MLB Draft 2024: East Bay natives selected by A’s and other local prospects headline Day 2
El Cerrito’s Rodney Green Jr., Acalanes’ Davis Diaz drafted to Oakland A’s. Foothill’s Matt Ager, Los Altos’ Aaron Parker and more local players taken in middle rounds.
The 2024 Major League Baseball draft continued on Monday with rounds 3-10, and several Bay Area prospects were selected.
One night after the Oakland Athletics selected Wake Forest’s Nick Kurtz No. 4 overall, the A’s picked up two local prospects to add to their farm system.
The San Francisco Giants picked up a college player from the South Bay, and several players with Bay Area connections came off the board overall.
Here’s a breakdown of the local prospects that were drafted on Day 2:
Rodney Green Jr., OF, Oakland Athletics (4th round): Green, a Richmond native, played three seasons at Cal, where he slashed .283/.398/.549 as a Golden Bear. He was a four-year starter at El Cerrito High, where he was an outfielder and a pitcher.
“It was great to see an East Bay native stay home and have so much success collegiately in his hometown,” Cal head coach Mike Neu said in a statement. “He had a great three-year career at Cal, but he has only begun to scratch the surface on the type of baseball player he can become.”
He profiles as a power-hitting, left-handed outfielder with above-average speed. Though his power wowed scouts, his near 30% strikeout rate was a concern during the draft process.
Still, Green’s raw tools were enough to make him a fourth-round selection (No. 104) for the A’s. He was an All-Pac-12 First Team selection and is eighth in career home runs at Cal with 34.
“A lot of people from the area are rooting for him,” El Cerrito baseball coach Kenny Paysinger told the Bay Area News Group. “He’s a very hard working, humble kid that deserves all the good things that’s coming to him. I think it’s big for the area. … It’s dope for the city of Berkeley, the city of El Cerrito, the city of Richmond and for whoever follows this kid.”
Matt Ager, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates (6th round): Ager, a native of Pleasanton, pitched three seasons with UC Santa Barbara. He compiled a 4.02 ERA in 62.2 innings pitched with the Gauchos in 2024.
The Foothill High alumnus was named to the All-Big West Second Team this past season. He pitched and played first base for the Falcons under coach Angelo Scavone while helping Foothill win the East Bay Athletic League Championship as a senior.
Ager was selected in the sixth round with the No. 174 overall pick. His nickname is “Eggman.”
Robert Hipwell, 3B, San Francisco Giants (6th round): Hipwell, a native of Scotts Valley, slashed .273/.442/.515 during his junior season at Santa Clara.
“Obviously he had this suspension where he missed a lot of time this year, but I got a chance to sit down and talk with him, and really get to know him as a person,” said Giants senior director of amateur scouting Michael Holmes. “I was really impressed with who he is and feel comfortable with kind of where he was at and what he will be moving forward. It’s important for us to draft talent, but we also want to put the right people in our organization and we feel like Robert was that type of person and player.”
He emerged as a high-level prospect during his sophomore season in 2023, when he slashed .329/.500/.706. But that campaign was cut short after he tested positive for an undisclosed performance-enhancing drug.
Hipwell was selected in the sixth round with the No. 178 overall pick.
Aaron Parker, C, Toronto Blue Jays (6th round): The Los Altos High graduate was an All-Bay Area News Group Fab 40 selection in 2021 and was an All-Big West selection for UC Santa Barbara this past season.
Parker was a two-sport athlete in high school, playing football and baseball. He helped lead Los Altos to its second Central Coast Section championship in 2018 as a freshman. He hit .562 (41 for 73) with 12 home runs and 41 RBIs as a senior in 2021.
In his junior year at Santa Barbara, he ranked among the top five Big West hitters in batting average, slugging, OPS, RBI, home runs and runners caught stealing.
The Blue Jays selected him with the 187th pick in the sixth round.
Brock Moore, P, Seattle Mariners (7th round): Spent two seasons at Division III Menlo College before transferring to the University of Oregon, where he was a key member of the Ducks’ bullpen.
Moore had a 5.81 ERA with 52 strikeouts last season.
He was selected in the seventh round (No. 213 overall)
Davis Diaz, C, Oakland Athletics (8th round): A native of Pittsburg who graduated from Acalanes High, Diaz was drafted as a catcher by Oakland despite playing the infield at Vanderbilt.
He slashed .248/.350/.385 during his junior season with the Commodores, with seven home runs and 39 RBIs. He struck out 44 times and walked 39. Oakland selected him with the first pick (No. 226 overall) of the eighth round.
Diaz was previously drafted out of Acalanes in 2021 by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 12th round. He won gold medals with the USA Baseball National Team in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
“Davis is why people want to get into coaching and stay in coaching,” Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said on the Commodores’ team site. “His teachable spirit is tremendous.”
Matt Halbach, 3B, Chicago Cubs (10th round): A 2021 graduate of Archbishop Mitty High School, Halbach was a Bay Area News Group Fab 40 selection in his senior season.
The Los Gatos native hit .408 with 18 RBIs and three home runs this past season at UC San Diego, though he missed 19 games due to an oblique injury.
Halbach was selected in the 10th round with pick No. 302.