The Day After

 So, the Guardians lost their last game...just like all 11 teams do who don't win the World Series.

I would love to have seen them win and get to G7 with Williams on the mound.  

But this was truly a season where this team, once again, overachieved. Anyone who thinks that we were ONLY in the playoffs because we played in a weak division may be correct.  But those of us who witnessed it know that it did take a Herculean effort against some stiff odds to make the playoffs and then push the Rays to 6 games.

Congratulations Guardians.  Another great year that entertained us and gave us 3 more weeks of baseball than 18 other teams got and one more week than all but 4 teams got.  

RANDOM END-OF-SEASON-LOOKING-FORWARD COMMENTS

Normally, I don't do a wrapup post but this time I feel like I should.  So I will.

1. When you're done, you're done:  The lack of use of Bibee and Schneeman in the post-season is disturbing.  I think both of these guys should be a part of the team in 2027.  The usage of the 3rd member of this trend, David Fry, is also disturbing as he hits RHP better than LHP, yet they only use him against LHP (see his HRs off Briske and Weaver in the 2024 playoffs).

2. When you're in, you're in: The use of Petey Halpin is more about lack of preparation for the season leaving you short in CF at the end.  Still, Schneeman is a good CFer and Halpin is, likely, a AAAA player who had a couple of big moments.  I just don't see it with Halpin as a starter and, as a reserve, Schneeman has it all over Halpin, IMO.

3. The Starting Pitchers Have No Clothes (aka, The Elephant in the Clubhouse)  - Taken from the children's book "The Emperor Has No Clothes", we simply don't have enough starting pitching.  The reason?  We stopped drafting college starting pitchers after the 2nd round (Messick) in 2022. Even the best starting pitching options for 2027 looking only at guys who didn't start a game in Cleveland this year, Espino (2019) and Campbell (2022), were drafted a while ago.  There is simply no one else.  In addition, we rode Messick and Williams pretty hard this year and it looks like Bibee may be on the outs with the organization.

The issue is simple, however. We don't have enough starting pitching. So no addition-by-subtraction-we'll-figure-it-out-later trade of Bibee.  Yeah, he and Vogt had that blowup in the dugout in August but let it go.  When you have enough SP depth to give you 9 acceptable ML starters then I will listen on Bibee. Until then, no way.

4. The Relief Pitchers Have No...ah, you get the message: Apparently, Franco Aleman is not a nice person or teammate or...whatever. When I hear that they want to just dump him I get upset.  Look, we don't have enough pitching, starting or relieving.  I get that chemistry is important in a clubhouse but here's the thing. It's only important if your owner is cheap and if you have screwed up your drafting strategy to give you ZERO pitching pipeline, at least for 2027. Until we get some depth (and I don't mean Brogdon depth, $5 million man Armstrong (he sucked most of the year) depth or even minor league signings that work out like Holderma depth). I mean, real. live, coveted reliever depth, just like with the starters, it's all hands on deck. 

5. Kwan should be gone -  Last year I was battling against lots of fans who wanted to trade Kwan at the deadline in a season they thought was lost.  Turned out I was right. Without Kwan we don't win the Central in 2025 or in 2026.  But now, with one year left on his contract, it's time to trade him, preferably to Seattle.  He wants to be on the West Coast and Seattle seems like a great fit for many reasons (See below)

6. Vogt headed for Seattle drama? - OK, so this might be a thing. IF it is, we can pivot, maybe to Hedges or Kai Correa as our next manager.  But if we let Vogt out of his contract we have to get something out of it.  So, how about this:

Seattle gets - Vogt, Bibee, Kwan and Aleman

Cleveland gets - Kade Anderson and Gabe Speier

7. Genao - Is he real or just another copy? - Back in my youth we would have said, Is it real or is it Memorex.  But I digress.  Hey, this year it was Arias or Rocchio.  Next year it looks like it will be Genao or Rocchio.  So, I'll weigh in: I am not convinced of Genao's offense. Not in the slightest.  And I sure don't want to replace playoff Rocchio with a guy who I am not sure about.   Yeah, I'd love to pull a reverse trade and bring Lindor back for a package.  As long as that package does not contain Ramirez, DeLauter, Williams or Smith, ANYONE else is OK, including Messick and Bazzana.  So, how about this:

Cleveland gets Lindor, Santucci, Carson Wiggins, Robbins

Mets get Messick, Bazzana and Rocchio

The Guardians then play Genao at second, Lindor at SS. This also gives them an extra roster spot to roster Ben Lively.

8. Redo the hitting development department, starting immediately

10. Extend DeLauter, Williams, Smith.  See if Hedges will accept $3 million and if Adell will accept a 2 year deal for $10 million.  

