The Trade: Version 2

I spent a lot of last season saying we should put a package together to get Juan Soto.  We didn't and he (and Josh Bell) ended up in San Diego.

I spent a lot of the late fall and early winter saying we should put together a package for Sean Murphy and AJ Puk.   We didn't and at last check Murphy was hammering for Atlanta and Puk was dealing for the Marlins.

So, two possible trades that could have helped us, could have helped us clear roster space so we wouldn't have had to dump Jones, Benson, Vargas and Miller for little or no gain.

This season I am on a different trade.   If you read my previous post I am looking to trade with the Dodgers.  Since that post I thought we could expand the deal and get back more ML-ready talent.  

So, here goes:

Dodgers get: 
Shane Beiber,

Amed Rosario

Myles Straw

Juan Brito

Jose Tena

Why this makes sense for the Dodgers: They get back a playoff-tested former CY award winner with almost 2 full seasons of control left, an established ML shortstop (which they desperately need) and a gold glove centerfielder with 4 years of control.  These are all guys they currently need as they lost their SS from last year, have starting pitchers down with injury right now and are starting a rookie in centerfield.  Plus, since the return to Cleveland will involve mostly prospects, they get a couple back.

Why this makes sense for Cleveland: We were NEVER going to re-sign Rosario.  For Cleveland, he is too expensive but he could be a good long-term fit with the Dodgers.  Ditto for Beiber who we would not be able to afford.  As far as Straw, gold glove centerfielders are hard to come by but baseball is offense plus defense.  Even with his outstanding defense and his .263 average he is 'only' 0.2 WAR so far this season.  Plus, we clear the 2 prospects from our 40-man roster the least likely to help the team this year or next year, with both clogging the 40-man during those two years.

Cleveland gets: 

Bobby Miller RHP (LA's #2 prospect)

Michael Busch 2B/OF (LA's #3 prospect)

Gavin Stone RHP (LA's #4 prospect)

James Outman CF (LA's #8 prospect)

Dalton Rushing C (LA's #7 prospect)

Joendry Vargas SS (LA's #23 prospect)

Josue De Paula OF (LA's #11 prospect)

Emmitt Sheehan RHP (LA's #14 prospect)

Why this makes sense for Cleveland:  Cleveland gets back two  ML-ready, left-handed hitting outfielders with power.   This flips the script on their season as they are almost dead last in the majors in homeruns.  Outman is playing, in my opinion, out of position in CF for LA but if he hangs onto that position he could be really valuable to the Guardians.  He is exceeding expectations this year but the power is real. They also get back Stone and Miller who, if they are free of injuries, should be ML ready starting pitchers by next spring training.  Stone and Miller do not have be rostered until this winter.  Rushing, Vargas and De Paula do not have to be rostered for 3 years, at least.  Vargas was a $2.08 million signing this past January and De Paula was a $400,000 signing the year before who has already turned heads enough that he is already their #11 prospect and hasn't even played in the US yet.  Basically we are getting ML ready guys and guys really far down the line in terms of having to be protected from the Rule 5, making this both a short- and long-term play for the Guardians.  Getting Sheehan is the icing on this cake as he is currently dominating AA with a fastball that can touch 99 and he doesn't have to be rostered until after the 2024 season, meshing with his rostering and when he should be ML ready.

NOTE: I really wanted to ask for Caleb Ferguson and would take him instead of Sheehan and maybe give back Rushing if I could get Ferguson.

Why this makes sense for the Dodgers: Given what the Guardians are sending the Dodgers, the players the Dodgers are trading away would not likely help them this year.  Even though this is a large prospect load to give up, the Didgers keep their top prospect, catcher Diego Cartaya, the #12 prospect in all of baseball.  They also trade away Miller when there is still a little question about his health.   Busch is a really good offensive prospect but is without a position and is not really needed by the Dodgers.  Outman is exceeding expectations this year and the Dodgers could feel like they are selling high on him.  While Stone is a really good pitching prospect the Dodgers have a lot of those, including the currently injured Ryan Pepiot, their #5 prospect and the possible rookie of the year candidate, Miguel Vargas, who was their #3 prospect before the season and is now starting at 3B for the Dodgers.  Losing Rushing, Joendry Vargas and De Paula so early in their careers has to be acceptable to the cash-heavy Dodgers.  Losing Sheehan has to hurt a little as it damaging their pitching prospect depth a little more but getting these ML veterans this early in the season makes this look less like a deadline deal and so the return should be a little heavier on prospects.  

It is possible that the Dodgers might ask the Guardians take an additional player to offset the salaries a little.  I could see them asking us to take on the remainder of Chris Taylor's salary but I think the Guardians would balk at that.  

Thoughts for a Thursday

GAVIN WILLIAMS AND THE CLIPPERS

Gavin Williams made his debut in AAA today.  I have things to do but it is just really hard not to watch every inning of a Clippers game.  Besides the lineup chock full of prospects, today, besides Williams, Hentges made a rehab appearance.

As far as Williams, he did not look as sharp as Bibee did in the latter's ML debut.  Williams' curveball was not that sharp and from striking out a guy with 3 consecutive 97 mph fastballs in the first, his control of the fastball was not there and he lost a good deal of velocity as the game went on, being at 92-94 (and maybe at 91 mph once, although that may have been a cutter) later in his start today.  His breaking stuff was sharp enough to keep the hitters off balance although some of his breaking stuff looked much slower than you would want, relative to the difference in velo from his fastball.  William's stat line, 5.2, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB and 6 K was impressive for his debut at AAA.

Hentges looked good in his inning even though his velo was down a little (91-94 compared to 96 mph at the ML level from my memory of him last year).

As I said, it is hard not to watch the whole 9 innings as 7 of the 9 hitters in the Columbus lineup are prospects and the other two, Collins and Roller, are just professional hitters.  I mean, up 7-0 in the 9th today and I am still watching as Rocchio and Pries line singles bringing up possible fireworks with Jhonkensy Noel, although he rolled over into a double play :-(   Still, looking at the numbers, seeing Palacios 2-4/2B/BB/SB, Rocchio 3-5, Pries 3-5/2B/SB, Noel 2-5/2 RBI, Fry 1-3/RBI/SB/BB stuff a scoresheet from innings 1 through 9 is pretty exciting if you are a prospect geek like me.  And speaking of Fry...

DAIVD FRY - NOT PART OF THE OPENING DAY ROSTER BUT SHOULD BE PART OF THE ROSTER LATER THIS YEAR

Look, AAAA guys are the heart of AAA.  They carry themselves like professionals, perform well at AAA and, generally, are good to have on your AAA team if you have a lot of young prospects.  They are just good examples for your young prospects to emulate.  

Like with Zach Collins, we can all get a little love-struck when we look at the performance of these AAAA guys.  Still, I have watched David Fry for 2 years now and I think he should be part of the Guardians roster.

His defense at first and third is stellar, something I didn't really expect.  The play he made today on the ball that went off Williams' foot was just outstanding.  I have seen him make hard plays look routine at 3B and at 1B this year and he can operate as your 3rd catcher and has even played some outfield and a little second base.  He hits some, takes his walks and generally doesn't hurt you either in the field or at the plate.  Think Austin Hedges-vibe but with hits.  If the baseball fates were fair he would be on the roster soon and for the rest of the season.  Not that I am saying that we are a WS team the way we are playing right now, but I would MUCH rather have David Fry up as the last batter in the World Series than I would having Michael Martinez (2016 WS) as potentially my last batter in the 7th game of a WS.  In fact, what a great site it would be for Fry to have the winning hit for the Guardians in this year's WS.

In my opinion, Fry should be up right now and Viloria should be DFA'd.  We need to find out what we have with guys like Fry before the deluge of 60-day DL come back and make our 40-man roster situation even more vexxing than it is now.

FRANCONA AND BUNTING

The other day the Guardians put two runners on in the 9th with no one out and had Tyler Freeman up.  Freeman bunted into a force play and we ended up not scoring and lost another close game.  I looked back and, as I feared, found that Tyler Freeman had only THREE sacrifices in almost 1700 career minor league and ML plate appearances.  To as him to bunt in that situation was just not the right move.  I mean, any analytics person would have told Francona NOT to bunt and even the most open-minded analytics person would have looked at Freeman's lack of bunting practice/efficiency and said not to bunt.  I not only don't like his recent penchant for bunting I also don't like that it appears to be situation and not performance-driven.  That is way too old school for me because, no, just because they are baseball players doesn't mean they have a high percentage chance of laying down a sacrifice bunt in a crucial, game-deciding situation.

THE GUARDIANS GOING FORWARD

Everyone wants this team to start playing well.  We know, based on last year, that the team is better than this.  We just know it.   But for those of us counting, going through Detroit, Washington and Colorado and actually being WORSE, record-wise, than when we started, definitely brings out the Pepto Bismol when we know that the team is traveling to Boston and New York and then having the Twins come to town.  I don't know what the answer is here but, duh, Ramirez and Bell are the keys. If we get two guys on ahead of Ramirez and then execute a double steal, it shouldn't bother us if Ramirez is intentionally walked.  Our hitters behind Ramirez should make the opposition pay for that strategy...but we don't.  Clearly this team could score runs in bunches if they just exectute but they aren't doing that.  I don't know what the secret is but Francona has a way of getting his teams to play well after the all-star break.  I just wish the all-star break was in April this year!

The Tanner Bibee Era Begins

 Let me go on record as saying this is a big mistake.  I haven't had time to do the research but I am pretty sure Bibee represents one of the first 2021 draftees to make his ML debut.  As a yardstick, Jack Leiter, the #2 overall pick in that draft and our own Gavin Williams, are still at AA.

