2024 MLB draft: Day 1 winners, losers and takeaways - ESPN

The first day of the 2024 MLB draft is in the books! The Cleveland Guardians selected Oregon State's Travis Bazzana at No. 1, making the slugger the first top pick in Australia's history. And there were plenty of other notable selections in the early rounds — from Charlie Condon heading to homer-happy Coors Field with the Colorado Rockies to Jac Caglianone announced as a two-way player in his selection by the Kansas City Royals (he'll almost certainly focus on hitting).

ESPN baseball insiders Alden Gonzalez, Jesse Rogers and David Schoenfield are sharing their favorite and most head-scratching moves of the draft's first night, as well as picks for the players who'll bring the most to their teams long term.

Rogers: Look, without a clear consensus No. 1 like Paul Skenes was last year, the differing opinions were well founded. I think Bazzana was a good, safe top pick, with perhaps more limited star potential than some past top picks. He will have to slug, even if he stays at second base, to justify being 1-1, but this is a player some have likened to Chase Utley — I don't think Cleveland made a mistake here.

Schoenfield: I'm just glad they didn't do a below-slot pick like JJ Wetherholt (the rumored possibility) to save money for later in the draft. That strategy once worked wonderfully for the Astros — they ended up with Carlos Correa as the top pick — but I don't think it's the way to go. I want teams to take the best player, and it seems Cleveland did indeed go with their 1-1. Now… we'll see if Bazzana really is the best player in this draft. I'll be especially curious to see how it plays out in Cleveland, since the Guardians have Andres Gimenez signed through 2030 and locked into second base. Does Bazzana move to the