Monday, March 18, 2024

The Race to Be 1-1 in 2024 - Part 3 - We Have Some Movement, Houston, Copy?

 The look from the top is VERY interesting.  I have found myself with a totally different perspective than I thought I would have.  I have become very picky, very petty, very conspiracy-theory.   Any little thing sets me off and makes me want to switch allegiances to another guy to draft at 1-1.  

This draft is top heavy in college players and many have performed at a high level so far.  Still, we are entering college play and now is when I start paying a lot of attention to performances and what is behind them.  

So that is what this post is about.  Looking at all the guys in contention for the 1-1 and seeing where they are, with special focus on the college players as I am currently 95% sure the Guardians will pick a college guy first overall this year.

So let's dive in and see what has happened recently, using my current mock:

Travis Bazzana - Bazzana had a good overall weekend although he went 0-4 with a walk on Friday, 3-6 on Saturday and 5-6 with a double and 3 HRs before the 5th inning on Sunday.  He also committed only his first error of the season (on 95 chances, all at 2B).  But, looking deeper, there are concerns.  Bazzana has only stolen 5 bases so far.  With his speed I expected more.  In addition, his production this weekend concerns me.  It is conventional wisdom (don't tell Wake Forest, though), that your Friday starter is your best starting pitcher and it goes downhill from there with your Saturday, Sunday and mid-week starters being less talented/experienced.  If you believe that, Bazzana's performance might, as it does me, give you pause.  He went 0-4 against Utah's Friday night starter then was successful on Saturday and beat up the Sunday starter.  Combined with what I think was a platinum sombrero against Hagen Smith and we may need to look closer on his results last year, last summer and this year against quality pitchers.  I just don't want us to end up with a guy who will flame out in the majors.  I don't think this will happen with his attitude, work ethic, personality.  But we are talking 1-1 here, so...

Charlie Condon - Condon's Georgia Bulldogs were like 17-2 going into this weekend's series against Kentucky, but weren't ranked because of the low level of their non-conference opponents.  This is what is concerning to all of us about Condon.  He is putting up video game numbers, but it is mostly against guys with mediocre fastballs, cement mixer sliders and undeveloped slow stuff.  His performance against higher level competition will be key.  This weekend he went 1-8 with 5 walks and 2 Ks.  On Friday he went 1-3 with a 2B, 2 walks and a HBP (his 7th).  His 2B was in the 9th with the bases loaded and 2 outs but his team was trailing 16-8 at the time. On Saturday he was 0-2 with 3 walks, one of which was very Barry Bonds-esque as it came with the bases loaded.  On Sunday, when Kentucky completed their sweep, Condon went 0-3 with 2 Ks, in a run-rule shortened 7 inning game.  He played an uneventful RF in each game but his defensive profile as a LF/1B type still stands, although he has played some (midweek) CF, 3B and, now in conference play, RF early in the season.   It does appear that the Georgia coaching staff was pimping for him by allowing him to show positional versatility, especially before conference play to enhance his draft value (most teams are not doing that).   It will be interesting to see if he continues in RF and what his defensive production is and whether he is exposed as a defensive liability there, relegating him to his original LF/1B profile with his lack of speed.

Konnor Griffin - HS stats are harder to get but it looks like Griffin's one game this week ended 3-4 and he pitched 6 innings of shutout baseball with 13 Ks.  For the season it appears he has 8 doubles, a triple and 5 -Rs in 42 ABs (walk numbers not available at MaxPreps) and we have all heard about his having an super human 40+ stolen base total this season.  As HS stats are very dependent on competition and guys are facing 88 mph fastballs and inconsistent breaking stuff, it is hard to figure out what all this means but there are so many college players performing at a high level that I don't think his numbers warrant serious consideration at 1-1.  The risk of failure, especially for a HS outfielder, is just too great to risk it when, in theory, there is no way his numbers can ever separate him from college players performing at a high level.

