Who will go No. 1 overall in the Draft? Here are the odds
Tick-tock. The Draft is approaching fast, set to start Sunday, July 9, and to be broadcast live from Seattle with a pregame show at 6 p.m. ET on MLB Network, MLB.com, ESPN and ESPN+. Every pick on Day 2 (Monday at 2 p.m. ET) and Day 3 (Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET) will stream on MLB.com.
For Draft-eligible players, the big moment probably can't come soon enough. And that's especially likely to be the case for prospects with a legitimate shot to hear their name called by the Pirates with the very first pick.
There is industry consensus that two of the five highest-ranked prospects are LSU teammates -- right-hander Paul Skenes (Pipeline's No. 1 Draft prospect) and outfielder Dylan Crews (No. 2). But this is not one of those classes with one player who stands head and shoulders above all of his peers, and so predicting who will go No. 1 overall is a complicated endeavor. Any number of factors may tilt one elite prospect over another in one scout's estimation, while another scout may see the situation differently. Variables other than the evaluation of a single player may also influence Pittsburgh's first-round decision to some degree.
So, who will go first overall? In short, we don't know.
But Draft experts Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo did discuss the subject in detail in the MLB Pipeline Podcast. Here are their best estimations of the odds for every player with a real chance to get taken off the board first, complete with estimated bonuses:
39% -- Dylan Crews, OF, LSU (No. 2 on Top 25): The majority of teams would take Crews No. 1, and most teams also think the Pirates will. The Pirates' next pick isn't until No. 42, and they have the biggest bonus pool ($16,185,700). Even if saving money early were a prime objective, there aren't a lot of reasonable picks that the first few teams could make to meet that objective -- this class has many players talented enough and deserving of first-round bonuses. There's also this: Crews is an incredible athlete with a 70-grade hit tool and 60-grade power and speed. He projects to get to the big leagues fast and be an impact player when he gets there.
Estimated bonus: $9.2 million
28% -- Paul Skenes, RHP, LSU (No. 1 on Top 250): The case for Skenes is pretty simple: Young, projectible starting pitchers of this caliber are ultra scarce. If you have the chance to get a guy like this in the Draft, the thinking goes, you don't monkey around. He's a 6-foot-6, 235-pound right-hander with a fastball that's touched 102 mph and a slider that generated absurd swing-and-miss rates in the college ranks -- and he also already has a solid changeup with fade. Down the road, it might cost a team $400 million to sign Skenes as a free agent. Why wait?
Estimated bonus: $9.1 million
19% -- Max Clark, OF, Franklin (Ind.) HS (No. 5 on Top 250): The best prospect ever produced by the Indiana high school ranks, he's got the most well-rounded toolset of any player mentioned here. He has average power, is a plus hitter and has well-above-average speed, arm and defense. Clark is also likely the most willing to take a deal to go No. 1 overall, which, although probably not as big a factor this year as it might be others, works in his favor.
Estimated bonus: $7.8 million
12% -- Wyatt Langford, OF, Florida (No. 3 on Top 250): There's a non-zero percent chance that Langford gets an edge over Crews on the basis of ease of negotiating and perceived value of signing. But there are also people in the industry who prefer Langford's game. The Florida slugger has more power, and there's a strong chance his game and projectability would have had him as the favorite for No. 1 overall in, for example, the Draft of 2021.
Estimated bonus: $8.7 million
2% -- Walker Jenkins, OF, South Brunswick (N.C.) HS (No. 4 on Top 250): Jenkins would come out of college looking a lot like Langford looks today, but he's ticketed for pro ball rather than the college ranks. He also figures to be the least likely to take a deal, and he won't need to. Still, there's a slight chance the Pirates see something in his profile -- he has a 60-grade hit tool, 60-grade power and a 60-grade arm -- and the player he might develop into through the Minors that convinces them to go all in on him.
Estimated bonus: $8 million