The Cleveland Guardians are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Cleveland, Ohio. They play in the American League Central division. Since the institution of MLB's Rule 4 Draft, the Guardians have selected 71 players in the first round. Officially known as the "First-Year Player Draft", the Rule 4 Draft is MLB's primary mechanism for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings, with the team possessing the worst record receiving the first pick. In addition, teams which lost free agents in the previous off-season may be awarded compensatory or supplementary picks.

Of the 71 players picked in the first round by Cleveland, 30 have been pitchers, the most of any position; 19 of them were right-handed, while 11 were left-handed. Sixteen outfielders, eleven shortstops, four third basemen, four first basemen, four catchers, and one second basemen were also taken. The team also drafted one player, Glenn Tufts (1973), who played as an infielder. Twelve of the players came from high schools or universities in the state of California, and Texas follows with eight players. The Guardians have also drafted two players from their home state of Ohio.

None of the Guardians' first-round picks have won a World Series championship with the team, and no pick has been elected to the Hall of Fame. None of these picks have won the MLB Rookie of the Year award, although Manny Ramirez (1991) placed second in the voting in 1994. CC Sabathia (1998) is the only first-round pick of the Guardians to earn a Cy Young Award with the team, winning in 2007. The Guardians have held the first overall pick in the draft once in 2024, and have selected players with the second overall pick five times.

The Guardians have made 11 selections in the supplemental round of the draft and 15 compensatory picks since the institution of the First-Year Player Draft in 1965. These additional picks are provided when a team loses a particularly valuable free agent in the previous off-season, or, more recently, if a team fails to sign a draft pick from the previous year. The Guardians have failed to sign three of their first-round picks: John Curtis (1966), Calvin Murray (1989), and Alan Horne (2001). They received no compensation for failing to sign Curtis, but received the 39th pick in 1990 and the 41st pick in 2002 for failing to sign Murray and Horne, respectively.

Key Year Each year links to an article about that year's Major League Baseball draft. Position Indicates the secondary/collegiate position at which the player was drafted, rather than the professional position the player may have gone on to play Pick Indicates the number of the pick* Player did not sign with the Indians § Indicates a supplemental pick

Picks

YearNamePosition School (location)Pick Ref1965CatcherMarion High School(Marion, Illinois)1966*Left-handed pitcherSmithtown High School(Nesconset, New York)1967ShortstopBrenham High School(Brenham, Texas)1968ShortstopPaxon High School(Jacksonville, Florida)1969OutfielderParker High School(Birmingham, Alabama)1970Right-handed pitcherStanford University(Stanford, California)1971Right-handed pitcherSanta Clara High School(Santa Clara, California)1972ShortstopLaSalle High School(Niagara Falls, New York)1973InfielderRaynham High School(Bridgewater, Massachusetts)1974Right-handed pitcherLewis University(Romeoville, Illinois)1975CatcherSeton Hall University(South Orange, New Jersey)1976CatcherSpringfield South High School(Springfield, Ohio)1977OutfielderNorman High School(Norman, Oklahoma)1978ShortstopWilcox High School(Santa Clara, California)1979Left-handed pitcherHogan High School(Vallejo, California)1980ShortstopWestlake High School(Austin, Texas)1981OutfielderLivingston High School(Livingston, New Jersey)1982Right-handed pitcherBearden High School(Knoxville, Tennessee)1983OutfielderJackson State University(Jackson, Mississippi)1984ShortstopBrigham Young University(Provo, Utah)1985Right-handed pitcherUniversity of Texas at Austin(Austin, Texas)1986Left-handed pitcherUniversity of Texas at Austin(Austin, Texas)19871988ShortstopHamilton High School(Hamilton, Ohio)Right-handed pitcherUniversity of Connecticut(Storrs, Connecticut)Left-handed pitcherLafayette College(Easton, Pennsylvania)§1989*Third basemanW. T. White High School(Dallas, Texas)1990ShortstopUniversity of Iowa(Iowa City, Iowa)OutfielderStone County High School(Wiggins, Mississippi)§1991Third basemanGeorge Washington High School(New York, New York)1992Right-handed pitcherUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill(Chapel Hill, North Carolina)1993Right-handed pitcherUniversity of California, Riverside(Riverside, California)1994Right-handed pitcherKatella High School(Anaheim, California)1995First basemanClemson University(Clemson, South Carolina)1996First basemanUniversity of Texas at Austin(Austin, Texas)1997Right-handed pitcherLowndes County High School(Valdosta, Georgia)OutfielderTulane University(New Orleans, Louisiana)§1998Left-handed pitcherVallejo High School(Vallejo, California)19992000ShortstopPiscataway High School(Piscataway, New Jersey)Left-handed pitcherLand o' Lakes High School(Land o' Lakes, Florida)§2001Right-handed pitcherDeer Valley High School(Antioch, California)*Right-handed pitcherMarianna High School(Marianna, Florida)Right-handed pitcherBurroughs High School(Ridgecrest, California)§OutfielderBoston College High School(Boston, Massachusetts)§2002Right-handed pitcherStanford University(Stanford, California)Third basemanPalm Beach Gardens High School(Palm Beach Gardens, Florida)§Second basemanSilliman Institute(Clinton, Louisiana)§2003First basemanTulane University(New Orleans, Louisiana)OutfielderBall State University(Muncie, Indiana)Right-handed pitcherMcKinney High School(McKinney, Texas)§2004Left-handed pitcherVanderbilt University(Nashville, Tennessee)2005OutfielderUniversity of Arizona(Tucson, Arizona)OutfielderRancho Bernardo High School(San Diego, California)§2006Left-handed pitcherUniversity of California, Los Angeles(Los Angeles, California)§2007First basemanLewis-Clark State College(Lewiston, Idaho)2008Third basemanPitt Community College(Winterville, North Carolina)2009Right-handed pitcherUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill(Chapel Hill, North Carolina)2010Left-handed pitcherUniversity of Mississippi(Oxford, Mississippi)2011ShortstopMontverde Academy(Montverde, Florida)2012OutfielderTexas A&M University(College Station, Texas)2013OutfielderLoganville High School(Loganville, Georgia)2014OutfielderUniversity of San Francisco(San Francisco, California)21Left-handed pitcherTullahoma High School(Tullahoma, Tennessee)31OutfielderUniversity of Virginia(Charlottesville, Virginia)2015Left-handed pitcherIMG Academy(Bradenton, Florida)Right-handed pitcherRoyal Palm Beach High School(Royal Palm Beach, Florida)2016OutfielderThe Westminster Schools(Atlanta, Georgia)20172018CatcherSt. Joan of Arc Catholic Secondary School(Mississauga, Ontario)2019Right-handed pitcherGeorgia Premier Academy(Statesboro, Georgia)2020ShortstopMountain Pointe High School(Phoenix, Arizona)2021Right-handed pitcherEast Carolina University(Greenville, North Carolina)2022OutfielderJames Madison University(Harrisonburg, Virginia)2023CatcherHuntington Beach High School(Huntington Beach, California)2024Second basemanOregon State University(Corvallis, Oregon)2025OutfielderTexas A&M University(College Station, Texas)2026Right-handed pitcherUniversity of Florida(Gainesville, Florida)

