Reddemann, UCLA
Slot value: $2.63 million. Signing bonus: $2.63 million.
My rank: #33. MLB Pipeline: #31. ESPN: #27.
Picking twice in a row, Colorado actually gave the higher bonus to #38 pick Logan Reddemann, their first pitcher and one who took an interesting path to get here. Beginning his career at San Diego, he spent two years in the Torero rotation and succeeded, especially in his sophomore year, then transferred to UCLA in 2026. Known more as a command arm in San Diego, his stuff took a leap forward in Los Angeles where he rocketed to top-20 pick (or better) territory in just a few starts. While ten-strikeout performances against TCU and Ohio State early in the season got scouts' attention, it was a masterful start at Rutgers on April 10th that really locked him in – eight innings, one run, two hits, one walk, and eighteen strikeouts, the highest total for any starter in a game in 2026. Unfortunately his momentum came to a grinding halt a week later when UCLA shut him down after ten starts due to arm fatigue. The Bruins felt his absence dearly after having spent the first half of the season as the consensus #1 team in the country, stumbling just a little bit down the stretch after a near-perfect first half and ultimately exiting the Los Angeles Regional in a shocking upset. Reddemann, though, returned in June for the MLB Draft Combine and looked decent, but not quite at full strength. When he's at his best, he throws a low to mid 90's fastball that has continued creeping up for several years, reaching as high as 99 shortly before he went down. There is some riding life from a slightly lower slot, helping it play up a bit, though his extension is more average. He does not have a plus offspeed pitch, getting the most success with a hard cutter while also showing a deeper slider and curve as well as a very solid changeup. Reddemann had long been known as a command pitcher and that did not change with his newfound velocity, as he walked just 3.4% in the Cape Cod League and kept that number down at 4.7% at UCLA, helping him project as plus in that regard. With excellent command of a heater that can reach the upper 90's and a smattering of offspeed pitches, he already has mid-rotation upside as it is. If he can take a step forward with any of those offspeed pitches and develop a true swing and miss option, he could be even better. Provided he gets healthy, he should work his way up through the minors relatively quickly.

3-76: C Jack Natili, Cincinnati
Slot value: $1.1 million. Signing bonus: $1.1 million ($6,000 below slot value).
My rank: #62. MLB Pipeline: #74. ESPN: #69.
Colorado continued to roll with another great pick in Jack Natili, who signed for just a hair under his $1.1 million signing bonus and brings a profile built for Coors Field. A third straight transfer in this class, he started off at Rutgers where his numbers were unremarkable as a freshman starting catcher. Upon transferring to Cincinnati, he took a big step forward with the bat in 2025 then more than doubled his career home run total in 2026 with 19 bombs while hitting .339/.424/.674 in 60 games. Natili, like fellow catcher in this class Daniel Jackson, has huge raw power and has gotten better at tapping it in games. He loves to turn on and launch balls to his pull side, but he is strong enough to send balls out the other way as well. Also similar to Jackson, he makes good swing decisions that help cover up fringy bat to ball ability, keeping his strikeout rates reasonable though like Jackson, he was just over 20% in 2026. There is some bat wrap in his load that creates length in his swing. Yet again like Jackson, those swing and miss questions are still yet to catch up to him as he has hit everywhere he has gone, including in the Cape Cod League (.248/.364/.434) and in Big 12 weekend play (.324/.414/.714) where he faced better pitching than his overall schedule. He's not as athletic as Jackson and has similarly fringy receiving skills, though a plus arm buys some slack. If he is forced to move to the outfield, his well below average speed will limit his value and he may wind up at first base. Colorado would love to keep him behind the plate with further work on his glove, which they believe is very doable. Getting this kind of power from a catcher is huge value, especially if he continues making enough contact to get to it.

4-104: RHP Ben Davis, Mississippi State
Slot value: $755,300. Signing bonus: $447,500 ($307,800 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #232. ESPN: #237.
Colorado saved even more money here in the fourth round, getting Ben Davis for fifth round money as a senior sign. Davis spent two years at Itawamba JC in Mississippi before transferring to Mississippi State, where he spent two more years as a high leverage reliever. He has loud stuff, as you would expect from a highly drafted college reliever, starting with a mid 90's fastball that can scrape 100 when he really reaches back. He throws both a four and a two seamer, getting sinking action when he wants it or hard tailing action at others. Davis turns it over into a hard low 90's cutter to get gloveside movement or can lengthen it into a more vertical mid to upper 80's slider for a more north-south look. With a loose, powerful delivery featuring late yank and a low three quarters arm slot, he is more control over command and can get hit when he leaves too many pitches over the plate. That, plus his lack of a softer pitch offering to help him change speeds more effectively, likely limits him to the bullpen throughout his career. That said, the Mississippi native has exactly the power, ground ball profile that prevents runs in Coors Field and fits into the Rockies' plans beautifully. If they can smooth out the delivery just a little bit, he could work his way up the minor league ladder relatively quickly as a Blake Treinen-esque arm. He is a senior sign but was relatively young for his class and only turned 22 just before the draft.

