Baseball America

Carlos and Peter hop on the pod to talk draft.The two discuss the recently announced slot values and bonus pools for the 2024 draft. How does having more than $18 million dollars in pool money impact a team like the Guardians picking 1-1? Other teams like the D-backs have a relatively large amount of money to work with considering their first pick, while the Cardinals are on the other end of the spectrum with relatively little inside the top 10.After that the two talk through a staff draft that they did with JJ Cooper, Geoff Pontes and Ben Badler. Which picks were surprises? What was our thought process for each of our individual picks? And how does the class seem to be shaping up now? Finally Peter gives a preview of the 2026 college class after dropping his first ranking of that group on the site this week.—Time Stamps4:00 Bonus Pool overview7:20 Why the D-backs are a team to watch at the back of the draft11:15 How Cleveland and Cincinnati have operated differently with pool money16:47 Staff draft conversat