Cleveland Indians 2021 MLB Draft: 3 prospects to consider in first round

Cleveland Indians 2021 MLB Draft: 3 prospects to consider in first round

With the 2021 MLB Draft less than a week away teams around Major League Baseball, including the Cleveland Indians, are hard at work finalizing their big boards to prepare for the draft ahead. While the MLB Draft doesn’t carry the same weight or following as the NFL, NBA or NHL drafts, it still has a high significance to the growth of teams.

As it currently stands, the Cleveland Indians will enter the first round of the 2021 MLB Draft holding the 23rd pick overall. This is a position that should be familiar to the organization after picking 23rd in the 2020 MLB Draft and 24th in 2019.

The Tribe have also had a fair amount of success drafting MLB talent in the first round. Not every pick is incredible, but more times than not they’ve been able to crack the bigs in a reasonable amount of time recently.

The turnaround really began in 2010 when the Tribe took Drew Pomeranz with the fifth pick. While Pomeranz didn’t make it to Cleveland, he has had a decent professional career. In 2011, Cleveland took Francisco Lindor with the eighth pick. The following years saw Tyler Naquin, Clint Frazier, Bradley Zimmer and Justus Sheffield taken in the first round from 2012 through 2014, all of whom are currently in the majors.

As the Cleveland Indians look toward the 2021 MLB Draft they will be attempting to replicate this type of success. Last month we highlighted the top needs of the club that will serve as a foundation for this draft. However, we went deeper this time, picking out a trio of players that could be first round selections by the Tribe this year.

These three players fit the needs of the organization while also being projected around the time that Cleveland will be picking. There’s still a lot left to be determined on what the team is looking for in experience, collegiate or prep, but regardless these three should at least be on the radar of Tribe fans.