5-136: RHP Tyler Putnam, Battle HS [MO]
Slot value: $553,100. Signing bonus: $1.9 million ($1.35 million above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #139. ESPN: #112.
Nearly all of the Rockies' savings in this draft went right here to fifth rounder Tyler Putnam, who signed away from a Tennessee commitment for a massive $1.9 million bonus worth roughly the value of the #52 pick. Putnam is definitely a trajectory pick given that he seems to be getting better and better at a rapid rate. He caught scouts' attention, especially those in Colorado, early in the 2026 spring as he started running his fastball up to 97 and then later 98, playing up with great extension and riding life. That velocity fluctuated significantly throughout the year, dipping below 90 at times and often settling in the low 90's, but he ended the draft cycle on a high note with a loud performance at the MLB Draft Combine. There, his 97.8 mile per hour average fastball was the second highest of the showcase behind only Ethan Wachsmann (Twins, third round) while his 19.8 inches of induced vertical break were second only to fellow Tennessee commit Shawn Sullivan (made it to campus). Putnam's fastball stands out ahead of his secondaries, comprising of a slurvy slider around 80 and an inconsistent changeup that shows promise. Colorado is buying not only Putnam's velocity but his athleticism, which stands out on the basketball court as well and helps make his stuff all the more electric. With a projectable 6'5" frame and youth on his side (he only turned 18 a month and a half before the draft), there is little doubt he will bring his velocity floor up and start to sit closer to the higher end of his range. Further development of his secondary stuff to find more consistency in that regard will be the next step, as will learning to repeat his delivery and hit his spots better. The Missouri native is certainly a project who may require patience, but one with plenty of upside that could make an impact in the thin air of Denver.

6-165: RHP Garrett Lambert, Mercer
Slot value: $417,400. Signing bonus: $550,000 ($132,600 above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. ESPN: unranked.
Garrett Lambert snuck up on some people and represents another trajectory pick for the Rockies as someone trending hard in the right direction. He'll do so with a bit of a price tag, earning roughly Tyler Putnam's slot a round above him. Lambert was a highly regarded recruit and made four impressive starts as a freshman at Mercer in 2024, but went down with Tommy John surgery and missed not only the rest of the season but the entire 2025 season as well. Fully healthy in 2026, he showed well for the Bears throughout the year and earned a stint in the Cape Cod League this summer. Making three starts in the run up to the draft, he dominated strong competition with a 2.57 ERA and a 20/3 strikeout to walk ratio over 14 innings, cementing himself as a prospect who would go much higher than his rankings on public board (read: his lack thereof) despite an Alabama commitment. Lambert's fastball sits in the mid 90's and touches 96, also showing a sweeping slider, a less-used curveball, and a solid splitter. He missed bats at a good clip at Mercer and then at a great clip on the Cape (37% K) while his command also took a nice step forward (5.6% BB on the Cape). The Atlanta-area product is a good mover on the mound with great extension like Putnam, and now with his health, deep pitch mix, and emerging command, he looks like a very solid bet to be a #3 or #4 starter. That's nice value for a guy who did not rank on virtually any draft boards.

11-314: RHP Gavin Swartz, Normal Community HS [IL]
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $997,500 ($847,500 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. ESPN: unranked.
With leftover pool money heading into the back half of the draft, the Rockies splurged in the eleventh round on Gavin Swartz, signing him away from an Indiana commitment for roughly the value of the #82 pick. Swartz, like many other arms in this Rockies class, is a trajectory pick. He experienced a velocity bump in his senior year and now sits in the low 90's, touching 96 at peak with more in the tank. He shows great feel to spin the ball with a mid to upper 70's slider with deep bite and at times, late snap, though he'll need to add power. There is a solid changeup in the mix as well and the entire arsenal looks much more pro ready than it did a year ago. Swartz is still learning to repeat his delivery with some moving parts, including a high leg kick and some trunk tilt, but brings the size and frame to continuously hone that in. The 6'3" righty is very projectable and should continue to add power across his arsenal, with youth an added bonus as he was barely 18 on draft day. Colorado will plan to take Swartz on a slower development path but with three solid pitches, a projectable frame that looks to be durable and physical in time, and positive trajectory, he has every chance to develop into a stalwart mid-rotation starter.

14-404: OF Lorenzo Carrier, Pittsburgh
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $70,000.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. ESPN: unranked.
Lorenzo Carrier has taken a much longer road to pro ball than he might have thought, but he's finally here. He was one of the best prospects to come out of Delaware in recent years, earning interest in the top handful of rounds out of Appoquinimink High School in 2021 after taking home not one but two Delaware Gatorade Player of the Year awards. Instead, he made it to campus at Miami where he unfortunately never really found his footing in three seasons, never hitting over .253 or swatting more than five home runs in a season. He transferred to Pitt for his redshirt junior year in 2025, where he set modest career highs with seven home runs and a .268 batting average. Finally in 2026, his fifth year in school, he exploded for 20 home runs and a .387/.534/.784 slash line across 57 games and earned a litany of honors including an NCBWA First Team All America selection. At one point, he picked up twenty hits and homered nine times in a seven game stretch, then two games later put up another 4-4 effort. Carrier is a bit of a one tool player with massive, top of the scale power with some of the loudest exit velocity data in the country. At the same time, there are major questions as to how usable that power will be in pro ball. He has become a much more patient hitter in college and because of that has been able to cut his strikeout rate from 30.9% over his first four years of college to 23.1% in 2026, though it was still elevated and pitchers found they could often beat him in the zone. Pro pitchers will attack him with quality stuff on the corners and he won't be able to rely on the more passive approach he showed at Pitt, but he doesn't need to connect often to do damage and the power will absolutely play with wood. Carrier is listed at 6'5", 215 pounds, and shows average defensive ability with a strong arm to profile in right field. He's likely a right handed platoon bat at best.

2026 MLB Draft Review: Washington Nationals

Full list of draftees

In the first year under new President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni, many people were very interested in what the Nationals' new philosophy would be this year. It appears that meant mostly bats early, including four of the first five picks and six of the top eight signing bonuses, followed by a slew of pitchers in the lower leverage spots. Washington swung big with the data darling Chris Hacopian at the first pick, took two huge swings on expensive preps in the third and fourth rounds, and hunted a lot of buy-low candidates in later rounds including several pitchers out with injuries. I like this Nationals class a lot better than former Mike Rizzo classes, especially as you get deeper into the search for sleepers in the cheaper slots.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.
Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. For example, "2-50" would indicate that a player was taken in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.

