As usual, the Orioles put together a very interesting draft class that was fun to write about. Owning an extra pick due to Gunnar Henderson's Rookie of the Year win last year, they targeted some pretty extreme profiles early on between Vance Honeycutt's ridiculous tools, Griff O'Ferrall's elite bat to ball ability, and Austin Overn's tremendous athleticism. Although they usually like to play bonus pool games by going under slot early on, they played the pool a little more straight forward and only handed out a few modest over slot bonuses to a small set of prep bats. Youth was another major theme here, as the Orioles targeted players who were young for their respective classes – high schoolers turning 18 late in the process and collegians turning 21 closer to the draft. And as usual, it was bat-heavy early on as Baltimore grabbed four straight bats to start things off and took six bats with their first seven picks.
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Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. "2-50" would indicate that a player was drafted in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.
1-22: OF Vance Honeycutt, North Carolina {video}
Slot value: $3.8 million. Signing bonus: $4 million ($197,800 above slot value).
My rank: #22. MLB Pipeline: #22. Baseball America: #13.
The Orioles made a big splash in the first round, grabbing one of the most physical, athletic, tooled up players in the country for a slightly above slot bonus. Vance Honeycutt is a bit of a polarizing prospect, too. He made an immediate impact upon reaching campus at UNC, blasting 25 home runs as a true freshman in 2022, but regressed a bit as a sophomore as he traded power for a more patient, contact-oriented approach. He still entered the 2024 spring as a potential top ten pick, and although his power returned for a career-high 28 home runs, so did the swing and miss. So where are we now? There is no doubt that Honeycutt's tools are not just impactful, but truly special. It's legitimate plus raw power that he has tapped in games with 65 career home runs, coming from a lightning quick right handed swing that brings natural loft and leverage to the table. After walking 13.5% of the time as a freshman, that increased to 19.6% as a sophomore but dropped back to a career-low 11.9% as a junior. He's not an aggressive hitter, per se, but when he has hit for more impact when he is actively looking to do damage and pro pitchers may be able to exploit that. Similarly, Honeycutt has below average pure bat to ball and struck out 27.5% of the time in 2024, up from 20.5% as a sophomore, and ran the lowest contact rate of any first rounder. He does a good job of recognizing offspeed stuff doesn't have any glaring issues with his swing, so the hope is that his natural athleticism combined with hands-on development with the Orioles, who do a tremendous job developing bats, will get him where he needs to be. Meanwhile, the North Carolina native is an excellent defender in center field, where he combines plus speed with tremendous body awareness to make highlight reel plays seemingly every night. That alone, even forgetting the $4 million investment and impressive exit velocities, will buy his hit tool time to develop. And if he puts it together, he could be the best player from this draft class. Honeycutt brings a very similar profile to current Orioles prospect Jud Fabian, who is currently showing reasonably well in AA, but with more athleticism and less plate discipline.
PPI-32: SS Griff O'Ferrall, Virginia {video}
Slot value: $2.84 million. Signing bonus: $2.7 million ($137,900 below slot value).
My rank: #62. MLB Pipeline: #38. Baseball America: #115.
This is a very interesting pick for the Orioles, as Griff O'Ferrall has one of the most extreme offensive profiles in the country. A pure contact hitter, he's hit over .300 in each of his three seasons in Charlottesville and has blasted 40 doubles in 128 games over the past two seasons. O'Ferrall runs elite contact rates both inside and outside the strike zone, flinging the barrel at the ball wherever it's pitched and making extremely consistent line drive and ground ball contact. He did it at UVA and he did it with the US Collegiate National Team, where he hit .463/.511/.659 in a small sample against strong competition. O'Ferrall doesn't whiff, and his 7.4% strikeout rate was the second lowest of any of the 73 college hitters on my draft board. O'Ferrall is also an extremely aggressive hitter who chases nearly a third of the time, which combined with the fact that he doesn't miss even outside the zone, means you have to work really hard to walk him (his 6.8% walk rate was the fourth lowest). Meanwhile, he has virtually no power. It looked like it may change when he homered in each of his first two games this season, but he left the yard just three times in the other 61 games and was one of just two players on my draft board to finish with a 90th percentile exit velocity below 100 MPH. The Richmond native is a very skinny kid that lacks projection and isn't looking to turn on the ball anyways and he'll always have well below average power. He's closer to an average runner than a plus one, which will really put pressure on his ability to "hit it where they ain't." Still, it's rarely seen 70 grade bat to ball despite his aggressive approach. The defense adds to the profile, too. While he's not the most explosive or physical shortstop, I think he has a great chance to stick at the premium position with his strong internal clock and hand-eye coordination, and he has just enough arm to get it done. The upside here is a high batting average shortstop who can hit atop a lineup, though the lack of walks probably push him closer to the bottom of the lineup.
