The Guardians have agreed to terms with No. 1 overall draft pick Travis Bazzana, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com. The Oregon State second baseman will receive an $8.95MM bonus that checks in $1.62MM shy of the No. 1 pick’s $10.57MM slot value.
It’s the fifth-highest bonus in draft history but only the third-highest among this year’s draftees; Reds righty Chase Burns, selected with the No. 2 overall pick, received the largest bonus in draft history at $9.25MM when he agreed to his deal with Cincinnati earlier this week. Georgia slugger Charlie Condon (the #3 selection) matched Burns’ money on his deal with the Rockies. Pirates ace Paul Skenes ($9.2MM) and Nationals top prospect Dylan Crews ($9MM) hold the third- and fourth-largest bonuses in draft history.
The Aussie-born Bazzana posted a historic season for the Beavers in 2024. In 60 games and 296 plate appearances, he compiled a preposterous .407/.568/.911 batting line with a school-record 28 home runs and more than twice as many walks (76) as strikeouts (37). The lefty-swinging infielder added 16 doubles, four triples and 16 steals (in 21 attempts). Bazzana’s .407 average ranked eighth among all D-I players. He was second to Georgia catcher Corey Collins in on-base percentage and trailed only Georgia slugger Charlie Condon (the No. 3 overall pick) in slugging percentage. Bazzana’s 28 round-trippers tied him for seventh among D-I hitters.
There was no real surprise when Cleveland tabbed Bazzana with the top pick. The 6’0″, 199-pound 21-year-old ranked as the No. 1 or No. 2 prospect on pre-draft rankings from MLB.com, Baseball America, FanGraphs, ESPN and The Athletic. Mock drafts from all of those outlets either had Bazzana as the Guardians’ pick or at least noted that he was among the select few players Cleveland was considering, due in part to the fact that he was believed to be signable at a number lower than Skenes’ now-toppled record — thus allowing the Guards to be more aggressive further down their draft board.
Bazzana draws universal praise for his elite bat-to-ball skills, his ability to maximize the above-average raw power he possesses, and his plus running speed. The Athletic’s Keith Law wrote in his scouting report that Bazzana might have the highest floor of any hitter in this year’s draft class, calling him a potential All-Star on the strength of his bat alone. There’s less optimism about Bazzana’s defensive outlook. It’s rare for a pure second baseman to be regarded this highly — a testament to the quality of Bazzana’s bat — and Baseball America notes in their report that he “frequently throws from an odd sidearm slot that some scouts question.” That said, BA also suggests Bazzana has the speed and athleticism to perhaps play center field.
Defensive questions notwithstanding, Bazzana is a hitting machine, and “elite bat-to-ball skills” has become the hallmark of a Guardians organization that tends to prioritize contact hitters and regularly registers the lowest strikeout rate of any big league club. If the plan is for Bazzana to play second base in Cleveland, he could push Andres Gimenez — who’s signed to a seven-year contract — over to his natural position of shortstop. Bazzana would give the Guards another top- or middle-of-the-order hitter to pair with Gimenez, face of the franchise Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor (assuming Bazzana is a fairly quick mover and ascends to the majors before Naylor reaches free agency following the 2025 campaign, that is).
Bazzana should immediately slide in as the Guardians’ No. 1 or No. 2 prospect (depending on how one feels about touted young outfielder Chase DeLauter). By landing him at a bonus that was lower than slot and lower than the previous record, Cleveland also saved some cash that should prove helpful in trying to sign high-profile high school picks that the Guards selected in the later rounds. Left-hander Joey Oakie was widely considered a top-50 prospect and Day 1 talent but landed with Cleveland at the No. 84 pick on Day 2. Seventh-round right-hander Cameron Sullivan and tenth-round righty Chase Mobley were generally ranked in the Top 125 prospects in this year’s class. Bazzana’s price tag and the money saved could allow the Guardians to come away with an impressive collection of names if all of those lauded prep players eventually sign.
I understand the teams have total pool they can spend but why would the #1 pick get less than the #2? Is it because the guardians talked with Bazzana prior to the draft and agreed to a term saying “we will draft you #1 if you’ll take X amount?”
Hi, I think that is how it works… agree before hand and everyone is happy
Bazinga!
