Guardians might've earned ultimate 2025 MLB Draft steal with falling preseason No. 1

Texas A&M v Arkansas: Game Two
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The Cleveland Guardians, at #27 overall, just had to hope someone they liked fell to them. You simply have to be reactive to the picks made in front of you when you are picking that late. Right before the draft, MLB Pipeline's last mock draft had the Guardians ending up with either prep shortstop Josh Hammond or college shortstop Marek Houston. At the time, that felt like a best case scenario.

However, the Guardians may have had an even better situation fall in their laps. With the 27th overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, Cleveland picked Jace LaViolette who was arguably the top ranked draft prospect before the 2025 season.

Guardians get a potential steal after picking Jace LaViolette in the first round

There is a lot to like about LaViolette. He is loaded with raw power and in terms of pure physicality, he may not have a peer in the draft. Despite his imposing size, he moves around exceedingly well and should be able to stick in center field. Seems like a slam dunk, right?

Well, LaViolette did get exposed a bit in college this season. While he makes good swing decisions and knows the zone, his swing needs some work especially given how often he gets beat by pitches in the zone that he should be able to send into orbit.

For the Guardians, this is the type of gamble they need to take. If it works out, this might be the best pick in the entire draft and the middle of their lineup will be in good hands for a long time. Unfortunately, there is real risk that LaViolette's swing is too broken to fix and he could also be a bust.

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