Virginia Baseball: Recapping the 2024 MLB Draft and What It Means for 2025

Matt Newton | Jul 17, 2024

Virginia baseball players Griff O'Ferrall, Ethan Anderson, Casey Saucke, and Anthony Stephan were selected in the 2024 MLB Draft. / Virginia Athletics

The 2024 Major League Baseball Draft is officially in the books and four Virginia baseball players, five UVA high school commits, and one UVA transfer commit heard their names called. This marks the fourth year in a row and 17th time in program history that at least four Cavaliers have been selected in the MLB Draft.

Let's take a look at who was and wasn't drafted and what it means for the 2025 Virginia baseball team.

Here is a full list of the MLB Draft picks who were either members of the 2024 Virginia baseball team or high school players or college transfers committed to play at UVA as well as the slot value of their draft selection, an estimate of the signing bonus that player may be offered by the team who drafted him. MLB teams can offer more or less than the slot value, but the total signing bonus money for each of that team's draft picks cannot exceed the sum slot value of those draft picks.

SS Griff O'Ferrall
Pick: 1st round (PPI), No. 32 overall
Drafted by: Baltimore Orioles
Slot value: $2,835,400
Read more on Griff O'Ferrall's draft selection here.

SS Caleb Bonemer
Pick: 2nd round, No. 43 overall
Drafted by: Chicago White Sox
Slot value: $2,172,800
School: Okemos HS (Michigan)

SS Luke Dickerson
Pick: 2nd round, No. 44 overall
Drafted by: Washington Nationals
Slot value: $2,122,200
School: Morris Knolls HS (New Jersey)

RHP Bryce Meccage
Pick, 2nd round, No. 57 overall
Drafted by: Milwaukee Brewers
Slot value: $1,562,100
School: The Pennington School (New Jersey)

C/UT Ethan Anderson
Pick: 2nd round, No. 61 overall
Drafted by: Baltimore Orioles
Slot value: $1,418,900
Read more on Ethan Anderson's draft selection here.

RF Casey Saucke
Pick: 4th round, No. 107 overall
Drafted by: Chicago White Sox
Slot value: $682,800
Read more on Casey Saucke's draft selection here.

RHP Will Riley
Pick: 8th round, No. 243 overall
Drafted by: Seattle Mariners
Slot value: $212,900
School: VMI (UVA transfer commit)

RHP Trey Gregory-Alford
Pick: 11th round, No. 322 overall
Drafted by: Los Angeles Angels
Slot value: $150,000
School: Coronado HS (Colorado)

OF Anthony Stephan
Pick: 13th round, No. 389 overall
Drafted by: Cincinnati Reds
Slot value: $150,000
Read more on Anthony Stephan's draft selection here.

C James Nunnallee
Pick: 14th round, No. 425 overall
Drafted by: Milwaukee Brewers
Slot value: $150,000
School: Lightridge (Virginia)

Drafted players have until August 1st to sign contracts with their respective teams. Technically, every player on the above list still has the option of not signing that deal in favor of going (or returning) to Virginia. But realistically, only a few will seriously consider that route.

Griff O'Ferrall, Ethan Anderson, and Casey Saucke, though they each have another year of eligibility remaining, are essentially guaranteed to sign with their teams as draft picks taken in the first four rounds. The same can be said for UVA's trio of high school commits taken in the second round - Caleb Bonemer, Luke Dickerson, and Bryce Meccage.

VMI transfer pitcher and eighth round pick Will Riley is due $212,900. He could try to raise his draft stock by pitching at UVA for a year, but that would be a serious gamble.

Things get interesting with 11th round pick Trey Gregory-Alford, a right-handed pitcher who was ranked No. 105 in MLB.com's top 250 draft prospect rankings. The slot value for every draft pick taken in rounds 11-20 is a default $150,000, but the Los Angeles Angels, who drafted him with the 322nd pick, are expected to have money saved from their earlier draft picks and consequently could be able to offer Gregory-Alford upwards of a $1 million or more as a signing bonus to lure him away from Virginia. His decision will be an interesting one to keep an eye on.

Anthony Stephan, who found himself as the odd man out down the stretch and did not appear in a single one of Virginia's NCAA Tournament games, was drafted 389th overall by the Cincinnati Reds. It's unclear if he'll actually sign for the default $150,000, but coming back to school for another year might not make sense for him anyway, given the uncertainty of his spot in the lineup and the fact that doing so would take away the leverage he has in signing negotiations now.

UVA catcher commit James Nunnallee was drafted 425th overall in the fourth round by the Milwaukee Brewers and this could really be a coin flip on whether he'll sign with the Brewers before August 1st or come to Virginia.

The group of draft-eligible Cavaliers who did not hear their names called is headlined by top 250 prospects Jay Woolfolk (No. 250 in the MLB.com prospect rankings) and Harrison Didawick (No. 125), who has only played two seasons at UVA, but turned 21 before the draft so he was eligible to be selected.

Perhaps more importantly, Virginia will bring in a trio of high school commits who were in those top 250 draft prospect rankings but did not get drafted:
- LHP Tomas Valincius (No. 107)
- LHP William Kirk (No. 110)
- 3B Aiden Harris (No. 168)

Additionally, UVA transfer commit Chris Arroyo, a standout pitcher, outfielder, and first baseman for Pasco-Hernando State (JUCO), did not get drafted and will play for the Cavaliers next spring.

Brian O'Connor will add Valincius, Kirk, Harris, Arroyo and a few other transfer pitchers to a returning roster that now includes Jay Woolfolk, Harrison Didawick, Jacob Ference, Henry Godbout, Luke Hanson, Henry Ford, Aidan Teel, Evan Blanco, Eric Becker, and others. That roster could be improved even more if UVA gets a couple of fortunate breaks in the post-draft signing process.

Virginia should once again compete at the top of the college baseball landscape in 2025.

More Virginia Baseball News

Anthony Stephan Selected in 13th Round of 2024 MLB Draft

Jay Woolfolk to Return to Virginia Baseball in 2025 for Senior Season

Casey Saucke Selected 107th Overall by Chicago White Sox in 2024 MLB Draft

Three Virginia Baseball Commits Taken in Second Round of 2024 MLB Draft

Ethan Anderson Selected 61st Overall by Baltimore Orioles in 2024 MLB Draft

Griff O'Ferrall Selected 32nd Overall by Baltimore Orioles in 2024 MLB Draft