After seeing Weatherholt dressed up as a cowboy at the draft, I’m glad Cleveland was astute in not taking the “look at me” persona in Weatherholt.
He was an embarrassment to real cowboys.
Yes. Teams look to save money to sign drown-draft picks, so He may not have went #1 if he didn’t agree to their terms beforehand.
I swear I just went back in time looking over the draft profile of Bazzana. Just put the name Andrew Vaughn in the place of Travis Bazzana, and you literally have the same dude. Very happy that the White Sox no longer pursue the “best hitter” in college baseball with their 1st round picks. It got us Andrew Vaughn and Nick Madrigal (the guy who was never supposed to strike out).
Hilarious.. Bazzana’s “draft profile” is in no way comparable to Andrew Vaughn.
I can see the Madrigal comp if I squint but the Andrew Vaughn comp is way off.
What a cheap organization. Nothing changes.
Depends if they pocket the money call them cheap, if they use the savings to sign a player they normally wouldn’t be able to afford had they maxed him out that’s another story.
That’s how the Astros latest run got started basically.
Bothers you personally, does it? Had enough?
This has nothing to do with being cheap, its about maximizing the allotted draft pool money so they can spread it around to sign other picks.
The Guardians consistently go over their allotted $$$ every year. The draft is one place they are not frugal.
The one and only.
Yeah, the “one and only” which includes every single aspect of organizational development including international signings, Dominican academies, scouting, instruction, forward-thinking player support, front office personnel, in other words, everything having to do with creating an excellent organization known for its consistently competitive teams despite the disadvantageous baseball landscape.
The only thing it doesn’t include is signing overpaid free agents to satisfy ignorant fans who pay more attention to payroll standings than the real standings.
Who is your team?
I’m a Cleveland fan.
Bazzana was the No. 1 player on their board and he agreed to take this deal BEFORE he got picked. And as ems8588 said above, they consistently spend to the MAX amount they are allowed in the draft.
Tell me you don’t understand draft strategy without telling me lol.
That’s not how the draft works. They’re still spending the amount of money they’re appointed to spend on the draft
Cleveland will spend their entire budget allotted. The difference between the #1 & #2 contracts was ONLY $30,000.00 dollars. Yes, the #1 slot had a lot more allocated to it, but the SAVINGS from the signing will be spread out to sign more of the draft picks, probably either High School or JUCO guys who have leverage in negotiations.
Think you dropped a zero, champ.
My mistake. Yes, it’s $300,000.00 less not the $30,000.00 that I originally mentioned. The point is still the same when you’re speaking about guys who just got drafted. The reason I (tried) used long hand re the figures is to show how much MORE the team has to use on the other players namely high school or JUCO players who have negotiation leverage than if they signed him at a value closer to slot allocation.
Do ya ever contribute on here? Or just whining and crying
Can’t you come up with an original screen name on your own?
The guardians have over 19 million to spend and will spend all of it. You don’t how baseball slotting works. Your dumber then box of rocks.
I agree with you that the Dolans are an embarrassment, but if Cleveland gets this guy under slot and uses the money to sign other HS guys above slot that otherwise would not have signed, then all is fine.
I have tons of faith in their front office to do just that – it wasn’t like they drafted somebody no one thought could go 1/1. The ownership is terrible though.
An “embarrassment” which has hired and kept a loyal, excellent front office and overseen the development of a superb organization top to bottom, with results that are the envy of many fans from markets with far greater assets than Cleveland.
The only embarrassment here are our own fans who fail to appreciate what they have. The third best AL franchise in winning % all-time, behind only big markets NY and BOS, a standing that has only IMPROVED during the Dolan’s tenure.
Winning a championship involves some amount of luck. Getting hot at the right time, a call here or there, no rain delay…..but being this successful for as long as they have is not luck. It’s just running a team the right way
Precisely. Only the ignorant equate rings (Marlins? Royals?) with excellence. When a three week tournament means more to people than six months of achievement, you know they’re not much of a fan of the sport. No one made the Hall of Fame solely on the basis of postseason “achievement.”
And the truly hilarious thing is Cleveland has lost two World Series in extra innings of Game 7 (and could have easily won in other seasons as well). So those losses invalidate everything else they’ve done? And had they won just those couple of games, they’d be off the hook for all the stupid commentary about them being losers when they clearly aren’t?
