close
close

Australian Bazzana Delighted to Join Guardians in Mega Deal

|

Australian Travis Bazzana, who will play for Oregon State in May, has signed a lucrative MLB contract.
Australian Travis Bazzana, who will play for Oregon State in May, has signed a lucrative MLB contract.

Australian baseball star and No. 1 draft pick Travis Bazzana is counting his blessings after signing a deal worth AUD$13.3 million with the Cleveland Guardians.

An overjoyed Bazzana was officially introduced and unveiled on Friday shortly after he had always wanted to become a Garde.

Bazzana was the first overall pick by Oregon State in the 2024 MLB Draft.

The value of the first draft pick was over AUD 15 million and the deal between the Cincinnati Reds and second draft pick Chase Burns was AUD 13.8 million.

MLB assigned a slot value of $16 million to the top pick, but the 21-year-old second baseman from Sydney was realistic about the process, saying, “I would never get slot money anywhere.”

“I wanted to be in a place where I could thrive and, with the identity of the way the Guardians play the game, that was where I wanted to be,” said the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Bazzana.

“I trusted my great officers, but they knew I wanted to be a Garde.”

The left-handed Bazzana is assigned to Class-A Lake County and could make his minor league debut later this month. The Captains play in Eastlake, Ohio, a short distance from downtown Cleveland.

Bazzana will take batting practice with the Guardians on Saturday ahead of Game 2 of the series against San Diego.

Bazzana is the first No. 1 overall pick in franchise history and the first second baseman to be selected first overall.

“I’ve watched the highlights of José Ramírez over and over again, and you go out there and say, ‘What’s going on with him?'” Bazzana said of Cleveland’s six-time All-Star third baseman. “Then it kind of sinks in.”

In his three seasons at Oregon State, Bazzana hit .360 with 45 home runs and 165 RBIs.

“I hope that sports fans in Australia will become Guardians fans and follow Major League Baseball,” he said.

“It’s exciting to know that the next Travis Bazzana can sit at home and watch me on my journey.”

Bazzana, the 2024 Pac-12 Player of the Year, hit .407 with 28 homers and 66 RBIs for the Beavers, who advanced to a super-regional team as the 15th national seed before losing a three-game series at second-seeded Kentucky.

Bazzana is the first Australian to be selected with the No. 1 overall pick. He also set an Oregon State single-season record by scoring 84 runs and hitting .911 in 2024.

Last season, he also stole 16 bases and had a .568 on-base percentage, earning first-team All-America status.

Bazzana grew up as a keen cricketer and even captained the Turramurra High School team that won their first ever state championship.

He started playing baseball in primary school and switched from cricket to baseball at the age of 15.

At 15, Bazzana was by far the youngest in the Australian Baseball League when he made his debut for the Sydney Blue Sox in 2018.

He then moved to America to play college baseball for the Oregon Beavers.

It was the first time Cleveland had the top overall pick. They earned it after winning the draft lottery despite not having the worst regular season record the previous year.

with AP and Reuters

MONKEY

Copyright © 2023 Summer Blog. All Rights Reserved.