Detroit Tigers 2022 MLB Draft: Picks, bonus pool, slot values

The 2022 MLB Draft is in the books and the Detroit Tigers made 19 picks. The Athletic has comprehensive live coverage of the 20-round, three-day event, including top-100 prospect rankings, mock drafts, prospect profiles, team-by-team analysis and much more. Find out how much the Tigers fared in the draft and much more…

How did the Tigers do in the draft?

Everyone thought the Tigers were going college bat, and they did, taking Texas Tech second baseman Jace Jung (1), the younger brother of Rangers prospect Josh Jung. Jace Jung has a really weird setup at the plate, pointing the bat head back and up, like maybe he thinks lightning is going to come down from behind the stadium and put some electricity into his bat, but he makes it work for him — he’s hit everywhere, for average and power, while also getting on base a ton. He walked about 40 percent more often than he struck out. He’s not great at second base but if he hits like this I think you can live with it. Oklahoma shortstop Peyton Graham (2) changed his swing and setup partway through the season and hit far better after that, showing more power and less swing-and-miss. He’s a plus runner who might stay at shortstop and could probably handle center. He does have some vulnerabilities at the plate that he’ll have to work on, but he has above-average regular upside with his power, speed, and improved contact rates.

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Right-hander Troy Melton (4) is a senior from San Diego State who’s 91-96 mph with two average-ish secondaries, but it plays down because hitters see the ball well, and he had a lot of trouble with left-handed hitters this year even with a decent changeup. He gave up only two homers in 11 starts all spring, but I think he’s going to have more trouble with the longball in the minors. Second baseman Luke Gold (5) makes a lot of contact, especially against fastballs, but has fringy power and doesn’t walk much. He has no load and no stride, so even with all that contact he doesn’t drive the ball much. I do think there’s more here than the stat line shows and it’s a good pick in the fifth round. Lefty Jake Miller (8) looks like he might have some projection remaining even as a college junior. The Valparaiso southpaw is mostly 89-91 mph but has some life on it, and if he gains a little arm speed, the slider might end up solid-average, as well. His delivery is good enough for a starter. Georgia Tech first baseman Andrew Jenkins (9) has power and might be able to play another position, but his ball/strike recognition is nowhere close to where it needs to be. He’s a good gamble in this spot, too.

Keith Law’s American League draft report card

The Athletic selects the most intriguing draft pick from each team

Tigers draft bonus pool

$8,024,900 — 18th-largest bonus pool in this draft
Source: MLB.com

Tigers draft picks with top-10 round slot values

(bonus amounts from MLB.com)

Round 1, Pick No. 12: Jace Jung, 3B/2B, Texas Tech (signed: $4,590,000 / slot value: $4,590,000)
Scouting Report: Jung has one of the weirdest setups you will ever see in a hitter above Little League, holding the bat so far behind his back shoulder that you’d think it was covered in a toxic fungus. Or perhaps cooties. Yet he hits — he hit well enough as a sophomore in 2021, with a .337/.462/.697 line and more walks than strikeouts, that he probably would have gone in the top half of the first round last year had he been eligible. The younger brother of Rangers prospect Josh Jung, Jace gets the bat head into the zone in plenty of time to make consistent, high-quality contact, including power, with 21 homers as a sophomore and 14 this season. His position is still the main question; he’s mostly played second base in college, not that well, but doesn’t have the arm for the left side of the infield or the speed to play anywhere else but left field or first base. There’s enough reason to buy his bat that he’s going to go in the top-10 picks even with such a huge unknown in his profile.

Round 2, Pick No. 51: Peyton Graham, SS, Oklahoma (signed: $1,800,000 / pick slot value: $1,509,800)
Scouting Report: A midseason swing adjustment that has him staying back more with less extra movement turned Graham from a guy who might have gone back for his senior year to a potential day one pick. Graham was hitting .282/.351/.541 through the end of March, with a 27 percent strikeout rate; since then, he’s hit .370/.454/.721 (through June 10) with a 17 percent strikeout rate, even though most of that latter period was in the Big 12. He’s a plus runner who has played a ton of third and shortstop plus a little outfield on the Cape, with enough of a chance to stay at short that he’ll almost certainly start his pro career there. Even with the changes to his approach, he still has some swing and miss concerns, especially on sliders, and probably isn’t a quick-through-the-minors guy. His upside as an above-average regular at short or third could be enough to get him into the late first round.