This move appears to be one of desperation, trying to find a spark to ignite this team.  I guess when the only spark in the last 10 games was provided by a rookie pitcher, Logan Allen, in his major league debut, this type of desperate move may have some public relations merit in addition to being an act of desperation.

Of course, now his option clock will start, unless he stays up the whole season, at which point his arbitration and free agent clocks will be adversely impacted.

This is the play the Guardians are making but it smacks of when Cleveland brought Steve Dunning directly to the majors after drafting him in 1970 and us old guys know that didn't turn out too well.

I think Pilkington will clearly be picked up on waivers if we don't trade him first.  He provides enough upside as an end of the roster multi-inning reliever that some team, likely a rebuilding team, will pick him up as Washington did with the previously Guardian Logan Allen without the T.  I think what may have sealed this is his two innings of shutout relief yesterday.  Not that Pilkington, based on what he has shown already in Cleveland, is a great loss and I recently said that his DFA would not be the end of the world compared to some other moves.

I hope this works out better than Steve Dunning.  We are NOT nor should we ever strive to be the Cleveland baseball team of the '70s.

Go Guardians!

The Trade

OK, so this is how the other half lives.  I say that in all sincerity but with my tongue firmly in my cheek.

Right now the Guardians are in meltdown mode and fans are starting to panic, rightly so given how winnable the AL Central looks and how we have all become spoiled with teams reaching or exceeding any reasonable expectation of them.  Besides the Guardians, I am also a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals who are also in the middle of their own meltdown.  So, two franchises that  I root for who were expected to win this year are losing ugly.  So my own meltdown over the Guardians' meltdown is being tempered by the fact it can happen to anyone.

Still, that being said, there are three things that are likely:

1. The Guardians will or will not pull out of this tailspin.

2. Whether or not they do there is no way they will re-sign Amed Rosario or Shane Beiber.

3. The 40-man roster crunch will continue to happen over the next few years meaning we need to clear some roster space both for this year and in the future.

Before you gasp realize that Rosario is only here right now because we have a chance to win.  Otherwise, he would have been traded over the winter, or maybe last July.  

As far as Beiber, even though he is the ultimate competitor, his stuff is not nearly what it was a couple of years ago.  In fact, the way he is pitching at the moment he is no better than a #3 starter on a playoff team.

So, what if we made an aggressive trade that includes both Beiber and Rosario?  A trade that should help us this year but also in the future?

Los Angeles Dodgers get Amed Rosario, Shane Beiber, Juan Brito and Oscar Gonzalez.

Cleveland Guardians get OF James Outman, RHP Gavin Stone,  2B/OF Michael Busch and  C Dalton Rushing

We get some needed power (Busch and Outman) now and in the future and a future starter in Stone and a future C in Rushing, lineup up perfectly to be with Bo Naylor about the time Naylor settles in to the majors. Plus we clear two roster spots for anyone we want to bring up to replace these guys (Freeman and Bibee, anyone?).

The Dodgers get the SS they need, almost two years of a playoff veteran in Beiber and a couple of young players in Brito and Gonzalez to sweeten the pot.  

What does everyone think?

Instant Gratification - A Discussion About Bringing Up Tanner Bibee As It Applies To The Big Picture

 As an old guy, one thing I have seen that appears to be a given with young people is the need for instant gratification.  I mean, for as long as I casn remember!  Even with as fast as technology is today, it seems that it is never fast enough for young people.  

Now, as far as the Guardians, a lot of us old people feel the same way, but maybe for different reasons.  Almost none of us remember the last time Cleveland won a World Series.   It is the one thing that living Cleveland baseball fans have not seen...and many want it...bad.

So that brings me to this post, which is about how maybe some of us are thinking about the instant gratification, the kind that comes from bringing up prospects with the hope that they can somehow provide a spark.  So this post will be about two things: (1) the handling of prospects and (2) the need for the FO to be better about the handling of the 40-man roster.  Let's start with the the second one first:

HANDLING OF THE 40-MAN ROSTER

We have a roster glut.  To add someone we have to remove someone from the backend of the 40-man roster.  My view of the candidates to be DFA'd from our 40-man roster is:

a) Meibrys Viloria - The only truly expendable player on our roster, Viloria could be DFA'd at any moment.  

b) Tim Herrin - Herrin being rostered this winter shows one of the issues with the FO's handling of the roster.  Yes, Herrin has some ability.  But knowing the roster crunch to come, the FO should have gambled on him not being drafted in the Rule 5 this past winter.  Given that Kevin Kelly stuck with Tampa Bay this season, likely that means that Herrin would have been lost to the Rule 5.  Still, we are talking about a guy not even in top 30 prospect lists for the Guardians and, until he was rostered this winter, not in most TOP FIFTY prospect lists for the Guardians.  Herrin is clearly, to me, the next man up to get DFA'd and that shouldn't happen to a guy who we felt compelled to add to the 40-man just a few months ago.  He has some ability, but if we lose him now, it will not look very good.

c) Sam Hentges, Aaron Civale, George Valera - OK, with these guys we are not talking about a DFA but, rather, placng them on the 60-day DL.  I am a little confused about how retroactive this can be.   For example, can Valera be placed on the 60 day DL list retroactively from the beginning of the season and can 'time served' on the 10-, or 15-day injured lists can count as part of the 60 days a player must serve away from the majors when placed on the 60-day DL.  We don't know what is going on with the rehab of these players but it is possible that one or more of these players might require longer times on the DL/IL than originally anticipated.

d) Konnor Pilkington - Pilkington might be useful at times to the Guardians this year, being the kind of yo-yo player who can be the 27th man for a doubleheader or can be up for a few days (or a single start, when needed) as a last pitcher on the roster when someone like Curry or Gaddis or Battenfield have been burned and won't be available for a number of days.  Think Josh Tomlin but with less ability, in my opinion. That being said, talent-wise, Pilkington is probably an end-of-the-roster guy and might be next on the list to DFA if we desperately need a roster spot.

e) Players I don't want to talk about - Obviously we are going to talk about them but I don't WANT to talk about these players because I think they are true prospects.   Because you are the 5th (or 10th) best middle infield prospect in the organization doesn't make you worthless, it just makes you tradeable. This is an important distinction that some 'experts' don't agree with and some fans don't understand. 

    (1) Juan Brito - Very far away from the majors, the only thing I think that would stop us from DFAing him is that we just traded for him over the winter KNOWING we had a roster glut, and we traded a top prospect, Nolan Jones, for him.  But, clearly, the odds of him making the majors are the longest of any player currently on the 40-man simply because he is so far away (Lake County) and might run out of options before he makes the majors.  Nothing I have personally seen this spring makes me believe that he will suddenly accelerate his development to avoid that situation so, in my mind, while he is NOT expendable, he is the most expendable of this last group.

    (2) Jose Tena - Tena is becoming the whipping boy of our minor league middle infielders.  A guy who has been hanging around 10-20 in our prospect lists due to his young age, middle infield defense and the current and potential impact of his bat as a middle infielder, some think he is expendable, maybe even in a DFA/lost on waivers situation because we have so many other talented MIF prospects.  I disagree and fear that he could be considered DFA material for a short-term gain of adding another player to the 40 man.  Still, there may be some things going on behind the scenes that could make Tena the surprise DFA if we need a roster spot right now.

    (3) Richie Palacios -  I don't use the term lightly so when I say I heard two idiots on a pod cast this spring saying that we should keep Roman Quinn on the opening day roster and DFA Palacios while running down Palacios' value it made me invoke this term to describe these two guys.   Palacios, in my opinion, is NOT DFA fodder.  Can the Guardians afford to lose him?  Maybe, eventually, once Valera is healthy and ready, but Palacios has value and any consideration that he is OK to DFA for some short term advantage is, well, stupid.

    (4) Cam Gallagher - Gallagher is only on this list if we choose to bring up Bo Naylor and let him be Zunino's caddy.  While I doubt if we would do that it is in the realm of possibility as a way to clear a 40-man roster spot by removing a guy who isn't destined to be here that long.   I think Viloria gets DFA'd first but, maybe down the road, Gallagher could go during this season at the first moment Naylor is ready.  

HANDLING OF PROSPECTS

This actually ties into the first topic and the only reason I bring it up here is because of the Tanner Bibee situation.

I think it is inappropriate to add Bibee or any true prospect to the 40-man roster in a year where they don't have to be added. 

It is wrong on so many levels (player not fully developed, player having no current role on a healthy 40 man roster, player's arbitration clock starting, player option being burned, free agency clock starting, taking a valuable 40-man roster spot when not absolutely needed that year or when they don't have to be rostered this winter) to bring up a player too early, ESPECIALLY on a team like the Guardians.  Yeah, bring up and DFA all the Jake Jewells you want to.  They are AAAA players who can be added and removed from the 40-man roster without impacting the state of our farm system.  

So far the FO has been masterful at doing what is necessary to manage the 40 man roster by not knee-jerking or, at least, only knee-jerking when it made sense.  

But, if they are going to start bringing up prospects early they need to have a plan.  They need to start modifying the 40-man roster long-term, not simply lopping guys off  the roster because they are the least needed guys on that roster.  When you have a great farm system like the Guardians do, that would just be stupid.  So, later on this week I will do a post about trading, right now, guys who we don't intend to sign long-term.  But, for right now, let's just say that bringing up Tanner Bibee is a bad move for all the reasons I mentioned above.  

