September Callup Edition Post

 Ahhh, in the days before the new CBA....

September 1st was like an early Christmas for fans of the Cleveland Indians.  When I was a kid we were generally long out of the playoff race by that point and the expansion of the roster allowed us diehard fans to see some of the shiny new prospects who had just put up intriguing numbers at AAA, opening our 'Christmas presents" a few months early.  The September callups were the future and that was important because the Cleveland Indians, once again, did not have anything to play for the rest of that year.

So flash forward to 2024 when the active roster can only be upped to 28 (compared to the theoretical 40 under previous CBAs).  

So what will the Guardians do?  Well, here's what I think they will/should do:

SHOULD DO

• Send Tyler Freeman to AAA
• Send Will Brennan to AAA
• Send Lane Thomas to AAA

• Call up Kyle Manzardo
• Call up Angel Martinez
• Call up George Valera
• Call up Jonathon Rodriguez

You could easily leave Will Brennan up and not bring up Jonathon Rodriguez.  Look, Thomas is totally worthless at this point.  We need to remove him as an option to use or Vogt will continue to throw him out there.  I think bringing up Rodriguez makes sense as you are sending down 2 RH bats and adding only one (switch hitting Martinez) back.  Brennan is not doing that well and, after a good recent return, if falling into the same habits he had when he was ineffective early this season.  But I could see keeping Brennan up and not bringing up Rodriguez, who was essentially ineffective in his short time here earlier this year.

Note that this roster keeps Rocchio up as the starting SS (he is too good defensively to not play) and Bo Naylor as the starting catcher (Fry's elbow is obviously still bothering him and there is no one in the minors ready to step up into a starting role).  But for Thomas, Brennan and Freeman, I see removing them.  Schneeman?  He's the 28th guy on the roster after Sept. 1st and is there as a backup only or to give a guy a day off.  But he is a more veteran presence who will do whatever is asked of him without complaining or have a performance adulterated due to disappointment over being benched.  Doesn't mean he makes the post-season roster if we get that far and doesn't mean that Thomas, Brennan and Freeman don't make the roster.  In fact, it is highly possible that Thomas is brought back up before his option is lost 20 days after he is sent down.  It appears he only has one option left so I think they should maintain that option if they can, by making him a bench player the last 10 days of the season.

One last point on position players: If they bring up Myles Straw for defense, making them DFA someone else, I think every diehard fan will puke.  He literally should be dominating AAA and he isn't.  He has picked up his play recently but any player who picks up the pace when a promotion date like Sept. 1st approaches is someone who is really suspect to me because, why was he not playing at that level or better all season as an MLB veteran?  So, please, no Myles Straw, in September or, if we get there, in the post-season.

We can (and will) add another pitcher, as well, but my guess is that we will simply add players on the IL, which means:

• Send Logan Allen to AAA

• Reinstate Carlos Carrasco (to the bullpen)
• Reinstate Alex Cobb (to the rotation)
• Keep Joey Cantillo up as our 2nd lefty in the pen.  I could also see sending Cantillo out, too, to bring up Franco Aleman (DFAing Strzelecki) if you need an extra high leverage arm.  They might send Cantillo down and bring up Strzelecki if they just need an additional arm to cover innings instead of a leverage arm (Aleman).  Carrasco to the bullpen is something that I think the Guardians planned to do when they signed him this spring.  The rotation needed a veteran arm so he had to go to the rotation but now I think that the Guardians want his veteran presence in the clubhouse AND in the bullpen to see if he can help them out in the post-season.  
• UPDATE: Anthony Gose is thrown into the mix today as the Guardians re-sign him to a minor league deal and call him up from Columbus for tonight's game.

People would like to see Andrew Walters but I don't see any way he comes up.  The Guardians have askewed any positive moves with young players in favor of roster manipulation.  Aleman has to be rostered this winter and I think his coming up will be based on whether they intend to roster him this winter AND need.  Walters doesn't have to be rostered for two more seasons (after 2026).  He won't be up now even though next season is a realistic possibility.  Really, what I have listed above for the pitchers is shuffliing deck chairs. Not much exciting except for Aleman and that is just a maybe, given the guys who are already on the 40-man who could get recalled.