1-11: 2B Chris Hacopian, Texas A&M
Slot value: $6.13 million. Signing bonus: $5.7 million ($433,500 below slot value).
My rank: #14. MLB Pipeline: #14. ESPN: #13.
Chris Hacopian makes it immediately clear that the analytically-inclined Toboni regime is nothing like the more traditional Mike Rizzo regime. A local kid, he grew up a Nationals fan in Potomac, Maryland and played ball at Winston Churchill High School just seven and a half miles northwest of the DC line. He began his career locally at Maryland, where he played with his brother Eddie and hit .347/.465/.614 with 29 home runs over 107 games in two seasons. When Eddie graduated, Chris headed west to Texas A&M for the bigger challenge of the SEC. Unsurprisingly if you watched him at Maryland, he succeeded, overcoming back problems that slowed him early to hit .319/.405/.578 with eleven home runs in 42 games. Hacopian might be the most analytically appealing hitter in the country, grading out as plus or better by virtually every under the hood measure. First of all, he almost never chases, running some of the lowest chase rates in the country among drafted bats and running a strong 12.8% walk rate. Second, when he does attack, he almost never misses, running excellent contact rates and just a 10.8% strikeout rate in 2026 that only rose to 12.5% against elite SEC weekend pitching. He's calm, cool, and collected in the box no matter the competition and executes his plan at the plate whether the pitcher wants him to or not. Next up, Hacopian is no slouch in the power department. His top-end exit velocities suggest plus power in the tank, though it does play more above average in games and he did not hit for as much impact with wood bats in the Cape Cod League last year (.258/.333/.364) as some had hoped. He did strike out just six times in 36 games against strong pitching up there, further exemplifying his plus hit tool. The Nationals believe the power will fully manifest in games in pro ball, especially if they can get him turning on the ball more often, where he could flirt with .400 on-base percentages while blasting 20-25+ home runs per season. It's a middle of the order profile projection for a guy whose value will come almost entirely from his bat. Hacopian is a below average runner and the back problems don't point to him suddenly becoming a speedster as he matures into his 20's, while his average arm strength doesn't offer a ton of defensive upside either. He has played all over the infield in college, even shortstop for some time in 2026, but fits best at second base where he will hope to be a fringy defender. If the keystone doesn't work out, he could end up at first base or in left field, where as a right handed hitter the pressure will be on his bat even more. Given the professional approach, strong bat to ball, and underlying raw power, his bat should play anywhere.

2-42: OF Chase Brunson, Texas Christian
Slot value: $2.39 million. Signing bonus: $1.8 million ($588,800 below slot value).
My rank: #51. MLB Pipeline: #50. ESPN: #38.
In the second round, Washington went with a second metric-friendly college bat in Chase Brunson. A three year starter at TCU, he has improved every year and hit .304/.462/.556 with ten home runs in 51 games in 2026. Brunson lacks a true plus tool, but he has a whole bunch of above average tools. He has a strong approach at the plate that keeps the strikeout rate down while increasing his walk rate from 10.6% over his first two seasons to 14.7% in 2026. Like Chris Hacopian, he makes plenty of contact as well, making for an above average all-around hit tool. It's a simple, direct right handed swing that naturally leverages his strength and hand-eye coordination. The power has played closer to average in games with a career high of only twelve home runs, but the exit velocities are strong and help him project for above average power. With a strong 6'3" frame and a late birthday that had him turn 21 just before the draft, he should continue to mature physically and maximize that power. In all, it could be a 20+ home run profile with solid batting averages, and with at least average or better speed, he could throw a few stolen bases in there as well. An outfielder by trade, he makes good reads and takes good routes in the outfield to profile as a potential center fielder. There's a chance he slides to a corner in deference to a more explosive defender, where he would be an above average defender in either left or right. The Southern California native is a likely everyday player in some capacity with a chance to be an impact bat in the near future. His $1.8 million signing bonus was also more than half a million below slot value, closer to the value of the #54 pick, giving the Nationals a little wiggle room for their next pick.

3-78: SS Luke Williams, Franklin Regional HS [PA]
Slot value: $1.07 million. Signing bonus: $2.5 million ($1.43 million above slot value).
My rank: #68. MLB Pipeline: #90. ESPN: #57.
Washington took a massive swing with Luke Williams, going more than double the slot value to sign him away from a Vanderbilt commitment with a bonus roughly the value of the #40 pick. To call Williams talented would be an understatement. While he wasn't seen on the summer showcase circuit in 2025 due to an ankle injury, he had scouting directors streaming into the Pittsburgh area with an electric spring in 2026 to rocket himself up boards. Listed at 6', 180 pounds, he is a freak athlete that looked like he didn't belong on the same field as much of his competition. He takes big, explosive swings from the right side that leverage his skinny frame into average power, and as he matures physically, he could reach above average power. Perhaps most apparent at this point is his plus-plus speed, which he uses and abuses by flying around the field both on the bases and in the field. The hit tool is a little less proven, as he performed well up in Pittsburgh but hasn't been seen against higher level pitching. Had he appeared on the showcase circuit last year and succeeded, he would probably be a no-doubt first round pick and make $2.5 million look like a bargain. That's of course a big wild card, and the Nationals know that the jump from high school pitching, especially up north, to pro ball is often a very difficult task. Still, watching him just dominate the average competition he faced in Pittsburgh with every single facet of his game, from clobbering home runs to taking the extra base (or two) at every single opportunity to gliding to every ball hit in his direction, leaves an impression. Defensively, his wheels and plus arm give him every chance to stick at shortstop, though he'll have to get more consistent with his actions and glovework to profile there long term. His speed, arm, and high energy style of play would fit great in center field, where he could be a plus defender. There is real five-tool upside here for a kid who could hit 15-20 or more home runs per season, steal a bunch of bases, and win some Gold Gloves, but he'll have to hit. The Nationals are convinced he'll do so, and besides lack of opportunity, he's shown no reason to think he won't. Williams has a very good chance to be the best player in this Nationals draft class.

