The Angels had a very interesting draft. They surprised many by drafting the slugging Christian Moore with their first pick, then signing him to a massive under slot deal. After continuing to save in the second round, they had nearly $2 million to play with against the bonus pool two picks in and spread it around to a trio of high upside arms. Speaking of arms, they were the theme of the draft here behind Moore, as the Angels would draft seven straight pitchers from that point and 15/20 overall (excluding Moore). They failed to sign third rounder Ryan Prager, which was a surprise, and that only furthered a theme of power arms throughout the draft. Numerous pitchers in this class have touched triple digits while a whopping eleven draftees stand 6'4" or taller. Five stand 6'6" or taller and they're headlined by the 6'11" Peyton Olejnik and 6'9" Will Gervase.
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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.
1-8: 2B Christian Moore, Tennessee {video}
Slot value: $6.5 million. Signing bonus: $5 million ($1.5 million below slot value).
My rank: #14. MLB Pipeline: #13. Baseball America: #12.
This was probably the first true surprise pick of the draft, but that is no slight against Christian Moore, who saved the Angels a massive $1.5 million by signing between the slot values of the #14 and #15 picks here at #8. Moore showed well as a part-time playing freshman in 2022 and repeated his success with a strong sophomore season in 2023. Then came 2024, which was a different animal. Offense was off the charts this year as every game felt like it was being played at Coors Field, and Moore was front and center. While leading Tennessee to a National Championship, he blasted 34 home runs and 55 extra base hits overall in 72 games, good for the third highest home run total in all of college baseball this year and tied with Troy Glaus (UCLA) for the ninth highest in college baseball history. Not only did Moore go on a power barrage this year, he was actually better against SEC pitching than against his non-conference schedule, slashing a bonkers .429/.461/.925 with 20 home runs in 30 games against pitching from the best conference in college baseball. Unsurprisingly, Moore has an explosive right handed swing that produces routinely produces elite exit velocities, making the ball jump off his bat like few in college baseball. His big, uppercut hacks make the most of that explosive bat speed and he clearly had zero issue tapping his power in games, especially not against top-flight SEC pitching. The hit tool, meanwhile is more average. He ran average chase rates and average contact rates, which isn't quite what you want to see in the top ten of the draft, but the fact that he was so good in SEC play assuages some of those swing and miss concerns. His barrel is plenty accurate so when he hits it, he's hitting it hard and doing enough damage to keep his batting averages up alongside his slugging percentages. The Brooklyn native has seen time at shortstop but he likely plays second base long term, where his average speed and arm fit better. If he makes enough contact, Moore figures to be a bat-first second baseman in the mold of Dan Uggla. If you can save $1.5 million and still get that kind of bat, it's commendable move in the first round. The Angels pushed Moore aggressively and he responded without missing a beat, slashing .347/.400/.584 with six home runs and a 29/9 strikeout to walk ratio over 25 games mostly spent at AA Rocket City, giving him 40 total home runs on the season.
2-45: RHP Chris Cortez, Texas A&M {video}
Slot value: $2.07 million. Signing bonus: $1.6 million ($475,300 below slot value).
My rank: #60. MLB Pipeline: #85. Baseball America: #90.
Chris Cortez has one of the most electric arms in recent college baseball memory, and that's no exaggeration. He has struggled to harness it in the past and in 2023 posted an ugly 7.34 ERA as he walked 18.7% of his opponents, but he righted the ship in a big way in 2024 as he cut the walk rate down to 13.3% and his ERA by more than half. The fastball sits consistently in the upper 90's and has reached 101 with turbo sinker action, running over seventeen inches to the arm side while boring down towards the earth at frightening speed. If you want to lift that pitch, you have to time and square it up absolutely perfectly, so good luck. Cortez adds a power slider in the upper 80's with nasty late bite, fooling hitters time and again with hard sweep. For now, it's just those two pitches. The command was previously well below average but improved to simply below average in 2024, though of course it's still not quite where it needs to be. The 6'1" righty often appears nothing short of untouchable as he blows hitters away with the sinker/slider combo, but just as quickly as he arrived, his command can vanish and he'll get himself in trouble. The command woes combined with the lack of a third pitch (or anything under 86-87 for that matter) do likely point to a career in the bullpen, where he won't need to hold that command together for more than a few batters. This is a really exciting arm for the Angels, one that could move quickly and join fellow fireballer Ben Joyce in Anaheim sooner rather than later if the Angels resist the urge to make him a starter. Additionally, the Las Vegas native signed for almost half a million below slot value, close to the value of the #56 pick and bringing Los Angeles close to $2 million in the black heading into their third pick. They started to spend it on:
2C-74: RHP Ryan Johnson, Dallas Baptist {video}
Slot value: $1.06 million. Signing bonus: $1.75 million ($687,200 above slot value).
