Two more Seminoles, five more signees taken on final day of 2024 MLB Draft

And once again, it was a busy day for the Seminoles. Two more FSU players were taken in the final 10 rounds and five more high-school/junior-college signees who were set to join the team for the 2025 season were selected as well.

After three FSU signees (Aidan Butler from Polk State College and Dylan Jordan/Chase Mobley from the high school ranks) were drafted on Monday, Mack Estrada became the first FSU-affiliated player off the board Tuesday when he was taken with the 331st overall pick by the New York Yankees in the 11th round.

Estrada, a right-handed pitcher from Valrico, Fla., just finished his freshman season at Northwest Florida State College where he posted a 4.20 ERA over 79.1 innings with 94 strikeouts to 42 walks.

Shortly after that, FSU freshman signee Jack Lines, a shortstop at TNXL Academy, was taken in the 12th round with the 366th pick by the Tampa Bay Rays. Lines was ranked by Perfect Game as the No. 360 overall high-school prospect in this year's draft class.

Both Lines and Estrada were taken in the range where they could very well decide to pass on FSU and begin their professional careers. However, FSU may try to sell them on boosting their stock by instead coming to campus and joining the program.

After these two went off the board, the first former Seminole of the day came off the board in the 14th round when 6-foot-8 right-handed pitcher Yoel Tejeda Jr. was selected by the Washington Nationals with the 410th overall pick.

Tejeda entered the transfer portal after FSU's 2024 season, leaving the Seminoles after one season over which he put up a 5.03 ERA over 19.2 innings. However, he may not need to choose a third school in as many seasons as the former FSU and Florida pitcher is a draft-eligible sophomore and was taken higher in this year's draft than he was as a 19th-round pick in the 2022 draft as a high-school senior.

A round after Tejeda came off the board, a far more productive FSU pitcher was drafted when junior RHP Conner Whittaker was taken in the 15th round (445th overall pick) by the Cleveland Guardians. Whittaker was 5-0 this season with a 5.28 ERA over 59.2 innings, blending a hybrid role as a starting pitcher and then a high-leverage reliever. He's thrown 175 innings over the last three seasons for the Seminoles.

Of the current FSU players drafted, Whittaker may be the likeliest to potentially return. However, if he chooses to do that, he'll be giving up his final year of leverage as a rising senior. As such, it's possible that Whittaker and all the current FSU players drafted will sign this season and elect not to return in 2024.

In all, eight members of the 2024 FSU baseball team were taken in this year's MLB Draft (James Tibbs III, Cam Smith, Marco Dinges, Jaime Ferrer, Carson Dorsey, Gavin Adams, Tejeda and Whittaker). That's tied for the third-most of any team this season and most in the ACC.

Additionally, eight FSU recruits were drafted, two more than any other school. The good news for the Seminoles, though, is that even if many of them sign, FSU's highest-rated high-school signee, catcher/outfielder Hunter Carns, should make it to campus. He was taken with the second-to-last pick of the draft (614th overall). He ranked as the No. 12 overall high-school prospect and No. 1 catcher in the 2024 class according to Perfect Game and should make an instant impact in some capacity.

On top of that, FSU's highest-rated high-school pitcher, Chase Mobley, may have been drafted but he wasn't taken close to his expected range. The No. 14 overall prospect in the 2024 class according to PG, Mobley was taken in the 10th round by the Cleveland Guardians.

The slot value for signing bonus for the 295th pick where Mobley was selected is $183,600. That's probably very far below his asking price so the Guardians would have to probably go well over the slot to sign him. While Cleveland has the largest bonus pool of any team this year, it took a number of high-school prospects and may not be able to sign them all.

The same goes for highly-touted FSU first baseman signee Myles Bailey. The local product from Lincoln High was drafted in the 20th round by the White Sox, but considering he was ranked by Perfect Game as the No. 37 overall recruit and No. 1 first baseman in the class, it seems likely FSU will be able to get him on campus.

We won't know for sure, though, for a few weeks. The signing deadline is August 1 at 5 p.m., meaning we should have a much better idea of what FSU's 2024 roster will look like early next month.