4-106: RHP Cooper Harris, Flower Mound HS [TX]
Slot value: $740,500. Signing bonus: $1.5 million ($759,500 above slot value).
My rank: #66. MLB Pipeline: #76. ESPN: #119.
After spending a boatload on Luke Williams, the Nationals weren't done swinging yet and gave another double slot value bonus to Cooper Harris, previously a Texas commit who instead got a bonus roughly the value of the #62 pick. The first pitcher in this Nationals' draft class, his profile might not be as electric as that of Williams on the surface but he does inject a premium arm into the system. Like Williams, he leveraged a loud senior year to push his way up rankings and wound up both as the first Texas high school pitcher drafted and the highest paid in this class. Despite being young for the class, Harris is one of the more well-rounded prep arms out there. He has a fastball in the low 90's that peaks at 96, while a full arsenal of secondary pitches makes him a reliable arm. He has a nice top to bottom curveball that steals strikes, while his above average slider has two-plane action and is likely his best secondary. There's a solid changeup in tow as well, giving him a full, effective four pitch mix of average or better offerings. Harris repeats everything well, filling up the strike zone with all four pitches and command that grades out as plus by prep standards. He works both sides of the plate effectively and already looks poised to navigate big league lineups. The 6'3" righty is also already very physical, with a simple, athletic delivery that should point to a long career in a big league rotation. Harris has all the makings of a future #3 or #4 starter, with less risk than most prep arms. If the fastball ticks up a few miles per hour, he'll be a weapon.

5-138: 3B Daniel Cuvet, Miami
Slot value: $542,200. Signing bonus: $497,500 ($44,700 below slot value).
My rank: #117. MLB Pipeline: #120. ESPN: #152.
Switching to money saving mode after grabbing the two expensive preps, Washington went slightly under slot value to bring in one of the ACC's most accomplished bats. A highly regarded prep prospect in his own right, Daniel Cuvet hit campus at Miami and immediately took the ACC by storm, hitting .351/.429/.736 with a Miami freshman-record 24 home runs in 57 games and earning consensus Freshman All-American honors. Two years later, he finishes his Miami career with 54 home runs, 204 RBI, and a .347/.439/.704 slash line across 159 games, putting his name up with the all time Miami greats like Pat Burrell, Ryan Braun, and Yonder Alonso. Unsurprisingly, Cuvet has plus raw power that he taps very consistently in games, showing his best power to the pull side but easily clearing fences to all fields even when he doesn't quite square it up. The right handed swing can get a bit grooved at times and the pure bat to ball is fringy, with further questions looming as he ascends the minor league ladder and faces better and better pitching that can exploit those holes. Formerly an aggressive hitter, he has toned down his approach at Miami and increased his walk rate from 9.8% to 11.2% to 17.4% while slashing his strikeout rate from 23.7% to 19.0% to 15.8%. That improved approach will significantly help his hit tool projection, helping him attack the pitches in his wheelhouse without helping pitchers on pitches outside of it. At 6'3", 240 pounds, he has a slugger's frame but will need to work hard to stick at third base, where he is understandably a bit slower on his feet and moving side to side. There is a good chance he moves to first base in the long run, or the Nationals could try him out in right field, where his plus arm might offset his below average speed a little bit. Cuvet will provide almost all of his value with his bat, projecting for 20+ home runs a year with lower batting averages if he can make enough contact to tap his power. If not, he is most likely a platoon power bat earning reps at the corners against left handed pitching.

6-167: RHP Cooper Allen, UNC Wilmington
Slot value: $410,300. Signing bonus: $187,500 ($222,800 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. ESPN: unranked.
Fully in money-saving mode, the Nationals took on a little more off-the-radar name in Cooper Allen. He spent two years in the UNC Wilmington bullpen, struggling in his freshman season then taking a step forward to become a promising reliever as a sophomore. Jumping to the rotation as a junior in 2026, he turned heads with a torrid start to the season including back to back ten strikeout performances against Fordham and UConn in February, then continued it into what was a really impressive year. One of the top starting pitchers in the CAA, Allen gets it done with a low 90's fastball and a full arsenal of secondaries including a deep slider, a shorter cutter, a curveball, and a changeup. His command has improved tremendously as he has slashed his walk rate from 15.2% as a freshman to 7.9% as a sophomore to just 6.7% as a junior, allowing him to really work back and forth with all of his pitches and pitch deep into games. Despite being his first season in the rotation, he went at least six innings in eight of his fifteen starts and thrice completed eight innings. He's efficient, too, in fact culminating his season with a 104 pitch, eleven strikeout, complete game win over Monmouth in May. The 6'1" righty does not have a plus pitch in his arsenal and will likely need to be crafty to work his way up as a back-end starter, but gives the Nationals a nice potential rotation play for a lower signing bonus regardless. He grew up in Wake Forest, North Carolina, just north of Raleigh and in fact closer to Nationals Park than it is to any other big league stadium.

7-196: RHP Gage Peterson, Appalachian State
Slot value: $322,300. Signing bonus: $247,500 ($74,800 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #247. ESPN: unranked.
Gage Peterson makes it back to back righties out of the Tar Heel State, though he originally hails from just over the border in East Tennessee. Beginning his college career locally at Walters State JC in Tennessee, he succeeded for two years in Morristown and transferred to Appalachian State in 2026. He continued to roll in Boone, going 8-1 with a 3.28 ERA and 107 strikeouts, the second highest total ever for a Mountaineer pitcher. Peterson has a sneaky profile that will be a fun development play, rather than the more straightforward pitching profile of the two Coopers above him. The fastball sits in the low 90's and tops out at 94 right now, underwhelming velocity but far from a fringy pitch. Peterson's lanky 6'5" frame helps him get excellent extension and ride on the pitch, making it play way above that velocity and giving it plus potential if he can add a few ticks of velocity. He mixes in a full set of secondaries in a slider, curveball, and changeup, though none stand out above average this point and will need significant refinement if he wants to remain a starter. Peterson also has some effort in his delivery that features some moving parts, leading to fringier but still playable command. The Nationals will look to streamline him while maximizing the effectiveness of both his unique fastball and his offspeed stuff, which could make him a solid starting pitching option in the future. There is a decent chance he winds up in the bullpen, where his fastball could play up significantly especially with the velocity boost that comes with pitching in short stints.

