CLEVELAND -- To watch the 2026 Guardians once again assert themselves at the top of the AL Central is to see what can happen when a ballclub on a budget nails the first round of the amateur Draft.
As Gavin Williams (23rd overall pick, 2021) cements himself as a top-end starter, as Chase DeLauter (16th overall, 2022) remains healthy enough to let his natural talent shine and as Travis Bazzana (No. 1 overall, 2024) seamlessly slots into the top of the batting order, the Guardians are getting impact that had actually eluded them in many first rounds past. And there could be more coming soon, with first baseman Ralphy Velazquez (23rd overall, 2023) recently hitting his way to Triple-A.
“Scouting and player development is the lifeblood of our organization,” assistant general manager Matt Forman said. “Our performance and success over any period is likely to be dictated by the players who come through our organization.”
If the Guards reach the postseason again this year, it would be the ninth time in 14 seasons. Many scouting and development victories contributed to this sustained success, yet surprisingly few of those victories had come in the most obvious means by which a team can acquire a future star on the relative cheap -- the first round.
Cleveland aced its top-10 selection of Francisco Lindor from an Orlando-area high school in 2011.
The years since, however, had featured more iffiness than impact emerging from the first round:
2012: OF Tyler Naquin (15th overall): 3.3 career wins above replacement (per Baseball Reference), including five seasons with Cleveland.
2013: OF Clint Frazier (fifth overall): minus-0.3 bWAR, after Cleveland used him as a trade chip for reliever Andrew Miller.
2014: OF Bradley Zimmer (21st overall), LHP Justus Sheffield (31st), OF Mike Papi (38th): Zimmer accumulated 2.8 of his 2.9 career bWAR with Cleveland, Sheffield (minus-0.9 bWAR) was also in the Miller trade and Papi never reached the Majors.
2015: LHP Brady Aiken (17th overall) and RHP Triston McKenzie (42nd): Aiken never made it, and McKenzie’s star (4.8 bWAR) burned brightly but briefly.
2016: OF Will Benson (14th overall): minus-0.2 bWAR, with most MLB service with the Reds after a 2023 trade.
2017: First-round pick forfeited by Edwin Encarnacion signing.
2018: C Bo Naylor (29th overall): 2.9 career bWAR and recently demoted to Minors.
2019: RHP Daniel Espino (24th overall): Minor League career so far limited to less than 200 innings because of injuries.
2020: SS Carson Tucker (23rd overall): Released in 2024 after injuries and performance struggles.
There’s certainly a lot to be said for the Draft essentially making Miller’s 2016 magic possible. Still, the above is not exactly a satisfying track record for a team that relies so heavily on homegrown talent.
That’s what makes the early fruits of this decade’s Drafts so notable. It’s the sign of an organization clicking on a somewhat untapped cylinder.
While Paul Gillispie was elevated to senior vice president of scouting in early 2022, the Guardians don’t claim to have made an overhaul to their approach to the Draft this decade.
“I wish I could fit it into a narrative, but I don’t think so,” Forman said. “Our goal in the Draft process is to know the players as well as possible. And once they’re in the organization, to provide the best environment we possibly can to support them endlessly and relentlessly to become the best players they can possibly be.”
Even with the lottery ball bouncing its way prior to the Bazzana pick, Cleveland’s average first-round position in the last eight Drafts has been 21. That adds a layer of difficulty to the already imprecise process of predicting the future.
But the 2026 team has gotten a first-round-pick pick-me-up from three players.
Williams enters Wednesday’s road date against the Yankees with the best walk rate (7.9%) of his young career, allowing the 6-foot-6, 250-pound righty’s power arsenal to play up all the more. He has a 3.07 ERA and 133 ERA+.
“From a scouting perspective, he's big and he throws hard,” Forman said. “Those are the things you see very quickly. And over time, he's worked to refine his delivery, develop his secondary pitches and more consistently be in the strike zone. I think that speaks to his maturation and growth.”
DeLauter was a calculated gamble of a pick, having suffered a broken foot in the middle of his 2022 Draft year. His emergence this season is less a product of any major adjustments made in the Minors and more about him proving more durable after myriad health woes hampered his Minor League career.
“He's worked really hard,” said Forman, “to develop a routine that he can execute consistently, to put himself in a position to be prepared for the day.”
The Guardians had the No. 1 overall pick in a year in which there was not a clear candidate for the honor but rather a variety of players to parse through. Though Bazzana is mere weeks into his MLB career, his elite discipline and contact-oriented approach have elevated him from No. 1 Draft pick to No. 1 spot in the batting order in remarkably short order.
“He's relentlessly pursued domain knowledge,” Forman said. “Knowledge of the game, knowledge of the components of preparation. … He’s really bright, absorbs a lot of information, thinks about where he is and then thinks about how he can apply it to himself.”
Velazquez, the club's No. 3 prospect (No. 58 overall, per MLB Pipeline) promoted to Triple-A shortly before his 21st birthday on May 28, could be next. He slashed .317/.414/.566 in 36 games in Double-A before making the jump to the next tier and has played some left field in addition to his usual spot at first base.
“He takes as much pride in his defense at first base or even the outfield and in his baserunning as he does in being a good offensive player,” Forman said. “So I think he has a chance to be pretty dynamic, contributing in all facets of the game.”
It’s way too soon to know what the Guardians have in outfielder and No. 7 prospect Jace LaViolette, the power-hitting but strikeout-prone outfielder they took 27th overall last year. And they’ll once again be picking in the latter half of the first round this year, with the 19th overall selection.
But if you add first-round feats to the long list of strengths this well-run organization has established, you’ll have reason to believe this sustained era of contention can keep going.