MLBTR Podcast: The PCA and Sanchez Extensions, And Prospect Promotions And Reassignments
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The extension between the Cubs and Pete Crow-Armstrong (recorded prior to the numbers being reported) (2:20)
- The extension between the Phillies and Cristopher Sánchez (7:00)
- The Braves losing Spencer Strider to the injured list (14:00)
- Is there a trend of starting pitcher prospects being used in major league bullpens? (18:15)
- The Nationals optioning Dylan Crews and Harry Ford, with Josiah Gray landing on the 60-day IL (23:35)
- Carson Benge making the Mets‘ Opening Day roster (30:30)
- JJ Wetherholt making the Cardinals‘ Opening Day roster (35:40)
- The Pirates not breaking camp with Konnor Griffin (39:15)
- The Guardians not breaking camp with Travis Bazzana (44:40)
- The Blue Jays starting the season with José Berríos and Trey Yesavage on the injured list (49:20)
- The Marlins optioning Braxton Garrett (55:55)
Check out our past episodes!
- Banged-Up Reds And Braves, Kevin McGonigle, And Spring Breakouts – listen here
- Jesús Luzardo’s Extension, Atlanta’s Depth, And Zack Littell – listen here
- Max Scherzer, The Red Sox’ Lineup, Spring Extension Candidates, And More! – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Kyle Ross, Imagn Images
Travis Bazzana Will Not Make Guardians’ Opening Day Roster
The Guardians are not planning to carry second base prospect Travis Bazzana on the Opening Day roster. According to Tim Stebbins of MLB.com, Bazzana has been informed he won’t make the team but will remain in big league camp for a few more days.
Bazzana, 23, seemingly came into camp with a legit chance to break camp. He is expected to be the club’s long-term answer at second base but the question is when that will start. The first overall pick of the 2024 draft, he split last year between Double-A and Triple-A, finishing his season with 26 games at the top minor league level. In his 120 Triple-A plate appearances, his 26.7% strikeout rate was a bit high but he ran a huge 24.2% walk rate in that small sample and hit four home runs. His .225/.420/.438 slash line led to a 138 wRC+.
Having already showed some success at Triple-A, there was an argument he was ready for the majors, especially considering that the Guards didn’t get much offense from their middle infield last year. On the other hand, his professional track record is still pretty limited. As mentioned, he was only drafted in 2024. He missed some time with injuries last year, appearing in 84 games in total. When combined with the 27 High-A games he played in his draft year, he has only 111 profesional games under his belt.
This month, Bazzana represented his native Australia in the World Baseball Classic, putting up a .188/.235/.375 line in four games. In Cactus League action, he has a .286/.333/.500 line in five games. It’s unknown if the Guards are putting any stock in those numbers or if they always had planned to send Bazzana back to the minors to start the year.
Once upon a time, it was basically guaranteed that a top prospect would be held down in the minors for the first few weeks of a season. By doing so, a club could prevent a player from earning a full year of service time in that season and therefore gain an extra year of club control over the player, a practice commonly referred to as service time manipulation.
The current collective bargaining agreement introduced some new measures, known as the Prospect Promotion Incentive, which have made it far more common for top prospects to break camp. Under these measures, a top prospect can earn his club an extra draft pick if he is promoted early in the season and then goes on to meet certain awards criteria. Also, a prospect can be awarded a full year of service time retroactively even if promoted later, if they are able to finish in the top two in Rookie of the Year voting.
Bazzana is a consensus top prospect, so the Guards could have given him the second base job out of camp and hoped for him to earn them a draft pick. It doesn’t appear they will go that route. Instead, they will send him to the minors, at least to start the season.
Last year, Gabriel Arias and Brayan Rocchio got the majority of the middle infield playing time in Cleveland. Both players were subpar at the plate. They actually had matching wRC+ numbers of 77 on the year, indicating they were each 23% below league average. Arias got strong reviews for his glovework at short, while Rocchio’s defensive metrics were more mixed.
