An update on which Guardians draft picks have agreed to a deal
Every pick through the end of round 10 of the MLB draft has a slot value. This is sort of a recommended signing bonus for each of those picks. The number one overall pick has a slot value of $10.57 million this year, all the way down to the final few picks of the 10th round, which have a slot value of $178,800. Teams can still sign their draft picks for however much they want, but if their total expenditures on players in the first 10 rounds exceed the combined slot value of those picks, they are fined. If they exceed their budget by more than 5%, they forfeit a pick in next year’s draft.
It is important that teams draft some players they expect to sign for “below slot.” College seniors are the most likely players to do that, as they don’t have the option of staying in school and waiting to be drafted again. Drafting (and signing) such players frees up room to go “over slot” for players who aren’t going to sign unless there’s enough money on the table. This mostly applies to top high school players, all of whom have scholarship offers they can take instead of signing.
Cleveland had 11 draft picks before the end of round 10 this year, but by winning the draft lottery with the first overall pick, they had the most money to work with in MLB Draft history. With their 11 picks in the first round, they drafted seven college players and four high school players. For 2024 (counting the 5% overage, which they usually use), the Guardians’ total draft pool amount was $19,250,700.
Here are those players, along with other pertinent information, the most important item being whether or not they’ve agreed to a deal yet, and if so, whether it’s above or below their slot value:
The first 10 rounds of the MLB draft aren’t the only ones that matter, of course. Cleveland has hit some home runs in previous years on day three, which is composed of rounds 11-20. Any player drafted in rounds 11-20 can be offered up to $150,000 to sign. The Guardians are allowed to offer more than $150,000, of course, but the extra money will be deducted from the team’s total draft pool for rounds 1-10. In rounds 11-20, the Guardians drafted one high school player and nine college players.
Here are how rounds 11-20 have panned out thus far and who has signed:
