The division reports debuted last year. The goal of this article series is to provide a quick overview of all dynasty-relevant information from each division. Each team has multiple minor league levels, each containing plenty of impactful prospects, which can feel impossible to keep up with. This article series, which will be updated once per month, will help dynasty managers stay up-to-date on performances, injuries, promotions, and more. New this season is the inclusion of tiers in the rankings. Next to their rank, each prospect is assigned a tier. The tier range is 1-5.
- Tier 1: A potential difference-making dynasty prospect. Somebody who would rank in the top-20ish prospects for dynasty baseball
- Tier 2: A still very good dynasty prospect who holds plenty of value. This prospect would typically rank in the 21-75 range
- Tier 3: A mid-tier prospect who could be valuable but has questions and concerns present in his profile, ranking in the 76-150 range
- Tier 4: A prospect who is worth knowing, but is reserved for deeper leagues. This prospect would rank 151-250
- Tier 5: The rest of the prospects fall into Tier 5
The Guardians are off to a good start this season, and their Minor League affiliates have been moving guys up and down the system more so than the rest of their division opponents. While two of their top 10 prospects have yet to play this season due to injury, others are making their mark in their place and making the Guardians farm system one of the strong ones within the division.
Notable Prospect Performances:
- Last year’s number one overall pick, Travis Bazzana, is off to a slow start this season with Double-A Akron. He’s hitting just .230/.330/.400 for his slash line over 25 games with three home runs and 15 RBI. The numbers are not too dissimilar from his first 27 games in pro ball after being drafted last season. Bazanna is still growing in his role as the future second baseman of the Guardians, and because of that, the franchise will likely take their time to have him ready for 2026 instead of rushing him up to the Majors this year. Still, any number one overall pick since Brady Aiken in 2014 warrants consideration for dynasty team owners, and Bazzana is no exception.
- Joey Cantillo was the first to graduate off the Guardians’ top 10 list for the 2025 season. Taking his place is fellow reliever Andrew Walters, who is waiting in the wings at Triple-A Columbus. Walters made his MLB debut last season with Cleveland, throwing nine scoreless relief appearances in 8.2 innings. Walters is building off his success, allowing just one run in seven appearances this season. He has an outstanding 46.4% strikeout rate with a 17.9% walk rate to complement it. While reliever prospects are not always the most interesting to keep tabs on, the Guardians had a plethora of rookie relievers that helped them get into the ALCS last season and Walters could be the next in the wings to come up to the Majors and dominate out of the Guardians bullpen, making him a nice sleeper pick for dynasty owners.
- The Guardians’ number one overall pick from the 2023 Draft Ralphy Velazquez has not had things click into place for him at High-A Lake County with only a .149/.252/.340 slash line and a 24.3% strikeout rate to show for his first 24 games. Fortunately, he’s still connecting for power when he makes contact with the ball, tallying five home runs and 13 RBI to make up for the poor slash line. Still, Velázquez will have to make better contact on the ball when he takes his swings. Only 19 years old, Velazquez will not be in the Majors soon and if he can’t turn around the cold start, he may be a top prospect for dynasty owners to shy away from.
Notable Prospect News and Promotions:
- C.J. Kayfus was promoted from Double-A to Triple-A quickly this season after tearing things up at the plate in Akron. Kayfus had a .364/.475/.591 slash line, one home run, and 11 RBI in 66 at-bats. He’s kept up his hot streak over his first week in Triple-A, going 6-for-16 with two home runs and three runs batted in. Kayfus, being a first baseman, makes his chances of joining the Guardians’ 40-man roster tough with Carlos Santana and Kyle Manzardo ahead of him on the depth chart. He will have to make a lot of noise at Triple-A as the summer goes on to get into consideration for them to add him onto the 40-man.