It’s possible that those two are again the primary middle infielders to open the 2026 season, with utility players like Daniel Schneemann and Ángel Martínez also in the mix. Juan Brito is also on the 40-man roster and could push for some playing time, though he hasn’t yet made his major league debut. He still has an option and was limited by injuries to just 31 minor league games last year. The Guards could send him back to Triple-A for more reps but he has over 170 games played at that level overall.
Circling back to Bazzana, even if he doesn’t break camp, his PPI eligibility is still theoretically possible. The Guards have a 186-day season this year and a player needs 172 days in the majors to earn a full year of service time. They could promote him in the first two weeks of the season and keep PPI on the table. Perhaps there’s a scenario where he’s crushing the minors or someone else gets hurt and Bazzana is promoted early enough.
If nothing like that comes to pass, then it will be interesting to monitor exactly when he gets called up, as they will then have motivation to keep him down longer. In 2024, the Pirates held Paul Skenes down until the second week of May but he pitched so well that he earned a full year of service regardless. In 2025, Bubba Chandler was pitching well in the minors but the Bucs held him down until late August, seemingly hoping to avoid a repeat of the Skenes situation.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
How Will The Guardians’ Middle Infield Play Out?
The Guardians have had a quiet offseason, only re-signing backup catcher Austin Hedges and acquiring a handful of relievers on one-year deals. They’ve yet to add anyone to a lineup that ranked 28th in scoring. They were the only team in the bottom 10 that made the postseason, so it’s unlikely they’ll get back to October without improving the offense.
Cleveland’s budgetary restrictions mean they’re never going to accomplish much via free agency. They’re unlikely to often package top prospects for marquee trade chips. The Guardians should make a smaller move or two in the back half of the offseason. They opened last season with a $103MM payroll, and RosterResource calculates their ’26 obligations around $78MM. Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com wrote as part of a reader mailbag over the weekend that he expected some kind of lineup acquisition on a short-term deal. Adding a complementary right-handed outfield bat would make sense with Lane Thomas departing via free agency.
That said, the majority of the necessary offensive improvements will have to come internally. That’s especially true in the middle infield, where serviceable free agent options are slim. Cleveland middle infielders combined for a .225/.289/.359 slash line with a 27.6% strikeout rate that was 29th in MLB (marginally better than the Angels’ 27.8% mark). That’s clearly an area for upgrade as the 2024 first overall pick gets closer to making his debut. How will things shake out?
The Incumbents
Of the five players who logged any middle infield action for Stephen Vogt’s club last year, only Will Wilson is off the roster. Last year’s middle infield usually involved a three-player rotation: Gabriel Arias mostly at shortstop, Daniel Schneemann in a multi-position role with a lot of second base work, and Brayan Rocchio bouncing between the up-the-middle spots.
Angel Martínez also started 25 games at second base but was more frequently used in center field. The Guardians could push him back into a utility role this year depending on their outfield performance. Chase DeLauter made the ALDS roster and should be ticketed for his regular season MLB debut on Opening Day. They could add a center fielder in free agency. Harrison Bader would be an excellent fit but might be out of their price range. Even if that’s the case, taking a buy-low flier on Chas McCormick as a fourth outfielder makes sense.
None of Arias, Rocchio, Schneemann or Martínez contributed much offensively. By measure of wRC+, they were all between 21 and 26 points below league average. Rocchio led the pack with a subpar .233 batting average and .290 on-base percentage. He hit five home runs in 115 games. Schneemann, Martínez and Arias each had 11 or 12 longballs.
The season trend lines were most favorable to Rocchio. He was at least within range of league average in the second half, batting .257/.313/.376 over his final 241 plate appearances. Arias (.203/.247/.356), Schneemann (.194/.268/.309), and Martínez (.207/.283/.313) all had terrible numbers after the All-Star Break. Arias and Rocchio were the starters in the postseason, though Vogt was quick to hit for Arias and use Schneemann off the bench.
Rocchio is probably on the strongest ground of the group, yet he remains a .222/.293/.327 hitter in more than 900 career plate appearances. He turns 25 tomorrow and is out of minor league options. He’ll break camp but shouldn’t be a lock to remain on the roster all season if he doesn’t build off the second half promise. Public metrics have been divided on his defense, grading him highly in 2024 but looking less favorably on last year’s work.