All you have to do to understand this is to think about what happens when McKenzie, Morris and Civale come back.  At that point, in Cleveland, you have just lessened the value of a guy like Bibee as you have started all of his 'clocks'.  One way of thinking about it is if Bibee starts 2024 on the opening day roster we have him through at least 2029.    If he comes up now there is a chance we only have him through 2028.  That, alone, should be a reason to not bring him up just because we need a starter this Wednesday or we hope we catch lightning in a bottle and can replace other whipping boys like Plesac.  

So, FO, make trades, manage your prospects well (or trade them for a GOOD return, for a change) and get ready to trade ML guys who have value who you don't intend to be or think the player will choose to be on the roster in the near or long-term future.   But DON'T bring up Tanner Bibee for one start just because it LOOKS like the best thing to do short-term.

Thoughts For A Monday - A DIspassionate Look At Our Pitching Prospects

THE PRESENT

1. Logan Allen 

OK, everyone is buzzing about his ML debut yesterday.   It was a good one.  But I wanted to provide a voice of balance here. 

The issue for me was that Allen started off throwing 92-93, touching 94 once.  As the game wore on, though, he was sitting more at 91.  .  Early this season and early last season he set more at 93, touching 95.  When he moved to Columbus last year his velo was down and he started to get hit

I don't think he can be successful as a rookie sitting at 91.  Maybe (like Beiber) when he gets experience Allen might be able to battle through like Beiber does.  But now? Once the league scouts him I think he is going to have trouble getting outs unless he ups his fastball velo.

2. Peyton Battenfield

The question is, can he compete against the good teams?  I don't know the answer to that.  It seems his stuff would play better in the bullpen but maybe he can be a 4-5.  Time will tell.  His start on Tuesday will go a good distance in telling us who he is.   That is, can he beat the rebuilding teams consistently.  The next bar then will be to see if he can beat the first division teams.  His stuff is not great but if he can compete, maybe he can be what Beiber is right now.

3. Hunter Gaddis

There are two paths with Gaddis at this point.  We leave him in the bullpen and let him be a multi-inning guy or an opener, going through the lineup one time.  Or we send him to the minors and let him work on what he needs to work on to be a #3 starter in the big leagues.  He has the stuff to be successful as I see him having about 20% better stuff than Battenfield, but his stuff and command may play better as a reliever.  That is my opinion but time will tell.

4. Xzavion Curry

If any one of these guys projects almost exclusively as a true reliever it is Curry.  A short righthanded with a fastball/slider mix, he seems to fit exactly what you want in a guy wo isn't around more than one or two innings in an outing.

5. Cody Morris

If he gets healthy this year he could be sent to AAA to further develop as a starter.  I don't know if he will be anything more than Gaddis and I don't know if his body will hold up as a starter without him having to take the foot off the gas pedal so much to stay healthy that he loses too much to be effective.  Right now, unfortunately, he looks more like a power reliever to me, able to go two innings and dominate.  

THE FUTURE

 It is great to think of a rotation this year with Allen, Bibee and Gavin Williams pitching effectively.

However, what the Guardians did last year: bring up Gaddis, Curry and Morris, they did knowing that they were going to have to roster them last winter anyway AND, as college pitchers ready for the majors, it was doubtful that they would burn their 3 option years.

Allen, a 2020 college draftee, would have had to be protected from the Rule 5 this winter.  So bringing up now doesn't change the dynamics of the roster this winter, if he doesn't get hurt.  

We have guys like Brito, Noel, Tena and even Tim Herrin who are not truly ready for the majors.  But they are on the roster to protect them from the Rule 5.   Adding more guys to the 40 man who don't have to be rostered this winter (Bibee and Williams, for example) really creates a roster crunch that I don't think we can survive without DFAing real prospects.  So, while guys like Richie Palacios are probably never going to be stars in the majors, they should just not be given away for nothing as they are worth more than that.   We have already given away Nolan Jones, Carlos Vargas, Will Benson and Owen Miller for arguably little or no return.  We really can't keep doing that, or at least we SHOULDN'T keep doing that.

And we haven't even mentioned Daniel Espino who we will have to roster this winter with very little chance of getting any return (in terms of major league production) from him next year.  

We will likely have a roster crunch every year for the next few and, while I want to see some of these guys in the majors, it can only be if they are absolutely needed.  Simply because they MIGHT help us win this year is not going to be a sufficient reason for them to be placed on the roster this year, have their arbitration and free agent clocks started and risk injury or a bad experience if they are not truly ready.  

With Age, Experience and Upbringing Comes Perspectve

 After Beiber was removed in game 1, I didn't any more baseball yesterday.  Not even last night.

This is the type of stretch that I had gotten used to as a kid.  Pitching not terrible but not quite good enough.  The feeble attempts at hitting all too painful to watch.  Guys who, in my heart, I know are not really major leaguers flailing around burying the game so deep that those woulda, shoulda, coulda moments never happen.  Or, when the proven major leaguers play and perform, the team falls tantalizingly short of being able to win a game late.

Yes, this is how I grew up and it, for all the right reasons, numbed me to the type of entitlement that we, as Cleveland fans, despise when we see it from Yankees fans. 

So here we sit on Sunday morning, 10-11 and one game out of first place.  

The truth is, I don't know what will happen the rest of this year with the Guardains.   But here are some thoughts:

1. Shane Beiber is looking, right now, like a top #3 starter on a WS contending team.   He, as he always does, battles like crazy but he is just not the dominant pitcher he used to be as his velocity has dropped to the levels it was when he was drafted.  He gives us a chance to win almost every time out, but just doesn't dominate, like an ace shouuld.

2. Zach Plesac still looks like a great #5 starter to me.  He, too, gives us a chance to compete and in ML baseball today where everyone has the DH and with the rule changes, has reasonable stats save his first start of the year.   Truth be told, however, Cal Quantrill fit better as #4 and #5 on a playoff team.

3. In true '80s fashion we are looking for Logan Allen to be the next savior of this team.  Very unfair to this guy who, at the beginning of this year, didn't think was anywhere near ready to get major league hitters out on a consistent basis.  Again, '80s thinking when we were praying for ANYONE to come up from the minors and provide us a reason to want to watch our team with pride.

4. I don't know why anyone is surprised that Tim Herrin is struggling.  He simply was not ready for this and even though Francona is a genius, it is clear that Herrin needs more seasoning.  It was a shame they had to roster him last winter as he really is not ready.

5. Hunter Gaddis and Xzavion Curry are relievers.  Their stuff plays as relievers.  Compare them to Cal Quantrill.  He was converted to reliever in the majors but, when given the chance, he made the transition back to starter almost seamlessly.  Not so for Gaddis and Curry.  They both could be Trevor Stephan-like relievers.  The question is: can we find a spot for them

6. The hitting has been pathetic.  No one is seemingly getting better except for, maybe, Josh Bell, who still isn't hitting for power.  We should be winning.  And we should be wnning with our CURRENT guys.   Just look at the guys we COULD have had this winter.  Jose Abreu currently is hitting .250 with no HR and an OPS of .567 even though he is arguably much better protected in the Houston lineup than he would have been here.  Sean Murphy looks much better than Mike Zunino but is there anyone who is surpirsed by that.  Zunino has an OPS of .931.  Hedges was at .489 last year. 

However, the worst thing about the hitting hasn't been the hitting, itself.  It has been the baserunning.  We are simply not stealing enough basess, especially in front of Ramirez.   Our offense, 1-9, is built on hustle, taking the extra base, and putting pressure on the defense.  We are not doing that at the top of the order, seemingly being afraid that Ramirez would be walked if first base was open.  Sorry, guys, that is not working.  Steal the damn bases in front of Jose.  Whatever happens, happens.  

Along those lines, the younger guys like Arias, Freeman and Brennan, seem to avoid taking chances on the bases and, as a group, show bad baserunning instincts, in my opinion.  They need to step up their baserunning games to fit into our system.

 Plus, we are bunting waaaaay to much.  Of course, to me bunting in any situation but the bottom of the last inning in a tie game trying to move the winning run from 2nd to 3rd with no outs is a bad bunt.  Heck, I am not even sure I would bunt in that case.    

So the Guardians will come out of this slump...or they won't.  The numbness can kick back in for a year if necessary.  I don't want to see that but, if it happens, it happens.  They are still my team, whether I am rooting for the 80s version or the 2016 version.  

Having That Borderline Prospect Angst Again

 I remember in the '80s, early '90s and early 2000s, that feeling.   

A prospect, or even a suspect like Chris Coste, was tearing it up at AAA or even AA.

The major league club was going nowhere and we were playing AAAA guys at some positions, guys who had no future, really, if we became a contending club.

So the question always came up in my mnd, just like it did when Coste hit .318 in 2001 in Buffalo.  Why not bring the guy up and give him a shot?  You might catch lightning in a bottle?  What did you have to lose?

So, here we are in 2023.  Youngest roster...again.   AAA team packed with prospects as evidenced by the ability to put a lineup out there with 8 true prospects in it and having two prospects, Tanner Bibee and Logan Allen, highlight your rotation at AAA backed up, at the beginning of the season, by Peyton Battenfield, Hunter Gaddis and Xzavion Curry.

So, you may ask, how is this ANYTHING like the oldie but not so goody days in the time periods I mentioned above?

First, we have all the prospects mentioned above chomping at the bit for their chance to play in the majors.  Unfortunately, our lineup is not the type that can withstand one or two rookies struggling to get their footing in the majors.  Just look at the one run games we have played.  Do we think rookies hanging 0-4s would have helped us win as many or more of those games than we have?

