Cleveland Guardians Top 30 Prospects: #5 George Valera

What started as concern surrounding what the Guardians would do with their glut of middle infield prospects has spread to the rest of the roster and the farm system. Not many teams debut 17 rookies in a single season, and even fewer find multiple contributors and depth pieces for the near future. Cleveland did little to alleviate the stress — especially the pressure on the 40-man roster — having traded just Nolan Jones, Will Benson, and Jose Fermin while hanging on to most of the farm.The concern now spreads to the outfield. Steven Kwan finished top three in AL Rookie of the Year voting, Oscar Gonzalez defied all expectations, and the club is clearly very fond of my 16th-ranked prospect Will Brennan who slashed .314/.371/.479 and lead the farm system with 40 doubles in 2022 before being called up to the show. Similar to answering the question of what the organization plans to do up the middle after 2023 there is also the question of what do they do with George Valera?Valera lands as my 5th ranked Guardians prospect, a left-handed hitting outfielder signed by the club in 2017 as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic. Valera, 22, was born and raised in The Bronx, New York before his family relocated to his parent's home country when he was 13, which lead to an interesting path to professional baseball that included bribing a Cleveland academy staff member. The 2017 international free agent class has long been seen as a great crop of prospects for Cleveland, and Valera was seen as the crown jewel.Valera joined Cleveland for a signing bonus of $1.3 million in the same free agent class that saw the Tampa Bay Rays land Wander Franco and the Los Angeles Angels sign Shohei Ohtani. It was also the same signing class that brought Jose Tena, Aaron Bracho, and Brayan Rocchio to the organization.Valera has now played in parts of four professional seasons and lost the 2020 Minor League season to the pandemic. 2022 was his healthiest season to date, playing in a grand total of 132 games between Double and Triple-A while posting a .250/.353/.463 triple slash, 25 doubles, 24 home runs, and 74 walks (13.1%) to 145 strikeouts (25.6%). Valera's batting average dipped from .264 in 90 games with Akron to .221 in 42 games with Columbus, but it was encouraging that he posted similar walk numbers at both levels in his first full taste of the upper minors.[embed]https://twitter.com/GageEHC/status/1429246929486159881?s=20[/embed]So far in his professional career Valera has played 276 games and amassed a .248/.367/.467 batting line with 38 doubles, 52 home runs, and 174 walks (14.9%) to 297 strikeouts (25.5%). He has only posted a wRC+ worse than 103 once in his Minor League career during a six-game stint with Lake County in his age-18 season. So far it's the walk and strikeout numbers that jump off the screen, but let's look at Valera's game as a whole before passing judgment.Valera has always been viewed as a talented multi-tool player who should be an everyday player for Cleveland in the future, and as a result, he has been the club's top outfield prospect for the past few seasons. He possesses excellent raw power, the instincts and route running of a Major League outfielder, and a strong arm. He also has plus speed which hasn't translated to the base paths as of yet but helps solidify him as an above-average corner outfielder at the next level.[embed]https://twitter.com/FarmToFame_/status/1540146963613732864?s=20[/embed]Valera's larger concerns are twofold. The first problem with Valera is he has been consistently eluded by baseball's fabled sixth tool; health. He has played 218 of his 276 professional games in the past two seasons alone, which can be viewed as a positive on the surface, but he is recovering from hamate bone surgery in the offseason. The second flaw can be found in Valera's walk and strikeout numbers. He possesses excellent plate vision and discipline, evidenced by his career 14.9% walk rate, but has still managed to strike out 25.5% of the time.While Valera possesses an advanced ability to identify pitches and impeccable zone awareness his bat-to-ball skills are suspect at best. His inability to consistently put the barrel of the bat on the ball has led to inconsistent quality of contact, an unhealthy amount of ground balls that detract from his tantalizing raw power, and made him susceptible to higher octane fastballs, especially those up in the zone. This flaw certainly isn't the nail in his coffin as a prospect, but it is certainly alarming. Valera is still just 22, and until recently had extremely limited playing time due to his own health and a canceled season, so there's still hope he can make adjustments and capitalize on his sky-high ceiling.Valera is already a member of Cleveland's 40-man roster and entered 2023 Spring Training trying to send a message to the Major League staff that he is almost ready. Instead, he's playing from behind the 8-ball after an awkward swing in an early Spring Training contest lead to some right wrist discomfort and some precautionary time off. Tests all came back negative so there's a possibility we see Valera in-game action again sooner rather than later, but it's a less-than-ideal start to what is likely a "prove it" year for him.[embed]https://twitter.com/33Milner/status/1627684203205652481?s=20[/embed]Valera will likely play all or most of 2023 with Triple-A Columbus where he will try to put concerns about his bat to bed. In the extremely limited screen time of Valera this spring it's already obvious he's made a few tweaks to his batting stance, standing more upright in the box with an abbreviated leg kick and slightly more closed off than he was in 2022. Whether these changes are the key to unlocking his All-Star caliber profile is to be determined, but if Valera really can make more consistent contact he will be a staple in Guardians lineups for years to come.The List so Far:6. Tanner Bibee7. Logan Allen8. Chase DeLauter9. Angel Martinez10. Cody Morris11. Justin Campbell12. Jose Tena13. Xzavion Curry14. Gabriel Arias15. Jaison Chourio16. Will Brennan17. Joey Cantillo18. Juan Brito19. Nate Furman20. Petey Halpin21. Parker Messick22. Doug Nikhazy23. Tanner Burns24. Joe Lampe25. Isaiah Greene26. Jake Fox27. Jhonkensy Noel28. Jack Leftwich29. Trenton Denholm30. Peyton Battenfield