Arias, 26 in February, is also out of options. He has huge physical tools: plus bat speed and raw power, a solid glove, and an excellent arm. That’s undercut by an untenable approach. Arias chases tons of pitches off the plate and too frequently gets beat within the strike zone. He had the fourth-highest strikeout rate among hitters with 300+ plate appearances. No one missed more often on a per-pitch basis. Aside from occasionally running into a fastball for a homer, he’s not going to provide any offense.
Schneemann is a utility player who is a couple weeks away from his 29th birthday. He’ll work some walks and pop a few home runs against right-handed pitching, but there’s also too much swing-and-miss in his game to be a regular. He’s a .210/.290/.358 hitter with 17 homers and a 29% strikeout rate in 643 career plate appearances. Schneemann has a full slate of minor league options and could therefore be the first one sent down if/when the Guardians bring up a higher-upside player from the minor leagues.
The Prospects
Guards fans have eagerly awaited the arrival of second baseman Travis Bazzana since the club announced his selection with the top pick in the ’24 draft. It has become increasingly common for top college draftees to get to the big leagues before the end of their first full professional season. Bazzana didn’t move that quickly, at least in part because of recurring oblique issues. The Oregon State product had decent numbers between the top two minor league levels (.245/.389/.424 including seven rehab games in the Complex League), but he was limited to 84 games by a pair of IL stints.
Bazzana will be one of the most important players to watch in Spring Training. He remains one of the better offensive talents in the minors. He has 26 games of Triple-A experience. The Guardians could justify sending him back there to begin the season but should leave the door open to him breaking camp. Bazzana’s minor league approach probably tipped over the line from patient to passive, leading both to a ton of walks (17.6%) and a decent amount of strikeouts (24.3%). He’s not a finished product, but there’s a good chance he’s already a better hitter than Arias or Schneemann would be.
Vogt said at the Winter Meetings that Rocchio would get a lot of shortstop work during Spring Training (link via Zack Meisel of The Athletic). That’d leave the door open for Bazzana at second with Arias and/or Schneemann in a utility role. It also magnifies camp’s importance for 24-year-old second base prospect Juan Brito.
Brito has held a spot on the 40-man roster for three years but has yet to make his MLB debut. He would have gotten that opportunity last year but for thumb and hamstring injuries that both required surgery. He was limited to 24 Triple-A contests. The Guardians were granted a fourth option year, so they’re not forced to carry Brito on the MLB roster.
If they give the Opening Day second base job to Bazzana, Brito probably needs an injury or the more highly-regarded prospect to struggle in order to find his way into the lineup. He’s not a great athlete and unlikely to be all that effective as a multi-positional defender. Yet Brito has hit throughout his career, posting an OPS above .800 at every stop. That includes a .255/.366/.442 mark across nearly 800 Triple-A plate appearances over parts of three seasons. That’s an appealing profile for a lineup that had far too many wasted at-bats.
Shortstop prospect Angel Genao is the only other middle infielder on the 40-man roster. He’s a 21-year-old who has yet to play a Triple-A game. Genao is coming off a solid but unspectacular .259/.323/.359 showing over 77 Double-A contests. Scouting reports peg him as a potential everyday player, but he remains a work in progress on both sides of the ball. While he’ll hopefully be an upgrade over Rocchio and Arias down the line, there’s little to no chance that he’s on the Opening Day roster. A second half debut is plausible but not guaranteed.
Guardians Notes: Kwan, Bullpen, Valera, Rocchio
As expected, it has been a quiet start to the offseason for the Guardians. Their only major league moves thus far have been to re-sign backup catcher Austin Hedges and add middle reliever Connor Brogdon. Cleveland rarely attacks free agency, and they seem generally unlikely to make major moves on the trade front in either direction this winter.
The Guardians heard teams out on Steven Kwan at the deadline. They didn’t find an offer to their liking, and they’re less inclined to sell after making a surprise late-season run to another AL Central title. Unsurprisingly, ESPN’s Buster Olney wrote this morning that while the Guards aren’t going to close themselves off to offers, they’re currently inclined to hold him into next season.