Second, even if buy in to the prospects listed above, the guys in the Chris Coste club, David Fry and Micah Pries will have a rough go even getting TO the 26 man roster.  

One thing the Guardians have been REALLY bad at is trading prospects for ML-ready talent.  They need to do this as they have too much talent for the available roster spots and the prospecdts are being blocked by guys who, except for Rosario and maybe Josh Bell, are not leaving any time soon.  We need to clear some 40-man roster space while, at the same time, getting good ML talent back for these prospects.

We remain and this crossroad and we need to act.  The Columbus guys are ready for their shot.  Time to figure out a way to give it to them and STILL remain competitive.

Thoughts for A Thursday - How's It Going In the Minors

Here are some early thoughts about our minor league players:

1. Joe Lampe can hit.  In fact, I expect him in Akron real soon as he appears to have way too much bat control and hitting acumen for high A pitchers.  He hasn't really shown any power yet but time will tell as to whether and how fast that develops.

2. Juan Brito is beginning to hit this year.  I thought he would have a good year but in order for him to have a chance to play in the majors before his option years run out, he needs to have a 2022 Jhonkensy Noel-like season.  That is, he needs to do well at Lake County and Akron and make it to Columbus by the end of the year.  He should be able to do that if he hits like he has the last week or so.

3. Gavin Williams can really pitch.  Like Lampe, though, he probably needs to be challanged with a promotion soon.  Looking at how Bibee is competing at AAA and how Williams is dominating AA, it seems like Williams could handle AAA batters.

4. Nate Furman can hit low A pitching.  In fact, he should have probably never been in low A and needs to be promoted to high A.

5. Parker Messick is not dominating low A like he should.  Too many base runners and it does not appear that he has a dominant put away pitch.

6. Comparing Will Dion last year and Austin Peterson this year, the latter can't put younger hitters away whereas Dion was able to do that with ease last year.  Maybe it could be time to look at Peterson in shorter stints.

7. The 2021 draft is the gift that keeps on giving.  Besides Dion, Hunter Stanley, Reid Johnston and Jack Leftwich are dominating early.

8. Doug Nikhazy, Aaron Davenport and Adam Scott are really struggling with their control.  Tommy Mace isdoing OK. 

9. Tanner Burns still doesn't look like he is throwing that hard but a repeat of AA is producing decent results.

10. Keep an eye on our minor league pitchers this year.  There is a school of thought that says we are losing so many pitching gurus from our minor league system that we are not having as many glorious success stories as we have had in past years.  Time will tell if this thinking is over-reacting.

Jose Ramrez - GOAT Thoughts

 Look, any fan of the Cleveland Indians who has only been following the team closely for the last 10 years is likely to come to the same conclusion: Jose Ramirez is probably THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME for the Cleveland baseball team.  Watching him play tells me that understands the game, understands himself, leads by example, leads by what he says and, of course, produces.

In another era Jose Ramrez would have just been one of the guys.  Imagine a lineup with Thome, Belle, Many Ramirez, Lofton, Vizquel. You could make an argument that Jose would have been lost in the crowd in that group, producing greatly but having his MVP votes diluted by his star teammates.  You could also argue that having the protection of Thome, Belle and Manny would have bloated his stats and taken some of the pressure off of him to produce EVERY time he came up.  

Simple truth is that Jose Ramirez is a great, very likeable and very loyal player for the CLeveland Guardians.  He is a baseball player's baseball player.  He is, as close as I have seen, an old-school baseball player.  In the era of flashy players the equivalent of the 3-and-D stars of the NBA, he is Larry Bird...with speed.  Looking at it through the lens of the present, he appears to be a true candidate for Cleveland;s GOAT.

So I wanted to take a look at the stats and, assuming we extend his contract one more time and he finishes his career with the Guardians, see where he could likely end up statistically.   This listing will not include anything with percentages (batting average, OPS, etc.) and will just include simple numric records.

STOLEN BASES

Leaders: Lofton (452), Vizquel (279), Ramirez (178)

Thoughts: No way Jose catches Lofton but, if he stays healthy and in Cleveland, he should catch Vizquel and end his career in second place in Cleveland stolen bases, not too shabby for a power hitter.

HOME RUNS

Leaders:Jim Thome (337), Albert Belle (242) Manny Ramirez (236), Jose Ramirez (194)

Thoughts: Jose just needs to remain healthy and stay in Cleveland and he should end his career as the all-time Cleveland home run leader.  

HITS

Leaders: Lajoie (2047), Speaker (1965), Averill (1903), Sewell (1800), Jamieson (1753), Boudreau (1706), Ramirez (1175)

Thoughts: Just like with home runs, Ramirez, with health, longevity in Cleveland and protection in the lineup, should end up in 7 years as the all-time hits leader in Cleveland.  

WALKS

Leaders: Thome (1008), Carlos Santana (881), Speaker (857), Boudreau (766), Ramirez (485)

Thoughts: 

EXTRA BASE HITS

Leaders: Averill (724), Speaker (667), Thome (620), Ramirez (523)

Thoughts: Jose has averaged about 50 XBH a year for his career.  Everything stayiing the same, he should obliterate this record and become the leader in about 4 years.

RUNS BATTED IN

Leaders: Averill (1084), Thome (937), Lajoie (919), Trotsky (911)... Ramirez (678)

Thoughts: Another record that Jose should shatter during his current contract and, if he stays long-term, set one that could last for a long time.  

RUNS

Leaders: Averill (1154), Speaker (1078), Lofton (975), Jameison (944), Thome (928, VIzquel (906)...Ramirez (707)

Thoughts:  After this season Jose will be around 400 runs behind Averill.  He would need probably 5 teams to pass Averill which is doable within his current contract.

DOUBLES

Leaders: Speaker (486), Lajoie (424)...Ramirez (295)

Thoughts: It may not seem like that much but at this point in his career getting another 191 doubles is not guaranteed.  If he averages 35 doubles a year it will still take him 5+ years to break that record, and that production rate is not guaranteed as he gets older.   He might have to spend his entire career in Cleveland to break that record.

INTENTIONAL WALKS

Leaders: Jim Thome (87), Travis Hafner (78), Ramirez (58)

Thoughts: Heck, Ramirez may break this record this year.   A lot of this depends on the protection around him and the hitters in front of him.  Unless you are Barry Bonds you don't get walked intentionally unless first base is open and there are guys on other bases.  This stat is so variable and so dependent on the players around you and the situation (e.g., guys generally don't get intentionally walked when their team is trailing 10-2 or leading 10-2) these numbers can vary widely from year to year.  He had 20 IBB last year but had only 10 the year before so maybe he makes it in 2 years or maybe it takes him 5 or more years.  

There are obviously a lot more numric categories to consider but the ones above show that with reasonable production on reasonably competitive teams and that he stays here most, if not all, of his career, he will retire holding most of the offensive career records for the Cleveland Guardians.

Will that make him our GOAT?  You can make a great case that it will.  Add a HOF election to these stats and I think that will cinch it, given all the years he was a top contender for MVP, even if he never wins one (heck Thome was in the top 6 in MVP voting only 2 years in his career!).

Thoughts for a Wednesday Night

 I had forgotten that we went 7-11 in our first 18 games last year.  I had forgotten that, last year, we were swept in a 4 game series, including a doubleheader, in Deroit in July as we fans probably reached our emotional bottom at any time last year.  I know I did.   Still, this road trip to Washington and Detroit was very unsatisfying.  Maybe we can, this Friday, start a long stretch of victories where we get all of our cylinders clicking at the same time..

I can't help but feel that this is one of those stretches.  When the starting pitching is good the bullpen collapses.  When the starting pitching puts us behind the 8-ball early in the game, the offense can't respond to save us.  To make matters worse, Plesac is getting bucking this trend, getting some significant run support this year, which makes me think this is just one long opposites day.

So, I gotta ask: Is what we saw the first two games in Detroit just the afterglow of Bell having a good series in Washington?  He loved to hit in Washington last year with his home average there about .300 with his road average about .240.  I hope we see him hammering the ball this weekend in Cleveland.  THAT would be a good sign.

Do we really think that we will see Tanner Bibee on Monday?  If so, that would be a major surprise as we would be bringing up Bibee and starting his arbitration clock when I don't think he even has to be rostered this winter.  For a team with serious 40-man roster problems every winter, are we really in such dire straits that we will clog an already clogged young roster with Bibee?

If Bibee is added to the roster we will have to DFA or trade someone.  Looking at our roster that probably means Lavastida or Viloria being DFA'd.  Let's hope it is not Palacios.  He clearly has upped his value, including his trade value, with his start in Columbus.

I am starting to think that it is possible that we will trade Rosario sooner rather than later rather than keeping him all year.  With Freeman, Arias and Rocchio ready, each to a different level, if Rosario is out any amount of time we might see that we DON'T need him as much as we thought we did.   Ditto for us needing him to hit 2nd in the order.  Him beng out, albeit if for only a short time, might put it in front of the FO's and Francona's collective noses that we might be able to compete this year better WITHOUT Rosario.   Not saying it will happen but the longer this 'dry run' for life after Rosario goes on, the brain trust might start kicking the tires on our exit strategy for Amed.

Speaking of life after Rosario, Francona is experimenting with all the lineups the fans have been talking about, at least at the top.  

On that note, it just seems like our top 2 hitters are walking on egg shells.  Jose Ramirez is such a rare talent but it really looks like people are not trying to steal ahead of him getting up in fear of the other team walking Jose when they first base suddenly open.  I think our 1-9, aggressive approach has to be just that.  We can't just stop pushing the envelope before Jose is up or when he is up.  Better that we let them intentionally walk Jose and then let Bell or whoever is hitting cleanup go all Earl Weaver on the opposing pitcher.  