My rank: #36. MLB Pipeline: #47. Baseball America: #46.
Ryan Johnson was Los Angeles' first big over slot buy, in fact signing for more than second rounder Chris Cortez, roughly the slot value for pick #52. Johnson was a well-known prep in the 2021 class but made it to campus at Dallas Baptist, where he turned in two strong seasons before breaking out for a massive 2024. Like Cortez, he is a fascinating arm, but in a very different way. Johnson is a gangly, 6'6" string bean that is all arms and legs, with some projection remaining though at 22 years old now, he probably is what he is. He uses a very unconventional delivery, eschewing a leg lift and instead breaking for the plate straight from his initial windup step in almost a buckling manner. That gives way to a low arm slot that creates a release height nearly a foot lower than his listed height, something you don't see often. The fastball sits in the low to mid 90's and touches 98 as a starter, and he's even hit triple digits in shorter stints. Despite the big velocity, it gets hit harder than it should with fairly ordinary running and sinking life. Finding a better fastball shape or at least shifting its usage will be one of the first things the Angels should look at. His best pitch is a plus slider that he throws roughly half the time, showing deep, late sweep that confounds hitters left and right. He splits the difference a bit with an average cutter, which gets better results than his fastball, while his changeup is more fringy. While the funky delivery would lead you to see Johnson as a reliever, he actually has plus command and walked just 3.3% of his opponents before, making for a downright elite 10.8:1 strikeout to walk ratio (151/14). It's a really, really intriguing profile that will let the Angels get really creative with his development. His feel for his slider is a real separator, both in terms of its movement and the way he executes/commands it, and the raw arm strength gives his fastball more upside if he can tweak it a little bit. I see Johnson as a potential mid rotation starter if he's developed right and I hope the Angels can bring that out of him.
3-81: LHP Ryan Prager, Texas A&M {video}
Slot value: $948,600. Signing bonus: did not sign.
My rank: #69. MLB Pipeline: #61. Baseball America: #66.
In a surprise to most, Ryan Prager declined to sign with the Angels and will instead head back to Texas A&M for his senior season, making him the third highest drafted player and the highest drafted college player to do so. Making this even more of a surprise is the fact that Jim Schlossnagle, for whom he played his entire career in College Station (though he initially committed to the Aggies under previous head coach Rob Childress). After spending his freshman season in the rotation, he lost his sophomore season to Tommy John surgery then returned with a vengeance in 2024 as one of the top pitchers in the SEC and therefore the nation. While Ryan Johnson and Prager's teammate Chris Cortez have both reached triple digits, Prager is much more of an old school starting pitcher. His fastball parks around 90 and tops out at 94, showing massive riding life negated a bit by an ultra high, over the top release point. The pitch shows some cutting action, too, and it got great results in 2024. His slider gets late drop and performed admirably, looking like an above average breaker, while his straight changeup gives him a third at least average pitch. Everything plays up for Prager because he works effectively in the zone with plus command and high pitching IQ, mixing and matching his stuff effectively to keep hitters off it. The 6'3" lefty also brings some deception in his delivery with a deep arm plunge that helps hide the ball from view, rocking back over into his over the top delivery. While he won't be joining the Angels, he will smooth the transition from Schlossnagle to Michael Earley as one of the best pitchers in all of college baseball.
4-110: RHP Austin Gordon, Clemson {video}
Slot value: $662,900. Signing bonus: $572,500 ($90,400 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #363.