An offseason trade would be selling at a bit of a low point. Kwan had a .700 OPS or worse in each of the final four months. His overall .272/.330/.374 line was league average, but that was carried mostly by a fantastic April. It’s primarily a reflection of a drop in his batting average on balls in play. BABIP volatility is to be expected for a player who rarely hits the ball hard but is one of the sport’s five best pure contact hitters. The bat-to-ball skills and plus defense in left field give him a solid floor, and both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference valued him around three wins above replacement.
Kwan is under team control for two seasons. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for an $8.8MM salary. The Guardians don’t have much on the books beyond the well below-market José Ramírez contract. They’re not under any financial pressure to move him. Even if other teams value him just as highly as they did over the summer, a trade would remove the only established outfielder from Stephen Vogt’s lineup. Rookies Chase DeLauter, Petey Halpin and George Valera and the out-of-options Nolan Jones are currently in line to divide the center and right field playing time. The Guards already need to add to the outfield, and a Kwan trade would only push that further.
Cleveland is also in the market for multiple relievers, Vogt told reporters at the Winter Meetings (link via Tim Stebbins of MLB.com). “We need depth in the bullpen,” the two-time AL Manager of the Year said. “We have four, maybe five guys in our bullpen, and we need eight.”
It’s safe to assume Emmanuel Clase isn’t coming back. That keeps Cade Smith in the closer role. Hunter Gaddis is a quality setup arm from the right side. The rest of the group is in flux. Brogdon and Matt Festa are out of options and probably set to open the season in middle relief. Neither should be ticketed for leverage spots. There’s even less certainty from the left side. Tim Herrin and Erik Sabrowski have each shown promise but struggled to throw strikes. Even if a depth starter like Joey Cantillo or Doug Nikhazy ends up in long relief, they need more trustworthy arms.
Additionally, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports that the Guardians have been granted a fourth option year on both Valera and second base prospect Juan Brito. Players can typically only be optioned to the minor leagues in three separate seasons after being added to the 40-man roster. After that, teams need to pass them through waivers and outright them off the 40-man to send them down.
Exceptions are made for players who have less than five full seasons (90+ days) on an MLB or minor league active roster. That usually occurs because the player took a while to reach full-season ball — especially for international signings who signed their first contract at 16 — and/or missed chunks of a season to injury. Valera didn’t play a full minor league season until 2021 and missed most of this past season working back from knee surgery. Brito didn’t play a full season until 2022, so he’d have been eligible for the fourth option even if he were fully healthy. He missed most of the ’25 season because of thumb and hamstring issues.
Valera and Brito could each be in the mix for Opening Day roster spots. The Guardians have the flexibility to send them to Triple-A Columbus for another season, though both right field and second base are open in the short term. There’s probably more pressure on Brito to break out, as top prospect Travis Bazzana has already hit his way to Triple-A. Bazzana has the higher ceiling and is viewed as the long-term second baseman, meaning Brito might not have much runway even if he breaks camp.
Vogt told reporters that Brayan Rocchio will play a lot of shortstop during Spring Training. They’ll move Gabriel Arias around in a utility role, leaving the door open for Brito or Bazzana to play their way into the second base job early in the season. Rocchio divided his time evenly between the middle infield spots this year, though he was mostly at the keystone in the second half. He’s out of options and probably isn’t in jeopardy of losing his roster spot, but he’s a .222/.293/.327 in more than 900 plate appearances over parts of three seasons. He’s entering his age-25 campaign and in a bit of a make-or-break spot himself if he’s going to remain an everyday player.
Guardians Notes: Brito, Bazzana, Thomas
Juan Brito‘s injury-ravaged season has come to an early end, as the Guardians announced yesterday that the infield prospect would be undergoing surgery to fix his damaged left hamstring. The procedure has a recovery timeline of 8-12 weeks, so Brito should be ready for the start of Spring Training.
This marks the second major surgery of Brito’s 2025 campaign, as he missed close to two months recovering from thumb surgery. Returning to action with Triple-A Columbus near the end of June, he appeared in just eight more games with the Clippers before being sidelined again by a left hamstring strain. Brito had resumed baseball activities a few weeks ago, but seemingly with little progress, so the decision was made to fully address the injury with surgery.
