NEW: Top 200 Draft Prospects list features new No. 1

With just over six weeks before the Cleveland Guardians make the first selection of the 2024 Draft, MLB Pipeline has a newly expanded, and re-ranked Top 200 Draft prospects list to digest.

A lot can happen between now and then in terms of figuring out who goes where, and there will be plenty of movement when we do one more expansion of the list to 250 and also in our regular projections of the first round, but there does seem to be clarity around the names at the very top.

Top 10:
1. Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State
2. Charlie Condon, OF/3B, Georgia
3. Jac Caglianone, 1B/LHP, Florida
4. Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest
5. Chase Burns, RHP, Wake Forest
6. Hagen Smith, LHP, Arkansas
7. JJ Wetherholt, SS/2B, West Virginia
8. Braden Montgomery, OF, Texas A&M
9. Konnor Griffin, SS/OF, Jackson Prep (MS)
10. Bryce Rainer, SS, Harvard-Westlake HS (CA)
Complete list »

While there’s no guarantee, it does appear the top 10 names that have all but cemented themselves (eight of the 10 are college players), though the order they should go in is still a bit more fungible. We wanted to get a sense of a consensus on this top group so we sent out a survey to team executives with all 30 organizations, asking them to rank this group.

A total of 26 higher-level members of the scouting industry, from cross-checkers to scouting directors and general managers, responded, and the results did cause us to change our list at the top, putting Oregon State’s Travis Bazzana in the No. 1 spot over Georgia’s Charlie Condon, who had been there when we put out our Top 150 list. Bazzana, the Beavers second baseman who carries a .418/.581/.939 line with 26 homers and 15 steals into Regional play this weekend, received 17 of the 26 first-place votes. Condon, his .443/.558/1.043 line and an NCAA-leading 35 homers, got seven votes for the top spot. Florida’s Jac Caglianone and Wake Forest’s Nick Kurtz each received one first-place nod.

In the support for Bazzana, several evaluators pointed out their confidence in his left-handed bat, the fact that he has the chance to hit for average and for power as well as use his speed and that he will stay up the middle at second base at the next level as reasons for ranking him first.

“Both are incredible talents,” one National League executive said about Bazzana and Condon. “There’s a consistency in Bazzana’s approach that he’s displayed over the year compared to Condon.”

“He’s the best hitter in the class with a chance to play on the dirt,” an NL scouting director said.

“He has the highest floor with significant ceiling,” a general manager put it succinctly.

Condon, who was the clear No. 2, getting a dozen second-place votes, had his fair share of support, pointing to the other-worldly numbers he’s put up and that there could be some ceiling there.

“He’s had the best year in a long time in the best conference in baseball,” another NL scouting director said. “He can do it all with the bat.”

“He’s the best college hitter who still has some areas to project improvements,” an American League scouting director said.

What do the overall standings look like? Using a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring system, the top 10 looks like this:

Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State: 245
Charlie Condon, OF/3B, Georgia: 225
Chase Burns, RHP, Wake Forest: 177
Jac Caglianone, 1B/LHP, Florida: 156
Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest: 134
JJ Wetherholt, SS/2B, West Virginia: 120
Hagen Smith, LHP, Arkansas: 118
Braden Montgomery, OF, Texas A&M: 106
Bryce Rainer, SS, Harvard-Westlake HS (Calif.): 74
Konnor Griffin, SS/OF, Jackson Prep (Miss.): 66

Those responding to the survey were given the option to pick someone else to put in the top 10 beyond this group, and five others did get some votes. East Carolina right-hander Trey Yesavage received an eighth-place vote, Tennessee second baseman Christian Moore and Arizona prep lefty Cam Caminiti each got ninth-place votes, and Oklahoma State outfielder Carson Benge and Iowa right-hander Brody Brecht each received a tenth-place vote.

Beyond the ranking of the top of the Draft, the survey included a number of other questions looking at different demographics of the class as well as an overall evaluation of this year’s crop of prospects.

Who is the best high school pitcher in this class?

Cam Caminiti, LHP, Saguaro HS (Ariz): 50%
William Schmidt, RHP, Catholic HS (La.): 16.67%
Ryan Sloan, RHP, York HS (Ill.): 16.67%
Kash Mayfield, LHP, Elk City HS (Okla): 12.5%
Chris Levonas, RHP, Christian Brothers HS (NJ): 4.17%

Who is the best catcher in this class?

Caleb Lomavita, Cal: 45.83%
Walker Janek, Sam Houston: 41.67%
Malcolm Moore, Stanford: 8.33%
Jacob Cozart, NC State: 4.17%

How would you grade out this Draft class on a 20-to-80 scouting scale?

Average: 44.6 (25 votes total)
40: 11
50: 7
45: 4
30: 1
55: 1
60: 1