Austin Gordon has moved between roles as needed at Clemson, spending his freshman year in the bullpen, moving to the rotation as a sophomore, and spending his junior season doing a little bit of both to decent results. This is a stuff-first arm with some upside. The fastball sits in the low to mid 90's and touches 97 with big riding life, making for a plus pitch that he leans heavily on. Gordon also shows strong feel to spin two distinct breaking balls, with a sharp, tight slider in the mid 80's and a loopier, true 12-6 curve a few ticks slower. The slider is his primary breaker and projects as the better pitch in pro ball, but he does get good results with both. He doesn't use his changeup much, especially in relief. After showing solid command as a starter in 2023, he regressed in that regard as his walk rate jumped from 6.3% to 10.5%. He's generally around the zone but can't always execute his pitches where he needs them, leading to him getting hit just a bit harder than his pure stuff says he should. Should the Angels choose to develop the Myrtle Beach native as a starter, they'll certainly want to bring the changeup along as well as refine his in-zone execution just a bit more, with his athleticism and arm strength giving him plenty of upside in that regard. If he remains a reliever, he can work heavily off the fastball/slider combination and retain the power on his stuff without worrying so much about command. At 6'5" and relatively young for the class (turned 21 a month before the draft), there's a good chance he continues to improve.
5-143: RHP Dylan Jordan, Viera HS [FL] {video}
Slot value: $480,800. Signing bonus: $1.25 million ($766,700 above slot value).
My rank: #119. MLB Pipeline: #243. Baseball America: #170.
The Angels unloaded their second largest over slot bonus here, buying Dylan Jordan away from a Florida State commitment for roughly the slot value of the #66 pick, much more than he was projected to earn. While he didn't get as much love from national outlets, but he was a local favorite from scouts in the Sunshine State and was paid accordingly. The fastball sits in the low 90's and tops out around 95, and he works the shape between more of a running and sinking pitch and one with more riding action. The slider can steal the show at its best, coming in with big sweeping action when he rips it right. For now, the changeup isn't used much in games. Jordan is a sidearmer with an ultra low release point that adds a unique dimension to his stuff, and hitters will tell you that 95 from the side is not the same as 95 from over the top. The 6'3" righty is also a very good athlete that treats his arm like a sling, whipping the ball in there with long arm action that helps reduce stress. The command is below average for now and the Angels will want to clean that up, but between the athleticism and nasty east-west profile from a sidearmer, there's a lot to play with and Jordan comes with plenty of upside. The Angels are clearly buying in in a big way by giving him day one money.
6-172: RHP Peyton Olejnik, Miami [OH] {video}
Slot value: $366,100. Signing bonus: $197,500 ($168,600 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
Sometimes you just have to sit back in awe of a pitcher, and that's Peyton Olejnik. He's bounced around, beginning his career Triton JC in the Chicago area (alma mater of Kirby Puckett) in 2022 before transferring to Oklahoma in 2023. He barely pitched for the Sooners, so he transferred once mor eto Miami of Ohio and found his way into a swingman role for the Redhawks. The elephant in the room, or more aptly the giraffe in the room, is Olejnik himself – he stands 6'11", which would tie him with Giants righty Sean Hjelle and former reliever Jon Rauch as the tallest pitcher in major league history. The fastball sits low 90's and touches 95 with average life, but of course it plays up because he gets a ridiculous nearly seven feet of extension from a low three quarters slot. The Little League mound sits at 45 feet, so that means with his release point 53 feet from home plate, he's getting halfway from the big league mound to a little league mound. Halfway! He shows a nice sweeping slider as well that misses bats at a solid clip, giving him a second at least average pitch, while his changeup gives him a third usable pitch. Olejnik showed solid command in 2024 and has really grown into his body – he was still growing when he reached Triton as a freshman, listed at 6'9" at the time. The stuff isn't all that loud so he'll have a chance to work his way up as a back-end starter if the command holds, with a fallback option as a reliever whose stuff could tick up. If he starts throwing 93-96 in short stints instead of 91-94 in longer outings, that would be frankly terrifying given his size. The Indiana native already got his feet wet, allowing two runs over 6.1 innings while striking out eleven in four abbreviated starts for Low A Inland Empire.
11-322: RHP Trey Gregory-Alford, Coronado HS [CO] {video}
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $1.96 million ($1.81 million against bonus pool).
My rank: #99. MLB Pipeline: #105. Baseball America: #98.