That's what should happen.  I doubt if they will follow my plan as far as position players even knowing the fans will revolt if they don't do everything possible to try to improve their offense.  While I don't have a lot of faith that Manzardo, Valera and Martinez will ignite the offense if they are recalled, I do think it is a shot you have to take.

OK, there it is.  My idea of what should happen based on current performance and who I think will help this club most in September.  Now we will see what the Guardians think which likely will be way different than what I think.

Let's Have A Frank Talk About Fans' Criticism of Players and Management

 I read something on Guardians' Prospective Twitter tonight.  I had seen these types of comments before and I feel I had to address them.  Twitter (X) is so limiting, however, I have to respond here.  

Todd posted this comment from the family of a player.

"The great thing about baseball is if you're a true fan of the game, or if you ever played the game, u understand how hard it is and understand the highs and lows.  U know exactly how these guys feel.  The rollercoaster of emotions. No 1 wants to win for the city more then they do."

I love the game.  I am a true fan of the game.  But I am calling bullshit on this statement and here's why:

• If a player really cares about the team's success, as a .200 hitter, you don't swing at 3-0 pitches.  That .200 hitter doesn't swing at the first pitch (which he usually pops up or swings at a ball or hits into a double play) after his teammate has just walked on 4 pitches, or swings and misses at a 3-1 backfoot slider in the middle of a rally when they should be hunting a fastball or even taking a second strike if they don't get a driveable pitch.
• My standard for caring and trying hard is Austin Hedges.  He is the consummate teammate.  He knows he doesn't hit well, so he knows how to bunt, he plays good defense,  he'll take a walk, he does the little things.  He literally controls everything he can control to help the team and modifies what he would likely love to do, swing for the fences, to do what helps the team.  I doubt he has ever swung at a 3-0 pitch because he knows the likelihood of him getting a hit is less than him getting a walk and he knows the walk helps the team even if it doesn't help his pathetic, pitcher-like batting average. 
• Another, yet newer, example of a player like Hedges is Jhonkensy Noel.  I have watched him for years and you could see his development.  This year in Columbus and then in the majors you could see his improvement on defense and offense, and especially in the last month you could see his plate discipline start to improve.  Other young players who have played much longer this year or even the last two years, do not appear to be making those changes.  

So, here's the thing.  Everybody can SAY they want to win but if they aren't doing anything to help the team win, it really doesn't matter much how hard you are trying, right?  It comes down to one of two things if you are underperforming:

• You are not right now physically capable of changing your game to help the team win.
• You are not willing to change your game to help the team win

So, despite your good intentions of wanting to win for the team, your teammates and the city, you are just not helping the team win.  At that point, it is up to management to replace you with someone else and give them a chance while you are sent back to AAA to improve your game.   A real team player would accept that demotion and work hard to get better so that they can come back up at some later date and help the team win.  

I'll end by saying that while MAYBE no one wants to win more than the underperforming players do, there are other players who might really help the team win right now and they are in AAA and likely want to help our team win just as much your player does.

So the family member who wrote the above, if your player ends up getting demoted and replaced by someone else, don't be mad or pout or badmouth the team for not giving your player a fair chance.  If the player who replaces them helps the team win, then everybody gets what they supposedly want, for the Cleveland Guardians to win.

Thoughts For A Monday Morning : Approaching September Edition

 1. Repeat after me: we are ALL going to the playoffs.  We...are...ALL...going...to...the...playoffs.

Lots of banter between Guardians, Twins and Royals fans on Twitter (X).  Much of it not very nice.   All these people forget is that all three teams should be in the playoffs.  Three teams...from the AL Central...n the playoffs.  People should be rejoicing that and rooting for each other rather than the sniping that is going on.   

