It’s impossible to grade or gauge a draft class before these players have had the chance to develop into professional athletes. With that being said, a handful of teams do standout with their process, their philosophy in the draft, and their willingness to follow a model. These are six draft classes that really stood out in 2022.
Houston Astros
The Astros had a first and second round draft pick this year for the first time since 2019 and they took full advantage, flexing their full bonus pool landing a myriad of exciting prospects. Drew Gilbert in round one leads the charge, a guy I expected to go about ten picks sooner. Gilbert is similar to Miles Straw and Chas McCormick, but far more naturally gifted. The Astros should be able to turn him into a potential 15-15 guy with a strong glove in center. Jacob Melton had no business lasting until pick 64. More extra value. Andrew Taylor and Michael Knorr both have starting pitcher upside with great arms. As you work your way down the board, it's clear they followed a model, selecting high-upside talents with interesting metric data in one area or another. Arms like AJ Blubaugh, Trey Dombrowski and Tyler Guilfoil have upside. Their ability to land a ~Top 100 talent in Ryan Clifford in the 11th round really was the cherry on top. From this chair, nearly half their draft already has a clear and present path to a big league role, and that’s crowning achievement at this early stage.
Cleveland Guardians
The Guardians have a type. They’ve had a type for a long time. They have a model and they follow that model religiously. 2022 may be their pièce de resistance.
Chase DeLauter in the first round was a money pick. There’s present value, there’s upside, there’s five tools. It’s all there. If you buy into the swing mechanics (I do) then there’s not a whole lot to worry about here. He’ll be a fun development project for the Guardians. Justin Campbell was a great Guardians type of pick in Comp Round A. They’ll maximize his ability and metrics. I loved the Joe Lampe and Nate Furman picks. That’s two guys who can really hit and really run. There’s a path to a big league role in both of them. As you go down the list, Javier Santos is a fun bullpen project with a really special arm. Jackson Humphries flashed significant potential this spring before losing the strike zone; a good gamble. Jacob Zibin is probably the best starter prep selected by the Guardians. A lot of folks were surprised Zibin last that long and had him tabbed as a 3rd round talent. On day three, the Guardians leaned hard into hit tool. Pres Cavenaugh, Angel Zarate and Tyrese Turner all graded out extremely well at Prospects Live. If nothing else, they’ll put bat to ball, and that conceivably gives them a path up the development ladder. Magnus Ellerts, Jack Jasiak and Adam Tulloch all ranked among the Top 500 prospects for us, so naturally, we’re buying in. 21 picks. 13 thumbs up.
Baltimore Orioles
Hard to be critical of a class headlined by Jackson Holliday. But the Orioles parlayed that pick into several more high-profile selections with intriguing data and traits I feel comfortable the team can lean on as the player moves up the ladder. We’ll gloss over Holliday because, frankly, he’s immediately a Top 100 prospect and presents 5-tool upside. Dylan Beavers, Max Wagner and Jud Fabian all have pieces of their swing decision metrics and/or batted-ball data that can be leveraged. Each of them have things to iron out, but each of them also intrinsically present abilities that can be almost impossible to teach. I liked the Silas Ardoin pick in round four. Ardoin is a catch-and-throw backstop with a sneaky hit tool and some raw power. Feel pretty comfortable there is a platoon floor here, maybe more. Baltimore really keyed in on arms with fun release traits or pitch shapes. Trace Bright, Preston Johnson, Zack Showalter and Graham Firoved are all unique looks in the batter’s box with varying degrees of starter viability. Throw in Doug Hodo III and Adam Crampton, two decorated defenders with bat-to-ball skills, and you’ve got a class that not only presents floor, but premium player development opportunities.
