Draft
Jac Caglianone. Draft Prospect. Courtesy of University of Florida.

2024 MLB Draft Profile: Jac Caglianone

By / / 2024 MLB Draft, Minors

NAME: Jac Caglianone
SCHOOL: Florida
POSITION: 1B/LHP
HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6-5, 230 pounds
B/T: L/L
D.O.B.: 2/9/2003

Draft Scouting Report

Jac Caglianone was the 38th ranked player out of high school according to Perfect Game in 2021. The four year letter winner and two-time All State representative attended Henry B. Plant High School in South Tampa. It’s a public high school named after the famous railroad and hotel tycoon and it opened in 1927. There are more than 2,500 students who call themselves Panthers in Florida. Pete Alonso (New York Mets), Wade Boggs and Kyle Tucker (Houston Astros) attended the school as well as Green Bay Packers’ wide receiver Christian Watson. Alonso’s presence is interesting as Caglianone has earned comparisons to him.

Caglianone was a Golden Spikes Award finalist this year with the award ultimately going to Georgia slugger Charlie Condon. He was also named the preseason two-way player of the year by Perfect Game. The 6-5, 230 pounder was a preseason First Team All American as well. The Florida slugger also played for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team.

MLB Pipeline ranks Jac Caglianone as the #3 overall player in the 2024 draft class. The publication noted that the All American is the best two way player in the country. They also write that he possesses “standout tools as a hitter and a pitcher but it’s been noted that scouts prefer his bat over his left arm. The physical, 6-5 slugger has the best left-handed power in the entire class. Cags displays an aggressive approach in the batters box while producing very high chase rates despite significantly decreasing his strikeout rate.

The 21-year-old provides lots of hard contact and he also plays solid defense at first base. There’s a chance that Caglianone could be serviceable in an outfield corner but he’s been a first baseman while also pitching for the University of Florida. Caglianone has already had Tommy John surgery but he throws a triple-digit 70-grade fastball with high walk rates. He posted a 4.76 ERA this season while striking out 83 hitters in 73.2 innings. He has mashed 74 homers in three years in the SEC. Caglianone hit .413/.537/.868 with an 18% walk rate and 9% strikeout rate in 64 games in 2024. He posted a 1.126 OPS with an 18% strikeout rate in 2023.

Baseball America ranks Caglianone as the #7 overall player in the draft class. The publication cites the left-handed hitter’s “gargantuan raw power” and they note that he has the “highest pure upside in the class with legitimate two-way potential”. They also mentioned that Caglianone is a very polarizing prospect overall. He shows a “lengthy and steep swing” but he puts the ball in the air consistently while displaying high chase rates and questionable swing decisions often. Carlos Collazo recently joined the FutureSox podcast and he echoed some concerns about selecting the college star in the top five.

Why Would the White Sox Draft Jac Caglianone?

The Chicago White Sox recently met with Jac Caglianone at Guaranteed Rate Field. It likely doesn’t mean much as he could get selected before the club is on the board at #5 overall while the organization is likely bringing other prospects in for visits as well. The White Sox could be interested in the Florida slugger because their system seriously lacks the presence of power hitters and he’d immediately become the best power prospect in the entire system.

Draft
Mike Shirley via White Sox Zoom

Jac Caglianone also fits the timeline of other White Sox’s prospects. The franchise believes that Colson Montgomery, Bryan Ramos and Edgar Quero will soon be part of a new core on the south side. Caglianone’s potential timeline would match those players. The 6-5, 230 pound masher is one of the best prospects in the draft class as well. It’s another reason why the White Sox might be interested in the Florida product.

There are some potential drawbacks despite the supposed interest however. The White Sox have five of the top 107 picks in this draft including four of the top 78 selections. The club would likely prefer to save some money at #5 overall and not pay the full slot value to their first rounder. It doesn’t seem likely that Jac Caglianone would be willing to take an under-slot deal. It also can’t be ignored that while Cags is much different than failures of the past such as Andrew Vaughn and Spencer Torkelson, the first base archetype is a very risky one high in the draft.

Caglianone would immediately become one of the top prospects in the White Sox’s system while slotting in as one of the better first base prospects in the entire sport as well. His advanced skills would likely propel him to an immediate assignment in Low-A, where he could help the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers in their playoff run in an attempt to win the Carolina League championship.

Mock Draft Outcomes

At this point, it seems as if Florida’s Jac Caglianone will become a top five pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. In his most recent mock draft at ESPN, Kiley McDaniel projected the slugger to the White Sox at #5 overall. Carlos Collazo of Baseball America recently mocked the first baseman to the Chicago White Sox as well.

In version 2.0 at The Athletic, Keith Law mocked Caglianone to the Colorado Rockies at #3 overall and Joe Doyle of Future Stars Series did the same in Mock Draft 6.0. In my latest mock draft for FutureSox, I sent Cags to the Los Angeles Angels with the 8th overall pick. In the latest mock draft from Jim Callis at MLB Pipeline, he links Jac Caglianone to every team in the top five but projected him to the Cincinnati Reds with the #2 overall pick.