Chase Burns - Burns came into this season with a loud fastball and slider but not much else.  But, on the college level, a ML fastball/slider combination can dominate, if the command is there.  This year he has not dominated including his 7 inning game on Saturday where he struck out 13 and only gave up 3 hits and 2 walks and 1 HR.   So Burns is, essentially, holding serve and sitting at the periphery of 1-1 consideration.  Still, he would need a collapse of at least the college hitters in front of him w/o any drastic upward movement of the college hitters behind him to move into serious 1-1 conversation, especially for a team like the Guardians who need hitters.

Jac Caglianone - When I read reports on him I hear that he could be a legitimate 1st round pick as a pitcher or as a 1B/DH.  But just because you would be the 5th best position player or 5th best pitcher in the draft this year doesn't make you 1-1.  This stuff is not addititive nor is having a second position as a backup plan enough to make a guy 1-1 (thus the picky and petty stuff I mentoned above).  Though he did well in conference play this weekend on both sides of the ball, he isn't making a huge move and, outside of the collapse of other guys, I don't see him as a 1-1 candidate...yet.  However, with all these guys with question marks in performance or injury, he likely could easily pull into the top 5 due to his upside as a polished college player.

Hagen Smith - Like Burns, Smith held serve with a 6 ip/2 H, 0 R/1 BB/10 K conference opener against Missouri.  If he continues to perform, he might pass Burns as his risk of becoming a reliever is much lower than Burns' risk due to Smith's broader repertoire of useable pitches (at the moment).

Nick Kurtz - Kurtz was only performing at a moderately acceptable level before he got hurt recently.   He still has time to improve his draft stock but there is a real chance he could go all Chase DeLauter and fall into the 20s after being in the conversation for 1-1 in January.  Still, I expect him to easily go in the top 7 of the draft based on his complete resume'.

JJ Wetherholt - The early leader in the clubhouse in December, Wetherholt pulled a hamstring, the 2nd in the last 9 months and is still out and has only played in 4 games this year.  He, too, could go DeLauter but I expect him to be in the top 10 if he comes back and is himself later in the season.

So that's it for right now but things are heating up and college conference play could be the great separator that gives us more clarity on who will be the best 1-1 to go after in terms of talent.  If 2 or 3 guys are close, you could be looking at money coming into play as, if you can save a buck among guys who are close in talent, projectability and closeness to the majors, that might, in the end, be the deciding factor.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Way Too Early Look at the Opening Day Roster

 I laugh whenever I see a post titled like this, 6-12 months before the event is supposed to occur. 

But even the construction of an opening day roster makes where we are now to where we have to be in 2+ weeks seem like a year.  So much has already happened and so much can still happen between now and then, as we saw today.  

So, assuming nothing else happens before opening day, here is what I think the opening day roster SHOULD look like:

CATCHERS (3) 

Bo Naylor, Austin Hedges, David Fry

Thoughts: Look, we don't need 3 catchers.  Any that's great.  We only have 2, with Fry being the super utility player.  So far injuries have not impacted the catcher position nor has any performance in ST changed what I thought would happen.

INFIELDERS (6)

3B: Jose Ramirez
SS: Brayan Rocchio
2B: Andres Gimenez
1B: Josh Naylor

DH: Kyle Manzardo
UTIL; Tyler Freeman

Thoughts: A little early for Martinez or Tena, Schneeman not in the picture yet and there is no way, without a trade, that you can keep De Los Santos on the roster as he hasn't shown enough to warrant even the 26th spot.  I think Arias should be sent to AAA.  I believe trading him at this point is a mistake and would rather convince ourselves he is worthless and beyond saving rather than give him away in another typical bad trade and see him bloosom elsewhere.  Hey, I hate that Gio Urshela blossomed somewhere else but feel really comfortable he had his shots here. I don't feel that way, yet, about Arias.

