Cleveland Indians top 4 needs in the 2021 MLB Draft

Cleveland Indians 2021 MLB Draft Need #1: First Base

Since arriving in Cleveland, Bobby Bradley has been rather strong so far this year. It’s a small sample size with just three games, but one home run and two doubles is still promising. The downside is that the 25-year old prospect is the only first baseman on the Tribe’s Top 30 prospect list, being No. 18, and his prospect status will soon run out if he stays in Cleveland.

When it comes to building for the future, you don’t exactly want to be without a position on the Top 30 list. Bradley is young and has shown promise, but the next man up should always be on the radar. After Bradley, that’s not exactly the case. Once he is taken off the list, who’s the next first baseman to watch in the minors?

Drafting first basemen in the first round hasn’t exactly been a strength for the club in the past. Bradley was a third round selection, so you have to go back to the 2007 MLB Draft for the last first round first baseman by the Tribe. That was Beau Mills with the No. 13 pick. Mills played 74 games in Triple-A Columbus, but never made it to the majors.

That shouldn’t necessarily derail Cleveland from taking a first baseman since it was so long ago, but it shows how long it’s been since the team invested a high pick in the position. With that being said, the team shouldn’t reach either.

On the Top 200 prospects list for the 2021 MLB Draft, the first first baseman on the list isn’t until No. 70. Odds are, the Tribe could wait until the second round or later to address that need.