They spent their entire draft pool. If you’re going to post, please know what you’re talking about.
@sufferforsnakes
What a winning organization. Nothing changes.
What also never changes is the ignorance of fans who don’t understand how this team does what it does. (Worse, this kind of ignorant comment is common among its own fans.)
My company never offered me close to nine million. Not even donuts. Heck, I couldn’t even get a parking space.
Now I hope they sign him to a 10 year deal and lock him up, much like Chourio got in Milwaukee.
Could be why they went with Bazzana and not Condon. I bet Charlie gets more than he or Burns.
Sorry Condon got 9.2 million from the rockies. Condon told teams he won’t sign for less then 10 million. Hey Charlie you get alot of food stamps for 9.2 million.
Not to mention playing for a dumpster fire like Colorado than an excellent organization like Cleveland. Do people not realize that Bazzana is smart enough to know the long term benefits of playing for Cleveland vs a. team like Colorado, White Sox, or Sacramento?
If you dont drag out the negotiations you sign quickly, go to goodyear for two months, play in some games, play the winter league games, get an invitation to spring training and make your mark. Who knows what might happen?
austrailia? italy? steps must be taken to protect mlb from this invasion of foreigners
Have you looked at MLB rosters for the past decade or just now figuring out Americans are not playing the so called national pasttime as much?
start by making the American League actually American! Toronto is like a backdoor attracting all of them.
I remember when this was our game, and the World Series was truly ours, with Americans representing American cities from Brooklyn to New York!!
Are you serious mate? This will do wonders for baseball in Australia and its called The World Series not The American Series! I live in Sydney and am a very proud Australian this week. He also did it the right way by going through the college system.
as Michael Jackson once said, “we are the World”
deepseamonster32,
Do you realize the utter, irony, hypocrisy,contradiction in your prior post?
You scuff at attracting the best players in the world and playing the game outside America because apparently you don’t want anything foreign…countries, cities, players, but then yearn for “World” Series played under those sanitized circumstances. The term has been misnamed by MLB from the very first W.S.
MJ’s “We Are The World” was created to raise funds for the African famine. Brooklyn is also not a city.
the We was who was giving money. aka Americans. therefore, Americans are the World.
and I’ll have my lawyer get back to you why Brooklyn was never legally annexed into NYC. he’s got a big chart full of reasons
@TrotNixonIsMyHero Don’t worry about that guy. Aussies are more than welcome to come play here. I think it’s cool that Bazzana is from Australia. I was hoping the Reds would have gotten him.
Wanted 10 million or more to sign. He told teams this before the draft. Be glade you got burns.
I’m pretty sure he is just trolling no need to go up in arms and give him what he wants.
I was more joking than trolling. I did find it weird people took that first comment seriously, so I was trying to make it obviouser.
I cant believe how many people didnt enjoy your sarcasm, tbh.
Yea things so uptight these days, you were definitely being humorous apologies for calling you a troll
What a great system where the #1 pick gets less than the #2 and players threaten to go to college if they don’t get paid enough
@sad tormented neglected mariners fan
It gives non-college seniors leverage in negotiations. But let’s also be realistic, how many #1 and 2 draft picks and other first round picks, especially Top 10 opt not to sign and leave those millions on the table?
Blink twice he’ll be in the bigs.
Who will be this year’s Nolan Schauel and spend 20 mins in MiLB and come up this year? Could he be that guy?
He’s probably about as MLB ready as any other player in the class. Cleveland tends not to rush their prospects, though.
You’re right about that. It took them forever to call up Francisco Lindor. I don’t see Bazzana getting the call until
2026. In the mean time we can clamor for deLauter’s promotion.
Solaris – there are better examples than Lindor… Lindor got the starting SS job at the age of 21 when he pushed 22 year old Jose Ramirez off the position.
Lindor as a prospect reminds me of the draft. The M’s were expected to draft him, only to pick the most reliable arm in the draft, Danny Hultzen. That pick freed up a couple of my Octobers. good times.
Fully expect them to sign all their prep hurlers.
I sure hope so. Between Bazzana going underslot and the 5% overage allowance, they have a lot of money to play with.
There is no reason why the Guardians can’t cash in a World Series in the next 5 years. They have young talent, young up and coming talent in the minors, pitching talent, and they could dominate the Central for a while.
