Cleveland Guardians Top Prospects to Know

You are reading the free version of the Cleveland Guardians’ Top Prospects. In this version, you will get the full writeups on the top prospect in the system, the biggest sleeper, and a player I could see breaking out in 2025.

In this edition, you will see what I offer in the full team reports. For every farm system, you will get my top 50 ranked players and detailed reports on the top 30. Each report includes advanced player data, traditional scouting thoughts from live and video looks, plus thoughts from scouts around the league.

Let’s dive in on what you get in the full report!

Glossary:

FFG = Future Fantasy Grade - essentially, what is the likely long-term outcome for the prospect? This is always going to be more conservative. Handing out ace tags is not something I like to do. So, this is a realistic outcome.

90th Peak = If the player hits their best-case outcome, what does it look like?

Variance = How risky is this player’s profile, and how likely are they to hit their likely outcome? Low variance is good; high means more risky.

Format for report: Name/Position/Age on 2025 Opening Day/Height/Weight/Highest Level

Cleveland Guardians Top Prospect

1. Travis Bazzana, 2B, 22, 6’0”/199, A+

Bazzana is a unique prospect in that he hails from Hornsby, Australia. You would probably be hard-pressed to find a harder worker in this draft class who consistently looks to improve his game while also being a tremendous clubhouse presence.

Having a great sophomore year in 2023, Bazzana already put his name at the top of the 2024 draft boards, but an incredible Cape Cod league saw him show more power with wood while also maintaining the strong hit tool.

This led to a major breakout in 2024, where he sat at the top of the boards and could hear his name called 1.1. Bazzana slashed an impressive .407/.568/.911 with 28 home runs and 16 stolen bases. Not many saw this kind of power output coming from Bazzana, but the underlying data backs it up.

With an average exit velocity north of 96 mph, Bazzana ranks among the best in the draft class, and his 90th percentile exit velocity, while not on Condon’s level, was still a very good 109 mph.

We are looking at one of the more patient hitters in the draft class, chasing just 14 percent of pitches out of the zone and walking twice as much as he struck out(76 to 37). The contact skills are some of the best that you will find in the draft, checking in around 85 percent overall and an 88 percent in-zone mark.

The one negative that you might find with Bazzana is the passivity. While he doesn’t chase, he also has a fairly low in-zone swing percentage, which you would like to see rise. Sure, it worked in college, and the numbers don’t lie, but Bazzana will need to show that he can take advantage of the pitches he sees in the zone during pro ball.

Bazzana played exclusively second base this year for Oregon State after getting time in the outfield in the Cape Cod league in 2023. His future home is at the keystone, though.

The pro debut left a little to be desired as Bazzana hit just .238 with three home runs in 27 games, but he posted a .369 OBP and had seven doubles. The underlying data was good, and Bazzana made contact on 80 percent of swings with good exit velocities.

FFG: Top 10 2B

90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .280/.380/25 HR/15 SB

Variance: Medium

Buy/Sell: Buy

Cleveland Guardians Sleeper Prospect

10. Luis Merejo Jr., 1B, 18, 6’2”/185, A

Merejo was a data darling in the DSL in 2023, which carried over to his 2024 season, in which he split between the complex and Single-A. Between both stops, he slashed a strong .263/.300/.439 with seven home runs and 29 extra-base hits in 77 games.

While Merejo struck out more in Single-A, the overall results were better. The power is real, and he looks like a future corner infield masher, given the kind of damage he did at 18 years old. The swing is geared for elevating the ball, as Merejo put 72 percent of batted balls in the air, and it has come with impressive exit velocities.

Merejo has been a little aggressive, swinging at 50 percent of pitches, but he has made respectable contact, especially given his age. The chase rate sits near 22 percent, and I really like to see the aggressiveness of the pitches in the zone. The combination of a 90th percentile exit velocity north of 106 mph with the high air percentage has led to an absurd barrel rate.

You would be wise to invest now. A 2025 season could see Merejo reach High-A, and he will still be 18 years old before starting the season. At the rate he is trending, he will be a top-100 prospect.

FFG: Power Hitting 1B

90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .270/.350/27 HR/5 SB

Variance: High

Buy/Sell: Buy

Cleveland Guardians 2025 Breakout Prospect

22. Juneiker Caceres, OF, 17, 5’10”/168, DSL

Caceres spent nearly all of the 2024 DSL season as a 16-year-old but did not perform like one. While we take DSL surface numbers with a grain of salt, Caceres put up an impressive .340/.425/.504 slash with 17 extra-base hits in 40 games. He walked more than he struck out and showed impressive traits for someone 16 at the time.

While he did not hit a home run, Caceres put up exit velocities as high as 108 mph and put the ball in the air nearly 70 percent of the time. The biggest thing for Caceres will be learning to pull the ball more often.

The contact skills are presently plus or better. Sure, it was against DSL pitching, but that does not take away from the fact that he put up contact rates that were nearly two standard deviations better than that of the players there, and he did it at 16. Caceres’s chase rates were closer to average, but he still showed good pitch recognition and walked more often than he struck out.

Caceres looks relatively filled out for his frame, but given his age, he could still add a few inches. The profile also shows solid speed. Caceres was one of the more underrated hitters in the DSL and could be a player who flies up rankings upon coming stateside.

FFG: Hit Tool First OF

90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .285/.340/15 HR/15 SB

Variance: Extreme

Buy/Sell: Buy