Guardians #1 Pick Roundtable: Covering the Corner Writers Talk Draft

Who do our writers think the Guardians will and SHOULD draft?

Recently. I asked our Covering the Corner writers for their thoughts about the Guardians’ draft next week on July 14th. Before you read how they answer, I highly encourage reading the following article on Travis Bazzana.

Quincy: Hey, folks, wondering if we could have some informal conversation here that we could turn into an article. The basis of our discussion is: who SHOULD the Guardians draft with the number one pick? And who WILL the Guardians draft with the number one pick?

I’ll start off... I expect the Guardians to draft Travis Bazzana. He dominated Cape Cod, he pulls fly balls, doesn’t strike out and plays middle infield - all things they love. Especially if the team thinks he can play centerfield as some have speculated, it seems like a slam dunk.

Zach: I too expect the Guardians to draft Travis Bazzana. He fits everything they love to a T. There are almost zero holes to his offensive game. He hits for contact, power, doesn’t chase. The defensive profile leaves a bit to be desired, I think best case scenario for him is an average 2B. I don’t think he’ll be able to stick in CF, but he could be a LF.

As for who the Guardians should draft, that conversation gets a little more complicated. I believe that Charlie Condon is the best player in the class, but I don’t think the gap between him and Bazzana/Wetherholt is too wide. All things equal I think they should draft Condon because he has the highest upside in the class and I believe has the potential to hit 40 HRs. That being said, if the rumors are true that he will not be willing to take any discounts at 1.1, then I believe the Guardians should draft Travis Bazzana or JJ Wetherholt, because I don’t believe that Condon is $1.5-$2m better than Bazzana/Wetherholt.

Matt Seese: Despite all the smoke around Wetherholt recently, it’s always felt like Bazzana is the one for the taking. There are qualities and intangibles, when you watch him play, that feel very Jose Ramirez-esque. He’s an elite baserunner, has a tremendous feel for defensive positioning with an above average glove, and he’s a pulled fly ball monster without sacrificing a lot of swing and miss to do so. He tapped into his power a lot more this season, and even won a Cape Cod MVP to boot.

Charlie Condon is the most interesting “yeah, they’re not taking him” player available, because as Zach stated, the money talks, and Bazzana and Wetherholt both provide more flexibility for arguably being better all-around prospects, and I think Bazzana is still solidly clear of Wetherholt regardless.

Brendan: Yeah I’m all-in on Bazzana, and I think he’s the one that we 100% should draft. His bat perfectly fits the mold that the Guards brass have set the last few years. I’m not gonna reiterate what was said in this chat about how great he is, cause I don’t want this to sound like a broken record.

But one thing I don’t see talked about enough with him is how hard he works. He’s very comparable to Josh Naylor in this regard. He has the type of work ethic that makes him the surest bet in the draft to me. He’s also a Driveline student, so that’s an added plus.

I only needed to see one AB to see how much of a work horse he is. I’ll tell you that I’ve rly never seen a player be more competitive in his ABs than I do Bazzana. He’ll exclaim in frustration if he fouls off a pitch he should’ve hammered, he’ll go ballistic if he does hammer a pitch. And so much more.

I will say one thing though. I do hope he is stapled into 2nd base. I want his bat to be the main thing he has to work on, and making him learn the outfield will be another thing on his plate, on top of the development of his bat. I also think that keeping him at 2nd gives us our franchise shortstop in Giménez, whose bat plays so much better there. Do I think that this is gonna happen? Probably not, but it’s just what I want to happen.

Z: Your comment about how he exclaims in frustration during ABs is actually something that I kind of worry about with him

Q: I share the same concern. He gets a little too in his head sometimes

Z: It might sound silly but overthinking things and getting in your own head is something that can really affect your performance

Brian: I’m also all-in on Bazanna. The dude is constantly improving. There were concerns heading into this season that he didn’t have enough power and exit velocity, and he worked tirelessly in the off-season and he had some of the best improvements in power, bat speed and exit velo in the draft class. He’s clear 1.1 for me and it’s not even close I don’t care how much money they could save by drafting Weatherholt first, it’s not worth it, IMO.

Also an underrated piece that hasn’t been mentioned yet is the whole Australia thing. I think he’ll be extremely marketable and he’ll have an entire country behind him.

Nicole: I’m going to jump aboard the Bazzana train. I think he fits the Cleveland style of player both in terms of stats/skills and in terms of his personality. Just thinking about him having even a year under the clubhouse school of José Ramírez makes me super excited.

Q: I forgot to talk about who the Guardians SHOULD draft. I think it’s the Bazzmanian Devil, for sure, but I will say the only thing that tempts me is if the Guardians think JJ Wetherholt’s hamstring is sound and if they believe he can play shortstop in the majors, competently. Wetherholt is a lot like Bazzana as a prospect. So, I can see an argument there. I also understand that Condon was absolutely insane this season, so I would completely support picking him.

Bottom line, whomever the Guardians choose, I’m going to convince myself that they’re going to be an all-star by 2026. But, as our writers have noted, I expect (and want) that draft card to read Travis Bazzana, first thing.