Just sayin'!

2. Time For Some Changes

Why is Manzardo not back up?  Why is Martinez not up here? Why is Valera not getting a chance? Rocchio can't hit and his fielding is meh so why isn't Arias getting another chance? Why are some of our young RP not up here? 

These are the questions some fans are asking.  Here are my thoughts:

• General Thoughts - Manzardo and Martinez have outside shots at ROY next year if they maintain their rookie status.  Both are close to that but Martinez is likely not going to be a top 100 prospect so he would not qualify for a compensation draft pick if he would win ROY.    I doubt they bring up Manzardo as September time on the roster doesn't count against your rookie status but ABs do...and Manzardo is getting close to having too many ABs to be a rookie.  For Martinez, they WANT him to lose his rookie status so that if he somehow would do a Bibee and cost us a whole year service time even if he is in the top 3 in ROY.  So, when I look at players I want to bring up I have these criteria:  Would this player be a better option in the playoffs than Michael Martinez was in 2016?  Would I be more comfortable with the pitcher I bring up than I was with Brian Shaw in game 7 of that same WS?
• Valera  - It is time to give him a chance. In a week we can bring him up and should. There is a case to bring him up now, along with Martinez, sending Freeman and Schneeman to Columbus to get sharp with more regular playing time.
• Martinez - This, to me, is a no brainer.  Freeman isn't hitting.  Send him down to get regular ABs.  Although Martinez hasn't exactly lit it up since he was demoted, I love his switch-hitting and speed over Freeman's and everything else, at worst, is the same. No brainer here.  Martenez should be up at Freeman's expense come September 1st.
• Manzardo - Looking at his recent AAA numbers there is no reason to believe he will do any better this time around compared to his first trial earlier this year.  That, plus maintaining his rookie status, means he is an unlikely callup except for maybe after Columbus' season is over when we might sneak in some ABs and still stay under the limit of less than 130 ML ABs to maintain his rookie status.  Who we send out to bring Manzardo back up at the end of September is in question but I have a horrible, yet reasonable idea.  DFA Hedges.  He is dead weight in a playoff setting.  Hedges is simply not playable with our lineup in a situation where every game, every AB means something.  But there are a lot of 'ifs' here.  Fry's elbow has to be healthy enough for him to catch.  Bo Naylor has to be healthy, etc.  
• Arias - Having watched him extensively since his demotion my impression is that he is the same guy as when he was demoted.   He is just benefitting from the Columbus/AAAA player effect that helps him put up good numbers while still showing the same things I hate about him (lack of hustle, lack of good plate discipline, etc.  Let him play out the season in Columbus and then be available if disaster strikes at SS.
• Franco Aleman - Here is a guy I think they should bring up at some point in September.  He has spent a lot of time on the IL this year so his arm is not worn out.  If he was healthy I think he would have been brought up already.  Morgan, Strzelecki and Sandlin are not playoff relievers.  Is Aleman?  I don't know but I would give him most of September to show if he would be impactful in the playoffs.
• Andrew Walters - When you are the Guardians you have to protect the future.  So bringing up Walters MIGHT be a good short term play but it likely will cost you an option year next year as when Trevor Stephan and James Karinchak come back we won't likely have room for Walters for all of 2025, unless injuries occur.  The Guardians likely won't hurt their long-term future for a short-term bump in effectiveness.  As this team has more issues than in the bullpen, I think he stays in AAA as deep insurance in case of injuries.

3. KC Series

This is already a mess as we will use an opener in Game 1 followed by a starter coming out of the bullpen.  In game 2 we will start a guy we keep sending to the minors.  Not a good recipe but stuff happens.  Maybe it will all work out. 

From now on every series is important and I would have liked to see them bring up Valera and put him in the lineup for game 2 tonight.  The impact of a new, hot batter who the league doesn't know should have become readily apparent this year with both Schneeman and Noel performing well when the league didn't know them.  Valera is both new and hot and the Royals will start RHP in the last 3 games of this series.  So I vote for Freeman playing in Game 1 against Ragans and being sent out after that for Valera.