It’s going to take some luck signing the right free agents to fill the holes but it’s possible. You say Bazzana I say Banana but all that matters is that his game eventually plays at MLB level.
What the Guardians need to do is make bold trades that wind up being wins. They’ve held onto the Nolan Joneses, Bobby Bradleys, Bradley Zimmers and have not made trades for controllable players who can help at the major league level. There are more prospects the Guardians have had over the years they did not trade to help the top.
Another fan with an inflated opinion of their own prospects and the ease with which other organizations can be fleeced by dangling prospect “rankings.” You must think other teams don’t have scouts.
Not a Guardians fan. You’ve proven my point. Much appreciated.
Nothing like a clueless fan of ANOTHER team thinking they know what’s best for Cleveland.
Nothing like a clueless person thinking Cleveland knows what’s best for Cleveland. You must be part of the BTV club where Guardians fans come together to explain why they have no idea what winning looks like.
Instead of trying to spew insults come up with a baseball argument and maybe we can have some good banter. Otherwise stay useless.
Nothing sadder than a fan–a FAN, mind you–thinking he knows what’s best for Cleveland’s baseball operation. You gave yourself away when you invoked the names of Bobby Bradley and Bradley Zimmer as “assets” teams would have ever clamored for, much less dealt good major league talent away to have. The delusions some people have about their ability to more successfully operate already successful teams is mind-boggling.
Like over 19 million to sign alltheir picks.
Nothing says estimation like squeezing your new top employee out of $1.6 MM as a welcome.
The oligarchs and their franchises have these draftees over a barrel. An utter imbalance of power, which they use to frequently cheat young players out of their slot money.
MLB should make slot bonuses binding or at least limit the deductible amount to a maximum of 2 to 3 percent.
I think Bazzana will not be unhappy with his $8 million bonus. Get real.
Keep licking those boots.
Keep advocating for the big markets. You are the true “boot licker.”
Fact: Bazzana WANTED Cleveland, and not to go to some dumpster fire like the Rockies, White Sox, or Sacramento A’s.
You just can’t stand when someone is smart, not dumb, like so many fans who act like the players don’t have the strongest union in collective bargaining history.
That’s your best retort? Really? An old and tired ad hominem attack? C’mon, man!
I think if you were TRULY interested in labor rights and areas of this economy that could use some activism in employer-employee relations, you wouldn’t be wasting your time crying crocodile tears over the fate of ballplayers who couldn’t possibly have better representation.
I disagree. I think he’s elated to be a rich young man right now, with more riches to come in the years ahead. I usually don’t fool with glass-half-empty guys like you because you bore me. Consider yourself blessed that I’ve given you this much attention. You’ll get no more.
Do you really think this wasn’t negotiated before the draft?
I feel like I should watch Bonanza while eating a banana to celebrate. Congratulations Guardians.
I live in Lynchburg. Will we see him on the Hillcats this season?
No. He’s going directly to High-A. Barring some sort of catastrophic failure he’s unlikely to ever play in Low-A.
That’s a bummer. We were high A until The commish ruined the minor league system.
I feel your pain. I live in North Carolina and it would have been pretty simple to travel to a location in the league where I could see him play. I’ve wanted to go to Lynchburg to see the Hillcats anyway!
Spoken like a true big market fan who resents being beaten by their “lessers.”
He did not have to sign. He was not a hostage. In fact, his agent must have thought it was a fair deal or he would have turned down the offer in the best interest of his client. This isn’t difficult to understand for the majority of people. Bazzana is now rich at age 22.
And playing for a great organization, not a dumpster fire. How many of the first draftees can ever say they’ve been taken by a first place team? Try NONE.
Please. Cleveland has the 3rd best all-time winning percentage in AL history, behind only big market NY and BOS.. Please name all the teams in the AL who have been consistently “relevant” in the last 30 years. CLE,NY BOS, (and HOU. once they moved and got good.) That’s it.
Since you can read, your statement that “everyone knows it’s not fair” is patently untrue.
Wow, everybody is testy today. Can’t we all just get along …? Indians are good @developing players n play in week division. Cpl right moves n lil luck, but that’s most teams. Surprised there aren’t more Aussies in pro ball, they’ve got rich baseball history down under. Oy oy oy !
Haters gonna hate. Cle is one of the best organizations in baseball top to bottom