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.