9-256: C Cashel Dugger, UCLA
Slot value: $216,100. Signing bonus: $213,600 ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #227. ESPN: #245.
This is a pretty straightforward pick as far as late-round catchers go. Cashel Dugger started about half of UCLA's games as a freshman, then has served as the Bruins' starting catcher for each of the last two seasons. In those three years, he never hit too much, finishing his career with just eight home runs and a .258/.390/.349 slash line over 145 games. Dugger uses a simple setup from the left side, working counts extremely well while making plenty of contact. He has excellent pitch recognition and consistently finds his way on base, working walks or dumping line drives over the infielders' heads. He came into UCLA with zero power and it has taken significant strength gains to get to the below average power he has now, so he may never profile for double digit home runs in the majors. However, the Nationals see an imposing frame at 6'3", 210 pounds and believe they could squeeze a little more out of him, perhaps getting up to fringy power and helping him threaten for 10-15 home runs per season, which would be plenty given his on-base ability and defensive value. The latter is the real draw here, as Dugger is one of the game's better defensive backstops as an excellent framer and blocker with a strong arm. He's a natural back there and also works extremely well with pitchers, which gives him a chance to provide significant value to the organization before he even reaches the majors just by working with their young arms. The Denver-area native is also young for a college junior and turned 21 shortly after the draft, giving him a little extra time to find offensive impact. If he does, he has a chance to work his way up as a strong, archetypal glove-first backup catcher.

12-346: LHP Matthew Dallas, Wake Forest
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $175,000 ($25,000 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. ESPN: unranked.
The Nationals hope that Matthew Dallas is a high-upside buy-low prospect. A highly regarded prep prospect out of a Memphis-area high school in 2023, he began his career in-state at Tennessee and showed some promise out of the Volunteers' bullpen as a freshman. Command hindered him in the Cape Cod League that summer and he transferred to Wake Forest for the 2025 season, where he made fourteen starts and showed real upside as a draft-eligible sophomore. Signability sent him back to Winston-Salem, where he struck out 14 of the 32 batters he faced (43.8%) over his first two starts against Indiana State and Siena. That had many scouts, including those reporting to Washington DC, leaning forward in their chairs excited about what could come of this junior year. Unfortunately, he went down with Tommy John surgery after that second start and missed the rest of the season. Dallas has a low 90's fastball up to 94 that he complements with a full assortment of secondaries, though he's still working to get consistent with them. His best is a big, deep curveball with great finish, which he can turn over into a solid slider as well and finishes things off with a changeup. The 6'5" lefty has plenty of projection even if he was already 22 on draft day, especially once he gets healthy and into a pro development program (though Wake Forest is pretty close to that already). At this point, he struggles with command and that combined with health may eventually push him to the bullpen, but his build and the fluidity with which he moves should hopefully point to improved command as he settles in. There is starter upside here if he can get healthy and recapture the potential he showed as a teenager, albeit with a long road to get there for someone who is already 22. Dallas should expect to return to the mound sometime in mid-2027.

15-436: C Francisco Rivero, Canyon Del Oro HS [AZ]
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $250,000 ($100,000 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. ESPN: unranked.
The Nationals' largest expenditure in the back of the draft was Francisco Rivero, who earned eighth round money to forego a local Arizona commitment and sign with the Nationals. Formerly a Venezuelan international prospect who appeared bound for the Dodgers, he was ruled ineligible to sign as an international free agent and instead graduated from Canyon Del Oro High School in Tucson as a regular draft target. The Nationals get him here for a fraction of what he was expected to sign for in LA, which could be a nice bargain. However, he was suspended in October after testing positive for Stanozolol, so he will miss the first 56 games of the 2027 season and come eligible again mid-season. Rivero is a thickly built 6', 215 pounds, showing a balanced offensive profile with strong bat to ball and some latent pop that he'll learn to tap more in pro ball. For now, the power is fringy, but his strength and some mechanical tweaks to get him a bit smoother and more explosive through the zone should get him there. He is well-regarded for his work behind the plate, including for a strong arm and athleticism that might be somewhat unexpected at his size. If Rivero can bounce back from the suspension and bring out his power, he has nice upside as another catcher in the organization.

18-526: IF Avery Ortiz, Oklahoma State
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $212,500 ($72,500 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. ESPN: unranked.
With the last of their overage money, Washington brought in Avery Ortiz for ninth round money here in the eighteenth round. Avery Ortiz is another upside play whose numbers at Oklahoma State do not match his potential. Injuries have limited him to 66 games over three seasons, where he hit a modest .253/.361/.462 with 12 home runs, never totaling more than eight extra base hits in a season. He similarly never did much in two Cape Cod League stints (.211/.309/.310, 1 HR in 22 games). However, he could grow into a force. A bit undersized at 5'11", 190 pounds, he packs a punch at the plate with plus raw power from a really leveraged, efficient right handed swing. That power has not shown up in games just yet, though it does seem to be coming as he has blasted some baseballs at the top end of his exit velocities and has continued to do so with wood in the Nationals system. Having cut his strikeout rate from 23.5% over his first two seasons to 16.0% as a junior, he seems to be putting himself in more of a position to tap it as well. Ortiz remains an aggressive hitter and may drive the ball more often by hunting pitches in his wheelhouse, given his strong bat to ball often creates weak contact outside of it, giving the Nationals a potential developmental goal. The Tulsa native played second base as a freshman, shortstop as a sophomore, and third base as a junior, so the Nationals drafted him as a generic infielder and will try him out around the field. His versatility should serve him well as he looks to bring his bat along and take leaps and bounds forward in pro ball. There is sneaky upside here at the very end of the draft.

