(1) The Guardians have been very real all year that their choices in putting their 40-man roster together last winter would impact their choices of who to put on the 26f-man roster (and now the 28-man roster) this season.
Hey, we all get that and I embrace it. Frankly, they have done exactly what I would have done if I were them. Give guys like Mercado, Chang, Zimmer, Myers, etc. a short leash. If they fail, you have had time to get your young players a few more reps in the high minors so you can start bringing them up.
What came out of this, however, may have been totally unexpected by the Guardians' front office. But not me. I have espoused for years the concept of the bum-a-month club. As hard as it may be to believe I don't mean this as a derogatory against these young men.
How I mean it can easily be understood by looking at Kwan. He came up, guns blazing, and for a month he looked like an all-star. The league adjusted to him and he suffered. Then he adjusted to the league and he flourished. The point is, for that first month he was a very positive factor for the team. That, in essence, is the goal of the bum-a-month philosophy, which really revolves around hitters, although it can apply to pitchers sometimes: guys with talent, who are not mired in slumps at the time, can be brought up for a short period of time and be successful for AT LEAST until the league adjusts to them.
So we have our September callups and we bring up Morris and DFA Castro. Perfect, exactly as the Guardians have proceeded this year. Castro is a AAAA player being held in reserve in case of emergencies. But his place on the 40-man roster can easily be given to someone else if the need arises.
But then we bring back Ernie Clement. His time in Columbus after his demotion did nothing to convince me that he is not still the offensively-challenged, defensively-slightly-above-average guy he has been since he started with the Guardains. To make matters worse the team was struggling offensively before Sept. 1st and snd struggled worse yesterday.
We should have brought up someone to spark the offense. Someone who the league hasn't seen. Someone on the 40-man roster. That is Brayan Rocchio, if you want an infielder. George Valera if you want an outfielder. Not Ernie Clement. That is just redoing Chang/Mercado/Zimmer/etc. Insanity is just repeating the same, failed experiment over and over again and expecting a different result.
Hey, would inserting Rocchio as the DH yesterday have changed the outcome of the game? But right now we have an offensive hole in centerfield that we can only fix by moving Kwan there. We have an offensive hole at catcher that we aren't able to fix right now. And we have an offensive hole whenever Owen Miller takes the field.
We need to do something positive. We need to find our bum(s) of the month for September. We need to do it now and we have the resources on the 40-man roster to do it. Let's do it and send Freeman down and bring up Arias. If we had guts we would DFA Clement and bring up Brennan. Knowing how Chang ended up I think it wouldn't be a bad strategy to gamble and DFA Clement. Certainly, bringing up Brennan and sending down Benson and starting Brennan, would be an improvement to our pathetic offense. Go Guardians1
(2) I am a draftnik. I did not like the Guardians draft this year. I had to endure watching Dylan Beaver and Jud Fabian trash our Lynchburg pitching staff (I wanted Fabian in the second round) was bad enough. Yeah, mature college hitters feasting on young pitchers at low A ball on a pitching staff that has been depleted somewhat by promotions. Yeah, it makes sense and I was able to rationalize it. Then I saw Joe Lampe play the last two games. The difference between him and Beaver/Fabian is night and day. Weak contact by Lampe vs. hard contract and homeruns by Beaver/Fabian. Yeah, it is early but the apples-to-apples comparison was striking. I dislike our draft even more today than when it happened. Hopefully our draft strategy group knows more than it appears they do on paper.
(3) I will begin this point by saying that there is, in no way, a direct comparison between DeShaun Watson and Donovan Mitchell. None. However what there IS, is a direct comparison between the trades that were made to get them. In fact, it can be argued that the Cavs gave up A LOT more for Mitchell than the Browns did for Watson, although I would argue that guaranteeing him all his salary makes the Watson trade MUCH more lopsided in favor of the team trading with Cleveland. That being said, both teams 'went for it' in these trades. They had the infrastructure to win now. They felt they needed a certain piece and got great player value at an extreme price before their competitive window closed. The Browns didn't hurt their current depth. The Cavs current depth took a big hit. The value of the draft choices lost is reversed, with NFL draft choices seemingly being much more valuable than NBA draft picks, especially when the latter are late in the first round as we hope the Cavs' will be over the next 5 years or so. Still, both teams went for it. Guardians...are you listening? Go Cavs...and Guardians...and Browns.
(4) Daniel Espino, where are you?
(5) What kind of world is the NCAA creating when a college athlete can give each of his teammates $500 to buy themselves a stylish suit? Now $500 in tutor-hours so they can graduate with a useful degree, I get that. NIL is a great way to keep kids in college and I am for that. I am even more for an NIL 'tax' where a certain percentage of NIL football and basketball money goes into a general pool for athletes at that college or university based on the level (full, half, etc.) of their athletic scholarship. But $500 x 80-100 guys. Any college kid with that much money to waste and one whose family would allow him to spend it like this needs some attitude adjustment as he has just made himself the prime example for those totally against NIL and paying college athletes.
(6) Excited about the Browns on Sunday? If Stefanski is a good coach we can survive the season without Watson for the first 11 games. If he is as out of touch with his team as he was last year the Haslems have just wasted a year's worth of salaries/expenses. Flushed it down the toilet. And we should be looking for another head coach by January. Go Browns!
(7) I am excited about Ohio State and Notre Dame on Saturday. However, this is NOT the type of game that should be the first game of the season. Just too much at stake to put two top-10 teams against each other this early as they are trying to shake off the rust of the off-season. These matchups should be saved for the end of the season or, rather, be played out in an expanded 8-team playoff system. Go Buckeyes.
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