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.