Auburn baseball has three current players, five signees drafted in 2023 MLB Draft

Pitcher Joseph Gonzalez and outfielder Bobby Peirce went undrafted and can both return to Auburn.

The Auburn Tigers might not have had as many players drafted as last year, but it's still a successful draft for Butch Thompson's squad. 

SS Cole Foster was drafted in the 3rd round (pick 85) by the San Francisco Giants - it's a slot value of about $820k, and Foster is expected to sign the contract. 3B Bryson Ware, who had a breakout season for the Tigers on his third season on the Plains after transferring in as a junior college shortstop, was taken in the 8th round (pick 253) by the Philadelphia Phillies. The slot value for pick 253 is $187k, although Ware lacks the typical leverage as he's exhausted his eligibility and those players are often offered smaller contracts by MLB teams. 

Reliever Chase Isbell was taken in the 15th round by the Kansas City Royals, at pick 439. It's the 2nd straight year the Royals have taken an Auburn pitcher, as they took Mason Barnett in the 3rd round last year. There's officially no slot value or limit to signing bonuses after the 11th round - anything over $150k is charged to the team's total signing pool, which is calculated by taking the slot values of all picks up to the 10th round. Any team that exceeds the total signing pool by more than 5% faces significant penalties, up to and including loss of future picks, and it functions as a hard cap on draft spending.  

In addition to the three current members of the roster, Auburn saw five incoming players also taken in the draft. Three members of the signing class - SS Colt Emerson, 2B Kevin McGonigle, and LHP Bjorn Johnson were all selected by MLB teams. 

Emerson was the first off the board, taken at pick 22 by the Seattle Mariners during a run of prep talent. That's a slot value of $3.50M, and he's expected to sign. Quickly following him was McGonigle, taken at pick 37 by the Detroit Tigers with a slot value of $2.31M. The common belief within the program during the season was that Auburn had a shot at getting one of the two to campus (and Emerson actually enrolled in summer classes) but it's expected that they will both sign and forgo their college eligibility, barring some sort of medical issue during pre-signing physicals. 

Both players were lauded as natural hitters, with McGonigle being considered the best prep hit tool in the draft and Emerson close behind. Both were in the 99th percentile in Perfect Game's max exit velocity leaderboards, despite suboptimal swing efficiency (McGonigle = 61%, Emerson = 73%) - this is actually a good thing, believe it or not, as it hints at more potential power development with some biomechanical tweaks and swing adjustments. 

Johnson, a left-handed prep pitcher in a draft that was lacking in that demographic, was taken in the 12th round by the Milwaukee Brewers. Again, no limit to what they can spend for a signing bonus, but any dollars in excess of $150,000 are charged to the overall signing pool for the team. Prep signees from the 11th round or later are generally considered to be more speculative than an day one or day two pick - there's no financial penalty for the team if the player declines to sign and goes to college like there is in the first half of the draft. There's a possibility he reports to campus, but negotiations will almost certainly wait to commence until the earlier picks (where there were three prep talents that will require overslot bonuses) have negotiated their deals. 

For incoming transfers, two were selected by MLB. Sam Mongelli, a shortstop from Sacred Heart that was projected to start for Auburn next spring, was taken in the 10th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers with pick 310. His selection carries a slot value of $164k and he is expected to sign. Dylan Watts, a right-handed pitcher from Tacoma CC in Washington State, was taken at pick 542 (18th round) by the Brewers. It is unknown whether or not he'll sign at this time - similar to Johnson, negotiations with higher round picks will determine how much money is available for Watts. 

Will they come back?

But the big story here - we've buried the lede - is who wasn't drafted. 

Auburn right-hander Joseph Gonzalez, who pitched for Team USA last summer and was expected to be Auburn's ace last season before a shoulder injury limited him to one start and five innings, was not selected by MLB in the twenty rounds. 

He went 7-4 with a 3.22 ERA in 2022 as the workhorse of a rotation that took Auburn to the College World Series - entering the 2023 season, he was seen as a Top 150 prospect after a strong summer with Team USA that saw him outperform several notable pitchers take highly this weekend, including 1st rounders Paul Skenes of LSU (#1 overall) and Rhett Lowder of Wake Forest (#7 overall). After a shoulder issue from last winter popped back up during pre-season workouts, he was shut down from throwing after his first start and never was able to get back on the mound, eventually having season-ending surgery on the shoulder later in the season. 

The other undrafted surprise was Bobby Peirce, an immensely talented outfielder who has battled through injuries during his time on the Plains. Dealing with both knee and hamstring injuries, he batted .343 with a career-high 45 games played in 2023. A redshirt senior, he has one remaining year of eligibility and would provide much needed continuity to an outfield that is losing longtime starting centerfielder (and team captain) Kason Howell as well as veterans Josh Hall and Justin Kirby to graduation. 

Other veterans who have eligibility remaining - either a graduate year or a COVID year - including catcher Nate LaRue and LHP Konner Copeland.  

Update: LaRue has signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.

What does Auburn do now?

With the expectation of one of the duo of McGonigle or Emerson making it to campus, as well as the transfer commitment of Mongelli, Auburn was confident in its ability to replace starting shortstop Cole Foster. Now those plans have changed, and the available depth to head coach Butch Thompson and infield coach Karl Nonemaker has taken a hit. Reportedly, the coaching staff is working on securing visits from remaining infielders in the transfer portal to reinforce the current depth on the roster, where holdover Caden Green and rising sophomore Gavin Miller are expected to be joined by Miami of Ohio transfer Cooper Weiss. 

Once the MLB signing deadline passes, we'll have a detailed look at Auburn's fall roster as well as projected depth charts and possible lineups.

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