Sending Gaddis down and having De Los Santos come back Friday brings up an interesting few days of roster moves (see Bibee comment above).

Finally, does it seem to anyone beside me that part of the problem our relievers are having, (starters, too) is that they are afraid to bury breaking balls or sinkers in the dirt out of fear that Zunino won't be able to block them.  In today's game Manning was essentially screaming at Clase to go out of the zone but I think Clase was reluctant.  I really think the pitchers are starting to absolutely not trust that Zunno can bloack a ball.  When you take that bottom 18 inches above the ground out of the equation, I am pretty sure it makes pitchers much, much more hittable.  In my opinion that is what we are seeing here.  I think we saw it today with Stephan, Karinchak and Clase.  I don't remember one of them burying the ball in the dirt when they had the opposing hitter down two strikes.  I mean, Beiber would sometimes do that 4 pitches in a row if he had the batter 0-2.  

More tomorrow about the minor leagues but I am liking a lot of what I am seeing with our minor league pitchers.  

Are We Looking At History in Columbus?

 I know it is just two weeks into the season but I am wondering if this will be a historic season for the Guardians AAA team in Columbus.

As part of the 17 players making their major league debuts last year, the Guardians had a lot of guys  who played part or most of the season in Columbus.  Some of them were highly rated prospects and some weren't.  Bottom line, though, is that every day there were guys in the Columbus lineup in 2022 who also played for the Guardians.

In addtion, past Clipper teams, all the way back to their affiliation with the Yankees, have had stars pass through Columbus.  

Still, I cannot remember a time when a Columbus starting lineup has this many guys who I think could step in this year and make an impact on the ML team.  Let's look at that lineup, substituting in the currently injured George Valera for the duo of Roller/Quinn.

Richie Palacios - LF (BTW, what a great idea to have him lead off!  IMHO his trade value just shot way up)

George Valera - CF

Jhonkensy Noel - RF

Bo Naylor - C

Micah Pries - 1B

Tyler Freeman - 2B

Brayan Rocchio - SS

David Fry - 3B

We have one AAAA guy in our lineup, DH Zack Collins.  We have AAAA/organizational guys on the bench: Eric Rodriguez, Daniel Schneeman and the aforementioned Quinn and Roller.  

But mainly we have prospects, guys who could have significant MLB careers.  It doesn't generally (maybe ever) work out this way on a AAA roster.

I could see each of those prospects making a serious impact on the Guardians starting lineup this year or next year.  Or be involved in a blockbuster trade or two this year or the upcoming postseason.

And that doesn't even count pitchers like Tanner Bibee, Logan Allen, Xzavion Curry and Peyton Battenfield who could or are making an impact.  It also doesn't count guys who might, under the right conditions, have minor roles like Konnor Pilkington, Daniel Norris or Touki Toussaint, the kind of guys we usually see filter up from AAA for short term need.  

We don't even have to dip down to AA for Gavin Williams or Angel Martinez.   We have enough guys at AAA right now to almost make a major league team that could be competitive and have serious future potential.

So, do you think that the above lineup and a rotation of Bibee, Allen, Curry, Battenfield and Gaddis could play .500 ball in the majors right now?   I think it is possible which, to me, is historic.

Thoughts For A Monday

GUARDIANS

 1. Love to see Josh Bell contribute to the offense.  I don't know what it is but he hit soooo much better at home last year (.293 to .240) and that was including his time in San Diego.  Let's hope this is the start of something big and not just that his value is only reached when he is playing games in Washington DC.

2. Zach Plesac finally getting a win on a just OK performance.  Now, if we can just have him start every game in the second inning he could be an all-star

3. Rick Manning had to open his mouth late in Sunday's game!  Damn it!  He said the magic phrase that I parapharase here: 'The Guardians need to take care of business against teams with losing records'.  Now, while I think that and was disappointed we didn't sweep the Nationals, I prefer to think as Francona's platitudes go: (1) You play the game the right way and good things will happen and (2) you can only control what you can control.  Then you can add a 3rd platitude, one of my own concoction: In baseball, the law of averages catches up with you.  This is not the first time in a series this year against one of the weakest teams in baseball that the Guardians have dropped a game.  The fact that those two losses stung given the level of competition provided by these two rebuilding teams, stuff happens.  Would I have rather it not happened to the Guardians?  Sure.  Like Manning, I want us to sweep teams like the Athletics and the Nationals, even on the road.  But stuff happens.  Yesterday, our good bullpen threw out its two shakiest (this year) relievers, Herrin and Sandlin and, guess what, the perfect storm happened where BOTH failed which was only made worse when Stephan came into the game and poured a little gasoline on the first.  In the 9th a good sliding catch on Zunino by Thomas, a fearless play at the railing on Straw by Call and a questionable second strike call on Kwan followed by an uncharacteristically frozen Kwan left looking at a 3rd strike clearly in the bottom of the zone left us with nothing going to end the game.  Add to all this the crucial and borderline blocking the plate call on the Zunino tag at home plate and you have yet another platitude being employed: the universe was just against us today.  

So, Rick, I know exactly what you are thinking but it is what it is.  We won both the Oakland and Washington series on the road.   We have another series against a rebuilding team, Detroit, starting tonight at home.  The goal there, as Francona says, should just be to play good ball, the right way.  If we keep Bell hot, if we can get Gonzalez started and get some performance out of Arias without him burying himself offensively AND if our starting pitching holds up in these 3 games, those will all be positive, albeit secondary outcomes from this series.   

Go Guardians!

MINOR LEAGUES

More thoughts about this in a post for later tonight.

GUARDIANS TRADES

There is a generally accepted wisdom that if you have a piece of jewelry you can get a lot more value if you remove the gems and just sell them separately, and then sell the remaining gold or silver in the setting.  

 I don't know if that is true in baseball.  That is, if you have a bunch of players do you get more for them if you trade them separately in in one larger trade?  

I would like to think that the difference was that you get one major league player (if you trade a bunch of prospects in one trade) or you get several decent minor league prospects (in separate trades)

I know it is early in the season but here is what 4 trades that the Guardians made over the winter look like today:

Will Benson for Justin Boyd and Steven Hajjar

The Guardians were concerned that Benson's contact skills were lacking.  I was concerned that he just might have turned the corner and was going to provide enough contact to make his other skills, speed, power, ability to take a walk play up to become the guy from the 2022 Columbus Clippers as opposed to the guy he had shown himself to be in previous years.   

Well, as it turns out, so far Benson is 1-20 with  1 walk and 12 strikeouts and was recently sent to AAA by Cincinnati. 

On the flip side, Justin Boyd and Steven Hajjar are both on the IL and have not played so far. 

 Although it is very early in this trade's journey, right now it appears that anything we get out of Boyd and Hajjar will tilt this trade in our favor and, given the characteristics and pedigree of these two guys, it is likely we will get SOMETHING out of them, even it is just as a piece in a trade that helps our ML team.

Carlos Vargas for Ross Carver

This is the classic playing the long game trade.  Vargas is the 100 mph-throwing reliever every team is looking for these days.  His history as a starter is also appealing if you can keep him healthy as was his proximity to the majors.

So far this year Vargas had some uneven results in the majors and was sent to AAA.  Carver, on the other hand, has had one good and one mediocre start for Akron, with the mediocre start being pretty bad with a number of walks and hits and no strikeouts.  

Again, who won this trade is only going to be known over the long term but, right now, it looks like a wash as Vargas is trending towards being a long-term project and Carver is likely two years away from the majors at best rate of development and may have to be exposed to the Rule 5 draft because there are just too many more highly-rated prospects who would have to be rostered to even ocnsider rostering Carver, at least with what we know now.

Nolan Jones for Juan Brito

My feelings on this trade are well-known.  You don't trade a M-ready guy in Jones for a low A guy like Brito who you have to roster.   I will tell you that when I was at spring training Juan Brito could have literally walked every time he came to the plate.  I swear the Guardians must have told him to stop being so selective and to swing earlier in the count, leading to a lot of weak contact from him later in spring training.  So far it seems like the Guardians have put the same pressure on him at Lake County leading to him hitting .185 with one XBH and, of course, 6 BB and only 4 K in 35 PA.  Having seen him several of times this season, what I saw in ST is being mirrored for Lake County.   Weak contact.  Now it is early in the season but compare Brito to Joe Lampe.  THAT is how Brito, as a member of the 40-man roster, SHOULD be looking right now.  His defense at 2B has been OK this year which, to me, is an improvement over what I saw in ST this year.  

Regarding Jones, he is hammering AAA pitching in the hitter-friendly PCL with a SLG of .872 and an OPS of 1.352 and an acceptable 9 K/48 PA strikeout rate.   I imagine he should be getting the call to the majors soon.

Again, another long play by the Guardians but nothing has changed for me.  Brito is currently just a roster clogger and, unlike Noel was last year, Brito is not performing to give me any more confidence that this trade will turn out positively for the Guardians.

Owen Miller for PTBNL

Look, Owen Miller is on the ML roster for the 11-5, NL Central-leading Brewers.  He is a piece to their roster right now, going 4-15 right now.  A relatively young veteran with experience on a winning team who has positional versatility.   Not exactly sure if we will get a PTBNL or accept the case payout on this one but I would like to see us get at least as much back as we got for Jose Vargas, albeit a prospect who is younger, someone like 3B/LF Luke Adams (19 years old, 2022 draft) or LHP Russell Smith (24 years old, 2021 draft), neither of who would have to be rostered this year.