Round 3: Pick forfeited for signing Eduardo Rodriguez

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Round 4, Pick No. 117: Troy Melton, RHP, San Diego State (signed: $517,900 / pick slot value: $517,900)

Round 5, Pick No. 147: Luke Gold, 3B, Boston College (signed: $386,900 / pick slot value: $386,900)
Scouting Report: Gold doesn’t swing and miss much, and almost never missed a fastball this year, but he’s never really hit for average in three seasons with Boston College, and with fringy power and a walk rate under 10 percent, he needs to do more damage on all that contact he’s making. He has a no-load, no-strike approach, with a toe tap as a timing mechanism but no real weight transfer, which might be why he can’t translate his impressive bat control into better results, especially on non-fastballs. He’s played mostly second base for the Eagles with a little bit of third, and if someone can turn all this contact into more production, he could be a solid regular at either spot.

Round 6, Pick No. 177: Danny Serretti, SS, North Carolina (signed: $293,900 / pick slot value: $293,900)

Round 7, Pick No. 207: Seth Stephenson, OF, Tennessee (signed: $300,000 / pick slot value: $229,800)

Round 8, Pick No. 237: Jake Miller, LHP, Valparaiso (signed: $150,000 / pick slot value: $183,900)

Round 9, Pick No. 267: Andrew Jenkins, 1B, Georgia Tech (signed: $162,900 / pick slot value: $162,900)

Round 10, Pick No. 297: Trevin Michael, RHP, Oklahoma (signed: $50,000 / pick slot value: $153,000)

Rd. 11, Pick No. 327: Joe Miller, LHP, Penn (signed)

Rd. 12, Pick No. 357: Cole Stupp, RHP, Kentucky (signed: $125,000)

Rd. 13, Pick No. 387: Dom Johnson, OF, Kansas State (signed: $180,000 / $55,000 counts towards bonus pool)

Rd. 14, Pick No. 417: Joe Adametz, LHP, Liberty (signed: $130,000 / $5,000 counts towards bonus pool)

Rd. 15, Pick No. 447: Patrick Pridgen, RHP, Florida International (signed: $125,000)

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Rd. 16, Pick No. 477: Quinn Gudaitis, RHP, Illinois—Springfield (signed: $75,000)

Rd. 17, Pick No. 507: Cole Patten, RHP, Villanova (signed: $35,000)

Rd. 18, Pick No. 537: Chris Williams, OF, William Carey Uni. (signed)

Rd. 19, Pick No. 567: Albert Oliva, RHP, New Mexico Military Institute (signed)

Rd. 20, Pick No. 597: Drew Conover, RHP, Seton Hall

Source: MLB.com

Dates, location and times

The 2022 MLB Draft is a three-day event spanning Sunday through Tuesday of MLB All-Star weekend in Los Angeles. The Sunday evening kickoff includes the first two rounds and will be held live with representatives from each team on hand, as well as several potential draft picks and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.

When: July 17, at 7pm EST; July 18, at 2pm EST; July 19, at 2pm EST
Where: Los Angeles
TV: MLB Network (first 80 picks) and ESPN (first round)

Top prospect rankings and mock draft

Druw Jones leads Keith Law’s latest top-100 prospect ranking.

Will the Orioles go with best player available for the top pick? How will the Mets approach their two top-15 picks? The Athletic’s MLB staff weighs in with a first-round mock draft.

Get all of our latest draft coverage here.

Tigers draft preview

How might Detroit approach this year’s draft? Could the Tigers be interested in a college pitcher like Conner Prielipp?

MLB Draft explainer

How does the draft bonus pool work? And why can’t all picks be traded?

(Photo of top pick Jace Jung: Rick Scuteri / Associated Press)

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