Guardians make the No. 1 pick in the 2024 MLB Draft

NEW YORK (AP/WJW) — Charlie Condon, a walk-on at Georgia who became national player of the year, and Travis Bazzana, a former cricket player who left Australia for Oregon State, were highly touted as the top two picks in baseball’s amateur draft going into Sunday night.

Cleveland had the top choice for the first time after winning the draft lottery in December and Cincinnati selected second.

Cleveland ended up going with Bazzana and Cincinnati chose pitcher Chase Burns out of Wake Forest, respectively.

“The general consensus is that it’s probably close to an average draft year,” Philadelphia Phillies assistant general manager of amateur scouting Brian Barber said. “I don’t think it’s a secret, you’re going to see the top half of the draft dominated by college position players.”

Bazzana, a 21-year-old second baseman, batted .407 with 28 homers and 66 RBIs.

While most draft picks spend years in the minors, there are exceptions. Third baseman Nolan Schanuel made his major league debut last Aug. 18 , 40 days after the Los Angeles Angels drafted him 11th overall, and Texas outfielder Wyatt Langford was on this year’s opening-day roster.

Top pick Paul Skenes made his debut for Pittsburgh on May 11 and is 6-0 with a 1.90 ERA in 11 starts. He is set to start Tuesday night’s All-Star Game with the fewest big league appearances for an All-Star .

Players who reside in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico are subject to the draft. Those with remaining college eligibility may sign until Aug. 1 at 5 p.m. EDT, with the remainder having until a week before the 2025 draft.

Only one player chosen in the first 10 rounds failed to reach an agreement last year : UC Irvine outfielder Caden Kendle returned for his senior year after he was selected by St. Louis in the 10th round with the 305th pick.

Bonus pools total $334.38 million, up 8.8% from $307.34 million in 2023. Spending on drafted players came to $350.1 million plus an additional $8.2 million on passed over players for a total of $358.3 million. Pools cover picks in the first 10 rounds, and the first $150,000 of any bonus after the 10th round doesn’t count against the total.

Cleveland, which also picks 36th and 48th, has the largest pool at $18,334,000. Colorado is next at $17.2 million, followed by Cincinnati ($15.8 million), Kansas City ($15.4 million) and Oakland ($15.3 million).

Houston ($5.9 million), the Los Angeles Dodgers ($6.1 million) and Texas (just under $7 million) have the lowest pools.

No team has ever exceeded its signing bonus pool by more than 5%, which would have caused the loss of a first-round pick in following year’s draft.

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