Baseball analysts are divided about which player the Guardians will select with the first pick in the MLB amateur draft July 14. However, most agree they will pick either second baseman Travis Bazzana from Oregon State or shortstop JJ Wetherholt from West Virginia. The draft begins at 7 p.
m. on the final day before the MLB All-Star break begins on July 15. The first round will be televised on ESPN.
Rounds 3-10 will begin at 2 p.m. July 15.
Rounds 11-10 will be conducted July 16 beginning at 2 p.m. The draft July 15 and 16 can be followed at MLB.
com. The baseball draft is not followed nearly as closely as the NFL and NBA drafts. If it were, Guardians fans might be clamoring for President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti to choose corner outfielder Charlie Condon from the University of Georgia with the first pick.
Condon led all of Division I college baseball with a .433 batting average in 2024. He also led the nation with 37 home runs.
Condon is 6-foot-6. A corner outfielder with power is exactly what the Indians/Guardians have needed since Manny Ramirez left Cleveland as a free agent after the 2000 season. But the Guardians are expected to pass on Condon.
It comes down to money, but fans who would bark “That’s because the Dolans are cheap” if they don’t draft Condon would be incorrect. The Guardians have $18,334,000 to spend on 21 picks. That figure is assigned by Major League Baseball.
The slot value of the first pick is $10,570,600. That is also determined by MLB. According to some reports.
The Guardians have already reached a contract agreement with Weatherholt that would be for less than $10,570,000. The Guardians have the 36th overall pick in the Competitive Balance A round. Their second-round choice is pick 48 overall.
If they spend less than $10,570,000 on their first pick, they could go over slot value on picks 36 and 48. That strategy could entice a high school player to sign with the Guardians instead of going to college. Wetherholt was Baseball America’s No.
1 prospect at the start of the 2024 college season. A hamstring injury limited him to 36 games (He played 55 in 2023) but he still hit .331 with eight home runs, eight doubles and 30 RBI.
He struck out 17 times in 124 at-bats. “The left-handed hitter drives the ball to all fields with authority with excellent pitch recognition and elite bat-to-ball skills that resulted in a miniscule 10 percent miss rate in 2023 with the Mountaineers,” the MLB scouting report says of Wetherholt. “He has shown the ability to hit the ball over the fence in all directions and should have at least average power at the next level.
” Bazzana, 6-foot, 190 pounds, put up some dazzling numbers at Oregon State: He batted .407, homered 16 times and drove in 66 runs. He struck out only 37 times in 214 at-bats.
He walks 76 times, so he has power and plate discipline. This is what Prospects Live had to say about Bazzana: “His spray chart is a thing of beauty, utilizing the entire field with a compact, line drive swing with a ton of bat speed that is meant to do serious damage. The power has ramped up, especially to his pull-side, and he’s begun to cover the upper portion of the strike zone with his swing, too.
” Bazzana has played the outfield, but second base is his primary position. The Cincinnati Reds are expected to take Condon if the Guardians do not. Either Wetherholt or Bazzana could turn into a fine pick, but the Guardians will be reminded four times a year in the Ohio Cup if they pass on Condon and he goes on to homer 30 times a year for the Reds.
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