This is an important series and we want to keep winning and keep the pressure on the teams behind us to do the same.  

2024 Draftee Watch

So far the results have been terrible.  There is a reason that the Guardians tend not to throw their new draftees into the minors.   One is that the culture shock may lead to bad results.  So far Cozart looks pathetic on both sides of the ball.  Bazzana is way under-performing but his GW   yesterday produced another Oscar Mercado-like moment to give us hope (false hope?!?).  Most of the other college guys we drafted are/will be in Lynchburg where performance is hard to measure against younger competition.  The results this year are only for bragging rights of making the draft team look good.  But, still, c'mon guys.  These results don't give us any faith in you as evaluators of talent.

OK, off to watch some baseball.  Go Guardians!

Thoughts For A Monday - Pre-Big Apple Visit By The Guardians

 Wow, how things have changed!

The Guardians get good enough starting AND relief pitching to win the series and, instead, get swept, allowing Minnesota to move to within 2 games and KC to move to within 3 games of tieing for the AL Central lead.

Fangraphs still has us with a 90% chance of making the playoffs and an over 50% chance of winning the AL Central but right now it seems more tenuous than that.

So, in this Monday that is filled with trepidation and question marks for many fans of the Guardians, and anger for others, let's unpack a lot of things:

THE FRONT OFFICE

Right now I think this front office absolutely sucks.  I mean, really sucks.  Hardly ever use that language on this blog but I don't know how else to say it.  Unpacking all the moves they have made since the end of last season, here's what we have:

• Cal Quantrill & Enyel De Los Santos for Scott Barlow & Cody Huff - OK, so this was 2 deals but the FO said at the time that they could not have taken on Barlow's salary unless they shed Quantrill's.  Turns out Barlow was NOT the backup closer we wanted and is now the 6th or 7th reliever option for the Guardians.  Cody Huff is just who we thought he was: a throw-in with little or no chance of making an impact in the majors.  The only yukker in this situation is that the Padres AND the Yankees weren't able to get what the Guardians got out of De Los Santos but both those teams will make the playoffs without a significant contribution from EDLS.
• Signed Ramon Laureano for $5 million to avoid arbitration.  We were told how tight money was when we had to do a salary dump with Quantrill, then we overpay for the journeyman OFer Laureano who we cut when we realize that he had never really been since his PED suspension in 2019.  Then he proceeds to get picked up by Atlanta and, with the Guardians picking up most of his salary, he has proceeded to a .782 OPS with 6 HRs in 91 ABs.  
• Signing Ben Lively - Probably the single positive thing except for the draft lottery that came out of this off-season, Lively has been a lifesaver.  When you are only 2 games ahead in the standings there are a lot of players who you can say that about but the Lively signing was a clear win
• Signed Austin Hedges - I feel now like I did then.  Hedges was a good signing but, in the face of having to trade Quantrill to afford Barlow, it was a questionable financial decision.  Again, a big win for the FO here.
• Signed Carlos Carrasco - Although some may disagree, I think this was a good signing.  He ate innings and has been a veteran influence in the clubhouse.  Their mistakes in not having enough SP depth exposed Carrasco.  He would have been great as a long man.
• Estevan Florial for Cody Morris - This trade was doomed from the beginning.  The only thing that saves this trade is that Cody Morris has given the Yankees nothing.  But the trade was terrible as the Guardians kept Florial and returned Deyvison De Los Santos to the Diamondbacks and he has blossomed this year into one of the better prospects in baseball. The FO gambled on the wrong guy and lost...again.
• Acquired Alfonso Rivas on waivers - A 4A firstbaseman in an organization with Naylor, Manzardo, Fry, Noel and others.  Waste of a move by this FO
• Jaime Barria, Adam Oller, Tyler Zuber, Anthony Banda, Tyler Beede all signed as minor league free agents. None contributed anything to the Guardians and all were gone by the beginning of June.
• Acquired Wes Parsons, Darren McGaugher, Spencer Howard, Peter Strzelecki and Zac Kent off waivers. None of them except for Strzelecki really provided anything to this team.
• Traded Jose Tena, Alex Clemmey and Rafael Ramirez Jr. for Lane Thomas - This was a questionable trade at the time as Thomas was trending toward being a platoon player.  Still, he had speed, was a solid veteran on defense and had some room to improve when he was traded to a contender.  Instead, he has been, so far, the absolute worst position player who has played for the Guardians this year.  While Tena is a poor defender and not that athletic, Clemmey is more of a long-term project than most would have liked given his bonus, and Ramirez looked really bad at Lynchburg, Thomas has given us absolutely nothing and has taken playing time away from prospects.
• Traded Jacob Bresnahan and a PTBNL for Alex Cobb - Cobb came to Cleveland on the IL and now is back on the IL with a fractured finger nail, throwing our rotation into chaos once again. Whether you liked this gamble on paper it has not worked out in the Guardians favor so far.
• Signed Matthew Boyd - So far this looks like a great signing as opposed to getting robbed for SP talent if we had traded at the deadline.
• Picked Pedro Avila off waivers, DFA'd Xzavion Curry -  I put these two together as Curry did in 2023 what Avila has done in 2024.  We didn't need Avila and having him meant that the Guardians totally screwed over Curry, jerking him around to the point that he pitched poorly.  We all knew he wasn't a SP so him failing in that role at Columbus was no surprise even though he was good in spot starts for the Guardians early in the year.  So if you think Avila was a good signing it was more than made up by the loss of one of our own, Xzavion Curry...for nothing.

