Guardians, Anthony Gose In Agreement On Two-Year Minor League Deal
By Darragh McDonald | December 1, 2022 at 11:40am CDT

The Guardians and left-hander Anthony Gose have agreed on a two-year minor league deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Gose will make $1MM per season if in the big leagues.

The reason for the two-year deal is that Gose is unlikely to pitch at all in 2023 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in September. At the end of the year, he was non-tendered by the club but will stick around without taking up a spot on the 40-man roster. He will presumably make a lesser salary while rehabbing this year and hope to get back onto a big league mound in 2024 with a salary a bit above the league minimum.

Prior to that surgery setback, Gose was on one of the more unique baseball journeys. He had spent much of his career as an outfielder, playing for the Blue Jays and Tigers from 2012 to 2016. However, he hit at a below-average rate, producing a career slash line of .240/.309/.348.

A two-way star in high school, Gose then tried a return to the mound. He often struggled with command, but still showed impressive stuff overall, including a triple-digit fastball. He made it back to the big leagues with Cleveland last year and has thrown 27 2/3 innings so far. The control is still not ideal, as his 13.8% walk rate is definitely on the high side. But he’s also struck out 31.9% of batters faced and posted a 3.90 ERA.

Gose got over three years service time this year and would have been arbitration eligible. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected a salary of $800K, just above next year’s minimum salary of $720K. Given that he’s likely to miss the entire season, the Guardians non-tendered him, but they clearly still like his chances of being useful for them in time. Gose is currently 32 years old, turning 33 in August. If he returns to health in 2024, the Guardians could retain him via arbitration for future seasons as well.

Wonder why no other team signed Gose and stashed him for a year on the cheap like the G's?

Maybe because he's a 33 yr old with just 3 yrs service time

Once again the organization doing something good for one their own.

State of the Cleveland Guardians roster ahead of the Winter Meetings


Sep 6, 2022; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Cleveland Guardians center fielder Myles Straw (7) bats against the Kansas City Royals during the fifth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
By Zack Meisel
6h ago

29
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CLEVELAND — Be honest. You’ve spent more time gazing at your Cleveland Guardians offseason wish list than your kids’ holiday wish list.

Sean Murphy? Danny Jansen? Josh Bell? Trey Mancini? … Michael Martinez? Wayne Garland?

The Guardians seem poised to do some shopping this offseason, via free agency, trade or both. And that’s not the sort of shopping that has become customary in recent years, the mid-February bargain hunting that results in the dying breaths of the careers of Carlos González and Hanley Ramirez unfolding in Cleveland. The front office seems intent on taking action to cover the roster’s few deficiencies after a 92-win season in 2022. (And, well, they should. That’s in their job description.)

With the executives across the league heading to San Diego in a couple of days for the Winter Meetings, transactions and chatter are expected to increase. So before you start crossing names off that wish list, let’s examine what the roster looks like in its current state to better understand the club’s needs.
Bo Naylor (David Richard / USA Today)

Catchers: Bo Naylor and, uh, you
Others: Bryan Lavastida

You’ll see a new name here by the time the Guardians report to Goodyear, Ariz. Well, unless it’s an old name (Austin Hedges). Whether it’s on Opening Day or shortly thereafter, Naylor will factor into the catching equation in 2023. The Guardians are high on him, but given his inexperience, adding an established catcher is near the top of their priority list this winter, just as it was at the trade deadline four months ago. Lavastida endured a rough year after breaking camp with the big-league club. He struggled at the plate, battled injuries and recorded uncharacteristic walk and strikeout rates. That has him facing an uphill climb to merit consideration for a big-league role.


Infielders: José Ramírez, Amed Rosario, Andrés Giménez, Josh Naylor, Owen Miller
Others: Gabriel Arias, Tyler Freeman, Brayan Rocchio, Jose Tena, Angel Martinez, Juan Brito

(John C. McGinley voice) Owen Miller, what would you say you do here? It’s difficult to see where he fits. The Guardians are pursuing a first baseman/designated hitter type, preferably someone who can help balance out their deficiencies against left-handed pitching. Miller posted a .212/.290/.329 slash line against lefties in 2022. (He was only slightly better against righties.) Naylor registered an .856 OPS against righties and a .512 OPS against southpaws, so it might be wise for the Guardians to limit his exposure to tough lefties. Maybe Arias enters that conversation. Otherwise, it’s difficult to see where he and Freeman (and, eventually, the rest of the middle-infield brigade) can earn playing time as long as Giménez and Rosario are occupying second base and shortstop. Giménez, Rosario and Ramírez don’t tend to take many days off, after all.
Oscar Gonzalez (Ken Blaze / USA Today)

Outfielders: Steven Kwan, Myles Straw, Oscar Gonzalez, Will Brennan, Will Benson
Others: George Valera, Jhonkensy Noel, Richie Palacios

At the end of the season, manager Terry Francona sounded awfully supportive of an Opening Day outfield alignment of Kwan, Straw and Gonzalez. That’s two Gold Glove winners and a SpongeBob-loving playoff hero. That leaves Brennan, Benson and Palacios in search of opportunities, and leaves Valera waiting for someone to suffer an injury or struggle at the plate before he gets a chance next summer. There’s a lot of pressure on Straw to flush last season’s hitting performance. His speed and defense are valuable, but another year with a 64 wRC+ (36 percent below league average, offensively) won’t help his cause.
Triston McKenzie (Ken Blaze / USA Today)

