Draft Day 3: Overview, schedule, best available

Two days down, one day and 10 rounds to go.

There have been 315 players selected so far through the first two days of the 2024 MLB Draft. On Tuesday, 300 more players will hear their names called on Day 3 during Rounds 11-20 as part of the All-Star Week festivities in and around Arlington, Texas.

As a reminder, the late rounds can be more than just opportunities to fill out a farm system. Three All-Stars from this year — Matt Strahm (2012, 21st round), Kirby Yates (2005, 26th round) and Seth Lugo (2011, 34th round) — were taken after the 10th round. Even Hall of Famers Andre Dawson (1975, 11th), Ryne Sandberg (1978, 20th) and Jim Thome (1989, 13th) and future member of Cooperstown Albert Pujols (1999, 13th) entered pro ball as late picks, giving hope to every player selected on Day 3.

How to watch and when
Day 3 of the Draft, comprising Rounds 11-20, will begin at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday. The event will be streamed on MLB.com, and fans can follow along with each pick on the Draft Tracker.

Top players available:
Dax Whitney, RHP, Blackfoot (Idaho) HS (No. 56)
Garrett Shull, OF, Enid (Okla.) HS (No. 76)
Carson Wiggins, RHP, Roland (Okla.) HS (No. 79)
Sawyer Farr, SS, Boswell (Texas) HS (No. 91)
Noah Franco, LHP/OF, IMG Academy (No. 92)
Tegan Kuhns, RHP, Gettysburg (Pa.) HS (No. 96)
Mason Russell, LHP, Casteel (Ariz.) HS (No. 97)
Duncan Marsten, RHP, Harvard-Westlake (Calif.) HS (No. 98)
Jackson Barberi, RHP, Brockwood (Ga.) HS (No. 99)
Mason Brassfield, LHP, Bakersfield Christian (Calif.) HS (No. 101)

Notably absent from the above list is No. 16 Draft prospect William Schmidt, who announced his intention to head to LSU over the weekend and formally pulled out of the Draft. The top 10 talents remaining are all high-schoolers, and while they’re all expected to head to college, it’s still possible clubs take big swings to see whether they are signable.

While picks made in the top 10 rounds have specific bonus slots attached, that is not the case for selections made for Rounds 11-20. Players can be signed for up to $150,000 without it affecting an organization’s overall bonus pool. For any bonus above that mark, the overage beyond $150,000 counts toward the pool. So if a team created enough savings with its Day 1 and 2 selections, it could use those to make a large signing on Day 3. For example, the Brewers selected Justin Chambers in the 20th round last year but managed to sign the Arizona high schooler for $547,500 because of the pool space it had from earlier picks. Chambers was later used to acquire 2024 breakout reliever Bryan Hudson in a deal with the Dodgers.

There isn’t a penalty for failing to sign a Day 3 pick either. When a team doesn’t sign a pick from the first 10 rounds, that selection’s slot value is lost from the overall pool. Without slot values assigned for Rounds 11-20, teams can take more risks should they choose to do so, knowing their bonus pools won’t be affected if they miss out on a signing.

Draft order
The A’s will kick off the day with the 316th overall selection, the first in the 11th round. Day 3 will conclude at the end of the 20th and final round, marked by the final section by the Rangers.

Bonus pool & slot value
Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, each team gets an allotted bonus pool equal to the sum of the values of that club’s selections in the first 10 rounds of the Draft. The more picks a team has, and the earlier it picks, the larger the pool.

Any bonus greater than $150,000 for a player taken after the 10th round is also applied to the bonus pool total. The assigned values for the 2024 Draft have risen 8.7 percent compared to 2023, mirroring the growth in industry revenues.

After winning the Draft lottery for the first overall selection, the Guardians came into the Draft with the largest pool in ‘24 at $18,334,000, including $10,570,600 for that first pick. They are followed by the Rockies ($17,243,400) and Reds ($15,842,100). The A’s ($15,347,900) and White Sox ($14,593,300) round out the top five.