MLB: Sydney born baseball star Travis Bazzana is projected to go top 5 in the Major League draft next year, as his season with the Beavers finished with excellence.
Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana is set to make Australian sporting history on Monday morning as the country’s first player to be taken in the opening round of the Major League Baseball draft.
While it is obviously a momentous achievement, it is only the start of what Bazzana is hoping to achieve after tellinglate last year that he is “a long way from where I want to take it in terms of the impact back home”. With that in mind, for those familiar with the sport and those less familiar who are looking to follow Bazzana’s journey from this point, here is everything you need to know ahead of the draft! When will Travis Bazzana have his name called? Watch the 2024 MLB Draft LIVE on ESPN via Kayo. New to Kayo?But if you would prefer a brief summary instead, the 21-year-old grew up playing baseball and cricket — and he was pretty good at both. In the end, he decided to continue down the baseball path because that was the sport he was most passionate about and it showed in the way Bazzana, even in his teenage years, consistently looked for ways to improve his game and make a name for himself in Australia. He is now potentially going to be selected first overall in Monday’s draft but at this stage appears to be a lock to go inside the top four picks.At this stage, it looks like Bazzana will either go first overall to the Cleveland Guardians or drop to fourth and be taken by the Oakland Athletics.If the teams were selecting the best player available, most experts seem to agree Georgia’s Charlie Condon would be the pick of the bunch as the best power hitter in the class. It doesn’t always work that way though, as there is not a mandatory figure that must be paid by each team to the respective prospect they take in the draft. Instead, at times, there is a negotiation process involved as teams explore both ability and signability. In case you weren’t aware, each pick inside the first 10 rounds of the MLB Draft is assigned a slot value, which is the recommended signing bonus for that selection. All of those slot values for each pick in the first 10 rounds is added up to determine every team’s bonus pool. In the case of the Guardians, they have a record bonus pool of $18,334,000 , with the first overall pick coming with a slot value of $10,570,600 , which is up 8.7 per cent from last season. So, Cleveland has been doing due diligence on a wide range of scenarios, including one which could involve taking West Virginia’s JJ Wetherholt at an underslot deal.The perception, meanwhile, is that Condon, who won college baseball’s prestigious Golden Spikes award Wetherholt looks to be the other leading contender alongside Bazzana for the first overall pick and don’t be mistaken into thinking he isn’t that talented either. He was at the front of the conversation for the No.1 pick back in spring before a recurring hamstring injury hurt his draft stock.If Bazzana does not end up going first overall and it is instead Wetherholt who has his name called, Condon is expected to be taken second by Cincinnati while pitcher Chase Burns has routinely been mocked to the Rockies at third overall. That would leave the Athletics to take Bazzana, who could be the face of the franchise by the time they make their move to Las Vegas.Bazzana could theoretically sign on for less than the $10,570,600 Cleveland has allotted to the first overall pick, although if he slides to the Athletics at No.4 he is going to be signing at the $8,370,800 slot value assigned to Oakland. Given Bazzana is not expected to go beyond fourth overall, here are the signing bonuses he is looking at with each respective team at the top of the draft:, which had Bazzana going No.1: “Since we’ve gotten in the habit of assigning percentages to the possible outcomes with this pick, I’ll update mine: Bazzana 34 percent, Condon 33 percent, Wetherholt 32 percent, the field 1 percent. As mentioned above, those are just educated guesses.”, which had Bazzana going No.1: “The last I heard about Cleveland had them still considering a very long — too long? — list of options for this pick, north of a half-dozen names, although I think Bazzana, Charlie Condon, and JJ Wetherholt may be the top tier, possibly including Jac Caglianone as well. The Wetherholt rumour has been flying this week with a $2 million discount attached. If you believe his hamstring injuries are not a harbinger of future durability issues, it’s a smart play.”, which had Bazzana going No.4: “There have been a lot of college names linked with the A’s. Whichever bats don’t go before should be in play here, with Bazzana being the best available in this scenario.”The top overall pick in an NBA or NFL draft, or even a player taken in the first round, is likely to see playing time right away, depending what position they are playing of course. In baseball though, players have to work their way up through the minor leagues before potentially getting a start in the majors. In the case of Bazzana, the fact he is going to be taken so high in this year’s draft obviously increases the likelihood that he will make it to the majors. For example, Paul Skenes, who was the first overall pick in last year’s draft, had to wait 308 days since he was drafted by Pittsburgh to make his debut — and that was the third fastest jump a No.1 pick had made to the majors. All of this is to say Australians will have to be patient to see Bazzana playing in the big time, although the Sydney native has the kind of high floor and pro mindset that should make the transition a relatively smooth one and he is widely expected to potentially be ready by mid-2025.WHAT DID HIS OREGON STATE CAREER LOOK LIKE IN NUMBERS?
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