2-61: C Ethan Anderson, Virginia {video}
Slot value: $1.42 million. Signing bonus: $1.17 million ($246,400 below slot value).
My rank: #92. MLB Pipeline: #78. Baseball America: #59.
While Vance Honeycutt and Griff O'Ferrall have particularly extreme (and opposite) profiles, Ethan Anderson represents a comparatively "boring" pick. Like O'Ferrall, he was a three year starter at UVA whose best numbers came as a sophomore. Considered a first round sleeper by some coming into the season, he started slowly to cause a stock correction but righted the ship and still finished the year hitting .331/.435/.508. A switch hitter, he takes professional at bats and walked more than he struck out in each of the past two seasons. Beyond that, he's a high contact bat that makes for a difficult strikeout, coming together to make him a pest in any lineup. The raw power is average, and he never sells out for it in games which lets him hit for those high averages at the expense of potentially a few more home runs. Anderson is extremely young for the class, only turning 21 in September, so there could be a little more time for him to fill out and utilize the natural loft in his swings. The Orioles drafted him as a catcher and will give him every shot to play back there. When I saw him play in May, the glovework was a bit rough and the arm was average, so I personally am not sold on him back there. He'll have to work hard to remain a catcher, and with below average speed, he'll be limited to first base or left field if he has to move. The bat should be enough to profile at any position, but it certainly looks a lot better behind the plate and my lower ranking of him reflects that. Again, he's very young, has some time to work on all this, and has been noted for his work ethic.
3-97: OF Austin Overn, Southern California {video}
Slot value: $752,500. Signing bonus: $850,000 ($97,500 above slot value).
My rank: #115. MLB Pipeline: #131. Baseball America: #85.
It took me a little while to warm up to Austin Overn as a prospect, but later in the cycle the more I looked at him the more I realized there could be something special here. The Orioles thought so too, giving him a slight over slot bonus here in the third round. In a way, Overn is a combination of Vance Honeycutt and Griff O'Ferrall. Like Honeycutt, he's a supreme athlete and actually bests the first rounder in that category. He was actually recruited to USC as a wide receiver, and he also ran track and competed in long jump in high school, so athleticism isn't just a feature here – it's the main attraction. That plus-plus speed plays on the diamond as well, and his wide receiver background aids his center field defense to the point where he could actually challenge Honeycutt there. It's real Gold Glove potential out there if he hits enough to play every day. At the plate, he's very raw with an aggressive approach that may become an issue in pro ball. Remember when I said that O'Ferrall had the fourth lowest walk rate on my draft board? Overn is fifth by just a fraction of a percent. Meanwhile, his flat swing is geared towards line drives and does not help him tap his fringy raw power in games, so he finished his two years in Los Angeles with just twelve career home runs at a time when home runs were way up across college baseball. He does make contact at a higher rate than you'd expect, especially outside the zone, so the Orioles have something to work with here. They could work Overn's swing just a little bit to help him drive the ball in the air a bit more while hopefully getting a little more selective, as his pedestrian numbers at USC this year will need to come up. There's a ton to work with here in a freak athlete with excellent defense and strong bat to ball, so the Orioles will just need to unlock a little more impact in the bat to help him reach his ceiling as an every day player.
4-127: RHP Chase Allsup, Auburn {video}
Slot value: $562,000. Signing bonus: $522,500 ($39,500 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #241.
For their first arm, the Orioles certainly didn't cheap out on arm strength. Chase Allsup spent three years at Auburn and while the results have been uneven, he has the ingredients to be an impact arm. The fastball sits in the low to mid 90's in longer outings and can touch triple digits in short stints, albeit with fairly generic life. No single offspeed pitch stands out as a true bat misser, but he has a vertical power slider, a bigger curveball, and a solid changeup. Allsup jerks through his delivery a bit with a deep arm plunge, exaggerated shoulder tilt, and a low center of gravity, but after years of below average command he was throwing a lot more strikes in 2024. It's definitely control over command and he got hit when he left pitches over the plate, but a 5.7% walk rate while pitching in the SEC is nothing to sneeze at. Because of that, the 6'2" righty does have an outside chance to start and the Orioles likely believe that as well if they're giving him over half a million dollars in the fourth round, but he'll have to continue to make strides with his ability to locate within the zone as well as refine his secondaries. Additionally, if the Orioles can do something with the fastball to get a bit of movement, it could really jump in effectiveness given its pure velocity. This is a fun project for Baltimore, even if he may ultimately end up in the 'pen.
