It was a potentially-good Day 1 for VU in the MLB Draft
Day 1 of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft is done, and it was one with a mixed outcome.
The bad: Vanderbilt saw four prized commitments—pitchers Ryan Weathers and Ethan Hankins, infielder Xavier Edwards and catcher Will Banfield—taken in the first 68 picks.
The good: a bunch of premium recruits—pitcher Kumar Rocker, the 23rd-best player in the draft by MLB Pipeline, wasn’t picked, nor were Nick Northcut (81), Ryder Green (82), Brett Hansen (94) or Austin Becker (95). And even in the bad, it was entirely expected that those four would be picked on Monday.
The Commodores are far from out of the woods on the un-drafted five, yet. Any could be picked in Wednesday’s portion, which goes through Round 10, and still sign for a hefty amount of money, particularly if that player is picked by a team saving money in its bonus pool elsewhere.
But, getting Rocker and Becker through the first night could be an excellent sign.
Rocker, mentioned as a potential top-10 pick before the season, could have commanded a signing bonus of $3 million or more. The Georgia high school senior is 6-foot-5, 250 pounds and has touched 98 with his fastball.
Slots for signing bonuses starting with Tuesday’s phase of the draft will start around $750,000 and fall below a half-million starting with Round 4. In other words, a team willing to take Rocker will likely need significant savings elsewhere.
Becker has said he won’t sign for less than seven figures.
Vanderbilt didn’t have a player on its current roster selected.
San Diego took Loretto (Tenn.) left-handed pitcher Weathers, the Tennessee Player of the Year, at seventh overall. Slot value for that pick is $5.2 million. Weathers is the son of former MLB pitcher David Weathers.
Hankins went off the board to the Indians at No. 35 overall, with a slot value of about $2.02 million. Most reputable mock drafts had Hankins going about 10-20 picks higher.
Edwards, who attended the draft, went 38th overall to San Diego. That pick comes with a slot value of $1,878,300.
Banfield went 69th overall to Miami, where slot value is $894,600.
It'll likely be tough to get any of those four to campus, though not impossible.
The draft resumes on Tuesday and includes Rounds 3-10. Coverage starts at 11:30 a.m. Central at MLB.com.
Players taken from Rounds 10 to 40--that phase comes on Wednesday--may only be paid $125,000; any money over that is counted against a team’s bonus pool.
Commitments of other Southeastern Conference players drafted on Monday included:
Carter Stewart (Braves, No. 8 overall, pitcher, Mississippi State commit)
Grayson Rodriguez (Orioles, pitcher, Texas A&M)
Connor Scott (Marlins, 13, outfielder, Florida)
Cole Winn (Rangers, 15, right-handed pitcher, MSU)
Brice Turang (Brewers, shortstop, LSU)
Anthony Seigler (Yankees, 23, catcher, Florida)
Mason Denaburg (Nationals, 27, pitcher, Florida)
Noah Naylor (Indians, 29, catcher, Florida)
J.T. Ginn (Dodgers, 30, pitcher, MSU)
Gunnar Hoglund (Pirates, 36, pitcher, Ole Miss)
Lyon Richardson (Reds, 47, pitcher, Florida)
Owen White (Rangers, 55, pitcher, South Carolina)
Jeremiah Jackson (Diamondbacks, shortstop, MSU)
Joe Gray (Brewers, outfield, Ole Miss)
Current SEC players drafted included:
Auburn pitcher Casey Mize (Tigers, No. 1)
Florida third baseman Jonathan India (Reds. 5)
Florida pitcher Brady Singer (Royals, 18)
Ole Miss pitcher Ryan ‘Rolison (Rockies, 22)
Florida pitcher Jackson Kowar (Royals, 34)
Kentucky pitcher Sean Hjelle (Giants, 45)
Texas A&M pitcher Mitchell Kilkenny (Rockies, 76)