POWER HITTING PROSPECTS
With Noel, Gonzalez and Rodriguez all at Columbus now, it has given me a little insight, I hope. And it brings up a huge question:
How is it possible that three guys with much the same profile and potential have the same holes in their game?
Thinking back, Reyes and Bradley had the same holes in their games, as well.
It is almost not statistically possible for one team to have 5 power hitting prospects, all with the same deficits in their games and not have at least one or two of them be able to be fixed.
Then I see Nelson Velazquez raking and, although I know it is a small sample size, it drives home, again, the same question:
How is it possible that the Guardians can fail at developing 5 power hitters, all with the same, incredible potential?
This is a disaster that needs to be fixed because the sample size of players has now taken it out of the realm of possibility that it is them...and not us.
It is 'us' and that 'us' is the Guardians hitter development.
Fix it. Fix it now or find another job!
RELIEF PITCHER BURNOUT?
There has been a lot of discussion about whether Clase and Stephan are regressing to their mean. Same conversation about other bullpen members.
Well, I am here to say I have been watching baseball closely for over 50 years and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the Guardians' bullpen. I could see us bringing back Reynaldo Lopez IF AND ONLY IF we do it right now. If we let him get to free agency the bidding war would make him payed MUCH more than he is worth for not a huge upgrade. Aside from that, I think our bullpen has three things: balance, experience and cheapness. Going into 2024, my ideal bullpen would be, considering only 40-man roster guys:
MLB Bullpen: Clase, Stephan, De Los Santos, Curry, Hentges, Herrin, Karinchak, Lopez
AAA: Morgan, Sandlin, Morris, Gaddis, Cade Smith
We also could have other guys who don't have to be rostered this winter who could figure in to our bullpen in 2024: Mikolojchak, Misiaszek, Aleman and Walters.
The only issues with this alignment is that I don't really see a way to get Smith AND Gaddis on the 40 man roster and I don't know if we can sign Lopez.
NEWS FROM THE INSTRUCTS
Nothing so far, we are waiting. Are Clemmey and Walters healthy? What about guys like Campbell, DeLucia, Javier Santos, Zibin, Geo Rivera and others who are rehabbing. How are their rehabs going and what is the timeline for their return? Any guys shining bright in the instructs from either the 2023 draft like Knapczyk, Bresnahan, Zinn, Velazquez or any of the ACL guys?
ROOKIES/ANTONETTI/FRANCONA
The major decision this winter will be who the next manager will be.
That being said, the biggest player decisions will be based on whether the Francona mantra (rookies suck until proven otherwise and suckee veterans don't suck until overproven that they do) carries over to the new administration or not.
This is a HUGE decision point for this organization. In the recent past guys like Nolan Jones, Richie Palacios, Will Benson, Yainer Diaz and Junior Caminero have been traded befroe we knew what we have.
Guys like Freeman, Rocchio and Fry are getting frozen out by Francona in favor of suckee veterans. We were promised in spring training that Freeman would get time in the outfield. That never happened. We have Tena and Brito coming up and even guys like Schneeman and Delgado who might already be in the majors if they were playing for another organizations.
We need to trade some of these guys. The issue is that our philosophy last year was that if we don't think a guy has the ability to be good (Jones, Benson, Palacios) we don't value them and will give them away for nothing or close to nothing (remember that Brito was a guy who HAD to be rostered and was a middle infielder without much speed and questionable defensive abilities.
So, the question is, will Francona's philosophy die with his retirement or has it become so engrained in the organization's philosophy that it will continue, much to our detriment, when he leaves. Given our predilection for bringing in LH hitting slap hitters in the last two drafts and how badly that is working, I fear that Francona's philosophy will continue, to the detriment of our franchise going forward.
I hope that I am wrong, just like I am hoping that Antonetti and Chernoff get their heads out of their butts and actually learn how to make trades that help our franchise instead of embarrasing it.
I admire the fact that you truly seem to think you know everything. Confidence is a good thing, except when it's now.
ReplyDeleteYou have a propensity to declare your opinions, evaluations and forecasts as gospel facts. Many examples I can site, such as declaring drafts to be horrible because your preferred players were not drafted. You declare 1st and 2nd year minor league kids to be busts before they can even develop. And now you have made the assertion that Noel and J-Rod, and Gonzo are going to be busts like Reyes and Bradley. You may very well end up being correct (I hope not) but they are still young with room for improvement and corrections that Bradley never really showed. You definitely earn the nickname "Mr. Negative".
Sorry you misread my post. I said that the Guardians are treating Noel, JRod and Gonzo like they are Reyes and Bradley. I am not! They need to be given the chance to prove themselves instead of having to watch AAAA guys like Laureano, Calhoun and Gallagher get reps.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the draft failures in 2022 and 2023 I stand by my words. Time will tell.