3 under-the-radar Guardians prospects who could make an impact in 2026 

While the Guardians’ offseason inertia has been incredibly frustrating, Cleveland’s front office seems to be operating with a clear goal in mind: Give the young guys every chance to earn everyday playing time in the spring. 

And those “young guys” seem to be Chase DeLauter and George Valera, who were in the minors for 90% of the Guardians’ 2025 season before becoming mainstays on their postseason roster. 

But just because that duo are clear parts of the Guardians' MLB picture doesn’t mean that they’re the only young players who could dictate whether the Guardians will be able to win a third-straight American League Central title. 

Kahlil Watson, Khal Stephen and Daniel Espino could all make an impact for the Guardians in 2026

OF Kahlil Watson

While Watson doesn’t get the same kind of attention from outfield prospects like DeLauter and Valera, he still has a good chance to make a positive impact on the 2026 campaign. 

Not only did the Guardians add Watson to their 40-man roster this offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, but he’s also coming off a season where he hit .250 with 16 home runs across 102 games at Double-A and Triple-A. 

He’s hit .234 with 37 home runs in 221 minor league games since the Guardians acquired him from the Marlins at the trade deadline in 2023, and he’s also learned how to be an everyday outfielder after initially coming up as a shortstop. 

Even though there’s no rush to call up the 22-year-old Watson, he seems like a likely candidate to earn some playing time later in the year similar to Valera. 

RHP Khal Stephen 

Last July, the Guardians finally pulled the plug on Shane Bieber’s time with Cleveland by trading him to the Toronto Blue Jays at the trade deadline. 

While Bieber’s market was a bit stunted due to the fact that he was working his way back from Tommy John surgery, the assumption was still that the Guardians would be able to get multiple prospects back given his strong track record. 

Instead the Guardians dealt Bieber in a one-for-one deal that netted them Stephen, who was ranked as Toronto’s No. 5 prospect at the time of the trade. 

Stephen was dealing with right shoulder impingement at the time of the trade and only managed to throw 11 1/3 innings at Double-A Akron after being acquired, but should be entering spring training healthy and ready to compete. 

While the Guardians have a plethora of starting pitchers, they (like every team) are going to need to dip into their starting pitcher depth at some point during the season. 

Stephen may not be first in line since he still needs to be added to the 40-man roster, but a midseason call-up doesn’t seem out of question — especially if he starts the season strong in the minors. 

RHP Daniel Espino

It’s weird to think of Espino as “under-the-radar” considering he was once ranked as the Guardians’ No. 1 prospect, but that’s just the nature of the current situation. 

After peaking at the top of Cleveland’s prospect rankings at the start of the 2023 season, Espino missed all of the next two seasons due to a variety of shoulder injuries that put his career in jeopardy. 

But that turned around last fall when he threw 2/3 of an inning at Triple-A before throwing 4 2/3 scoreless innings in the Arizona Fall League.

While Espino may not be the frontline starter the Guardians were expecting, it seems like he has a legit MLB future as a reliever, and he seems like a lock to make his big league debut in 2026 so long as he’s able to stay healthy.