In the end, I would like to think that if we bunched Vargas, Jones, Miller and Benson together we could have done better but maybe that wasn't possible. In the end, if we get guys who really contribute to our ML team or to a trade for someone who DOES contribute to the ML team it is a plus.  Right now these trades are trending to be washouts on both sides but, for a team like the Guardians, you have to maximize the value of each trade.  If JC Mejia can get you David Fry, we should be able to get something for trades like the above.  Teams like Guardians are almost required to do that.

Last Night Was Some Night!

 The Guardians were not playing last night but the full-season minor league teams were in full prospect balling out mode.  Let's look:

COLUMBUS

Worcester is the Red Sox affiliate. Boston had the 16th ranked farm system entering the season.  They have 6 prospects from their current top 30 on their roster including their starting pitchers from Wednesday and Thursday night.  But, basically, they are a very veteran minor league team, the kind that usually excels at AAA.  They are 5-6 on the season which places them at 14th out of 20 teams in early standings in the International League.  

The reason I mention this is that last night it seemed as if the Clippers were playing a mediocre AA team.  Everything was working for the first 4 innings offensively.   Guys were roping balls.  These were not loopers that were falling in.  Frankly, Freeman's chopper in the first inning was the only weak contact I remember.  

Freeman had a career night, with a crushed HR that left the yard on a line drive over the center field fence.  He was only credited with 2 doubles but could have been given a third as the right fielder tried to make a shoe string catch on a ball that skipped past him.  Freeman ripped balls to left, right and center, maximizing his reputation as a good contact hitter.

Brayan Rocchio with 3 more hits, all of which were crushed. Pretty much everyone got into the act.

I watched the game particularly to watch Bibee.  He wasn't as sharp with his control as I would have liked to see as I try in my mind to transfer what he would have looked like if he had the same game against major league hitters.   Still, he was so good that I think, right now, his stuff would play in the major leagues.  Assuming no injury and continued performance his timeline to make his ML debut looks no later than June 1st, in my opinion.  When he struck out Alfaro in the first on consecutive fastballs at 98 and 99, that was the cherry on top of that inning.  He looked as dominant as his pitching line would indicate and he is on a Beiber trajectory, in my opinion.

AKRON

Gavin Williams was the story for me in this game.  He didn't dominate and it is a little concerning that it took him 75 pitches to get through 5 innings although he only walked one and only struck out 3.   Still, he gave up only 4 hits for a WHIP on 1.0.   I think, given Adam Scott's struggles and the fact that Columbus already has a bulllpen game every series, I imagine that Williams, if he avoids injury or meltdown, would be in Columbus by the middle of May.  Again, some red flags in his ability to put hitters away but he was hitting 101 so that is a good sign.

LAKE COUNTY

Keeping on pace with his elders (minor league level-wise), Denholm went 5 innings for the Captains, matching Williams' AA line almost exactly.

LYNCHBURG

As expected when you post your 2nd round, polished, college pitcher at low A in his first season, Messick thrived yesterday and over his first two starts.  Still, 10 innings pitched and 10 hits is a bit of a concern.  He is showing excellent control but, from my experience, for someone like him to punchout only a guy an inning against MUCH younger competition could be a red flag as to how his stuff might have trouble playing when he is promoted.

All-in-all, dominant pitching at every level of the minors yesterday.  With Scott (COL), Carver (AKR), Mace (LC) and Gomez (LYN) it will be interesting to see what happens today.

Looking Ahead To The 2023 Draft

 OK, so we have an off-day and instead of thinking about the ML Guardians I wanted to do a little thinking FUTURE Guardians.

This year's draft will take place July 9-11 in Seattle and will again be 20 rounds.  

The Guardians will have the following selections in the upcoming draft:

#23 (round 1)

#58 (round 2)

#62 (competitive balance)

#93 (round 3)

#125 (round 4)

#161 (round 5)

#188 (round 6)

#218 (round 7)

and every 30 picks after that for each succeeding round

So, who might the Guardians select?  Looking at the current rankings the Guardians may have to go outside their comfort zone which appears to the college pitchers with exceptional control and good size and left-handed or switch-hitting outfielders/infielders as the draft does not set up for them to be able to pick a quality player in the first round at either of those positions.   So, looking at who might be available when they draft in the first round, here are some thoughts of who they might draft:

Myles Naylor - OF - HS - Canada - An obvious, sentimental selection, Naylor might not fit into our plan.  He is currently rated as the #60 draft prospect by MLB Pipeline so if the Guardians wanted to draft him at #23 it would be a huge overdraft that would likely be motivated by saving money for later round picks (underslot bonus) in addition to the sentimentality.  So, Naylor at #58 is a win-win for everyone.  Maybe our competitors will even let us grab him as I don't see him being overdrafted by any paticular team as I don't see his skillset as making him a candidate to be over-drafted and I don't like guys who shoot up the boards at the last minute.  

Yohandy Morales - 3B - Miami - Rated as the #15 prospect by MLB Pipeline back in Dec., Morales has good power (18 HR last year) but this year has hit only one HR since March 3rd.  In the draft you don't want to have a bad junior year in college.  Morales, whose dad played for the Cuban National team and played in the minors.  Morales hits right-handed which is not a fit for the Guardians mold of hitter (switch-hitter or left-handed hitter).  Yet, the chance to land an experienced college bat that has fallen was what the Guardians did last year with DeLauter so...you never know.

Tanner Witt RHP - Texas - This is the real pipe dream pick for the Guardians in the first round.  He has fallen out of the first round in a lot of rankings due to his TJ surgery last year but he is already pitching in games at Texas.  A big body son of a former major leaguer (Bobby Witt) who plays at a major college, despite the TJ surgery, you would guess would go as a top 10 pick if he shows he can pitch at all this spring (which he has already done) or even just in pre-draft combines and workouts.  But a guy can hope, right?

Hunter Owen - LHP - Vanderbilt - This is a wild pick but Keith Law likes him so let's talk about him.  6-6, throws hard (97) with a good curveball.  This is the type of sucker bet that could blow up in your face pretty easily and VERY quickly...like the guy not even making out of A or AA, EVER.  What happens in a previous draft DOES have an impact on what you do in the next draft.  With DeLauter, Campbell and DeLucia out with injury and the rest of the 2022 class underwhelming so far, you want to hit with your top few picks in 2023 and, while the draft is a bit of a crapshoot, you don't want to add to that crapshoot by picking a wildcard like Owens in the first round.  Now, if he is available at 58 or 62 (almost impossible to imagine), he might be a good gamble depending on who we get at 23.

Nathan Detmers - RHP - Texas A&M - A classic Cleveland pitching draftee, strikethrower, slightly above average fastball that could get faster once he enters the Cleveland Guardians Finishing School for Young Pitchers, he might entice them.  He has been getting hit around pretty good right now  (22 hits, 16 runs in his last 15+ innings) so he might have moved himself down to 4th/5th round consideration.

There are LOTS of college bats out there and here are just a couple

Kyle Teel - C- Virginia - Still steaming that the Guardians didn't gobble up Daniel Susac last year but it makes a point.  Susac not exactly tearing up the Midwest League this year (4-17, compare to Lampe).  So suggesting another college catcher in the first round this year may not fly with fans.  Still, he is an experienced left-handed hitting college catcher who can hit (.437 this year), take walks (16 BB, 15 K in 137 PA this year) and field (1 error and thrown out 52% of basestealers this year.  Only red flag 5 PB).  With Naylor at AAA do we need another left-handed hitting catcher in our system?  Remember, you draft the best player available and, to me, the one most likely to be successful in the big leagues.  That could be Teel at #23 in the draft.

Tommy Troy - SS - Stanford - A middle infielder who makes consistent, hard contact he reminds me of Tyler Freeman as he also hits right handed.  Probably a second baseman in the pros he is hitting .420 this spring with 16 walks and 14 Ks in 100 ABs so far this spring.  A relatively high floor/low ceiling pick as his power is limited.  Still, if you want to make sure you get SOMETHING out of this selection and askew the high risk/high reward guy that Cleveland seems to be moving away from, Troy might be your guy.

Cole Carigg - OF - SD State - A switch-hitter, he fits the Guardians' mold of the hitters and can play multiple positions.  The only problem is that he hasn't hit that well this season (.329) and has only 2 walks in 73 ABs this season while exclusively playing OF.  He might have fallen all the way to the 4th or 5th round with his performance this year.  We may be considering him for a slot like that as he DOES check off some of the boxes that Cleveland covets.

Additionally, as college players dominate the rankings down to about #20 this year, there will likely be lots of high risk/high reward HS players still on the board when the Guardians draft.  If the Guardians are sure they have found 'the' guy, maybe they will go HS player in the first round.  However, they have such a spotty history of drafting HS players early as can be told by recent results:

2020 - Carson Tucker - 1st round

2019 - Yordys Valdes - 2nd round

2019 - Joe Naranjo - 3rd round

2018 - Bo Naylor - 1st round

2017 - Quentin Holmes - CB first round

2017 - Tyler Freeman - 2nd round

So I wonder if they will try that HS path again for their first or second round pick.

Thoughts for a Wednesday

SEASON SO FAR

Soooooo, the team with a $278 million payroll beat the team with a $90 million payroll 2 out of 3.  That makes sense.

Beiber and the bullpen held out in game 1.  Makes perfect sense

Gaddis CAN pitch against Oakland but CANNOT pitch against the Yankees.  No surprise there.