I think we default to this being Manzardo time.  I don't see him as ready and he absolutely the opposite on paper, what we need (another LH hitter and a RH throwing first baseman) but, whatever.   He is young, functional (not fully ready, but functional)

OUTFIELDERS (4)

Kwan, Brenan, Laureano, Straw

Thoughts: This is both the worst case and most predictable case.  Florial was a pipe dream, as was De Los Santos.  It was likely that Noel and Rodriguez were not ready.  The Guardians did nothing either over the winter or up to today (Duvall just signing) to address the outfield production issues we had last year.  In addition, DeLauter is by no means ready and we have 4 guys who ARE ready.  As long as Straw is just the 4th outfielder (and sometime platoon against LH pitching), this is likely an offensive improvement over last year.

STARTING PITCHERS (5)

Beiber, McKenzie, Bibee, Allen, Lively

Thoughts: This is EXACTLY the situation we couldn't find ourselves in: counting on Beiber and McKenzie, with at least one (Williams) injury to the young starters and no reasonable depth starters.  Lively is a black hole (as would Carrasco be).  This is a disaster waiting to happen but, right now, it is our disaster.

BULLPEN (8)

Clase, Morgan, Sandlin, Barlow, Herrin, Curry, Carrasco, Cade Smith

Thoughts: With the news about Hentges it makes me think he will start the season on the IL.  Smith gets this spot by default (Stephan) as I think Gaddis gets stretched out at Columbus in anticipation of the next disaster.  Carrasco is the veteran presence in the bullpen.  The big question mark at this point is Barlow as, if you saw his last performance, you know he had the ugliest clean, 2 strikeout inning imaginable, with a 2-0 count on the first batter leading to a FB to the warning track, a 3 ball count to the second batter and a 3-0 count to the 3rd batter followed by a crushed ball just foul down the line followed by a 3-2 strikeout.  So this bullpen may not be what it will be on opening day because I think it is 50-50 whether Barlow opens the season on the IL and not much better whether he makes it through May before being released, given the way he has pitched this spring.

So, there it is.  My opening day roster.  Bland, blah, and the type of roster that could easily lead to a 61-101 record this year.  But that is getting ahead of myself.  Predictions won't appear here for another 2+ weeks, coinciding with opening day.

Sunday, March 10, 2024

2024 Draft - Part 11 - How Much Money Do We Have to Play With?

 OK, even with Snell still being a FA we know where we stand as far as all of the Guardians' draft slots for 2024.  We don't have the official word on the bonus pools or slot values yet but we can guess that each slot value will be about 10% greater than it was in 2023.  Using that increase, here's what we are looking at for all their picks.  For picks #327 and beyond, anything over $150,000 would count against their overall bonus. 

#1 - $10,693,0000
#36 - $2,596,000
#48 - $1,958,000
#84 - $917,290
#114 - $644,600
#147 - $467,610
#177 -$355,190
#207 - $277,750
#237 - $222,420
#267 - $196,900
#297 - $184,910                                        
#327 - Bonus - $150,000, if < 0 then = 0
#357 - Bonus - $150,000, if < 0 then = 0
#387 - Bonus - $150,000, if < 0 then = 0
#417 - Bonus - $150,000, if < 0 then = 0
#447 - Bonus - $150,000, if < 0 then = 0
#477 - Bonus - $150,000, if < 0 then = 0
#507 - Bonus - $150,000, if < 0 then = 0
#537 - Bonus - $150,000, if < 0 then = 0
#567 - Bonus - $150,000, if < 0 then = 0
#597 - Bonus - $150,000, if < 0 then = 0

Cleveland Guardians' 2024 estimated budget pool: $18,513,670

Budget pool plus 4.99% (maximum overage to avoid losing a future 1st rd draft pick): $19,437,502

In 2023, the Guardians had a total draft budget of $8,736,700.  

Obviously they can get really good players from this draft IF they choose wisely and IF their draftees are not selfish about trying to get every dollar possible.  They are becoming part of a franchise that is run to be competitive for the playoffs, even without bringing in expensive veterans, for the next 10 years.  It also likely gives them more money in rounds 11-20 than they ever have had, assuming they use the entire 4.99% overage and don't cheap out on this draft year.  That could make this draft, if the draft people choose wisely, the best draft in the history of the Guardians.