Brito will conclude his season with just 31 games played — 24 in Triple-A ball, and seven on a rehab assignment with the Guardians’ rookie league affiliate. He still hit well (.256/.357/.463) over his 99 plate appearances in Columbus, yet that isn’t much consolation given that Brito posted similar numbers over a full Triple-A season in 2024, and looked set to make his big league debut this year.
There was even some chatter last spring about Brito potentially breaking camp with the Guardians and earning at least a platoon role at second base. Cleveland instead optioned him to Triple-A before Opening Day, and while Brito’s injuries perhaps made the team’s decision a moot point, the keystone has been a weak spot for the Guardians. The team’s second basemen (Daniel Schneemann, Brayan Rocchio, Angel Martinez, Gabriel Arias, and Will Wilson) have combined for 0.6 bWAR, ranking the Guards 23rd of 30 teams in second base bWAR.
Going into 2026, the hope is that Brito (who turns 24 later this month) will be healthy and ready to rebound after his lost year. Acquired from the Rockies in the Nolan Jones trade three years ago, Brito has posted good offensive numbers during his rise up the ranks of Cleveland’s farm system. Evaluators aren’t sure if his glove necessarily plays anywhere, but even a bat-first type of infielder might help a Guardians team still struggling for consistent offense.
Brito has already exhausted his number of minor league option years, so for now, he’ll be officially out of options heading into 2026. Since the league can grant a fourth option year to players whose careers have been stalled by injury, however, it seems quite likely that Brito will get that bonus option given how little he played in 2025.
Turning to the top name in the Guards’ minor league system, Travis Bazzana may be facing another oblique issue. Bazzana was removed from Thursday’s Triple-A game due to left oblique soreness, and there hasn’t yet been an update on his status. This injury comes on the heels of a right oblique strain in May that ended up costing Bazzana a little over two months of the Double-A season.
The first overall pick of the 2024 draft has started his pro career in impressive fashion, already advancing to Triple-A ball and hitting .225/.420/.438 over his first 120 PA with Columbus. As much as some Cleveland fans were hoping Bazzana might provide the big league team with a boost during the playoff push, there probably wasn’t much chance the Guardians were going to call Bazzana up even before Thursday’s injury scare. That said, Bazzana’s quick rise through the minors has certainly put him on the radar for 2026, and he might now be the second base prospect under consideration for an Opening Day assignment.
Speaking of injury-marred seasons, Lane Thomas has played in only 39 games for the Guardians due to three different IL stints. The first IL trip was due to a bone bruise in his right wrist, and the latter two have been as a result of Thomas’ ongoing battle with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. The outfielder has been on the 10-day injured list since early July, and he played in three rehab games with Double-A Akron earlier in September before he was sidelined again with more foot soreness.
The next step might be surgery, as Thomas told The Athletic’s Zack Meisel and other reporters that he will speak with a foot specialist this coming week to decide on how to best treat the injury. Should Thomas go under the knife, he’d need a three-month recovery period. This timeline would leave him ready to go for the start of spring camp, yet a surgery would add another complication to what will already be a tricky ride through the free agent market for the 30-year-old.
It was less than two years ago that Thomas hit 28 homers as the everyday right fielder for the 2023 Nationals, but his production has dropped sharply since that career year. His bat particularly cooled off after he was dealt to the Guards at last year’s trade deadline, and his nightmare of a 2025 season has seen Thomas hit just .160/.246/.272 over 142 PA.
Teams will want to ensure Thomas is healthy before signing him to any sort of contract, so he’ll probably have to complete his rehab before his market gathers any kind of momentum. At best he’ll receive a one-year deal with a modest guaranteed salary, and it is certainly possible Thomas may have to settle for a minor league deal. Thomas told Meisel and company that he would welcome a return to Cleveland, and since the Guardians will be looking for outfield help anyway, the team might be open to bringing Thomas back on a low-cost deal.
Guardians Prospect Travis Bazzana Diagnosed With Oblique Strain
The Guardians announced this afternoon that last year’s first overall pick Travis Bazzana has been diagnosed with a right internal oblique strain. The top second base prospect hasn’t played since suffering the injury last Wednesday. The team noted that such injuries usually sideline a player for eight to ten weeks, so Bazzana will be out into the second half of the season.
