2024 Draft: 5 players the Detroit Tigers should consider at 11th overall

A couple of way-too-early Detroit Tigers draft predictions.

The Detroit Tigers are amid their off-season. While they are busy preparing for the 2024 season, their scouting staff knows where they will pick in round one of the 2024 MLB Draft after the draft lottery has come and gone.

The Detroit Tigers walked away from the second-ever MLB Draft Lottery with the 11th overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. The team was not as lucky as in 2023 when the Tigers moved up to third overall, where they had the chance to select Max Clark. Now, they will have to sift through the 2024 MLB Draft class.

The big question for the Tigers will be staying the course with this year's draft class strengths or breaking the narrative. This year's draft class has a ton of college bats at the top of the class. It's top-heavy with toolsy college bats of all kinds, so this spring's collegiate season will shed a lot of light on how things will go.

It's incredibly early to really hone in on the exact players the Tigers will have to choose from, but we're going to go through some of the players who could very much so be on the Tigers' radar. The Tigers will be able to choose from some pretty talented players when its all said and done.

The Tigers will select 11th, and while the draft day is way down the line, why not dive into some player profiles to get a feel for who might be available on draft day?

Jac Caglianone would be a dream for the Detroit Tigers.

It may not be in the cards, but if the Detroit Tigers get lucky, they can come away with one of the premier players, tools-wise, in this draft class. It's unlikely that the Tigers get the chance, but University of Florida two-way star Jac Caglianone could be an option. Some folks believe he will be taken in the top five or ten, but he may be there depending on how the spring plays out.

The Detroit Tigers would be extremely lucky to come away with Caglianone if he made it all the way to the 11th overall pick. But since it's December and it's okay to dream, let's take a look at what Caglianone brings to the table. He was given the nickname "JacTani" last season after hitting moonshot home runs and running it up there on the mound.

He had a fantastic season as a sophomore, and even more could be on tap in his junior campaign. He played in 71 games with 18 starts under his belt as well. He managed 319 plate appearances, where he slashed .323/.389/.738, managing 14 doubles, two triples, and belting 33 home runs with 90 RBI. There are big leaguers for the Tigers, who slashed worse than that and managed less success than Caglianone did.

He's got a massive 6-foot-5, 245-pound frame. He's massive with tons of strength throughout a real physical build. It helps him at the dish, producing these 450-foot moonshots and incredibly loud barrels. However, Caglianone has also been able to find success on the mound.

He holds the upper-90s on the fastball and has been up to 99 mph. He's got a really nice slider and changeup to pair. It's three pitches that allow him to get the job done. In his 18 starts, Caglianone managed 74.2 innings pitched. He pitched to a 4.34 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP, with 55 walks to 87 strikeouts.

To me, the prowess is at the plate, but it's certainly hard to argue with Caglianone's ability to be a two-way player. The Tigers likely will not get a chance to grab Caglianone, but he would be a dream at 11th overall.

Cam Smith could be positionally valuable for the Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers may not be in the market for drafting a draft-eligible sophomore, but it might make for an over-slot signing. That's a discussion for a later date. But, since it's December, let's take time and discuss what Cam Smith brings to the table as part of the Seminoles program down at Florida State.

At the beginning of the 2023 collegiate season, Florida State's Cam Smith looked like he would be the next premier talent in this draft class. The draft-eligible sophomore was hitting like crazy early on during non-conference play. His performance stagnated a bit when things got to ACC conference play, but he still had a good year.

The tools showed, and he took the summer on the Cape to cement things and show that he has much to like about him. Smith is a 6-foot-3, 220-pound third baseman who also plays a little corner outfield. But he has an athletic frame with strength showing, which makes him a dangerous player. A big sophomore campaign for the Seminoles might be the difference-maker.

Last spring, Smith has played in 51 games where he slashed .258/.326/.517 with eight doubles, five triples, and 12 home runs while managing 36 RBI. But there was more to that one when he got to the Cape. He was with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks on the Cape, where he managed 187 plate appearances over 44 games played. He slashed .347/.406/.575 with 12 doubles, four triples, and six home runs, driving in 26 runs.

The performance this spring will tell a lot. He's a right-handed hitter with a smooth stroke that produces some loft. He has a clean path with the strength to impact and damage. Smith's got power upside with his strength and physical frame. In my opinion, he's a third-baseman and is athletic enough to man the hot corner.

A big spring in 2024 could see Smith jump up the draft boards and be someone the Tigers should consider taking. After all, they do like to go into Florida on the prep or college levels to select players.

Flamethrower Brody Brecht would be a dream for the Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers should consider drafting Brody Brecht at 11th overall. After this spring, he may vault himself up higher, out of the Tigers' range. But the right-handed pitcher is one of the best arm talents in this class and will prove that again this spring with the way things are sounding.

The Iowa Hawkeyes standout would be a dream come true for the Detroit Tigers organization. He was catching passes for the Hawkeyes to begin his college career, but during the 2023 season, Brecht announced that he was going to be hanging up the football pads for good, focusing on baseball.

When you throw 100 mph and have a lightning-quick arm, you're going to get paid to throw baseballs, plain and simple. Brecht's stuff is what catches the eye. Brecht's got a high-value fastball that's been in the triple digits, and he will be able to overpower hitters. Plus, he has continued to work on his slider.

His slider is deadly and is a plus-pitch, especially with the improvements that he has been rumored to have made this off-season to tighten up the arsenal and make him an even better arm. In 2023, Brecht made 16 starts, where he managed a 3.74 ERA, a 1.27 WHIP, and 61 walks to 109 strikeouts.

The knock on him is the control factor. At times, he can be wild, but if he can come out in 2024 and show improvements or at least show that he can be effectively wild, things will improve even more for Brecht. He's someone that could be in the conversation come next spring.

Josh Hartle is a collegiate lefty for the Detroit Tigers to consider.

Perhaps one of the things that the Detroit Tigers could do would be shocking folks by drafting a left-handed pitcher. It's not the move the Detroit Tigers would be expected to make, but it is surely one that they should consider. The Tigers may want to think about drafting Josh Hartle at 11th overall if given the chance.

Josh Hartle is a 6-foot-5, 200-pound southpaw with length to his frame. He's more lean but still an athletic mover, with a clean move working downhill. He uses the long levers well in his move and can be a solid option for the Wake Forest weekend rotation, just a year after they had Rhett Lowder, who was a first-rounder in 2023.

Hartle had a big 2023 season where he made 18 appearances for the Demon Deacons. He managed a 2.81 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP, and he had just 24 walks to 140 punchouts. Hartle has premier stuff with a four-pitch mix. The fastball has been up into the low-90s, and with the projectable frame, there's likely some more in the tank.

He also has a cutter in the mix with some good lateral shape. His go-to breaker is a bigger curveball with more hump in it, but still more of a 1-7 & 2-7 shape. It's a pretty pitch with good depth to it, being able to land it for strikes. He also has a changeup, pronating well and creating a pitch that has an arm-side fade to it.

Hartle had an exceptional 2023 campaign, and there's reason to believe he can be a top-half of the first-round caliber player when all is said and done. Keep an eye on Hartle; he's got a lot to like about him, with a real projectable profile.