The Windup: The Biggest Surprise of the MLB Draft

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The Guardians selected Travis Bazzana with the first pick, the Nats and Royals made a trade, it’s an All-Star extravaganza, and we have an oral history of my favorite player: Adrián Beltré. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to The Windup!

MLB Draft: Bazzana Takes No. 1, Reds Surprise No. 2

The mystery has been revealed: The Guardians selected Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana with the first pick in last night’s 2024 MLB Draft. The Australian becomes the second Oregon State player to be selected first overall (Adley Rutschman, 2019), and joins another Beavers player in the Guardians organization: Steven Kwan, a fifth-round pick in 2018.

Like Kwan, Bazzana showed a certain knack for batting discipline throughout his career: In three years at the University of Oregon, he allowed 180 walks and struck out just 146 batters (in his senior year, the contrast was even starker: 76 walks and 37 strikeouts). As Zack Meisel writes, He’s the kind of player who corresponds to the Cleveland identity.

By staying in Ohio, the Reds had the second pick, and many expected to hear the name of Georgia outfielder Charlie Condon. Instead, Cincy swerved and selected Wake Forest right-handed pitcher Chase Burns. This is the second straight year the Reds have selected a Wake Forest starting pitcher in the first round; last year, it was Rhett Lowder.

Condon went to the Rockies with the third pick, before Oakland took first baseman Nick Kurtz (Wake Forest) and the White Sox took left-handed pitcher Hagen Smith (Arkansas) to round out the top five.

For the full recap of yesterday’s picks (and updates when picks resume today at 2 p.m. ET), here’s our live blog projectbut before you go, do you want to hear the funniest part of the project?

The Angels (who have made some dumb draft choices before) selected Tennessee 2B Christian Moore with their first-round pick. In the second round, they selected Texas A&M right-handed pitcher Chris Cortez. Why is this funny? Because pretty soon, these two will probably have to sit at the same table and put on matching jerseys in front of the cameras, just weeks after that little trade at the College World Series last month. Awkward.

No more draft:With 74 picks made, Keith Law gives us some bonus scouting reports on players who didn’t quite make his top 100 list last week.

More from Bazzana:If you haven’t read Brian Hamilton’s profile of Bazzana yet, I highly recommend it!

Ken’s Notebook: The High Price of Relief

I can already hear the complaints from baseball executives who will be trying to add relievers before the July 30 trade deadline: Did you see what the Royals gave for Hunter Harvey? They set the market price too high. And now the demands for bullpen players are exorbitant.

The Royals apparently made a lot of concessions to the Nationals for Harvey on Saturday — third baseman Cayden Wallace and their 39th overall pick in yesterday’s draft. But they believe Nick Loftin will be a better long-term third baseman than Wallace, according to sources familiar with the club’s thinking. And by moving early, they’ll get nearly two extra weeks of Harvey, who isn’t just a rental. The Royals also gained club control of him for 2025.

In a seller’s market, the Nationals could well set a high price for Harvey. The Royals, in a fierce race for an American League wild card, entered Sunday ranked second to last in the major leagues in strikeout rate. They needed help.

Entering the season, The AthleticKeith Law had indeed ranked Loftin (No. 3) higher than Wallace (No. 9) on his list of the Royals’ top 20 prospects. Wallace will be ranked behind Brady House, the 11th pick in 2021, in the Nationals’ system. But both teams view Wallace as a solid prospect, and the rebuilding Nationals got a third pick in the top 44, which they used on California catcher Caleb Lomavita. They also added $2.395 million to their bonus pool, increasing their flexibility for negotiations in the draft.

The deal showed the Nationals’ willingness to shed not only rentals, like outfielder Jesse Winker and reliever Dylan Floro, but also veterans under extra control. Like Harvey, outfielder Lane Thomas and reliever Kyle Finnegan will enter their final arbitration years in 2025. Both are in play as the deadline approaches, and both could bring back other young players who would add to the Nationals’ burgeoning core of young players.

Trades are coming. And as the Royals-Nationals deal showed, relievers won’t come cheap.

Festivities: Reunion with the All-Stars

Let’s see… we’ve talked about the draft, the trades are starting, what else? Oh yeah: the All-Star break officially begins today, even though the activities have been going on all weekend.

Friday at the HBCU Swingman Classic, the American League won 5-4. You can watch highlights here . The Futures game was Sunday, and the National League beat the AL 6-1. Keith Law was in attendance and has some takeaways, as did Jim Bowden, who gives us his superlatives here . There was even a celebrity softball game Saturday, with a charge on the mound (staged) that was reminiscent of Don Zimmer.

The festivities continue tonight with the Home Run Derby, for which Gunnar Henderson has been preparing “relentlessly” to take on two-time Derby champion Pete Alonso, local hero Adolis García and others. (Don’t worry about the “curse” — there’s no such thing.)

The game will be tomorrow night. Some updates since Friday’s newsletter:

Other notes:

As Ken writes, the game isn’t quite the same without Jose Altuve, who will miss out for the third time since the sign-stealing scandal.
Twenty-five years ago, the 1999 All-Star Game was one of the most memorable moments in sports history, when Ted Williams, surrounded by the Team of the Century, threw out the first pitch. Doug Haller interviewed many of the players and others involved in what became a spontaneous magical moment at Fenway.

Oral Histories: The Legend of Adrián Beltré

I can say this now that he’s retired and about to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, but my favorite player of all time was Adrián Beltré.

This was not the case just It wasn’t just about his Hall of Fame offensive numbers. It wasn’t just about his outstanding defense. It wasn’t just about playing through injuries that would have sent – and I don’t think I’m exaggerating – any other player to the injured list. Nor did he seem to be the most fun on the field, nor did he seem to be the most respected player on the field in his later years.

There were also stories from his teammates, coaches, club members and commentators who said what a good guy he was off the pitch.

Fortunately, today we have an oral history that allows you to hear some of these stories for yourself.

From the infamous slipping-in-the-circle incident to the playful-but-serious “don’t touch my head” moment to the time he covered the entire restaurant bill for the Oakland A’s (for whom he never played) years after his retirement, it’s the kind of heartwarming story that reminds you: Sometimes, sports heroes are worth rooting for.

Handshakes and high fives

The Yankees and Orioles had a good old fashioned division rivalry series this weekend. The benches emptied on Friday and the Yankees won two of three games.

Good, but cautious, news from San Diego: Fernando Tatis Jr. could be back sooner than expected.

Strange injury alert: Dodgers starter Dustin May will miss the remainder of the season after emergency surgery to repair a torn esophagus.

If you’ve ever looked at a piece of art and thought with disdain, “My kid could have drawn that,” you’re going to hate these baseball cards.

After a difficult spell, Luis Gil seems to have returned to his dominant attitude from the start of the season.

The “Rally Pimp,” Grimace, “Glizzy Iggy” — as Tim Britton puts it, this Mets season “needs its own ‘Know Your Meme’ site.” But they’re one game ahead of Arizona for the third wild-card spot.