First, let me say that the front office has, in my opinion, been very astute in how they have used the 40-man roster this year. Francona has also been very good in how he uses the 26 (now 28) man roster.
Look, we all should realize that yesterday was a throw-it-against-the-wall-and-see-if-it-sticks moment. No way was Hunter Gaddis ready for this start (or his first start). He simply is not ready to be a major league starter yet. Maybe ever. Who knows. But having watched him pitch all year I can say, without a doubt, he deserved to be on the 40-man roster this winter so, if a need is there and a roster spot is available, why not deploy him as needed?
So, just to be clear, if anyone thinks, based on these two starts, we should DFA Gaddis if we need a roster spot then those people need to take a step back and look at the big picture/long game/reality of a small market team.
If anything, what we should all admit was that the Cleveland Guardians put winning YESTERDAY'S game at a very low priority compared to the big picture of this season and the future. Frankly, I think that, although they were playing an important game (win the season series, go 5 games up on the White Sox and Twins) they weren't willing to gamble for the short term. Were they resigned to losing yesterday? No. But they were resigned to go as far as possible with Gaddis whether or not they lost.
And the funny thing is that the Guardians didn't do this so they could WIN this weekend. What they did yesterday and what they will do this weekend is designed to SURVIVE this stretch. Hopefully they win, but winning is NOT the biggest priority here. The Guardians will deny that. Francona will say that their goal is to win every game. However, he and Antonnetti need to add "...considering the situations that surround that game and the future" every time they say that their goal is to try to win every game.
Now, don't be confused. I HATE that they really did consider yesterday a throw-away game and their plan to win was hoping for a miracle that Gaddis would give them 6 innings with 3 or less runs. This on the heels of starting two rookies against the Angels this week, meaning that they started 3 still-wet-behind-the-ears rookies in 4 games so far this week! Not the recipe for winning although they won 2 of those 3 games. Again, throwing it against the wall hoping it wll stick.
They even have received offensive support from two holes in the lineup, Miller and Straw. The reason I mention this is that Ernie Clement is still with the team although he hardly plays and Will Brennan is still at AAA along with Gabriel Arias and Brayan Rocchio. The latter two could be called up right now and Brennan could be called up if you DFA Clement.
So, Guardians, if you are going to throw stuff against the wall then why not do the same with Rocchio instead of Clement? Why not DFA Clement and bring up Brennan for some extra oomph for the offense? These moves would help the offense without, in my opinion, harming the future of this club.
So, in for a penny, in for a pound. We are bringing up Vargas to see if he can provide an oomph to the bullpen. If we are doing stuff like that, why is Ernie Clement still on the active roster>
THAT, my friends, is something to gnash your teeth and wring your hands about.
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