Boston Red Sox
I’ll kick this off by saying what I’m thinking out loud. I’m not sure if/how Boston will afford some of these prep talents, but if they pull it off, bravo. Mikey Romero was one of my favorite prospects in this draft class in terms of on-field ability and off-field makeup. A fantastic under-slot in round one. Couple that pick with Cutter Coffey, a prep shortstop I was higher on than most, and we’re off and cooking. Coffey has better feet and actions around the ball than I believe most give him credit for. The industry agrees, however, the bat is going to play. The Red Sox were able to continue diving into the prep shortstop pool as the days went on selecting Travis Sanders and Gavin Kilen in later rounds. We’ll see if all four are attainable. Elsewhere on the bluechip market, outfielder Roman Anthony and catcher Brooks Brannon are both offense-first preps with big power and a feel for hit. All of these could conceivably blossom into Top 100 prospects over time. On the college level, I love Dalton Rogers. That’s a highly decorated lefty with a whippy arm and undervalued stuff. He’s a big leaguer. Noah Dean, Alex Hoppe and Jonathan Brand all have appealing data and a carrying pitch that, if developed well, make for Role 4 types on a big league roster. Chase Meidroth hits absolutely everything, and while he doesn’t slug and is fringy at second base, he’s got a super-utility, Quad-A hit-only floor. A budget Adam Frazier. Hayden Mullins can be an explosive reliever with a good slider if Boston can get him in the strike zone. There may not be another class in this draft with the upside the Red Sox were able to acquire.
Chicago White Sox
Admittedly, I wrote this class off after their first pick. I love Noah Schultz. I think he’s the third-best prep arm in this class with the ceiling neither Dylan Lesko nor Brock Porter possess. But I thought the cost was going to be so prohibitive, it would crush their later rounds. I was wrong. In the second round, Peyton Pallette may end up a first round value as he fully recovers from TJ. He’s got a lightning quick arm, elite-level spin rates on the curveball and a heater up to 99 that hops. A whole lot of Walker Buehler in the Arkansas hurler. As we move down their board, I’m not entirely sure why Jonathan Cannon would last until round three. He’s got plus command, up to 97 with a budding slider, an average changeup and a cutter he’s just scratching the surface with. It’s no. 3 starter upside. I like the floor Jordan Sprinkle presents defensively. By all accounts, his down year at the plate isn’t indicative of the offensive player he can become. Eric Adler in the sixth round is risky. He may never get past Double-A. But if he figures out his command, he might have the best pure stuff in college baseball. Bar none. It’s high-leverage, lockdown closer stuff. I think catcher Michael Turner is a sleeper in this class, much like Charlie Welch was for the Mariners in 2021. Just didn’t get the runway over his college career to impress scouts. Tim Elko and Jacob Burke are both good hitters, the latter providing some defensive value in the field. Elko is a DH-or-bust type, but a PR dream. Elsewhere on day three, Brooks Baldwin and Bryce Willits can really hit. Billy Seidl is one of the bigger relief sleepers in this class with outstanding release traits and a fastball that explodes at the top of the zone. If the White Sox can wrangle him in to even fringe-average command, he’s got 8th inning upside.
Toronto Blue Jays
I like how the Blue Jays leaned on what they develop well and stuck to their guns in this draft. They’ll turn Tucker Toman and his impressive bat speed into a Top 100 prospect. Brandon Barriera is essentially a souped-up version of Ricky Tiedemann without the present polish. Josh Kasevich and Cade Doughty can really, really hit and I think both will be optimized in the Toronto system. Kasevich is one of my favorite selections in this entire draft. I think Alan Roden has massive offensive upside and Peyton Williams could be the next Rowdy Tellez is his strikeout warts are truly behind him. On the mound, the Blue Jays got one of the better sliders in the class in Mason Fluharty. Devereaux Harrison is one of the absolute weirdest looks a hitter can get with his extreme, insanely low release height whilst maintaining an over-the-top slot. I’m not sure another team in the draft did better on the first two days of this draft than did Toronto. Beyond those names, the likes of Dylan Rock, Pat Gallagher, and Bo Bonds are site-favorites at Prospects Live. There’s a path to becoming big leaguers for those guys.