So, the FO, starting in November 2023 has made 5 good moves: Boyd, Lively, Hedges, Strzelecki, Carrasco.  Every other move was bad and has either hurt the team this year and in the future or was unneeded and not fruitful, with none of them providing anything positive for this team.  The FO have screwed this season so far by not giving the team enough resources to win and, in many cases, squandered valuable resources (prospects) without getting anything tangible in return.  The FO of a small market team has to be better than this.  These people have failed us this season.

POSITION PLAYERS

We have had to endure Florial, Arias, Freeman, Rocchio, Bo Naylor, Jonathon Rodriguez, Manzardo, Tena, Schneeman and Noel this season.  While Schneeman and Noel have provided some spark and Rocchio has played good defense AT TIMES, not a single one of these players has helped this team significantly this year, with a number of them getting sharing the Oscar Mercado award for breaking our hearts with repeated, frustrating poor performances this year.  Look at every one of these players and compare them to Austin Hedges, who is offensively challenged at historic levels.  Hedges scraps and claws and does what needs to be done to help this team offensively.  All I see from the rest of these guys is disbelief that they screwed up again and again when we only needed one or two of them to perform at David Fry levels consistently throughout the season. While Noel has a chance to continue his upward trajectory it is not likely that he will this year.  But each and every one of these guys is a failure offensively.  That can't all be their fault.  It is the hitting coaches' fault.  They have not developed these guys or put them in situations where they can be successful.  The strain that their epic failures has placed on the rest of this offense is dragging the team down and bringing in Lane Thomas only made it worse. Each of these players should be able to right this ship and make offensive contributions but they don't make adjustments and make stupid outs in hitter friendly counts and do stupid things like swinging at the first pitch with a pitcher who has trouble throwing strikes.  Really, frustrating, boneheaded offense with some boneheaded defense as well.

THE PITCHERS

Look, I can't say anything, not one thing, bad about the pitchers this year.  People like to pick on Sandline, Morgan and Curry this year but just because they haven't been Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith doesn't mean they are unvaluable.  In fact, they are VERY valuable as middle relievers because they generally keep you in the game.  For heaven's sake, Sandlin is 7-0.  That is not all luck because we rallied after he gave up a lead.  We are blessed with great pitching, with pitchers who try their hardest and it shows.  If the guys listed above on offense would just 'find a way' like our pitchers have, this team would be 30 games over .500 right now and we would be planning for the playoffs instead of worrying about getting to them.