That obviously hurts his chances of reaching the big leagues before the end of the year. Top college draftees fairly regularly reach the majors by the end of their first full professional season. A pair of first-rounders from last year’s class, Cam Smith and Nick Kurtz, have already debuted. Sixth overall pick Jac Caglianone, a first baseman/outfielder in the Kansas City system, might not be far off after receiving a promotion to Triple-A today.
Bazzana, an Oregon State product, has spent the entire season at Double-A Akron. The lefty-hitting infielder carries a .252/.362/.433 line with four homers across 149 plate appearances. That’s well above-average in the extremely pitcher-friendly league. (The average Eastern League hitter owns a .229/.317/.366 slash line.) Bazzana is striking out at a somewhat worrying 26.2% clip, but he’d begun to find his stride at the plate. He was hitting .279/.392/.512 this month after posting a .238/.347/.393 mark in April.
Daniel Schneemann has stepped up as Stephen Vogt’s primary second baseman. The second-year utilityman already has six homers with a .265/.339/.500 slash across 110 plate appearances. Schneemann had played a multi-positional role off the bench early in the year. Gabriel Arias was starting at second base to begin the season, but he kicked over to shortstop when the Guards optioned the scuffling Brayan Rocchio last week.
Guardians Agree To Terms With No. 1 Overall Pick Travis Bazzana
The Guardians have agreed to terms with No. 1 overall draft pick Travis Bazzana, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com. The Oregon State second baseman will receive an $8.95MM bonus that checks in $1.62MM shy of the No. 1 pick’s $10.57MM slot value.
It’s the fifth-highest bonus in draft history but only the third-highest among this year’s draftees; Reds righty Chase Burns, selected with the No. 2 overall pick, received the largest bonus in draft history at $9.25MM when he agreed to his deal with Cincinnati earlier this week. Georgia slugger Charlie Condon (the #3 selection) matched Burns’ money on his deal with the Rockies. Pirates ace Paul Skenes ($9.2MM) and Nationals top prospect Dylan Crews ($9MM) hold the third- and fourth-largest bonuses in draft history.
The Aussie-born Bazzana posted a historic season for the Beavers in 2024. In 60 games and 296 plate appearances, he compiled a preposterous .407/.568/.911 batting line with a school-record 28 home runs and more than twice as many walks (76) as strikeouts (37). The lefty-swinging infielder added 16 doubles, four triples and 16 steals (in 21 attempts). Bazzana’s .407 average ranked eighth among all D-I players. He was second to Georgia catcher Corey Collins in on-base percentage and trailed only Georgia slugger Charlie Condon (the No. 3 overall pick) in slugging percentage. Bazzana’s 28 round-trippers tied him for seventh among D-I hitters.
There was no real surprise when Cleveland tabbed Bazzana with the top pick. The 6’0″, 199-pound 21-year-old ranked as the No. 1 or No. 2 prospect on pre-draft rankings from MLB.com, Baseball America, FanGraphs, ESPN and The Athletic. Mock drafts from all of those outlets either had Bazzana as the Guardians’ pick or at least noted that he was among the select few players Cleveland was considering, due in part to the fact that he was believed to be signable at a number lower than Skenes’ now-toppled record — thus allowing the Guards to be more aggressive further down their draft board.
Bazzana draws universal praise for his elite bat-to-ball skills, his ability to maximize the above-average raw power he possesses, and his plus running speed. The Athletic’s Keith Law wrote in his scouting report that Bazzana might have the highest floor of any hitter in this year’s draft class, calling him a potential All-Star on the strength of his bat alone. There’s less optimism about Bazzana’s defensive outlook. It’s rare for a pure second baseman to be regarded this highly — a testament to the quality of Bazzana’s bat — and Baseball America notes in their report that he “frequently throws from an odd sidearm slot that some scouts question.” That said, BA also suggests Bazzana has the speed and athleticism to perhaps play center field.
