Guardians’ Travis Bazzana placed in head-scratching spot in ESPN's MLB redraft

In 2024, the Cleveland Guardians made a clear statement at the top of the MLB Draft when they drafted Travis Bazzana with the No. 1 pick. 

While that pick was (and still is) a point of contention across some MLB circles, Bazzana’s impressed in his first taste of MLB action, and stands out as a key part of MLB’s new wave of talent. 

Over the weekend ESPN’s MLB team shined a light on that new wave of talent by putting out a new story where they combined the past three draft classes and redrafted them using this year’s draft order. 

And that redraft had Bazzana going with the No. 15 pick. That’s right — they put 14 players from the past three draft classes ahead of Bazzana. 

Although there were some clear players who make sense ahead of Bazzana (Paul Skenes and Nick Kurtz, to name a few), it's hard to believe Bazzana is that low on the list. 

Travis Bazzana is still a divisive name in MLB prospect evaluation 

This redraft came before Bazzana was named an All-Star, but it’s hard to believe that accolade would change things considering awesome MLB evaluators seem to view Bazzana as a shaky prospect given the view he may not have the same kind of MVP potential as his peers. 

While he may not have the kind of power potential as his peers, his .750 OPS leads all American League second baseman who have 200+ at-bats. 

Still, that production didn’t do much to convince ESPN’s staff he was worth an early pick in the redraft. After Skenes went No. 1 to the Athletics, Konnor Griffin was selected with the No. 2 pick, which is the first big surprise. 

Griffin (who the Pirates took with the No. 9 pick in the 2024 draft) is clearly a rising star. He made his MLB debut this season and has already inked a nine-year, $140 million contract. But so much of the hype around him is based around his potential since he’s just 20. 

Meanwhile, is just 23 despite having three years of college baseball under his belt. 

The other players from Bazzana’s draft who were selected ahead of him were Chase Burns (No. 5), JJ Wetherholt (No. 6) and Jac Caglianone (No. 10). 

Burns was also named an All-Star this summer (making him and Bazzana the only two members of that draft class to be named All-Stars) and has done great this season (2.40 ERA in 91 2/3 innings), but he comes with the same inherent injury risk that all pitchers have. 

Really, Burns being picked over Bazzana in this exercise isn’t too crazy given they’ve both had big league success. The same can be said for Skenes, Griffin or Kurtz. But the biggest surprise is Kade Anderson, Seth Martinez, Max Clark and Eli Willits going over him despite having not made their big league debuts yet. 

Now, obviously all of them have the potential to end up being MVP level players and have a ton of potential, but Bazzana has already shown that his potential leads to MLB success. 

If anything, him being so low in this draft shows how the Guardians decision to draft Bazzana with the No. 1 pick in 2024 is going to be a talking point for years to come. 

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