The Cleveland Guardians, at #27 overall, just had to hope someone they liked fell to them. You simply have to be reactive to the picks made in front of you when you are picking that late. Right before the draft, MLB Pipeline's last mock draft had the Guardians ending up with either prep shortstop Josh Hammond or college shortstop Marek Houston. At the time, that felt like a best case scenario.
However, the Guardians may have had an even better situation fall in their laps. With the 27th overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, Cleveland picked Jace LaViolette who was arguably the top ranked draft prospect before the 2025 season.