Scott Harris explains why Tigers passed on highly touted outfielder in MLB Draft

Scott Harris has his fingerprints all over the Detroit Tigers not even a year after replacing Al Avila as the president of baseball operations. 

Like it or not, Harris has officially made his mark. Staring at a player many considered the third-best prospect in the 2023 MLB Draft—outfielder Wyatt Langford from Florida—Harris threw the MLB world a curveball and instead drafted high school outfielder Max Clark from Franklin, Ind., at No. 3 overall.

Langford went to the Texas Rangers at No. 4.

And with that, Harris has now become eligible for evaluation as well as criticism as a general manager, but he doesn't seem to be sweating it. Picking the youngster Clark over Langford, as well as the selection of high school shortstop Kevin McGonigle at No. 37, displays his trust in those in the minor leagues who can help these two, specifically, develop into big-league stars.

“The theme I’ve been talking about since day one is that we want to find hitters who dominate the strike zone,” Harris said, per the Detroit News. "With these picks, there’s a conviction these guys have the necessary tools to develop once they get into Ryan Garko’s hands.”

Ryan Garko is Detroit's vice president of player development. He's already overseen the meteoric rise of Colt Keith—Detroit's power-hitting top prospect in Triple-A—and exciting young players like Justyn-Henry Malloy and Parker Meadows.

Garko will have his work cut out for him with the new crop of youngsters, though, especially if Langford ends up panning out more quickly for the Rangers than expected.