By comparison, the Pirates had a draft budget of $16,185,000 in 2023.  If they had spent the overage it would have been $16,992,631, still $2.5 million less than the Guardians if they spend their overage. 

So, let's go!!!

Thursday, March 7, 2024

2024 Draft - Part 10 - Draft-Eligible Sophomores - No Bargains There

Leverage is a VERY important part of any negotiation.  

In the baseball draft leverage can be with the team or with the player. 

The team usually gets leverage in 3 ways:
  • A college junior will lose leverage if they don't sign because college seniors have zero leverage (i.e., they can't go back to college again) and often settle for bonuses in the $1,000 - $100,000 range.  As most bonuses for college juniors, especially in the now-truncated 20 round draft, are above $125,000, you can see where the leverage comes from.
  • With high school players, team leverage usually comes from the player wanting to cash in on their success in high school.   And some kids simply don't really want to go to college and are more than willing to sign for that $125,000.  
  • For all draft-eligible players, they may simply feel that the risk of future injury or underperformance may hurt their draftability, and their eventual bonus, so they are willing to take the bird in the hand now rather than trust that they can get more in 3 years after their HS junior year.
Leverage for players usually comes from 2 places:
  • HS kids who have good college scholarship offers to colleges that develop pro ballplayers.  With the name/image/license money that is now available (not so much with baseball compared to football, though) this makes it more difficult to sign HS players unless they get a great bonus.
  • For college kids, it is being a draft eligible sophomore.  There are 2 types of draft eligible sophomores:
    • Players who have redshirted either their SCHOLASTIC freshman or sophomore years and are now, scholastically, a college junior.
    • Players who were 19 years old when they graduated high school and will turn 21 by August 1st of their draft year.  These players truly have been in college only 2 years, scholastically, but their age when they started college and their birthdate gives them the ability to be drafted as true sophomores.
It's this last group, draft-eligible sophomores, that will be the subject of this post. Those players have A LOT of leverage and so could really eat up our budget.  As mentioned previously, Alex Mooney likely ate up a lot of our draft budget, including overages that were penalized 100%, and money likely earmarked for one or both of our two unsigned HS pitchers, Marohn and Heuer.  

So let's take a look at the best of these 2 types of draft eligible sophomores.  I have included their current MLB Pipeline ranking with the proviso that this ranking is now 3 months old.

4. Charlie Condon - OF -Georgia Condon - Scholastic Jr - Redshirt 
12. Malcolm Moore - C - Stanford - 19 yr old HS graduate, 7/31/2003 birthdate
25. Cam Smith - 3B - Florida St. - 19 yr old HS graduate, 2/20/2003 birthdate
26. Carson Benge - OF/RHP - Oaklahoma St. - Scholastic Jr. - Redshirt
27. Dakota Jordan - OF - Miss. St. - 19 year old HS graduate, 5/9/2003 birthdate
38. Anthony Silva - 3B - TCU - 19 year old HS graduate, 7/17/2003 birthdate
46. Gage Jump, LHP - LSU - Scholastic Jr. - Redshirt
47. Kevn Bazzell C - Texas Tech - Scholastic Jr. - transferred after enrolling in 2022, had to sit out until 2023.
50. Billy Amick 3B - Clemson - Scholastic Jr. -  Redshirt

That's 8 of the top 36 college draft prospects this year, making this year very unusual and allowing it to be dubbed as the year of the draft-eligible sophomore, a group that also includes other studs from the MLB Pipeline top like 64. Austin Overn - OF - USC - 19 year old HS graduate - 5/10/2003 birthdate, among others from MLB Pipeline's top 100 prospects list from Dec. 2023.

