3 Moves That Could Hurt The Guardians' Momentum Heading Into The Playoffs

 C-O-U-L-D

Not W-I-L-L

By all accounts this clubhouse is tight and focused and all about the team.  Good.  Let's hope it stays that way.  The Guardians obviously cherish those kinds of players...if they can, indeed, P-L-A-Y.

But camaraderie is fickle thing.  You have to believe in the guy next to you.  You have to believe in the guy in front of you for you to be able to handle a smaller role.  And you have to believe in the guys running the show (i.e., the manager, the coaches and the front office).

I see some things over the past couple of weeks that make me wonder if the Guardians are starting to do things to get a new spark.  Things that M-I-G-H-T kill the spark they already have.

Let's talk about these and what effect they may have.  BTW, no player would ever say they would have a negative effect but even questioning a move results, I think, in a negative effect.

So here goes:

1. Bringing up Gabriel Arias and sending down Tyler Freeman - Look, Freeman didn't have the greatest debut.  I mean, compare the start to his ML career to the starts that Brennan and Kwan have had.  Heck, compare it to the start that Nolan Jones had!  I love Tyler Freeman's game.  I think he will be a quality major league starter or, at least, a supersub who can contribute at multiple positions and provide offense.  But his start offensively was so-so and he made some rookie mistakes on defense.   In a nutshell, he was not indispensable to this team in the upcoming playoffs.   That being said, Arias has the stigma that when he went to the minors he pouted.  Plus his numbers don't look that good.  Plus he has limited experience in the OF and at 1B, two positions that Francona pointed out were why he was called up and Freeman was sent down.   If it had been Brayan Rocchio I get it.  Throw something against the wall and hope it sticks with your utility infielder.  But Arias?  With the attitude he displayed when he was sent down the last time?  You have to trust the people in front of you who are better than you and you have to want to put the team first to excel as a rookie backup, especially in the playoffs.  I just don't know if it sends a good message that a guy who pouted and didn't put up numbers is the guy you pick for your post-season roster over other guys with talent who busted it all season and didn't complain (to the best of my knowledge).  Add that to the fact that Arias has FOUR errors so far in limited action (seems like he is getting one a game now!) and botched another play today that was scored as a hit, I just don't see the positives outweighing the negatives that would cause a team to want to put him on THIS post-season roster.

2. DFAing Bryan Shaw and adding Bo Naylor - Again, everyone with eyes knows how valuable Shaw was this season in Francona's attempt to compete while not burning out his pitching staff.  Lots of decisions that appeared that he was OK with throwing a game or two away.   Well, almost every time he did that there was Shaw.  Picking up the ball.  Giving a professional effort.  Saving the pitching staff.  But they decided to DFA him and WOW, hasn't it blown up in their faces so far!!!!  Naylor 0-6 with 5 Ks.  I mean, the worst first two games by any Guardians rookie this year...by far.   And against a Royals team that is not that strong and a starting pitcher that the rest of the team was hitting around pretty good.   I didn't see the need for Naylor before and I still don't.  And to risk the negativity in the clubhouse that might be caused by unceremoniously dispatching a warrior like Shaw?  I don't see it and I don't get it.  Hopefully it becomes more apparent to all of us in the next 4 games and, if the situation presents itself, in the playoffs, why Bo Naylor had to be added to the roster because, right now, when it counts, it doesn't look like Bo knows baseball enough to help THIS Guardians team THIS year in the playoffs.

3. Bringing back Zach Plesac - Hey, in a perfect world Zach Plesac realizes what an immature punk he has been and the ephiphany comes to him from his last injury and he goes to Tito and says "man, whatever you need in the playoffs I am there for you, skip." And then proceeds to do it as professionally but technically much better than Shaw was able to do it.  That makes sense.  Hey, it is the move (Plesac over Shaw on the post-season roster) I would have made so how can I question it?  But it isn't my questioning it that might cause clubhouse strife.  I can imagine a scenario where the Guardians veterans think Plesac has repeatedly let them down with his immature behavior not only this year, but last year...and the year before.  When they have finally gotten their team mojo together they might wonder how briinging back Plesac this season helps them win in the playoffs.   I mean, Francona is a genius, to be sure.   But Andrew Miller was the consummate professional in 2016 which made Francona's using of him in an extraordinary fashion work.   It would be nice to think Plesac would embrace a role like that and run with it.  But, based on past experience, it might not be in his DNA to be that selfless...or that professional.   So, when the dust settles and the roster is set for the playoffs, I hope Plesac accepts and excels in whatever role Francona gives him.  Because, once the playoffs start it is not about "me", it is all about "we".  

Let's hope all of our role players that make the ML playoff roster(s) understand that.  They only have to look back to Ryan Merritt and Andrew Miller and guys like that.  They only have to look at Rajai Davis and guys like him who rose to the moment when it presented themselves.  Anything less than that will not help us make a deep playoff run this year.  Something this team IS capable of if everyone is pulling in the same direction and performing their assigned tasks to their optimum.