Battenfield pitches OK but the bullpen gives it up and we don't hit in the clutch.  Things happen.  The bullpen can't be great all the time.

Maybe I am more resigned than most.  I saw us losing 2 out of 3 in thise series when I looked over the schedule before the season.  In fact, at this point, I had us at 6-7 and we are actually 7-6.    No problem right now.  

Can things go sideways in Washington?  Sure they can.  That's baseball.  Any team can beat any other team on any night.  But we likely won't have to face one of their two best pitchers, so far, as MacKenzie Gore goes tonight.  Washington is rebuilding.  We have a chance to win the series and get back to 2 games over .500.

JOSH BELL.  WHAT DO YOU DO?

So, to be a masochist I looked up how Jose Abreu is doing.  Sure, he is hitting .300.  But he has 3 RBIs.  Josh Bell has 4 RBIs.  Neither has a HR yet.  Am I happy with what I see from Bell?  Absolutely, positively NOT.   The guy's swing is just crap.  I can't believe that this was always his spring but he now has a groundball swing.   He has killed us in some games and will continue to kill us in others until he finds his swing.    But, for those looking for greenness on the other side, I am not thinking it is there, yet.  While Bell is looking more and more like Bobby Bradley last year, you gotta hope he will pop out of this.  He is certanly beloved in Washington so maybe he will relax and start swinging the bat well in D.C. which will lead to him having a great rest of the season.

AMED ROSARIO

Look, Amed will be Amed.  We all love him.  We all hate him.   But, for me, I would not cry if we traded him right now if we got a decent return.With the way he plays he is gone after this year.  There is really no reason to keep him.  In fact, even if we are in contention, I am dangling him at the deadline...or even right now.  If we get overwhelmed then we trade him.  I doubt we will but you can always hope, right.  If you don't get overwhelmed with a trade offer too good to refuse then you just play the string out with Rosario and let him walk in free agency.  He certainly will be motivated to perform not only for the team, the city and his teammates, but also for the payday he hopes to get this off-season.

MINORS LAST NIGHT

Bauny Munoz had a good start for Lynchburg.  I hope his good season continues but he is in his 6th year in the organization and he has yet to make it out of low A, having pitched there last year.  I would have much rather seen how he did in the bullpen in Lake County.

On that note, it is interesting that Cleveland is signing their international free agent position players young but their international free agent pitchers older.  I see the logic as it is becoming apparent that their is little wiggle room from the time one of these guys signs to when they are first eligible for Rule 5 and, eventually, for minor league free agency.  They get their college pitchers mature, why not their international free agent pitchers the same way?  Makes sense to me.

In Lynchburg, Antunez and Benjamin game us a glimpse of what I hope will be breakout years for these two players in the first real year of full-season ball.

In Akron Burns didn't look a lot different than last year with low fastball velocity that made him hittable.  Hopefully with warm weather he shows bettter stuff or they look to convert him to the bullpen. In a flip-the-script night, two organizational guys, Escobedo and Amdits had close to career nights and, along with Martinez, led the charge for the offense.

For Lake County, Josh Wolf has become a vulture like the legendary Julian Tavares was, coming out of the bullpen to gobble up another win when the starter didn't go 5.  I expected more out of Aaron Davenport in his first start after a decent full season with Lake County last year but his command and control looked more shaky that I remember it from last year and from what his career stats look like.  News flash: Lampe can flat out hit, although Fox was still in CF.

For Columbus, Palacios still looks solid in the leadoff and Pries and Noel showed flashes of why we like them...again.  Rocchio is Rocchio and Collins is a AAAA hitting machine.  Logan Allen solid again hitting 94 on the gun at times.  As it gets warmer if he can jack that up to 95-96 he might be something special come August.  The AAAA bullpen guys did their job and the Clippers scored 8 late to win the game.

Looking forward to concurrent minor league baseball on mlb.tv starting in a couple of minutes.

First Look At The Minor Leagues

All the full season teams have played their first series so far, albeit Akron, Lake County and Lynchburg have only played 3 games so we haven't even see the whole rotations for these three teams.

Even with this limited data let's see what we have so far and what we can expect as we enter the first week where all of our minor league teams are playing a full 6-game series.

STARTING PITCHING

Except for the top two levels of the mnors, focusing on the rotations, including piggyback situations, is the way to capture most of the pitching prospects in an organization.  From the first week or so of play, here are the starting pitchers (and relevant AA and AAA relievers) ranked based on their scouting reports, prospect rankings, level and initial performance including grading the stuff they showed in 2023.

1. Tanner Bibee - What needs to be said.  Lights out performance, hit 99 mph

2. Gavin Willams - Almost as good as Bibee but not quite and one level lower

3. Logan Allen - Velo still a question mark although did hit 93 mph

4. Joey Cantillo - Good first outing but not that sharp

5. Tommy Mace - Better command and control as he repeats high A

6. Peyton Battenfield - Solid, solid, solid.  But not spectacular...yet

7. Hunter Stanley - Breath of fresh air at AA.

8. Ryan Webb - A start to build on

9. Alonzo Richardson - Sitting at 93-94 mph but stuff looks really straight to me.

10. Parket Messick - Being hit around at low A to the tune of a 2.0 WHIP

11. Konner Pilkington - Terrible first start in bad conditions but back on track in start 2

12. Rodney Boone - Solid, albeit facing younger competition

13. Luis Oviedo - Flashing stuff at AAA that could make him a De Los Santos-like option this year

14. Ross Carver - Bad outing as command/control was terrible

15. Yorman Gomez - OK outing but not much in the way of swing and miss stuff

16. Doug Nikhazy - In a piggyback role he didn't thrive.

17. Will Dion - Uncharacteristically wild outing, again, in a piggbyback role

18.Adam Scott - I hope he comes out of this but 5 HB in one game and 6 Ks and a HB in another game.  Something is not right there as he is repeating AAA.

HITTERS

Sample sizes are so small but here is a snapshot of what I have seen so far as far as the top PERFORMING hitters (not the top hitting prospects):

1. Bo Naylor 

2. Brayan Rocchio

3. Richie Palacios

4. David Fry

5. Jorge Burgus

6. Joe Lampe

7. Nate Furman

Thoughts For A Sunday NIght - Easter should NEVER be this stressful

Easter is one of the most joyous days of the year for kids.  Candy, easter egg hunts, playing with siblings, relatives and friends.  Laughing and having a good time.  For most Christians worldwide it is also a joyous time, arguably the most joyous day on the calendar.   Sports shouldn't have a huge part on that day, maybe as a fun diversion after the the fun and joy.  

I think I have heard or read Francona saying that there is no such thing as a crucial game in April.  Well, given the stakes for this game:

• Winning the season series with the Mariners
• By so doing, winning the playoff tiebreakers over the Mariners
• Building a little momentum and putting us 2 games over .500 with the Yankees coming into town
• Getting Zach Plesac out of the trench he had sunk into after last year and his first start this year.  
• ending a 2 game losing streak, both of which were heartbreaking losses where our starting pitchers pitched good enough to win 
• Ending a streak of a couple of games when the offense just flat out sucked when we needed it the most.

This game, to me, was the most crucial of games that you could ever had in April when you consider all the tangibles and intangibles riding on its outcome.

And it was beyond stressful.  I yelled at the TV when Naylor didn't stick out his hip to get a walkoff HBP in extras.  I yelled at Rosario for not doing the same an inning later where a plunk on his elbow pad would have ended the game and then screamed at him (and the umpire) for taking that 3-2 strike at (or below) the knees.

This team could have folded up in the bottom of the 9th, in the 10th, in the 11th or, out of total exhaustion, in the 12th.  But no.  They were led by their leader who, once again, made the perfect baserunning play to win the game.

They won this game, making the 3-1 series win in Seattle look much less like a fluke and reiterating how closely matched these teams are, especially when you consider that they are running this tractor trailer with two blown out tires (Bell and Zunino).

After the gut-wrenching results Friday and Saturday when we had GREAT crowds, the Guardians finally put it all together in front of a few thousand people (by the 9th inning).

More later on the week in the minor leagues when I get time after Easter dinner and festivities tonight.  But, that dinner will taste a lot more sweet with this 7-6 win today.  

Updated Top Guardians Prospect List - Beginning of 2023 Full-Seasons

 Wanted to update this list to include new information that I have read and things I have seen.  This list will change durng the year (hopefully to include a prospect that we get back in the Owen Miller trade) as we make trades and guys graduate to the majors and, therefore, fall off this list.  The updated list below has removed guys who, based on the fact that they are on the 26-man roster now, are expected to exhaust their prospect eligibility rather early in this season.  Just like last year, I did not include Freeman or Palacios on this list.