NOTE: In thinking about this a little more, maybe a good draft strategy would be to draft the talented sophomores early, i.e., after 1.1.  Teams may hold back as those guys eat up your draft budget due to their leverage.  With our windfall and likely higher-than-usual savings because we own 1.1, maybe we build a war chest to sign a bunch of sophomores early.  Don't know if that will work but I think that this might be a better use of our excess than to sign HS players who have dropped.  From research I had done before the likely gems left after the first few rounds are HS pitchers and I am thinking overpaying for college sophomores is better, in theory, than overpaying for stud HS pitchers who have dropped because their bonus demands might be much greater than their current ability/projections to future ability.  

Monday, March 4, 2024

Guardians 26-man roster. Part 1 - Two weeks in and where do we go from here?

 OK, what do we know so far:

  • Estevan Florial is exactly who we all knew he was.  A toolsy AAAA player who looks good in a uniform but can't play at the ML level.  He will always get plenty of chances, with his tools, with each team he plays for hoping the light will go on some day.  But with our pathetic hitting coach/ hitting development staff, it is not happening here.
  • Deyvson De Los Santos is not ready for the majors.   We need to find a way to trade for him so we can send him to the minors.  Again: Jose Tena, Myles Straw & $3 million for Jorge Barrosa and the rights to De Los Santos.
  • Tyler Freeman should have been playing the OF for a year now.  Look, his bat makes him an upgrade in CF from Straw.  Straw has not shown any improvement this year in his hitting.  He looks like the same old guy as evidenced by the balls he hit in his first two ABs this spring not going 100 feet...combined.  But it is an equation:  offense PLUS defense.  Right now it is hard to believe that Freeman's offensive upgrade will be worth the downgrade in defense, compared to Straw.
  • It appears that David Fry is being shoved out of a position and will end up in Columbus.  The goal of having him focus on his catching is admirable for the Guardians.  Of course, it gives them the opportunity to say they are only going to carry 2 catchers and so Fry will be going to Columbus to work on his catching when, in fact, he is the most valuable 26th man in baseball, being able to catch and play 1B, 3B, LF and RF at a VERY acceptable level. Whether Fry ends up at AAA or in the majors on opening day, it won't likely impact the number of wins and losses we have.  It will, however, keep us from having Austin Hedges have to bat as often & give us another RH bat off the bench.
  • Will Brennan - So far he looks like the same player as last year.  That is not a good thing
  • Juan Brito - For the first time since the trade to Cleveland he looks, to me, to be lost at the plate.  It appears that the information the hitting department is giving him made him change his whole approach at the plate.  He is now swinging at balls he would never have swung at last year and not putting good swings on balls he would have punished last year.  
  • Angel Martinez is having a great spring.  The fact that people are dreaming on him being the opening day SS shows just how pathetic Brayan Rocchio and Gabriel Arias have looked so far.  
  • Anthony Banda, Adam Oller, Tyler Zuber, Jamie Barria - All of these MiLB free agent signings look terrible and they should all be cut right now instead of wasting another ST or minor league inning on them.
  • Ben Lively, Tyler Beede - Neither look like any more than AAAA filler right now.  They are both struggling and, when you are battling for a spot, you shouldn't be struggling like this in early ST against hitters who are behind.
  • Jhonkensy Noel, Jonathon Rodriguez - Neither of these guys look much better than Florial at this point.  Swinging at pitches way out of the zone, swinging and missing at fastballs in the zone.
No one is looking good right now except for DeLauter and Martinez.  I mean NOBODY.  You can't put too much emphasis on ST results (remember Roman Quinn's 3 HRs in the first 2 ST games last year!), but we know what guys are supposed to be good, who we want to be good, and who we, in our wildest dreams would like to do good.  So far, not much is going right for this team this spring exxcept that, outside of Stephan and Karinchak, it appears that injuries are being kept to a miimum.

So, at this point, nothing I have seem sways me from believing that this could actually be a 100 loss team this year.  Hopefully things change in the near future and they actually start looking like a playoff contender.

