Cal's Dylan Beavers Hoping to Be First-Round Pick in MLB Draft

MLB.com projects the Golden Bears outfielder to be the 19th overall selection Sunday

Cal outfielder Dylan Beavers could be a millionaire before the summer is over.

The deciding factor will come in the Major League Baseball draft, which starts Sunday and runs through Tuesday. If Beavers is selected in the first round on Sunday as some expect, he will be set financially for quite a while.

MLB.com’s mock draft projects Beavers to be the No. 19 overall pick, by the Oakland Athletics, and the No. 19 spot gets a slotted bonus of about $3.5 million, according to Spotrac.com.

“Yeah, it’s crazy,” Beavers said in the video above.

Teams are not required to pay the slotted bonus amount, but it is the recommended payment and it seldom deviates much from that.

Furthermore, being selected by the A’s would satisfy Beavers’ wish to stay in the Bay Area, although he will have to spend time in the minors to get to the big club, hoping to make it to the majors by 2024.

Beavers resides in Paso Robles, Calif., which is about midway between Los Angeles and the Bay Area and where Beavers will be during Sunday’s draft. But he did not root for any of the California clubs growing up. Instead he was a Red Sox fan, because – as he explains above – his Little League team was the Red Sox. So David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and J.D. Martinez were the players he followed, although his batting style more closely resembles Christian Yelich and Kyle Tucker.

Beavers participated Last month's baseball combine for draft prospects but only in the interviews sessions, not in the measurable aspects such as 30-yard dash, bat speed, etc. But teams got to know what makes Beavers tick.

Beavers sees his strength being his overall ability.

“All my tools,” he said. “My power, my speed, my arm.”

He led the Pac-12 in home runs in 2021 with 18 and added 17 home runs in 2022.

But he knows there are aspects of his swing he needs to improve. “Simplifying the movement in my upper half,” he said.

Dylan Beavers highlights

Three other Cal players – pitchers Josh White and Steven Zobac and infielder Nathan Martorella – could be taken in the first half of the 20-round MLB draft, but Beavers is the only one likely to be taken on the first day, when the first two rounds are held.

So let’s take a look at where several sites that analyze the top prospects ranked Beavers and what they said about him.

MLB.com mock draft, Beavers projected to be No. 19 pick by the Athletics

19. Athletics: Dylan Beavers, OF, California

Beavers to the Athletics is the strongest connection in the second half of the first round, not that that makes it guaranteed to happen. Oakland also could be the high-water mark for fellow college outfielders Drew Gilbert (Tennessee), Jacob Melton (Oregon State) and Spencer Jones (Vanderbilt), as well as Arkansas third baseman Cayden Wallace, Oklahoma State right-hander Justin Campbell and Oklahoma left-hander Jake Bennett.

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MLB.com prospects rankings. Beavers ranked No. 22

Scouting grades: Hit: 45. Power: 55. Run: 55. Arm: 55. Field: 50. Overall: 50

The college ranks in northern California have a pair of toolsy, left-handed-hitting outfielders, both with considerable upside. One is Brock Jones from Stanford and the other is Beavers, who hit 18 homers and slugged .630 at Cal in 2021. A rough summer in the Cape Cod League and with USA Baseball last summer drew concerns, but the power was back on display this spring.

When Beavers is locked in, he’s the proverbial five-tool player. During the spring of 2021, he reminded some scouts of Christian Yelich as a left-handed hitter who makes good swing decisions and hard contact in the strike zone. But using a bit of an unorthodox setup with lower hand positioning, he does have some timing issues and there are some holes in his swing. He was tied up inside at time over the summer. He was streaky in the fall, though he did show some flashes of brilliance, especially getting to his easily plus raw power, something that continued this spring.

While he’s big at 6-foot-4, Beavers is an above-average runner who has the chance to stay in center field, though his near-plus arm would work just fine in right. He hasn’t received a ton of instruction in terms of making adjustments mechanically at the plate, but there will be teams willing to look past the hit risk and bank on helping him tap into all of his tools at the next level.

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Baseball America prospect rankings. Beavers is ranked No. 26

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ESPN mock draft. Beavers projected to be No. 30 overall pick, by the Giants

30. San Francisco Giants

Dylan Beavers, RF, Cal

I'm hearing a lot of college bats mentioned here as well, so whoever makes it through the previous few picks will probably get scooped up by the Giants.

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ESPN prospect rankings. Beavers is ranked No. 35

35. Dylan Beavers (20.9), RF, Cal

Hit: 30/45, Game Power: 30/55, Raw Power: 60/65, Speed: 55/50, Field: 45/50, Throw: 55/55

Beavers is a late-bloomer who is new to the national stage and is also young for the class. He also has huge power and might be able to play center field. He has a unique, divisive hand pump in his swing and, after a hot start, finished not as well, so teams are split about what to do with him.

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Prospectslive.com prospects rankings. Beavers is ranked No. 37

Beavers was one of the best players in the PAC in 2021. A tall, rangy outfielder, Beavers gets high marks for his hit tool and raw power. There's some loft in his swings, as evidenced by his 18 homers last season. Beavers can expand the zone at times as he's an aggressive hitter who looks to do damage and drive in runs. There's some speed to his game too, and natural instincts on the base paths, though he's likely only an average "athlete" which limits his ability to make the highlight reel play. He best projects into a corner where his above average arm, length and wheels can best be optimized. Some have compared the entire package to a Christian Yelich type of profile. High praise, indeed. Evaluators are definitely concerned over his struggles with the breaking ball in 2022, so that's something to track.

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Bleacher Report mock draft. Beavers projected to be taken with the 24th overall pick by the Red Sox

24. Boston Red Sox: OF Dylan Beavers, California

The Red Sox have done a great job mining the high school hitting ranks in recent years, but they will likely be steered toward a college hitter at No. 24 overall. Despite some swing-and-miss, Beavers still slugged 17 home runs this spring while raising his walk rate from 12.7 to 18.8 percent en route to a .426 on-base percentage.

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The Athletic prospects rankings. Beavers is ranked No. 63

63. Dylan Beavers, OF, California

Beavers is a strong, 6-4 outfielder with big power but an unusual swing path that has led to questions about his future hit tool. He hit .291/.427/.634 for the Golden Bears this spring with 17 homers, after he swatted 18 for them last spring. He makes a sharp move down and slightly back when he begins his swing, and whether you want to call it a hitch or not, it’s not helping him with timing, leading to trouble with breaking stuff and a lot of groundballs because his hands are moving upwards and he gets on top of the ball. He does have good bat speed and is athletic enough that he might end up a plus defender in right, although the odds are against him staying in center. If he can work around this swing issue, or some team can smooth it out, he has above-average regular upside thanks to his speed and pitch recognition.

Beavers interview with MLB.com regarding last month's baseball combine:

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Cover photo of Dylan Beavers by Rob Edwards, KLC Fotos

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