5-160: C Ryan Stafford, Cal Poly {video}
Slot value: $407,100. Signing bonus: $404,500 ($2,600 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #175. Baseball America: #202.
Ryan Stafford was another name in that next wave of players I would have liked to research and represents an intriguing potential backup catcher profile. A three year starter at Cal Poly, he's a career .334/.407/.499 hitter that has never batted below .313 in a season, hit .280/.389/.344 in the Cape Cod League, and earned an invite to the US Collegiate National Team last summer. So there's no question the track record is there. Stafford is a hit over power type, using a quick right handed swing to batter the ball around the park with impressive consistency against all types of pitching. A bit undersized at 5'10", there's not a ton of power in the tank except when he really turns on it, but it's certainly enough to keep pitchers honest and he blasted 60 doubles in 172 games in San Luis Obispo. Stafford isn't the world's most patient hitter, but it's controlled aggression that helps him keep his strikeouts down and continue to control the zone against higher level pitching. Together, it comes out to a very nice offensive profile that could provide 5-10, maybe 15 home runs per season with relatively high batting averages. His skinny stature has its plusses and minuses behind the plate. He's shown extremely well back there in college with a nimbleness you don't always find, dropping to his knees in a flash to block dirt balls and popping out of the crouch quicker than most, helping his solid arm play up and control the running game. Because he's a bit smaller, he'll have to work hard to withstand the grind of a six month regular season. Perhaps there is a little bit of Mike Redmond in the profile, but with a little more athleticism?
6-189: SS DJ Layton, Charlotte Christian HS [NC] {video}
Slot value: $318,300. Signing bonus: $720,000 ($401,700 above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
DJ Layton went unranked by most major publications, but impressed the Orioles enough to earn third round money here in the sixth round. Somewhat of a late bloomer, he committed to Southern Miss late in the process but won't be heading there now. Layton is a switch hitter with a pair of simple, direct swings that help him make nice consistent contact. This spring, he tacked on considerable strength to his skinny 6'1" frame and now looks to hit for more impact, making for a well-rounded offensive profile. The Charlotte-area native is also a plus runner whose athleticism serves him well at shortstop, where the Orioles will attempt to deploy him first. Layton is also an accomplished pitcher who earned pro interest for his arm, running his fastball up to 94 in short stints this spring while settling closer to 90. He snaps off a nice breaking ball and a changeup as well. Besides the projection remaining on his frame, he's also very young for the class and didn't turn 18 until after the draft. He moves fluidly both in the box and on the mound, so as the strength gains continue to come, he'll be able to use them without selling out for power or velocity, if that's the direction the Orioles end up moving.
8-249: C Colin Tuft, Tulane {video}
Slot value: $206,900. Signing bonus: $182,500 ($24,400 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
Colin Tuft is a semi-local kid who grew up in Northern Virginia, where he attended James Madison High School in Vienna, which happens to be my alma mater. Tuft started off at UVA, but served as a backup and never started behind the plate. After two seasons, he transferred to Tulane and became the team's every day catcher in 2024. He's a glove-first type with smooth actions behind the plate and is quick out of the crouch, where he unleashes accurate throws to control the running game. Meanwhile, similar to fifth rounder Ryan Stafford, he's athletic for a catcher and could handle the outfield if needed – that's where he saw the majority of his playing time in Charlottesville. The bat is a bit lighter, with fringy power and bat to ball skills, but he's patient and does draw his share of walks. It's unlikely that he hits enough to become an every day player, but his glove has a good chance to carry him to the big leagues where he can compete with Stafford on that depth chart (as I mentioned, I'm not sold on second rounder Ethan Anderson sticking behind the plate).
16-489: OF Nate George, Minooka Community HS [IL] {video}
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $455,000 ($305,000 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #272.
The Orioles drafted and signed three high schoolers on day three, and Nate George got the biggest bonus by raking in fifth round money. He's extremely toolsy, and the Orioles will excitedly look to maximize those tools in his development. George stands out for his plus-plus speed, coming from a compact 6' frame that makes him look almost like a running back. It's a quick, powerful operation in the box with burgeoning pop. He hasn't been seen much against top competition, but he has shown well in a small sample and beat up on Chicago-area pitching this spring to send his stock up in a big way. The Orioles are bought into the power/speed combination and think his big spring was for real hoping they can develop him into a dynamic everyday contributor. The speed gives him a shot to stick in center field as well so long as he polishes up the rough edges of his defensive game. Initially committed to Eastern Illinois, he switched up to Northwest Florida State late in the process. He's young for the class, having only turned 18 about a month before the draft, which will give the Orioles more time to work the rawness out of his game.
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