Defensive questions notwithstanding, Bazzana is a hitting machine, and “elite bat-to-ball skills” has become the hallmark of a Guardians organization that tends to prioritize contact hitters and regularly registers the lowest strikeout rate of any big league club. If the plan is for Bazzana to play second base in Cleveland, he could push Andres Gimenez — who’s signed to a seven-year contract — over to his natural position of shortstop. Bazzana would give the Guards another top- or middle-of-the-order hitter to pair with Gimenez, face of the franchise Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor (assuming Bazzana is a fairly quick mover and ascends to the majors before Naylor reaches free agency following the 2025 campaign, that is).
Bazzana should immediately slide in as the Guardians’ No. 1 or No. 2 prospect (depending on how one feels about touted young outfielder Chase DeLauter). By landing him at a bonus that was lower than slot and lower than the previous record, Cleveland also saved some cash that should prove helpful in trying to sign high-profile high school picks that the Guards selected in the later rounds. Left-hander Joey Oakie was widely considered a top-50 prospect and Day 1 talent but landed with Cleveland at the No. 84 pick on Day 2. Seventh-round right-hander Cameron Sullivan and tenth-round righty Chase Mobley were generally ranked in the Top 125 prospects in this year’s class. Bazzana’s price tag and the money saved could allow the Guardians to come away with an impressive collection of names if all of those lauded prep players eventually sign.
Guardians Select Travis Bazzana With First Pick Of 2024 Draft
The Guardians chose Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana with the first overall pick of the 2024 amateur draft. Bazzana becomes the first second baseman to ever go 1-1 in the draft, as well as the first Australian-born player taken first overall. This is also the first time the Cleveland organization has ever had the top selection in the draft, as the Guardians beat the odds last December to win the draft lottery.
Cleveland plays its cards close to the vest about its intentions with the top pick, as several names were linked to the Guards, including some prospects a bit further down the draft board. There was some thought that the Guardians might go with a somewhat less-regarded prospect who would take a below-slot signing bonus (the 1-1 pick has an assigned slot value of $10,570,600), so that the Guards could spread their $18,334,000 bonus pool around to multiple players.
While it remains to be seen how much Bazzana will land with his bonus, it ended up being something of a chalk pick for the Guardians. Fangraphs, Baseball America, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, and The Athletic’s Keith Law all ranked Bazzana as the second-best prospect in this year’s draft class, while MLB Pipeline ranked Bazzana at the top of their list.
Bazzana (who turns 22 in August) had a handful of pro games under his belt already, appearing in 19 games with the Sydney Blue Sox of the Australian Baseball League from 2018-20. During his three seasons at Oregon State, Bazzana crushed NCAA pitching to the tune of 45 homers and a .360/.497/.660 slash line over 904 plate appearances. He added an MVP-level performance in the Cape Cod League last summer, with a 1.037 OPS in 158 PA for Falmouth.
Pundits are united in their praise of Bazzana’s hitting ability, citing his advanced approach, bat speed, hard contact rates, and plate discipline. (The latter factor might’ve particularly attracted the Guardians, who have long prized batters who can put the ball in play and avoid strikeouts.) Bazzana is already starting to show more power, with 28 of his 45 Oregon State home runs coming in his most recent college season. Beyond what he can do at the plate, Bazzana’s plus speed makes him a threat on the basepaths, stealing 66 bases in 77 attempts in college.
Defense is a bit of a question mark, as second base has been something of a default position since Bazzana is considered both too athletic to be a first base-only type. Baseball America’s scouting report notes that he could potentially play the outfield or even center field due to his athleticism, and the presence of Andres Gimenez at second base in Cleveland indicate that the Guardians could be open to testing Bazzana at other positions. That said, there is a consensus that he’ll be able to hit whenever he ends up on the field.
The Guardians had a 76-88 record in 2023, and would’ve received the 10th overall pick if the lottery picks adhered directly to last season’s team records. Cleveland had only a two percent chance of winning the first overall pick, and the Reds (who were 82-80 in 2023) had another surprising dose of lottery luck in winning the second pick, making it quite a night for Ohio’s two Major League teams.
