Thoughts for Sunday August 14, 2022

 After I finished watching the Guardians' game today I just sat for a couple of minutes in silence.  I muted the TV and closed my eyes.  The thought that was running through my mind was that this was the way I always hoped it would be for the Guardians: a young, essentially homegrown team led by some somehat, at least, internally grown veteran players, playing baseball the right way. 

Tomorrow brings the first ML appearance for Xzavion Curry.  He'll start game 2 against Detroit.  Now, I think a short righthander like Curry will end up in the bullpen in the majors.  It just makes too much sense with all the other pitching prospects we have as well as the years of control we have over the current pitching staff.  But tomorrow he starts.  Along with that start is the likely promise that the Cleveland organization thinks highly enough of Curry to, for all practical purposes, give him a roster spot this winter.  They are just doing it 3 months early.    

First Gaddis and then Curry, two guys I said should be protected this winter, make their major league debuts.  Guys not currently on the 40-man, guys that didn't HAVE to be on that roster until November.   But they are getting their feet wet.

Now, I don't really think either Gaddis or Curry are finished enough as prospects to be successful in the majors right now.  Hopefully consistent success will come starting on opening day next year.   However, I would rather have them start a game than to see Tanner Tully or Kirk McCarthy start that same game.   Hey, Tully and McCarthy are warriors as, to a large extent, is Konnor Pilkington and Peyton Battenfield.  But the idea of seeing Gaddis and Curry get a few starts in is exciting, just like it would be to see Cody Morris up in the bullpen at some point this season and, maybe, even get a glimpse of Carlos Vargas.

We have already seen guys on the farm come up and be successful.  Now we are having the next wave of guys starting to break out.  Guys like Jonathon Rodriguez, who is having an almost unbelievable second half of the season, and Gabriel Rodriguez, looking every day like the prospect everyone thought he was when he signed.  Plus we have the usual starting pitching prospects from the '19, '20 and '21 drafts who we have heard about all year.

But it's the guys just starting to write their major league story: Kwan, Freeman, Benson, Jones, Gonzalez.  And the next wave, Gaddis, Curry, Morris, Vargas, Arias, Brennan, Valera, Allen, Battenfield, Pilkington, Palacios and Naylor.  And then the wave after that, Bibee, Espino, Williams, Noel, Jonathon Rodriguez, Rocchio, Tena and the rest of the 2021 draft class.   

This is how baseball needs to be in Cleveland.  

I could be totally wrong but it appears to me that the rest of baseball thinks that they can steal our prospects because, well, this is Cleveland and so they can try to rob us in trades.  We just found out how wrong that thought is as we didn't give up those prospects.   There is a way forward in which we don't have to give up any propsects and still protect all the ones who could help our ML team when they come up sometime in the next two years.  Do I think we will let it get that far?  No.  I think there will be trades for the right veteran or two and maybe some prospects will be traded, if we can get good value for them.   

As long as I don't have to hear fans say any more "What do you think we can get for a prospect like that.  You really overvalue our prospects."  I think this year has proved that, no, people who love our prospects don't necessarily overvalue them and YES, fans of other teams do think they can rob us as, well, its Cleveland and they are stupid enough to make a dumb trade.  

So, I hope this is not a dream and if it is, I hope it continues.   Looking at this lineup and pitching staff, how young they are (mostly) and how well they play and how well they are coached and, especially, managed.   That is incredibly fun to watch. 

I am opening my eyes now, looking forward not just to tomorrow but to the joy that this prospect-laden time will give us in the future and the renewed hope that this gives all Cleveland fans that the next waves of prospects speeding towards Cleveland are no just a mirage, they are, truly, the next wave of memory-makers for Guardian fans.