Gators in Danger of Losing Key Commitment

The MLB Draft is going to take a toll on the Florida Gators, but it may also poach a player who never suited up in Gainesville.

Florida Gators baseball head coach Kevin O'Sullivan is constantly reloading his team. / Cyndi Chambers / USA TODAY NETWORK

The 2024 MLB Draft is a week away and is set on raiding the Florida Gators' roster and high school recruiting class with several players named on top draft prospect rankings.

This isn’t new to Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan though, the Florida Gators field many top prospects that head to the MLB yearly.

It was Wyatt Langford at pick four to the Texas Rangers in the last draft and this year it will be college baseball sensation Jac Caglianone near the top of the list in 2024.

Caglianone is tabbed as the third overall prospect in this draft according to MLB.com’s draft prospect rankings. And that would send him to the Colorado Rockies, which is where MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo has him going in his mock draft.

On the other hand, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel has him two spots lower at fifth overall. Although he says he is in contention as high as first overall to the Cleveland Guardians.

From the most recent two-round mock draft done by McDaniel, he stated that the Guardians are “entranced by his rare ability and seriously considering him” for the first overall pick.

But that isn’t the spot he thinks Caglianone will land at. In his mock, he has him being drafted by the Chicago White Sox at five and believes this or pick six to the Kansas City Royals is the farthest he falls.

However, Caglianone isn’t the only Gator projected to go in the first round this summer.

Current Gators commit Kellon Lindsey from Hardee (Fla.) High School is projected to go pick 25 to the San Diego Padres, per McDaniel’s mock, and pick 31 to the Arizona Diamondbacks, per Mayo’s mock.

As of today, Lindsey is ranked as the 29th overall prospect in this draft by MLB.com rankings and 33rd on McDaniel’s rankings.

Now, there is wiggle room both north and south of his current projection as to where he could land in the first round due to being a high school prospect, but the surefire thought is that he will not make it to campus unless there is a wildly significant change in his draft stock.

Outside of the first round, Florida will have four other players who could potentially join the pros this summer.

No. 99 Jackson Barberi (Brookwood HS, Ga.), No. 133 Colby Shelton, No. 160 Joshua Whritenour (A3 Academu, Fla.), and Brandon Neely (#193) are the other current and future Gators who landed on MLB’s top 250 draft prospects list.

For Barberi and Whritenour, it all matters what pick they are taken at and what slot value that pick has.

If they feel they are underpaid, then you could easily see them making it to campus. However, they could be overpaid as well if a team strongly believes in their talents and wants them now.

The same thing goes for Shelton. Many believe he is gone but in today’s world with NIL, it isn’t a guarantee anymore.

He will most likely sign with whatever team drafts him if he goes within the top three rounds though, which means the Gators will be looking for a new shortstop for 2025.

Neely is the last of the Gators to make it on the list. The Gators would love to have him back next spring, but it doesn’t seem as likely right now.

If there was a guess as to what he does, it would probably be that he signs with whatever organization drafts him as long as it's within the first three to five rounds.

He only has one more year left with the Gators and would lose any negotiating power if he were to opt to return to the Gators and go into next year’s draft as a senior.

Lastly, one player not named to these lists with a chance of being drafted high is outfielder Ty Evans.
There have been rumblings that it might be the end of his time in Gainesville if he is drafted.

The reasoning behind that is similar to Neely, he will be going into his final year with the Gators and could lose out on money if he returns and goes into next year’s draft.

Losing any or all of these guys to the 2024 MLB Draft will hurt, but it is nothing new for the Gators who reload year after year and continuously find themselves in Omaha.