THE FUTURE

SO, we go into NY tomorrow with lots of chaos and lots of question marks.  Could wholesale swapping out of players at AAA for our weak performing position players in the majors help?  Maybe.  But that is just throwing stuff against a wall hoping it sticks.  No player on the offense with the exception of Kwan, Ramirez, Josh Naylor and, to some extent, Fry, Gimenez and Brennan have performed this year over the long haul.  We have 45 days left in the regular season and SOMEBODY on offense has to step up and our pitching has to hold up AND we have for find who will give us good, dependable innings now that Cobb is hurt.  It is doable but people have to fix their problems and become part of the solution instead of part of the problem.  All these players were studs at some levels when they were younger.  Time to help out our pitching staff and provide offense now and stop looking like AAAA guys like Florial.  Without that, it will be a hard ride to the finish line, and maybe a VERY frustrating and disappointing one.

THE FANS

Like the pitching staff and our core position players, the fans have NOT failed the team or the ownership.  They have shown up in large numbers.  They have cheered loudly.  And, even though I would understand if they wanted to, they have avoided booing or deriding our players when they screw up or fail to perform.  They have been the ideal, supportive fans a small market team needs.  They deserve better out of the FO and they deserve better out of the position players.  It's time for the position players to show up and time for the FO to stop screwing up.  This team, this city and these fans need this.  I don't give a crap if you are 20 games over .500 right now.  The season starts today and you are 0-0.  Time to do your job and do it well.  No excuses.  None.  Just get mad, get motivated, get focused and do your jobs.

GO GUARDIANS!

Thanks to the 2024 Paris Olympics!

 OK, this is a Cleveland Guardians blog.

That being said, I am an Olympics geek and, of course, a nationalist, too.  I am not proud of the nationalist part but it was the environment when I grew up so, to some extent, it is part of me so I root for US athletes to get as many medals (legally) as possible.  Not rational, but I am comfortable with it.  Living and dying with the US Olympic athletes as I watched them pile up medals in their usual strong events.

However, this Olympics was, to me, different.  It was an escape for me.  My beloved Guardians were struggling mightily through most of the Olympics, so this gave me another outlet for my sports watching.  In fact, I didn't watch either of the doubleheaders last week because I chose to watch the Olympics, instead.  The Olympics were interesting.  The Guardians were, well, frustrating and not relaxing.

So, thank you, Olympics for giving me a diversion from life and baseball and for giving me my best Olympic experience EVER.  And not just the American team.  It just seemed like the stars were all aligned to give the best result possible, no matter which country or athlete was involved.  By that I mean that so many of the disappointments I witnessed on my television had silver linings in one form or another, meaning that even the heartbroken wound up with something from the Olympics to remember, performance-wise.  Here are just a few of the examples that come to mind.