In the second year of the draft lottery’s existence, the Guardians’ surprise win underscores the element of randomness that has now been introduced into the draft process, and the vagaries involved in the league’s desire to curb tanking. Cleveland has been one of baseball’s most consistent winning franchises over the last decade, yet its one-year blip in form in 2023 has now paid off handsomely in the form of a blue-chip prospect like Bazzana. The Guards enter the All-Star break back in first place in the AL Central, so both the present and the future are looking bright in Cleveland.
2024 MLB Draft, First Round Results
This year’s amateur draft is officially underway, and we’ll be updating this post throughout the night with every first-round selection. More details and scouting reports on all these young players are available in pre-draft rankings from Baseball America, Fangraphs, MLB Pipeline, The Athletic’s Keith Law, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. As well, Pipeline has the breakdown of the slot values assigned to each pick in the first 10 rounds, as well as the bonus pool money available to all 30 teams.
The first-round picks…
- Cleveland Guardians: Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State
- Cincinnati Reds: Chase Burns, RHP, Wake Forest
- Colorado Rockies: Charlie Condon, OF/3B, Georgia
- Oakland Athletics: Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest
- Chicago White Sox: Hagen Smith, LHP, Arkansas
- Kansas City Royals: Jac Caglianone, 1B/LHP, Florida
- St. Louis Cardinals: JJ Wetherholt, 2B/SS, West Virginia
- Los Angeles Angels: Christian Moore, 2B, Tennessee
- Pittsburgh Pirates: Konnor Griffin, SS/OF, Jackson Prep High School (MS)
- Washington Nationals: Seaver King, SS/3B/OF, Wake Forest
- Detroit Tigers: Bryce Rainer, SS, Harvard-Westlake High School (CA)
- Boston Red Sox: Braden Montgomery, OF, Texas A&M
- San Francisco Giants: James Tibbs III, OF, Florida State
- Chicago Cubs: Cam Smith, 3B, Florida State
- Seattle Mariners: Jurrangelo Cijntje, LHP/RHP, Mississippi State
- Miami Marlins: PJ Morlando, OF, Summerville High School (SC)
- Milwaukee Brewers: Braylon Payne, OF, Elkins High School (TX)
- Tampa Bay Rays: Theo Gillen, OF/MI, Westlake High School (TX)
- New York Mets: Carson Benge, OF, Oklahoma State
- Toronto Blue Jays: Trey Yesavage, RHP, East Carolina
- Minnesota Twins: Kaelen Culpepper, SS, Kansas State
- Baltimore Orioles: Vance Honeycutt, OF, North Carolina
- Los Angeles Dodgers: Kellon Lindsey, SS, Hardee High School (FL)
- Atlanta Braves: Cam Caminiti, LHP, Saguero High School (AZ)
- San Diego Padres: Kash Mayfield, LHP, Elk City High School (OK)
- New York Yankees: Ben Hess, RHP, Alabama
- Philadelphia Phillies: Dante Nori, OF, Northville High School (MI)
- Houston Astros: Walker Janek, C, Sam Houston
- Arizona Diamondbacks: Slade Caldwell, OF, Valley View High School (AR)
- Texas Rangers: Malcolm Moore, C, Stanford
All 30 teams will have picks in the first round this year, though the Mets, Padres, and Yankees all had their first-round selections dropped back by 10 slots. These three teams surpassed the third luxury tax tier ($273MM) in 2023, and thus their punishment included a 10-space drop in their opening draft choice.
The 2024 draft will take place over three days, consisting of 20 rounds of selections. Rounds 3-10 will take place on Monday, rounds 11-20 will take place on Tuesday, and the draft’s first 74 picks will come off the board tonight. Those 74 picks consist of the first two proper rounds, the two Competitive Balance Rounds, two sets of compensatory rounds (giving picks to teams who lost qualifying offer-rejecting free agents), and two Prospect Promotion Incentive picks.
The two PPI selections will go to the Diamondbacks at 31st overall and the Orioles at 32nd overall, awarded since Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson fit all of the criteria for their teams to receive the bonus picks. Carroll and Henderson won Rookie of the Year honors, both young stars were included on their respective teams’ Opening Day rosters, and were rated as top-100 prospects in at least two of three sets of preseason prospect rankings from Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and ESPN.