20-586: RHP Anson Seibert, Johnson County JC [KS]
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $150,000.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. ESPN: unranked.
The Nationals finished things off with Anson Seibert, another buy-low upside play with a lot to prove. Seibert was a famous name in the 2024 prep class, earning first round looks early in his high school career as an early candidate for the top prep arm in the class. He stock slowly faded throughout his time at Blue Valley Southwest High School in the Kansas City suburbs, and while he performed well in his senior year, a flexor strain ultimately ended that season in April with a fourth-ish round draft tag. Signability sent him to Tennessee, where he joined fellow incoming freshman and eventual Cardinals first rounder Tegan Kuhns as an excellent potential one-two punch in the rotation. Unfortunately, he never got healthy in Knoxville and missed the entire 2024-2025 school year, prompting him to transfer back home to Johnson County JC about eight miles from his high school. Finally healthy enough to get on the mound in 2026 after two years off, he made seven relief appearances for the Cavaliers to mixed results, but showed enough to grab the Nationals' interest with their final pick. Seibert is a towering 6'9", 235 pound righty who has filled out considerably as one of the most imposing figures you'll find on a mound anywhere. The. fastball touched 99 in high school but sat in the mid 90's after two years off, topping out at 96, with the hope that he can regain that velocity with a longer string of healthy innings under him. The offspeed stuff he showed as a prep is still there, with a solid slider and changeup that round out a dangerous three pitch mix. He is looking a little stiffer on the mound these days, so as has been the theme here, more time on the healthy mound should hopefully loosen him up and bring back that velocity and his command. A fully healthy Anson Seibert is a dangerous thing and worth far more than a twentieth round pick, fitting better in the middle of a big league rotation, but that is far from guaranteed and he may be forced to the bullpen long term to limit the wear and tear on his arm. As a draft-eligible sophomore, he turned 21 only shortly after the draft.

2026 MLB Draft Review: Los Angeles Angels

Full list of draftees

From Tim Salmon to Mark Trumbo to Patrick Sandoval to (briefly) Kyle Hendricks, the Angels have had a fair number of local Orange County products star in the red and white (okay, Salmon grew up two miles over the border into LA County). They could have their next local star in Jared Grindlinger, a Huntington Beach native, heading off a draft chock full of Californians. In fact, eight Californians grace this class of nineteen signees (plus a ninth whose father played for the Angels), including seven from Southern California and four (Grindlinger, Gavin Grahovac of Orange, Ryan Hetzler of Corona, and Jack Salmon of Newport Beach) Orange County products. From a player perspective, the Angels played the draft very straight up, rarely going far above or below slot as they continued to bring in talent in the back half of the top ten rounds where other teams often save money on inexpensive seniors. The profiles here are pretty straightforward too, with many all-around profiles that project more as big league regulars than extreme profiles with outlier traits (save for second rounder Jarren Advincula with elite bat to ball).
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.
Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. For example, "2-50" would indicate that a player was taken in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.

1-12: OF Jared Grindlinger, Huntington Beach HS [CA]

Slot value: $5.89 million. Signing bonus: $5.89 million.
My rank: #12. MLB Pipeline: #16. ESPN: #11.
The headliner of this Angels class is a local legend himself, growing up less than a dozen miles from Angel Stadium in Huntington Beach. Jared Grindlinger comes from a baseball family as the younger brother of Tennessee star Trent Grindlinger, himself a potential first round pick in 2027, and appears poised to take off. Originally a member of the 2027 class, Jared reclassified to the 2026 class very late, announcing in February right at the start of his would-be junior season. He proceeded to put on a show during his now-senior season, showcasing first round skills both on the mound and at the plate. His hometown Angels pounced on him as a position player, where he has a chance to be an impact bat in a few years' time. Grindlinger is an advanced hitter well beyond his years, handling premium pitching from older competition with aplomb on the showcase circuit and again at home in Southern California. He makes a ton of contact and shows a heavy barrel from the left side, projecting for high batting averages and on-base percentages. At this point, the power is probably just average, but he has plenty of projection on his 6'3", 190 pound frame and given that he didn't even turn seventeen until April, he is a long way from physical maturity. His brother Trent is three years older and now carries 220 pounds on his 6'3" frame, coming off a freshman season in which he blasted eight home runs for Tennessee. Jared's bat is ahead of his athleticism, where his below average speed may limit his value in the outfield. He does have a plus arm, which makes right field the likely destination, though first base is a real possibility if he slows down any further. Grindlinger will be giving up pitching for now, but he's very talented in that regard as well with a low 90's fastball that touches 96 at peak coupled with an above average slider and changeup. It's a very advanced three pitch mix for a seventeen year old, and he repeats his delivery very well which helps him show very strong command for his age. Right now, the Angels would like to see Grindlinger develop into a 20 home run, .300 average bat, with a fallback option as a #3 starter. Not bad.

