Here's my big review of everything that happened in this week's 2022 MLB draft.
There are a few things to know as you read about this year's prospects, how they fit with their new teams and also a little behind the scenes on bigger-picture strategy and stuff I was hearing around the draft:
There was a single-digit number of players I wanted to move after publishing my final list a week or so before the draft. I'll call out those names in the pick analysis. There are also about 60 players who were hovering around the end of the top 300 to be added when/if players pulled their names out of the draft, so I've included them as honorable mentions (HM) and I tossed in a few extras who weren't in that group if I found them of interest for some other reason.
You can think of the players ranked Nos. 251-300 and HM as those just off the MLB team prospect lists, with a chance to move on based on the summer/fall information to come. It would take a considerable amount of new information (happens a few times per draft) for a player not listed here to make a team list this winter.
Included in that summer/fall information is something that happens maybe a dozen times every year. Teams will excitedly tell me about a player they knew more about than the others (and obviously, me) and it becomes clear I was light on him (usually paired with a stronger-than-expected pro debut). There's also the Cleveland/Minnesota-style of college pitcher who immediately starts throwing harder in pro ball (change of mechanics, rest, usage, etc.) or the college hitter who quickly makes a mechanical/mental adjustment after signing.
Over 95% of top-10-round picks will sign, and when they don't, it's usually due to a medical that surprises both parties, so they're obviously hard to see coming at this point. Beyond the 10th round, most college players will sign, but any high schooler or top-200 prospect is at least a question as to whether he will sign. In most cases, I could probably guess which are low-to-mid-six-figure bonuses with deals done ahead of time and which are backup plans that almost certainly won't be signed, but I'm not always sure on draft day.
On the notation, "(1/2) 1. Druw Jones" below means Round 1, overall pick 2, overall ranking 1. The FV grade (and corresponding Top 100 ranking) allows you to slot players into the team lists (AL and NL preseason lists, updated farm rankings).
Rankings 3.0: Top 300 2022 MLB draft prospects
Jump to a team:
American League
BAL | BOS | CHW | CLE | DET
HOU | KC | LAA | MIN | NYY
OAK | SEA | TB | TEX | TOR
National League
ARI | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL
LAD | MIA | MIL | NYM | PHI
PIT | SD | SF | STL | WSH