• In the men's 1500 meter run the guy who promised he was going to win the race didn't even medal but came back to win the 5000 meters.
• In the men's steeplechase the winner of the last 3 silver medals in that event fell and didn't win a medal (my prayers that he has now completely recovered from that terrifying fall).  But he still has his silver medals which make him one of the top runners ever in that event and it opened up a silver medal for an unlikely American runner.
• The winner of the men's pole vault set a world record while the entire world watched.  Classic TV!
• The Italians, who had never won a women's olympic gymnastic team medal, won bronze, beating teams known for winning gymnastic medals and went on to add more in the individual events, including a gold in the balance beam when the two American favorites fell off.
• Jordan Childs was stripped of her bronze medal in floor exercise but still had her gold in the team competition and other medals from previous Olympics.  The girl who eventually received the bronze medal from Romania clearly, in my opinion, deserved to finish 3rd and now the crushing image of her leaving in tears can be erased from my memory permanently. 
• The two championship basketball games were absolute classics, maybe the best Olympic basketball games I have ever seen.  Steph Curry going off in the last 3 minutes of the game in what will be his only Olympics ever was truly satisfying, even for me, as a Cleveland fan.  The women's gold medal game was extremely satisfying as it gave us our 40th gold medal to bring us into a tie with China for gold medals in the games.  It was a great way to end the Olympics.  Plus, the home country French finished 2nd in both the men's and women's, a great result for them, although I am sure they are disappointed at not upsetting the Americans.
• Femke Bol, first buoyed by her miraculous finish in the mixed 4 x 400 running event that led her team to victory only to be crushed in spirit from her loss in the 400 hurdles, came back with redemption by running a great leg in the final of the women's 4 x 400 race, helping the Netherlands to win a medal there, making her last memory of competing in this Olympics a good one.
• The US archery guy didn't get to win an individual gold medal and will have to settle for knowing that he is one of the greatest US archery guys of all-time, despite not having at least one gold.  Pretty good for a career and it should show him that one medal, one way or the other, does not define his greatness in his sport.
• Lilly King, who lost a bronze medal by 0.01 seconds won a gold in the final relay of the Olympics, the 3rd Olympics that she won a medal in.
• In fact, many swimmers and track relay people from various countries won medals in relays even though they couldn't quite win a medal in individual events.
• France was able to demonstrate their nationalistic pride by doubling their medal total from the Tokyo Olympics, which also gives the US hope that they could smash their 2024 total of 125 medals (at least 40 of each type) in the upcoming 2028 games in LA. 
• Finally, a number of our older US athletes, seeing the examples of athletes like Florent Manaudou, a 33 year old swimmer who, in unlikely fashion, won a bronze in the 50 and anchored the 4 x100 team that also won bronze, appeared to be inspired by the home country preformances and those of other, older athletes.   Partially as a result, some of them alluded to being more likely to return to compete in Los Angeles in 2028 to end their careers which helps to bode well for the US team's CHANCES of doing well in 2028.

These are just some of the uplifting things from my viewing of the Olympics at a time where my baseball team was unbearable to watch.  Thanks again to all the olympic athletes as watching you compete and try your hardest was, as a fan of sports, just what I needed.  

Guardians Top Prospect List - Post Draft Signing Date/Minor League Maximum Player Releases/Trade Deadline - Version

Here's my Guardians Updated Prospect Ranking.  I am pretty sure Manzardo will be recalled by the end of August meaning he will likely move off this list by the end of the season but, until that happens, I will keep him on the list. 2024 Draftees are in bold.  NOTE: Before the trading deadline I had Tena at 8, Clemmey at 11, Bresnahan at 37 and Ramirez at 43.  NOTE: Angel Martinez is just short of the PA to remove his rookie status so I have just not included him here. Not sure if he is going to be recalled, though, as, just like Manzardo, they might want to retain his rookie status. Jhonkensy Noel has passed his 45 days on the ML roster and so is no longer a rookie and, therefore, does not qualify for this list anly longer.  In my last ranking I had him at #14.  NOTE: Bazzana is ranked where he is based on how he has looked so far and DeLauter is based on both performance and his recurring foot injuries.  Although these may not be placements that are popular with Guardians' fans, I think they are warranted based on current conditions.  Manzardo is as low as he is because I am not sold on his skill set (weak defense at 1B and really pathetic production when he was sent down to Columbus earlier this year (see Will Brennan for how it is done if you want to get back up to the majors when you are sent to the minors). NOTE: Certain guys are rated higher based on their current production and projectability.  For example, Matt Wilkinson, with his 89-90 mph fastball is rated this highly based on his command AND that the Guardians have had recent success increasisng FB MPH for Messick and Peterson, significantly improving the prospect status for both.  If he stays healthy, Wilkinson should make the same improvesment by the next year or so, maybe taking a little longer if you look at how long it took Aaron Davenport to incorporate the changes they asked him to me and how long that took.  For guys like Cooper Ingle and Ralphy Velasquez, their defense and maybe having to move off a prime position (catcher) have blunted the advantage gained from their above average hit tool and, for Velasquez, his developing power. EDITED: Andrew Walters got lost as I was updating this list. 2024 Draftees are in Black Bold.  2024 International signees are in red bold.