2-45: 2B Jarren Advincula, Georgia Tech
Slot value: $2.23 million. Signing bonus: $2.3 million ($71,700 above slot value).
My rank: #47. MLB Pipeline: #48. ESPN: #71.
If you like throwback players, Jarren Advincula may be your guy. Another California native, he grew up in Santa Clara and played high school ball at powerhouse Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, then stayed home to play college ball at Cal. After hitting .334 over two seasons in Berkeley, he transferred across the country to Georgia Tech and proceeded to go absolutely bonkers at the plate. In 61 games, he hit .434 with more runs scored (74) and RBI (66) than games played, leading the nation with 111 hits while his .434 batting average finished second only to Western Michigan's Tanner Mally at .446. What makes it even crazier, though, was that against top-flight arms in ACC play, he hit .477 with a .546 on-base percentage across 27 games. In ACC play, he led all conference bats in average, on-base percentage, and hits (53 in 27 games!), and it wasn't even close. Advincula works from a crouched setup at the plate, using a linear swing to shoot line drives around the field and rarely looks to turn on the ball. While he chases at a relatively high rate, he makes such elite contact that he still almost never strikes out and did so just 5.3% of the time in 2026 (16 times in 61 games), an absurdly low number. He's not looking for power, though the exit velocity data is not terribly weak and he did homer ten times in 2026. While he probably won't hit for double digit home run totals in pro ball, that's a nice indicator that he'll continue to collect base hits with wood bats and won't be purely a slap hitter. A plus runner, his wheels can help him turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples while giving him plenty of opportunities to steal bases when he's getting on half the time. That speed also helps him in the dirt, where he has the range to play anywhere in the infield. The arm strength may limit him to second base, where he should be an above average defender. The easy comparison is to Luis Arraez, though Advincula is a better runner who can do more with balls in play.

3-81: 1B Gavin Grahovac, Texas A&M
Slot value: $1.02 million. Signing bonus: $1.25 million ($229,000 above slot value).
My rank: #60. MLB Pipeline: #38. ESPN: #53.
Making it three straight Californians to start the draft, the Angels returned to Orange County to pull in Gavin Grahovac. Grahovac hails from Orange and attended Villa Park High School just four miles from Angel Stadium, where he was a highly regarded prep prospect and earned looks in the top handful of rounds in 2023. When he reached campus at Texas A&M, he immediately exploded into one of the best freshman bats in America by hitting .298/.390/.596 with an A&M freshman record 23 home runs across 67 games, earning SEC Freshman of the Year honors and finding his name on many freshman All-American lists in 2024. Having struck out at a 29% clip that year, contact was the next item on the to-do list, but unfortunately he missed almost all of the 2025 season with a labrum tear. Returning in 2026, he took the step forward with the bat that evaluators were hoping to see by slashing .339/.429/.722 with 22 home runs in 57 games, this time dropping his strikeout rate all the way to 16.5%. Grahovac is still power over hit, showing huge bat speed and ridiculous torque to create easily plus raw power from the right side. At 6'3", 230 pounds, he is built like a slugger and after homering 47 times in 130 college games, he will continue to tap that power with wood bats without question. The contact rates spiked in the right direction in 2026, and he hit a particularly impressive .344/.418/.754 with a very reasonably 17.7% strikeout rate against elite pitching in SEC play this year. He's an aggressive hitter that walked less than 10% of the time in 2026, making for a very simple game plan for opposing pitchers in pro ball given his already fringy bat to ball skills. In order to succeed against better and better pitching that will make fewer mistakes, he will need to further clean up his approach and focus on the pitches he can do damage on. Too much of his contact in 2026 was weak, still an improvement over missing those pitches completely in 2024, and the competition is only getting tougher. Defensively, Grahovac manned third base as a freshman but slid to first base as a junior and it looks like that's where he'll stay. He's not terribly slow in the field and has the arm strength for the hot corner, but the glovework has always been rocky and there's more to gain by focusing on his tremendous impact potential. He has the chance to hit 30+ home runs per season, albeit with lower batting averages. Mark Trumbo might make a good comp here.

4-109: OF Rylan Lujo, Georgia
Slot value: $718,700. Signing bonus: $747,500 ($28,800 above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #189. ESPN: #96.
Shifting to the opposite end of the spectrum, the Angels flipped coasts and flipped profiles with Rylan Lujo. Lujo starred at Dayton as a freshman then transferred to Georgia as a sophomore, where he consistently earned his spot in one of the most dangerous lineups in the country. He doesn't chase much, but aggressively attacks pitches in the zone and rarely misses. That helped him hit .361 at Dayton, .347 at Georgia, and even .394 in SEC play as he consistently met fastball after fastball and breaking ball after breaking ball for flush contact. His 8.8% overall strikeout rate and 10.6% rate in SEC play are both elite numbers, pointing to a hitter who will continue to hit for a high average in pro ball. While Lujo has some size at 6'2", 190 pounds and hit 17 home runs in 2026, he projects more as a fringy power hitter with a line drive swing and all-fields approach. The power is likely to play down a touch with wood and likely projects him for home run totals in the low teens, though that does pair nicely with his potential for high averages. The South Florida native also rarely walks, so the batting average will really drive the profile all-around. Formerly an infielder, he manned center field in Athens and performed admirably, where his above average speed gives him a chance to stick there. Lujo likely profiles as a fringe-everyday guy who can be a fringy defender in center or right field or an above average defender in left field. As a draft-eligible sophomore, he is younger than other Angels college draftees and only turned 21 a month before the draft. His grandfather was Rennie Stennett, a 1970's Pirates second baseman who played alongside Roberto Clemente and gathered over 1200 hits in an eleven year career.

5-141: SS Jaxon Willits, Oklahoma
Slot value: $526,600. Signing bonus: $647,500 ($120,900 above slot value).
My rank:  #114. MLB Pipeline: #117. ESPN: #104.
Continuing with the baseball bloodlines, Jaxon Willits at this point represents the third most famous baseball player in his family. His father Reggie played for the Angels from 2006-2011 and may best be remembered for his 2007 season in which he hit .293 and stole 27 bases in 136 games for the Halos. Jaxon's younger brother Eli was the first overall pick in the 2025 draft and is already flying through the Nationals system, and now Jaxon will have his turn to make a name for himself. Jaxon is a three year starter at Oklahoma, where he hit .307/.403/.521 with 25 home runs in 163 games during his career in Norman. He went out with a bang, picking up thirteen hits, including a home run, in six College World Series games to put the Sooners on his back and carry them to the National Championship. Like Rylan Lujo, he is a hit over power bat who excels at putting the ball in play. He rarely chases leading to that career OBP over .400 at Oklahoma, and makes good contact when pitchers do come into the zone. A switch hitter, his swings are geared to reach out and poke the ball into the gaps, where the natural strength in his 6' frame helps him pick up plenty of extra base hits. Willits really has to wind up and turn on the ball to tap his fringy power, so he likely won't threaten for more than 10-15 home runs per season. His approach has played very well in two seasons in the Cape Cod League, where he hit .318/.450/.409 with a strong 18.7% strikeout rate as even strong Cape pitching couldn't keep him off base. The Oklahoma native has a similar profile on defense, where he is more steady than flashy with average speed and arm strength. He'll likely be stretched at shortstop, but his high baseball IQ and consistent glove should make him an asset at second base. He could move through the minors quickly and become a solid part-time option in short order, with the chance to seize an every day role if he keeps getting on base at a high clip.