They didn't do it last year, but the Angels have made a habit lately of handing massive bonuses to high school pitchers early on day three. In 2022, it was Caden Dana ($1.5 million), now in the rotation, and in 2021 it was Mason Albright ($1.25 million), who was sent to Colorado in the Randal Grichuk trade. In 2024, that man is Trey Gregory-Alford, who brought in nearly $2 million as the Angels' second highest paid draftee this year. That bonus, which kept him away from a UVA commitment, was between the slot values for the #47 and #48 picks here at #322. It's a bit of a theme in this class, but Gregory-Alford has arm strength in spades and then in more spades. His fastball sits in the low to mid 90's, touches 98 in games, and has reached 101 in side bullpens with running life. Beyond that, he rips off a hard, above average slider with late bite which plays very well off his power fastball, giving him the potential for two plus pitches. The changeup is behind at this point, but that's not unexpected for a power high school pitcher from Colorado Springs. He is a big, physical pitcher at a listed 6'5", 235 pounds already, looking like he could go head to head with anybody in the organization despite being just 18 years old. TGA uses a high three quarters delivery and does throw with some effort, which can impact his command though he's generally around the strike zone. As he acclimates to his high octane stuff, the command should come along has a chance to be average in time. There's plenty of reliever risk as the current profile fits that role precisely, so the Angels will look to smooth him out and bring the changeup along. Even if he has to sit more 92-95 than 94-97, he should still be a very effective starter granted that little pullback helps him throw more strikes. He reminds me a bit of Chase Burns in high school, and Burns of course went on to become arguably the best pitcher in college baseball and go #2 overall to the Reds this year.
12-352: RHP Fran Oschell III, Duke {video}
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $150,000.
My rank: #204. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #225.
You guessed it, arm strength again. Fran Oschell did not take a straight path to get here, and he represents a bit of a post-hype prospect the Angels will look to reclaim. After barely pitching as a freshman, he broke out for a massive sophomore season in which he posted a 0.69 ERA (!) and held opponents to just a .133 batting average (!!) while striking out 41.5% of his opponents (!!!) out of the bullpen. That gave him a chance to pitch his way into day one of the draft this spring, but unfortunately everything went in the wrong direction. The ERA ballooned to 6.94, his strikeout rate dropped to 18.2%, and his walk rate jumped from 11.3% to 23.1%. So what's the deal? Oschell is a massive righty at a listed 6'7", 230 pounds, with arm strength to match. The fastball sits in the low to mid 90's and has hit 99 in the past, coming in with explosive riding life that ticked back a little in 2024. In 2023, it was one of the best fastballs in all of college baseball and just chewed up ACC hitters, but this year he wasn't able to entice as many hitters to chase it up and out of the zone as he fell behind in counts. He throws a pair of power breaking balls in a curveball and a slider, but both stand out more for velocity than movement and lack the true finish to be plus pitches, instead looking above average at best. Oschell's command completely fell apart in 2024 and he just rarely set himself up for success as he consistently fell behind in the count. The Angels saw the outright dominance he showed in 2023 when his command was just fringy, i.e. reasonably-not-that-bad, buoyed by that plus-plus fastball at its best. He's almost certainly a reliever and he'll look to get back on track with a change of scenery.
18-532: SS David Mershon, Mississippi State {video}
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $255,000 ($105,000 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
This is a fun profile in the eighteenth round, even if it's more about performance than underlying metrics. David Mershon spent two years at Mississippi State and was a major sparkplug for the Bulldogs this past season, where he hit .347, stole 27 bases, and walked (14.9%) more than he struck out (13.8%). Draft eligible after he turned 21 in May, making him closer to the age of a college junior, he brings an old school profile to the table. Mershon is just 5'8", 175 pounds, using a slappy, line drive swing to spray the ball around the field. That contact-oriented approach combined with hitterish, big league at bats helps him keep his strikeouts down and his on-base percentages up. There is virtually no power to speak of, as he rarely turns on or lifts the ball and doesn't have the raw juice to send the ball very far if he did. He did hit six home runs in 58 games in 2024, but that's likely a product of the metal bats and offense-happy environment and he likely won't approach double digit home run totals at the major league level. Instead, he'll use his contact ability, speed, and high energy style of play to make things happen at the plate and on the bases. His speed and scrappy style of play serve him well on the infield, where he can get to most any ball hit his way, though he's not very physical and a lack of arm strength will relegate him to second base. The South Carolina native projects as a high average utility infield type who will be very fun to watch on both sides of the ball. He's an easy guy to root for and is already knocking on the door to Los Angeles, having slashed .254/.326/.298 with a 31/12 strikeout to walk ratio over 29 games at AA Rocket City, an aggressive assignment for a just-drafted sophomore.
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