Sunday, March 3, 2024

The Race to Be 1-1 in 2024 - Part 2 - Where We Are After 3 College Weekends

 OK, so we are still very early in the college season and here is what I see so far:

  • My current ranking looks like this
    1. Travis Bazzana (Looks solid, man, just solid)
    2. Nick Kurtz (barely hanging on to 2nd place as he cannot seem to buy a hit, going 9-38 with 1 2B and 2 HR so far, to go along with 18 BB and 8 K)
    3. JJ Wetherholt (falling due to his hamstring injury and resultant down time)
    4. Konnor Griffin - Only one HS outfielder has gone 1-1 in the last 10 drafts.  Mickey Moniak.  Need I say more?
    5. Charlie Condon -  draft-eligible sophomore and I see him not being a great defender, not being fast and NOT coming cheap. 
    6. Hagen Smith (his success is hard to argue against good competition this year (31 K and only 4 BB and 5 hits in 13 innings), but with his stuff, history and control/command he doesn't, to me, project to be anything more than a solid/good #2 starter or more likely a league best, excellent #3.  Certainly in the conversation for the top 10 picks in the 2024 draft but not 1-1 material, at least not yet, IMO)
    7. Jac Caglianone  - The talent is there but Branden McKay was the last 2 way player drafted and we know how that turned out.
    8. Tommy White
    9. Chase Burns
    10. Braden Montgomery
    11. Dakota Jordan
    12. Seaver King
    13. Brody Brecht
    14. Vance Honeycutt
    15. Cam Caminiti
  • Travis Bazzana has become my new leader for selection at 1-1.  The exit velocities, the hit tool, the speed (which I think IS diminished this year as he is only 3-5 in SB attempts so far through 12 games and he looks slow running), the work ethic, great off-field stuff.  He is the whole package.  The more and more I read and hear about him says that he should be our #1 pick.  The only things that lobby against him are that he isn't going to be super flashy and so doesn't look coming out of the draft as a sure-fire HOF candidate if he just progresses linearly (no superstar vibes, that is) and he doesn't really have a defensive home.  But when you put him up against Kurtz (a first baseman, not being pitched to in college, hurting views of him) or Wetherholt (injury issues and no real defensive home yet) and Burns (questionable 3td pitch and spotty control) and Charlie Condon (questions about his power, speed and defense at the pro level), Bazzana looks like the guy to me and I am a picky dude.
  • Nick Kurtz isn't getting pitched to and any blemish, even not getting pitched to, has to weigh in on whether a guy goes 1-1.  Plus, he already has one strike against him by being a first baseman.  Someone is going to be very happy to get Kurtz on draft day.  Just thinking right now that it won't be the Guardians.
  • JJ Wetherholt is now behind the 8-ball.  His 2nd hamstring injury in 6 months screams, 'Yeah, great player but is he a good gamble at 1-1'.  Hey, when you are at 1-1 the secondary things besides on-field talent mean a lot.  With his injury, Wetherholt may actually drop out of the top 3. as I might go for Burns or Condon ahead of him.  Heck, he might go as low as 8 at this rate.
  • Charlie Condon is going off but he still has baggage  that might make 1:1 difficult (bad CCL last summer, no speed, defensive question marks and, even though it hasn't been mentioned, he is functionally a draft-eligible sophomore, meaning their might be questions about getting him for a bargain to save money for later picks.
  • Vance Honeycutt turning himself into a solid mid-first round gamble.
  • We are seeing a lot of performances so far that will spice up the first round
    • Hagen Smith's 17 Ks in 18 outs against Oregon St. and Travis Bazzana plus his 12 in 6 on Friday night
    • Konnor Griffin's tools and the kind of eye-popping HS results that can be real or a mirage
    • Burns' first start
    • Dakota Jordan's exit velos
It's just starting and it's heating up.  But you all have to unseat Travis Bazzana from the top of the mountain and he is so firmly entrenched right now in my eyes that it looks like an earth bender has locked him into that spot.  