Rank
1 Gavin Williams
2 Bo Naylor
3 Tanner Bibee
4 Brayan Rocchio
5 George Valera
6 Daniel Espino
7 Logan Allen
8 Angel Martinez
9 Cody Morris
10 Joey Cantillo
11 Jake Fox
12 Jaison Chourio
13 Petey Halpin
14 Jose Tena
15 Chase DeLauter
16 Doug Nikhazy
17 Milan Tolentino
18 Angel Genao

19.  Jhonkensy Noel
20 Ryan Webb
21 Justin Campbell
22 Welbyn Francisca
23 Peyton Battenfield
24 Jonathon Rodriguez
25 Juan Brito
26 Tanner Burns
27 Joe Lampe
28 Justin Boyd
29 Ethan Hankins
30 Isaiah Greene
31 David Fry
32 Tommy Mace
33 Parker Messick
34 Wuilfredo Antunez
35 Jack Leftwich
36 Alexfri Planez
37 Gabriel Rodriguez
38 Aaron Davenport
39 Manuel Mejias
40 Ross Carver
41 Micah Pries
42 Nate Furman
43 Jacob Zibin

44.  Juan Benjamin
45 Cade Smith
46 Jose Burgos
47 Yerlin Luis
48 Jose Cedeno
49 Hunter Stanley
50 Steve Hajjar
51 Bryan Lavastida
52 Samuel Vazquez
53 Will Dion
54 Dayan Frias
55 Connor Kokx
56 Jackson Humphries
57 Rodney Boone
58 Mason Hickman
59 Luis Durango Jr.
60 Carson Tucker
61 Tyler Thornton

Continued Overreaction About the 2022 Draft

 OK, stop me if you have heard this one before.  I really didn't like the 2022 draft.  So far, here is what we know based on the very start of the minor league season.

1. Chase DeLauter - Drafted with a broken foot.  Re-broke it over the winter.   No timetable for return

1s - Justin Campbell - Out with ulnar neuritis, No timetable for return

2. Parker Messick - Rated as a soft tosser in college, he pitched at 88-92 today and gave up 7 hits with a walk and 5 Ks today for Lynchburg.  His performance today was reminiscent of 2021 9th round pick Will Dion  (who never gave up more than 7 hits in a start last year) when he also pitched as an overage pitcher at Lynchburg in 2022.

3. Joe Lampe - Lampe has hit and will continue to hit, I think.  The deal with him with limited power is that for his tools to play up he has to play center field. In Lake County's opener he played left field while Jake Fox, who is over two years younger, played center field.

4. Nate Furman - In almost comical fashion when you compared what happened to our top 4 picks so far, Furman also opened the season at Lynchburg and batted NINETH in a lineup filled with much younger guys.  As a polished college hitter I felt he should have been hitting cleanup in that lineup.  As I said, a polished college bat hitting 9th on his team in a league he is really too old for has to be a practical joke, right?

5. Guy Lipscomb opened today with Lynchburg hitting 8th and over-ran a fly ball down the right field line.  Again, you might guess that a 5th round pick from a college like Belmont might have started the season at Lake County.  It is certainly surprising that he started at Lynchburg and hit 8th in a much younger lineup.   Again, where is the hidden camera to examine the practical joke.

6. Dylan DeLucia has not been assigned to full season team.  I don't know if he is injured but as a polished college pitcher it is surprising if he hasn't been assigned to a team yet.

7. Javier Santos has not been assigned to a team yet as he is a HS kid who will likely play in the ACL.  Still, having seen him in spring training throwing live batting practice, he appeared really wild.  In my opnion, a good lottery ticket pick to me who will need lots of time to develop.

8. Jackson Humphries - As a HS pitcher he hasn't been assigned to a team yet (likely to the ACL team once they start playing) but it is worth noting that he was given a bonus equivalent to a late 3rd round pick so there should be high expectations for him.

9. Austin Peterson - As a college pitcher and a 9th round pick his placement at Lynchburg tracks with where they placed similar college pitchers last year (Boone and Dion) when they started their pro careers.  Still, likely very old for a low A league.

10. Jacob Zibin - Another HS pitcher, this one paid late 2nd round pick money, is very appropriately in extended spring training waiting for the ACL season.  Like Humphries, it will be interesting to see his performance this year to see how it compared to Tommy Ventimiglia who was our lone HS pitcher drafted in 2021 and who debuted last year in the ACL.

 Again, the non-placements of some of these guys due to injuries is not optimal but the placement of our top 10 picks from last year, where they were in the lineup and on the field and how they performed is also concerning.   Let's hope this is all a bump in the road in player development or a well-orchestrated practical joke.  

Minor League Rosters - Part 2 - Ready to Go Off the Tower: A Deep Dive Into Our 2023 Initial Minor League Placements

OK, in Part 1 we talked about our 2022 draftees and what their assignments mean and don't mean.  In Part 2  we will have a little more on that subject but do a much deeper dive into each minor league team and which players were assigned to which team.  I will preface all of this by first saying that what goes into where guys are assigned is as much about organizational preference as it is about where guys DESERVE to be assigned or where I would LIKE them to be assigned.  So, where guys are assigned might not make sense to us but it makes sense to the Guardians, based on what is best for the organization.  For example, putting experienced catchers with inexperienced pitchers makes sense as those pitchers need guidance and who better to give it than former college catchers who have pro experience (see Crash Davis).  

COLUMBUS

There is not a lot that can be said about this roster.  The hitters are, for the most part (Jose Tena?), exactly who I would want on this roster,   I have to admit I don't understand Eric Rodriguez as the 4th catcher nor do I understand the need for Daniel Schneeman when Jose Tena has proved that he is done with AA and ALL the middle infielders we have on the Columbus roster have been trained to play 2nd, SS and 3rd so there should be enough ABs to go around.  But, as I said, overall most of these guys were what I would have done.

As far as the pitchers, I am a lttle miffed that Gavin Williams isn't in Columbus, especially when the 2nd and 3rd games we did, respectively, a bullpen game and a game where Adam Scott started and hit 5 guys in less than 2 innings.   It's almost irrelevant who the bullpen guys are with Mikolajchak and Misaszek hurt. They are just AAAA guys but I am sure guys like Toussaint and Norris may get cameos during the year.

AKRON

Pitching starts with the rotation and the rotation here is solid: Williams, Cantillo, Burns, Nickhazy and Carver.  The bullpen has some interesting guys like Benton, Sharpe, Smith and Stanley and some career minor league types, as well.  With the rotation being this stacked there is little room, currently, for anyone else to come up from Lake County although I anticipate 2 starting pitchers from Akron spending a good chunk of time in Columbus and maybe even a cup of coffee in Cleveland, if everything works out, thus opening spots in Akron for Lake County starters to move up.  

Having Lavastida playing regularly at AA is the best possible outcome for him in what I imagine is his last year in the organization if he doesn't really turn things around.  Having him backed up by career minor leaguers Amditis and Berglund is perfect.  The infielders, except for Tena, look about right but it is interesting that Pena wasn't even listed on the Akron roster that I saw.  The outfielders appear about right, too.   Like Lavastida, many of the hitters on this roster are in make or break years.  If Bracho, Delgado, Naranjo, Escobedo, Rodriguez and Kokx don't show something this year they may be released this winter, allowed to walk as 6-year free agents or become organizational players (I think Escobedo and Bracho are already almost at that point).

LAKE COUNTY

The starting rotation looks solid here and, while it is surprising that Aaron Davenport is in Lake County again, all you have to do is look at how stacked Akron's rotation is and see that until that logjam clears, he will remain at Lake County.  Ditto his rotation mates who, added together, give the Captains a strong rotation of Mace, Davenport, Denholm, Dion and Webb.  The bullpen will include a bunch of prospects including Josh Wolf, Lenny Torres and a bunch of the 2021 college pitching draft class.  

The catching has more offense here but I still don't see, besides Lavastida being at Akron, how the split of catchers between Akron, Lake County and Lynchburg make sense.  As far as the other positional players, I will start with a riddle: what do you get when you add Juan Brito and Isaiah Greene together?  A lot of walks.  It is tough to see how we are going to have enough ABs for Brito, Frias, Tolentno, Cairo and Valdes, the latter two in danger of drifting into organizational player territory.  I think this mix also relegates Fox to the OF full-time.  That being said, this infield contains a lot of prospects, including Sanquintin and Bartlett, who can still make a move this year but, if they don't, they could be in another organization next year.  One other point: if Fox is in the outfield AND they drafted Lampe with the idea that his biggest worth is if he can play centerfield, what does that say about the Guardians' opinion of Lampe in centerfield less than a year after they drafted Lampe if Fox is the primary centerfielder?  If Lampe can't beat out a kid who would, essentially, just be a college junior this year and is relagated to left field, that is not good?  Aside from that battle, I don't see how there are enough ABs for Fox, Lampe, Burgos, Idrogo and Greene.  It makes Idrogo look more like an organizational guy which would be disappointing for him at his young age.  Idrogo may end up back at Lynchburg.

BTW, I am pissed that the Captains game was not available on MLB.com today.  Let's hope that gets fixed soon as it was tough to not see the Captains last year and how their prospects were developing. 

LYNCHBURG

As far as the pitching goes, we haven't seen many international signees in the Columbus, Akron and Lake County rosters.  In fact, you could make a case that none of those rosters have ANY significant international signees on their teams giving a reason why there may be a big backup of these players, especially pitchers, at Lynchburg.  Again, as far as the rotation, Messick and Peterson will likely overmatch the younger players like Will Dion did last year and guys like Richardson, Zapata, Gomez, etc. will be battling for the other rotation spots with the losers ending up out in the bullpen along with the other guys up from the ACL or returning to Lynchburg.

For the catchers, the agressive placement of Manuel Mejias here is exciting but you have to ask what is he doing on a roster if you are keeping veteran minor league catches like Fascia and Filia there, too.   Maybe they are there to tutor Mejias but it seems odd that he would need TWO tutors.  Having Furman on the infield with Tyresse Turner there makes me wonder where Juan Benjamin, Pestrano and Devers are going to play.  In the outfield you have 3 college outfielders from the 2022 draft (Cavanaugh, Lipscomb and Zarate) with international prospects like Antunez and Saduy fighting for playing time against older, more experienced players.  

In fact, the whole roster has set up some David and Goliath battles for playing time across the pitching staff and position players.  It will be interesting to see how this works out.