2026 Draft - Second Day Live Blog

 OK, we're back at it.  The Guardians opened yesterday with 4 picks:

1. Liam Peterson - RHP - Florida: This year's version of Jace Laviolette, Peterson is coming off a disappointing year.  He has great upside.  If you believe in high ceiling low floor in your first round college pitcher draft choice, Peterson is your guy.  There is nothing NOT to like about this pick but, at the same time, Dietz or Rabe would have been much better selections to me as they just need tweaks whereas Peterson needs an overall.

2.Logan Schmidt - LHP - HS - An absolutely great pick here except that by the time Schmidt makes it to majors, Jose Ramirez will be 38 years old.  And that doesn't even count the poor percentage of HS pitchers that make the majors and the even worse percentage of Guardians HS P draft picks that are ML successes.

3. Tre Broussard - OF - Houston - His one plus tool is his speed and he plays good defense, meaning we have drafted a Petey Halpin clone.  And, for a 3rd round pick, that's not the comp you want to have in your 3rd round pick. Did I mention he is yet another LHH?

4. Kade Lewis - 1B - Wake Forest - Lewis is a first baseman w/o much power.  Think CJ Kayfus.  I would feel better about this if the Guardians had a better development record with hitters.

So, we go to day 2 with a very underwhelming group of prospects where only one, Peterson, has much of a chance to positively impact the franchise during the Jose Ramirez contract window. In addition, they have done only a little to address the LARGE void of starting pitching prospects in this organization.

Let's go to Day 2:

 5. Lucas Moore - OF - Louisville - Another LHH outfielder with great speed and ZERO power,  it's hard to believe that they have niw drafted TWO Petey Halpin clones in their first 5 picks.

6.  Delten LaChance - C - Oklahoma - What position in this organization did we not need to draft?  Well, with Bailey, Hedges, Naylor, Huff, Ingle, Cozart, etc., the answer is obvious: CATCHER.  What position are we most in need: College starting pitcher.  So we drafted an incredibly slow-footed catcher meaning a position switch is also problematic.  At least he hits RH and has some power.  My impression of this pick is that the Guardians are chasing ranking numbers to make their draft look better.  You certainly can't say that the Guardians are drafting for need.

7. Savion Sims - RHP - HS - Another highly rated HS pitching prospect, Sims, if he signs, will need a lot of work in the Guardians' pitching lab as his control of his 100 mph fastball is suspect.  This is a good pick except we haven't drafted any good college SPs except for Peterson and we don't have a lot of excess draft pool since we traded away a first round pick with a $3.2 million pool value.

8. Matt Scott - RHP - Georgia - So we start the parade of low ranked college juniors or, in this case, college senior pitchers who have low potential.  This is not what I meant by adding college pitching.  Scott is a reliever and profiles like most round 5-10 college relievers we have drafted: organizational fodder.  Money-saving pick #1

9. Matt Pesca - RHP = Oklahoma State - The second non-descript college senior pitcher in a row, This schtick is a staple of Guardians' drafts but is even more irritating as this draft, so far, has offered very little that will help Cleveland in the next few years.  C'mon guys, it's a little early to start drafting organizational guys, right?  Ovviously trying to save money to sign Sims and Schmidt.

10. Ryan Bilka - RHP - Miami - Another college senior signing.  Just padding the war chest for Schmidt and Sims. Totally nothing for the ML team for years to come, though.