7-199: RHP Ryan Hetzler, Auburn
Slot value: $314,300. Signing bonus: $322,500 ($8,200 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. ESPN: unranked.
The Angels' fourth Californian and third Southern Californian is Ryan Hetzler, who grew up in Corona about 25 miles east of Angel Stadium and played ball at Arlington High School in nearby Riverside. He began his career almost across the street at Cal Baptist, whose home plate sits less than two thirds of a mile from that of Arlington HS. After a successful freshman season as the Lancers' closer, he transferred across the country to Auburn where he continued to successfully serve in a closing capacity. Hetzler is an interesting one who does not have the typical late inning SEC fireballer profile. The fastball is still a good one, sitting in the low to mid 90's and touching 98 at peak, and he brings a full arsenal of secondary stuff. There is a short sweeping slider that can look like a cutter at times, while his curveball has more depth and gives hitters a different look. The changeup is inconsistent, but it looks like a potential above average pitch when he sells it right. Unlike most college relief picks, he pounds the strike zone with plus command and walked just nine batters in two seasons, just a minuscule 3.1% walk rate over 72 innings. Given that command and four pitch mix, it's not out of the question that Hetzler could have a chance to start at the next level. In fact, proponents of this pick could look to Hetzler's command, four pitch mix, and real velocity to say he has a much more well-rounded profile than you would expect in the seventh round. Detractors, however, would point to his size (5'11", 185 pounds), lack of a true putaway pitch, and the general poor track record of college relievers in pro ball as points against him. The Angels certainly fall into the believer category and it will be interesting to see how they choose to develop the local kid.

8-229: C Garrett Wright, Tennessee
Slot value: $249,300. Signing bonus: $397,500 ($148,200 above slot value).

My rank: #130. MLB Pipeline: #190. ESPN: #162.
The Angels went a bit above slot value to bring in Garrett Wright, who signed for roughly the value of their sixth round pick here in the eighth round. Wright played two years at Bowling Green, where he was MAC Freshman of the Year in 2024 and made the all-conference team again in 2025, overall slashing .396/.509/.631 with 14 home runs in 94 games and leaving town for a bigger challenge. He found that challenge at Tennessee, where he continued to be a menace at the plate when the Volunteers played lesser teams but put up just a pedestrian .254/.354/.426 line in SEC conference play. Wright has a pretty fun profile overall. While he lacks impressive top-end exit velocities, he whips the bat around well with strong wrists and great feel for the barrel to maximize his fringy raw power in games. He's a very aggressive hitter who walked just 5.9% of the time and chased over a third of the time in 2026, a trait which he offsets in two ways. One is solid bat to ball skills, which helps him run solid contact rates both inside and outside the zone. The other is almost an eager willingness to get hit by pitches, having taken 68 plunkings in his three seasons in college to run up his on-base percentage. In fact, he has been hit by significantly more pitches than he has drawn walks in each of his three seasons (21 vs 13, 28 vs 24, and 19 vs 13). Wright is the kind of player that will grind it out and outplay the sum of his parts offensively, hoping to put together a 15-20 home run projection with decent batting averages if he can maximize everything. The Angels are drafting him as a catcher, where he shined as a backstop at Bowling Green and was even named the MAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2025. The Northeast Ohio native is a great athlete behind the plate and has a strong arm to boot, giving him every shot to be a strong defensive catcher at the big league level. Unfortunately he broke his hamate bone and was relegated to the outfield in 2026, where his plus speed makes him a potential center fielder. The value is of course much higher behind the plate, and that's where the Angels will invest their effort. He's reminiscent of Daulton Varsho in that sense that he can play both catcher and center field, though he's right handed and a bit taller than his Astros counterpart. The offensive profile could be somewhat similar too.

9-259: RHP Trevor Hansen, UC Irvine
Slot value: $213,900. Signing bonus: $197,500 ($16,400 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #179. ESPN: unranked.
If you've been to a game or two down at UC Irvine lately, you probably saw Trevor Hansen pitch. A graduate of Royal High School out in Simi Valley about sixty miles northeast of Angel Stadium. In three years in Irvine, he made 46 starts and pitched 248 innings as perhaps the Anteaters' most relied-upon arm. While his best season was 2025, when he went 9-3 with a 3.30 ERA and a 95/31 strikeout to walk ratio over 95.1 innings, he set a new career high in strikeouts (96) and strikeout rate (27.5%) as his stuff took a step forward. The fastball now sits in the low 90's and touches 95 at peak, not overwhelming velocity but a step above where he had been and perfectly playable in pro ball. The fastball plays up a tad with big riding action as well, making it an effective pitch at the top of the zone. He shows a power curveball in the low 80's with nice late snap, while his changeup has come along and gives him a third quality offering. The command isn't pinpoint, but it's reliable and he has run a sub-10% walk rate in all three of his seasons in Irvine including 8% in 2026. The 6'2" righty repeats his delivery well, even with a bit of head whack, and looks the part of a big league starter. His ceiling may be limited, but with a lack of glaring flaws in the profile as well, he has a shot to pitch his way up as a back-end, innings eating starter.