1. Jaison Chourio

2. Welbyn Francisca

3. Travis Bazzana

4. Chase DeLauter

5. Juan Brito

6. CJ Kayfus

7. Kyle Manzardo

8. Angel Genao

9. Joey Oakie

10. Ralphy Velasquez

11. Joey Cantillo

13. Andrew Walters

13. George Valera

14. Braylon Doughty

15. Jonathon Rodriguez

16. Chase Mobley

17. Ryan Webb

18. Daniel Espino

19. Doug Nikhazy

20. Franco Aleman

21. Parker Messick

22. Matt Wilkinson 

23. Robert Arias

24. Jacob Cozart

25. Austin Peterson

26. Aaron Davenport

27. Cameron Sullivan

28. Jackson Humphries

29. Alex Mooney

30. Petey Halpin
31. Lenny Torres, Jr.

32. Cooper Ingle

33. Khalil Watson

34. Tommy Mace

35. Justin Campbell

36. Will Dion

37. Dayan Frias

38. Jose Devers

39. Milan Tolentino

40. Jake Fox

41. Jacob Zibin

42. Trenton Denholm

43. Wuilfredo Antunez

44. Estaban Gonzalez

45. Magnus Ellerts

46. Rafe Scheslinger

47. Gabriel Rodriguez

48. Joe Lampe

49. Robert Lopez
50. Brayan Lavastida
51. Nick Mikolajczak

52. Nic Enright

53. Tanner Burns

54. Alexfri Planez

55. Maick Collado

56. Guy Lipscomb

57. Aiden Major

58. Shawn Rapp

59. Jack Leftwich 
60. Juan Benjamin
61. Davis Sharpe

62. Kody Huff

63. Tyler Thornton
64. Jose Cedeno 
65. Andrew Misiaszek

66. Victor Izturis 
67. Dylan DeLucia

68. Luis Merejo

69. Juniker Caceras

70. Logun Clark

71. Manuel Mejias

72. Jay Driver 

73. Zach Jacobs

74. Steven Perez
75. Hunter Stanley
76. Yorman Gomez
77. Alonzo Richardson

78. Jorge Burgos

79. Christian Cairo
80. Nate Furman

81. Yerlin Luis

82. Garrett Howe

83. Donovan Zsak

84. Mason Hickman
85. Bradley Hanner
86. Randy Labaut

87. Keegan Zinn

88. Jacob Remily

89. Ryan Cesarini
90. Christian Knapczyk
91. Alaska Abney

92. Carter Spivey

93. Evilio Hernandez 
94. Melkis Hernandez

95. Kendeglys Virquez

96. Tyrese Turner

97. Jonah Advincula
98. Adam Tulloch

99. Jervis Alfaro
100. Edelvis Perez
101. Austin Aldeano

102. Rodney Boone
103. Jake Miller
104. Fran Alduey

105. Jose Pirela
106. Tommy Hawke
107. Micael Ramirez
108. Yordys Valdez

109. Johnny Tincher

110. Bennett Thompson

111. Jogly Garcia

112. Miguel Flores

113. Santiago Peraza

114. Caden Favors

115. Sean Mattson

116. Connor Whitaker

117. Logan McGuire

118. Izaak Martinez

119. Cam Schuelke

120. Cam Walty

121. Nick Martinez

122. Wuinder Torres

123. Reny Artilles

124. Zane Morehouse

125. Josh Harlow

126. Kyle Scott

127. Manuel Osorio

128. Reiner Herrera