I can see this turning into a week-to-week leapfrog based on performance.  But this is 1-1.  The Guardians cannot blow this one going for a brass ring that never materializes.  That's why it's Bazzana for me, at least now.  Maybe in 5 years I am kicking myself when pundits do a re-draft and a couple of guys (Griffin, some late riser) have sprinted ahead of him.  But Bazzana is the classic bird in the hand.  And if he continues to show out, I am happy with a bird in the hand like him.

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Do the Guardians NRI Signings Really Suck As Bad As I Think They Do?

 Looking back over the past 3 years of NRI invitees I am fighting mad.   Here are the players the Guardians brought in as VETERAN non-roster invitees to spring training:

2022 -  Anthony Castro, Yohan Ramirez, Alex Young, Ian Gibault, Jake Jewell, Sandy Leon

2023 - Touki Toussaint, Caleb Barager, Dusten Knight, Caleb Simpson, Roman Quinn, Zack Collins, Daniel Norris (at end of ST)

2024 - Adam Oller, Jamie Barria, Carlos Carrasco, Anthony Banda,Tyler Zuber, Dom Nunez

 This is a pathetic list.  Unless Carrasco ends up having a real comeback season, none of these guys, ZERO, stand even a small chance to make any significant impact on the Guardians.  NONE.

The Guardians have to do better than this.  I mean, just looking back, since Feb. 1st this year the following players, among others, received MiLB deals with non-roster invitations to spring training:

Francisco Mejia C (Feb. 29)
Kolten Wong, 2B (Feb. 28)
Tim Locastro P (Feb 28)
Julio Teheran P (Feb 27)
Jason Alexander P (Feb. 27)
Matt Barnes P (Feb 27)
Naoyuk Usasawa P (Feb 26)
Garrett Cooper 1B (Feb 25)
Cam Gallagher C (Feb 24)
Derek Law P (Feb 22)
Francisco Perez P (Feb 20)
David Peralta OF (Feb. 19)
Chase Anderson P (Feb 17)
Bryan Shaw P (Feb. 16)
Zach Davies P (Feb 15)
Jacob Barnes P (Feb 15)
Curt Casali C (Feb 12)
Adrian Sampson P (Feb 12)
Jesse Winker OF (Feb 12)
Luis Perdomo P (Feb 10)

Just look at the guys who signed minor league deals as NRIs with other teams since February 1st.  Don't even look at the guys who signed those deals in December and January.  Just look at the recent ones.   It is embarrassing who we signed compared to who was available.

History tells you that the 2024 NRIs have just as little chance to help this team as those from 2023 and 2022.  But we still keep signing these guys who are no more than AA and AAA roster fillers instead of preparing ourselves for inevitable injuries that occur.  

I understand the 165 minor league player limit.  I understand that the better minor league FAs all want opt-out clauses that, without injuries to ML players, sometimes make it hard to keep these players past opening day or May 1st.  I also understand that by having guys like this means that if you have to bring them up to the majors in an emergency,  it doesn't hurt as much to DFA or release them if they don't have a spot on the team. Hey, I don't mind signing guys like we do, but they can't be the only NRIs you bring in.  You have to bring in guys who actually have a chance to help this team coming out of ST if the need is there.  None of these guys do.

This is not a good look for a franchise that saw it doesn't have the money to sign quality or even lower level ML free agents.  You can't have it both ways.   You have to bring in talent either in major league free agents or minor league free agents who have ML track records of success in case you have injuries.  If, like the past two years, these NRIs get play during the ML season the fans have a right to be fighting mad.  The Guardians have played the same game the last 2 years and it has hurt the performance of the team.

It is time to stop this bottom feeding and do the right thing for the fans in Cleveland.  I mean, bringing in quality NRIs is the very LEAST the FO and ownership can do to help us prepare for the season.

Why they don't do this so the fans can field team without career minor leaguers on the roster is bewildering to me.