See also Cleveland Guardians minor league players

Footnotes Through the 2012 draft, free agents were evaluated by the Elias Sports Bureau and rated "Type A", "Type B", or not compensation-eligible. If a team offered arbitration to a player but that player refused and subsequently signed with another team, the original team was able to receive additional draft picks. If a "Type A" free agent left in this way, his previous team received a supplemental pick and a compensatory pick from the team with which he signed. If a "Type B" free agent left in this way, his previous team received only a supplemental pick. Since the 2013 draft, free agents are no longer classified by type; instead, compensatory picks are only awarded if the team offered its free agent a contract worth at least the average of the 125 current richest MLB contracts. However, if the free agent's last team acquired the player in a trade during the last year of his contract, it is ineligible to receive compensatory picks for that player. The Indians lost their first-round pick in 1987 to the Baltimore Orioles as compensation for signing free agent Rick Dempsey. The Indians gained a compensatory first-round pick in 1988 from the San Francisco Giants for losing free agent Brett Butler. The Indians gained a supplemental first-round pick in 1988 for losing free agent Brett Butler. The Indians gained a supplemental first-round pick in 1990 for failing to sign draft pick Calvin Murray. The Indians gained a supplemental first-round pick in 1997 for losing free agent Albert Belle. The Indians lost their first-round pick in 1999 to the Baltimore Orioles as compensation for signing free agent Roberto Alomar. The Indians gained a supplemental first-round pick in 2000 for losing free agent Michael Jackson. The Indians gained a compensatory first-round pick in 2001 from the Boston Red Sox for losing free agent Manny Ramirez. The Indians gained a compensatory first-round pick in 2001 from the Chicago White Sox for losing free agent Sandy Alomar Jr. The Indians gained a supplemental first-round pick in 2001 for losing free agent Manny Ramirez. The Indians gained a supplemental first-round pick in 2001 for losing free agent David Segui. The Indians gained a supplemental first-round pick in 2002 for losing free agent Juan González. The Indians gained a supplemental first-round pick in 2002 for failing to sign draft pick Alan Horne. The Indians gained a compensatory first-round pick in 2003 from the Philadelphia Phillies for losing free agent Jim Thome. The Indians gained a supplemental first-round pick in 2003 for losing free agent Jim Thome. The Indians gained a supplemental first-round pick in 2005 for losing free agent Omar Vizquel. The Indians gained a supplemental first-round pick in 2006 for losing free agent Bob Howry.

References General references

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