House Money

 I am not the first person to say or hint at this in the 2026 post-season for the Cleveland Guardians.  But here goes:

The Guardians are playing with house money.  Easier path than most teams? Got just hot enough at the right time at the end of the season/in the ALDS?  Luck?

Whatever you want to call it, the Guardians should not be here, not now, not based on how they set up their team in the 2025/2026 off-season.

But here we are.  

I watched both games this weekend with that in mind and it was very calming.

Do I want them to make the World Series?

Do I want them to win the World Series?

Affirmative to both those questions.

But would I be OK if they didn't?  Absolutely.

To keep winning this team has sacrificed our best pitchers' arms on the alter of run prevention.  Do we want to continue to tax those arms in another make or break series where every game may hang on a single pitch?

This has been a great, albeit bumpy, ride.  But it has taken its toll.  Pushing our star pitchers beyond their normal limits is never, IMO, a good idea.  This is especially true because this organization, after the great pitcher draft in 2021 and the first two rounds in 2022 (Campbell, Messick), inexplicably moved away from the proven position that you can never have too much pitching.  The cupboard is, essentially bare, folks. We have a short HR RHP (Braylon Doughty) and a bunch of AAAA pitchers and HUGE question marks in the minors.  The cavalry is not coming.  They were sacrificed on the Little Big Horn of our analytics team which said, if you draft enough college and HS hitters you will end up with good position players.  While that is likely true, I have never heard anyone say that you can never have enough hitting!

So, let's go for it in Game 6. Throw caution to the wind.  Start Bibee. Maybe he produces a game of his life.  Shake up the lineup.  Try something different.  Be aggressive.  Maybe you crash and burn,  maybe you excel.  

Make something happen so that we win tonight and then get one more Gavin Williams start in Game 7. 

What do we have to lose? We're playing with house money.

Best of Three Series

 I would rather be where we are than posting about off-season priorities or the upcoming CBA negotiations.

So, we will proceed with our 2026 season and have at least 2 more games, and one home game, to it.

I was strangely at peace yesterday watching the Guardians lose.  It's just baseball. In the regular season you are guaranteed to win 60 and lose 60. It's the other 42 that determine the fate of your season.

Likewise this morning.  We have won and lost 5)% of the games in this series. It's what we do in the next three that are important.  

This team has given us some great memories.  If they continue, we continue. 

Go Guardians. Let's play in the 2026 World Series!

Potpourri

1. Welbyn Francisca is on fire. still.  3-4 yesterday. Over .600 BA. As many HRs and triples as Ks.  5 Walks and 3 SBs in 26 official ABs.

2. I would rather, historically since 1993, be Cleveland compared to being the Miami Marlins.

3. Parker Messick has had a great season but the hook better be quick today as he is running on fumes now

4. Fry hit HRs vs RHP in the 2024 playoffs, let that sink in. Let that sink in.

5. If we make it to the WS I want Daniel Schneeman on this roster. I think he deserves it and I want him there in the 7th game, not Genao, not Fry.

6. Bazzana at 2B is a defensive problem that needs to be addressed this off-season. 

7. Did I mention...Go Guardians! Go Messick!  Go Adell!  Go Bazzana! Go Halpin!

8. Jose, just be yourself.  DeLauter, just be yourself (which, to me, is a LFer/DH).

Thoughts for a Saturday Morning

 The Gzurdians have made it all the way to the ALCS and have a 2-1 lead.  Weather permitting, we will know sometime in the next 4 days if they are going to the World Series.

The decisions by the Guardians front office and coaching staff have certainly worked to a level that a lot of us didn't think possible. 

I personally want to say it has been a great ride and as I can see a lot further in my rear view mirror than I can out of my front windshield, I want to say thank you to everyone involved with the Guardians.

Besides great consternation, frustration and aggravation, they have brought me great joy and a great pride in my hometown and it's baseball team.  

So, guys (and gals) I wish you the best of luck in the rest of your season.  Making it to the World Series would be a great accomplishment and for us gray hair types, winning the whole darn thing would be the gift of a lifetime for an old baseball devotee like me.

Potpourri

• Welbyn Francisca is lighting it up in Arizona.  As the AZL represents a good level of AA ball, this bodes well for a guy who isn't even R5 eliigble this year.  Gotta love the potential there and it looks like he is on the steep part of the learning curve
• 
  
• It will be interesting to see what happens this winter.  I would like to retain Ben Lively on the 2nd year of his minor league deal so he can continue his rehab and be fully ready when the season starts. What a pickup for the Guardians.
• 
  
• Would love to know how the instructional league is going and how our 2026 draftees, especially Savion Sims, look. I still think we screwed up that draft and should have gone heavy on college pitching but, oh well.

