Draft: "Way-too-early" thoughts on the Detroit Tigers 2024 draft plans

Detroit Tigers' lack of early picks says a lot.

First, it may be early to talk slot values and bonus pools for the 2024 MLB Draft, but it's never too early to be looking ahead. The Detroit Tigers had the third overall pick in last year's draft, signing their draftee, Max Clark, slightly under slot. They allocated the money elsewhere, as teams are known to do.

Baseball's First-Year Amateur Player Draft is more complex than leagues like the NHL or NBA, where you are drafted, and that's that. These teams all have to sign their players, and every pick has a slot value, meaning if you are drafted first overall or 200th overall, there's an amount of money you are set to make.

But it's not that simple, as players can sign above and below their projected slot; it's what makes the draft process so interesting and why sometimes a top-tier player can fall because "his number is too high" or a high school player who gets drafted could end up not signing at all, going back to school and coming back when he's eligible once again.

It happens at the college level, too. The Mets drafted former Vanderbilt standout Kumar Rocker; there was an error with his physical, so his contract and signing with the Mets fell through, and he ended up being drafted by the Texas Rangers as a first-rounder a year later. While Rocker did not go back to school, he played Indy-ball and still got selected the next year.

Draft gymnastics are real. Teams have to be strategic, and it's why every player drafted does not always sign and why players can be drafted several times.

Another name that comes to mind is former University of Florida pitcher Brandon Sproat. He was drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2019 as a high schooler. He elected to attend Florida and was drafted in 2022 by the Mets; he did not sign and returned to school. He was drafted again by New York in 2023, signing this summer. So, he's been drafted three times now.

It's pretty crazy all that goes into an MLB Draft, so let's talk about 2024 and the Tigers.

The Detroit Tigers will be able to be strategic with their money.

With that in mind, the Detroit Tigers are in an interesting position heading into the 2024 MLB Draft. The Tigers have the 11th overall pick in the first round and then pick again at 49th overall, with the 11th pick in the second round. They only have these two picks inside the top 50 picks.

In 2023, the Tigers picked third, had a high pick in the second, and had three picks inside the top fifty, with two of them being inside the top 40 due to their compensation round pick that was used on Kevin McGonigle. The team's bonus pool was $15,747,200 per MLB dot com's reports for the 2023 draft.

It will not be the same with the Tigers picking 11th. But, for context, the 11th overall pick had a $5,253,000 slot value in 2023. The Los Angeles Angels only had one pick in the top 50 after forfeiting their second-rounder for signing qualified free agents. So, their bonus pool is not a good comparison.

A better comparison for Tigers fans is the Arizona Diamondbacks, who picked 12th overall in 2023 (Tommy Troy, IF, Stanford) and 48th overall (Gino Groover, IF, NC State). Those two picks carried a value of $6,180,000. Troy signed slightly over the slot, and Groover was exactly at slot, speaking to the gymnastics to the MLB Draft, as mentioned earlier.

However, the Tigers are likely to be in a similar situation. They'll have money to play with and a chance to use it strategically. They could sign a player under slot, saving money for later rounds beyond the Top 50 picks, with hopes of signing that gem later. This equates to wooing a prep prospect away from attending college/honoring a commitment, and taking a chance to develop him within the organization.

It's a risk, but saving money early allows for more chances to sign players over slot later. On the flip side, the talent level obviously decreases in later rounds. With only two Top 50 picks and no comp round picks, they could try to play games and spend up high, going over slot like the Diamondbacks did with Troy.