5 Stars The Cleveland Guardians Had And Lost In The MLB Draft

2. Spencer Steer, 2016 MLB Draft

No offense to Spencer Steer, but this Spencer stings a little less than the last. Nevertheless, Steer's versatility at positions that Cleveland has been searching for help at makes this another one to raise an eyebrow at the "What if?" question.

For Steer, the "late round chance" on him taken by Cleveland wasn't as late as some of the other names on this list. In the 2016 MLB Draft, Cleveland took Steer in the 29th round out of Millikan High School in Long Beach. Now, for a kid from California, I don't blame you for passing on a trip to Ohio. Unfortunately for him, that's where he ended up anyway.

After Cleveland took Steer, he decided to go the route of college, attending Oregon. Three seasons with the Ducks and a summer in the Cape Cod drastically improved Steer's stock. Steer was solid at Oregon, hitting .297/.401/.435 over three years and 163 starts. The power wasn't really there, just 12 career home runs, but his 36 doubles and 129 RBI made up for it.

During the 2019 MLB Draft, Steer's work paid off, jumping up to the third round of the draft, and being selected by the Minnesota Twins. Minnesota ended up trading him, along with Steve Hajjar and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, to the Reds in 2022 for Tyler Mahle.

Steer made his MLB debut with Cincinnati a month after being traded to them and has made an impact all over the field, seeing time at first, third, and in left. The arrival of Kyle Manzardo helps, but another outfielder would definitely be welcomed in Cleveland, especially in the way of Steer.