Roster For The Tampa Bay Series

 OK, celebration over. Time to get to work and the first order of business is to name the roster for the Tampa Bay series.  So here are my thoughts:

ROSTER BALANCE

As much as I loved the flexibility or 14 position players, the CWS series really taxed the bullpen.  I think we have to go 13/13 this time.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN

Position Players (13)

Catchers (2): Bailey and Hedges

Infielders (5): Lowe, Bazzana, Rocchio, Ramirez, Genao

Outfieleres (5): Kwan, Halpin, DeLauter, Adell, Halpin

Utility (1): Schneeman

Pitchers (13)

Starters: Messick, Williams

Openers: Espino, Cecconi

Bulk Relievers: Bibee, Cantillo, Griffin, 

Relievers: Smith, Sabrowski, Gaddis, Herrin, Festa, Armstrong

SUMMARY

So, for me, this boils down to one choice: removing Schneeman or Fry from the ALDS roster.  Tampa Bay has a reasonable balance of 4 lefties and 9 righties so I would not base the decision on handedness. I would make this decision based on my continuing Michael Martinez comp: Martinez was a last player on the roster type, a versatile defended but with a very, very weak bat.  He was the last batter in the 2016 World Series for Cleveland and could only manage to hit the ball weakly for 80 feet as an easy out, mimicking his offensive ineptness for the season and his career.  Although Schneeman has had a bad offensive season I still think that I would choose Schneeman 100 times out of 100 to bat in that situation instead of Martinez.  Fry has one advantage over Schneeman as he is a catcher but he can travel with the team and be rostered if something happened to Bailey or Hedges...or they could roster Ingle.  Aside from that, Schneeman is the better choice and Fry would lose his roster spot.

People will question me leaving Festa on the roster but, to me, Festa is your sacrificial lamb.  We did not have a negative blowout in the CWS series and so Festa didn't pitch. I disagree with people who said if Vogt didn't trust Festa in the White Sox series why was he on the roster.  They just did not need the skill set he brought: length in a blowout loss.  Also, as a last resort extra inning pitcher in deep extra innings, you could do a lot worse than Festa, especially with no ghost runner in playoff extra innings. If we have one of those two situations in the TB series, you watch as Vogt deploys Festa as needed.

So, that's it.  Without going for it by bringing up Ralphy as a secret weapon, this is, IMO, the best roster we can have with what we have to work with.

And please, no Rhys Hoskins.  

Thoughts For A Saturday Night

Congratulations to the Guardians on their historic win in the ALDS and, particularly, in the last game of that series.

Congratulations to the White Sox on their excellent season with EIGHT rookies on the post-season roster.  The future is bright and I hope we see you guys and us in the playoffs for years to come.  

There is only one negative thing that I will say here and probably this will be an unpopular hot take:

The Guardians management team went all-out to win this series.  The usage of Cade Smith, Gavin Williams, Hunter Gaddis and others and the non- or slight-use of Schneeman, Festa, Espino, Fry and others is troubling to me.  These guys are major league players, all of whom have had big moments in their careers and some even in the post-season.  It takes a village to win in the regular season and while I note that the bench has shorten a bit in the post-season, it should always be remembered that burning- or freezing out players in the post-season is not good for the future of this team.  I love Schneeman's game and if you can replace Festa with a high-leverage arm this off-season and if you want to replace Fry bc you think he is more AAAA than ML, I get it.  But, at some point, you HAVE to realize that besides the obvious that these are human beings, major league players don't grow on trees.  So, I'll tell you this: you are Cleveland, you just can't go out and replace these young players because they struggle because you end up with Fairchild, Brogdon, etc. 

Keep the young guys, the inexperienced guys and give them reps.  If you want to 'go for it' do that by bringing up a Ralphy Velasquez.  Stop worrying about his service time and ability to play at AAA in what will be a very diluted league if there is a lockout next year.  

So, Guardians one-and-all, congratulations.  Good luck against Tampa Bay.  I think you have what is necessary to make a WS run.  Eight more wins, all of them tough, and you are WS champions.  But let's do it in such a way that builds for the future from within. I love this team and the players in the organization and I want to see them play together for years to come, at least through 2031.  

Thoughts For A Monday - Playoff Edition

 They Did It!

Congratulations to the 2026 AL Central Division champion Cleveland Guardians.  You know the numbers:

Three in a row

Four of the last 5

Seven of the last 11

We are truly spoiled.  Living in San Diego and hearing the hype of the Padres being excited because it is the first time in their history they have gone to the playoffs 3 years in a row puts it all in perspective for me, no pun intended.

So, let's enjoy it and NEVER take this feeling for granted.  

The boys have brought it home to us again.  Thanks, guys, for the hard work. Ditto for all the support staff.  

I love baseball above all sports and as I get older, I realize I have less and less of these moments left.  So thanks guys for the 2026 memories.  Let's make some more this October. As Hammy says, let's have an October to remember!

Go Guardians!

ALDS Playoff Roster

While we are waiting for the wild card series to complete, the inevitable talk about the playoff roster is heating up.  Teams can change their playoff rosters for each round and can even replace players who get injured.  Any player in the organization as of August 31st is eligible although if they are not on the 40-man roster they will have to be added. 

So, with that in mind, here are my thoughts about the playoff rosters for the ALDS series.

Pitchers (12)

Starters/Bulk Relievers

Messick

Williams

Cantillo

Long Relievers

Cecconi

Bibee

Festa

Short Relievers

Espino

Gaddis

Herrin

Sabrowski

Smith

Armstrong

POSITION PLAYERS (14)

Hedges

Bailey

Fry

Lowe

Bazzana

Schneeman

Genao

Rocchio

Ramirez

Kwan

DeLauter

Martinez

Adell

Velazquez

Thoughts: I am on board with 12 pitchers in the ALDS.  I would like to see 14 hitters and the natural thing would be to just use the 14 we have now.  However, Genao gives us backups at 3 infield positions. Fry gives us a little positional flexibility, too. It would be nice to have one wildcard, especially if we play the White Sox and that is where I roll the dice with Ralphy.  If you don't want Ralphy then I would say bring up Ingle.  Halpin, to me, brings very little to the table offensively, he is not a great CF defender and his one redeeming characteristic is that he leads the team in sacrufucesm a 'weapon' I would like to take out of Vogt's hands.  BTW, Ingle doesn't touch the field offensively and would DH and PH only.  I am pretty sure it will be Halpin but I would love to see Ralphy or Ingle.

AFL - Nothing To See Here

The Guardians, based on who they usually assign, scoff at the Arizona Fall League as an important tool in player development.  The 2026 contingent of Cleveland prospects is probably the most stark example of that in our team's history of sending players to the AFL.

Let's take a look at the players they are sending:

Position Players

Luke Hill

Welbyn Francisca

Tyrese Turner 

Pitchers

Aaron Davenport

Kyle Scott

Aiden Major

Magnus Ellerts

Cam Schuelke

My Thoughts:

Using MLB Pipeline's ratings, Luke Hill is the top prospect (#15) we are sending to the AFL and I think he is overrated as he appears as the #32 prospect on my most recent ranking.  Welbyn Francisca (#19) is the next highest ranked prospect.  Along with Tyrese Turner, who is the epitome of an organizational soldier, our position player participants all missed various amounts of time this year and are just getting extra reps.  None of these 3 are what I would call top prospects

The pitchers we are sending are even less interesting, for a vareity of reasons.  Aaron Davenport and Kyle Scott are recovering from Tommy John surgery and certainly Davenport, easily the best prospect among the pitchers, is too early in his recovery to actually pitch. Aiden Major and Magnus Ellerts missed significant time this year and are not top prospects, either.  Cam Schuelke is a gimmick pitcher, throwing from three distinctly different arm slots which can baffle the heck out of young hitters.  As with most gimmick pitchers he uses deception due to a lack of ANY discernible velocity.  None of the 5 of these pitchers are considered top prospects even though I was convinced Davenport was due for the breakout year I have been anticipating since I saw FIVE instructors working with him in spring training a couple of years ago.  You don't have 5 instructors working with on one pitcher in spring training if the team doesn't think there is something really special there. 

So, while there are some guys who are, in my opinion, intriguing but fringy prospects, this seems, once again, like Cleveland is just fulfilling their obligation to send players to the AFL to help keep the league viable.

I hope these guys prove me wrong but I am not real excited about the AFL this year, at least in terms of the Guardians' participants.  I do, however, wish good luck to all these guys in this next, positive, step towards reaching their dreams of becoming ML players.

PLAYOFF TELEVISION SCHEDULE

Lots of chatter about day games during the week in the playoffs.  My opinion is that the only driver for this is money.  Attempts to draw analogies to NCAA basketball are just comical.  The only reason this goes on in MLB is to make money from 'casual' fans watching games that are not their own team.  Those fans would still ahve an option of watching games, just on tape delay.  No, the only reasons for spreading the games out all day is more lucrative TV contracts and increased advertiser revenue.  Once again, for the owners it is all about making more money to stuff in their pockets.