Starting pitchers: Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, Cal Quantrill, Aaron Civale, Zach Plesac
Others: Cody Morris, Hunter Gaddis, Konnor Pilkington, Xzavion Curry, Joey Cantillo

So. Much. Depth. There’s another group lurking behind this bunch that includes Logan Allen, Daniel Espino, Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee, Tanner Burns and Peyton Battenfield. There’s no evidence of a team ever complaining about having sufficient starting pitching depth. Francona often says, “When you think you have enough pitching, go get more.” I wouldn’t anticipate a trade borne out of panic, but it wouldn’t be shocking if the Guardians moved one or two of the names listed above this winter.
Emmanuel Clase (David Richard / USA Today)

Relievers: Emmanuel Clase, James Karinchak, Trevor Stephan, Sam Hentges, Nick Sandlin, Enyel De Los Santos, Eli Morgan
Others: Tim Herrin

This group produced the league’s best ERA in the second half and then shut down the Rays and Yankees in the playoffs. Still, bullpens are volatile. There are always surprises year to year. And there will be a new bullpen coach to lead them, after the Royals poached Brian Sweeney and made him their new pitching coach.

There appears to be one vacancy. Someone will need to replace Bryan Shaw. And, well, you can never truly rule out Bryan Shaw for that role. Another lefty to pair with Hentges might make sense if Herrin isn’t ready to crack the Opening Day roster. Cleveland often signs a couple of veterans to non-roster deals. That wouldn’t be a surprise this winter. The Guardians also could deploy a starter or two in a relief role — Morris or Gaddis or someone of that ilk. I was told the plan is for Morgan to remain in a relief role, which makes sense given the team’s stockpile of starters.

Morgan fits much better in the bullpen. As of course does Hentges. If Cody Morris doesn't replace a traded Plesac in the rotation he could be a good Shaw replacement unless they want the "veteran presence" that Shaw brought. But unlike last year when nearly the entire rest of the relievers had not pitched a full big league season everyone has experienced a full season, a stretch run to the playoffs and the postseason, so I don't think the old guy role is so important.
As for the roster, the few gaps are pretty obvious. It's nice to have so much confidence in the guys who will be returning. Rosario has had consistent few seasons; Ramirez has had many consistent seasons. Naylor's offense has been relatively stable year to year. No else has developed an annual pattern yet so anyone could crash as did Mercado. Is Giminez truly an 800+ OPS regular? Kwan? Least predictable probably is Gonzalez. We'll see.

civ ollilavad wrote: But unlike last year when nearly the entire rest of the relievers had not pitched a full big league season everyone has experienced a full season, a stretch run to the playoffs and the postseason, so I don't think the old guy role is so important.

Totally agree - and hey how about Bryan Shaw for replacement bullpen coach?

that could be exactly what they are thinking of!

BA has screwed up everything, so far:

Organization of the Year: Seattle

Executive of the Year: Alex Anthopoulos (Atlanta Braves)

First MLB Draft Lottery set for Dec. 6: Which teams have the best odds to land the No. 1 pick?

DENVER - APRIL 10: Baseballs are at the ready for warm ups as the Philadelphia Phillies face the Colorado Rockies during MLB action on Opening Day at Coors Field on April 10, 2009 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
By The Athletic Staff
Nov 7, 2022
77

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The first-ever MLB Draft Lottery is set for Dec. 6 at the Winter Meetings in San Diego, the league announced Monday. Here’s what you need to know:

The order of the first six selections in the 2023 MLB Draft will be decided at the lottery, which pulls from the pool of 18 teams who did not make the 2022 postseason.
The remaining 12 teams who do not receive a top-six pick will make their selections in order of their 2022 win percentage.
The Nationals, Athletics and Pirates share the best odds to land the No. 1 pick at 16.5 percent.
Backstory
The lottery was implemented in the latest collective bargaining agreement as a way to disincentive tanking — teams are no longer guaranteed a high pick if they play poorly.

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The concept has been in place for years in the NBA and NHL.

go-deeper
GO DEEPER

MLB’s collective bargaining agreement: Guide to the changes in the 2022-26 labor deal

How were the odds calculated?
All teams who did not make the prior year’s postseason can participate in the lottery, provided they haven’t forfeited their first-round pick for any reason. A team’s odds of winning the lottery are based on the prior year’s win percentage, with the worst winning percentage given the best odds. If teams have identical win percentages, the tiebreaker is the previous year’s record.

No revenue-sharing payee (a smaller-market team that receives revenue-sharing money) can have a lottery pick three years in a row. No revenue-sharing payor or market disqualified team (a larger-market team) can pick in the lottery two years in a row. The earliest those teams could pick would be tenth overall.

What about the postseason teams?
The remaining 12 teams will fill out the first round based on when they were eliminated from the postseason and their revenue-sharing status.

The following teams will have selections No. 19 to 30: Rays, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Mets*, Mariners, Guardians, Braves, Dodgers*, Padres, Yankees, Phillies, Astros.

*The Mets and the Dodgers would have their first pick fall 10 spots if they exceed the competitive balance tax threshold of $230 million by more than $40 million, which they are currently expected to do.

Full odds
Odds of getting the No. 1 pick
Nationals
16.5%
Athletics
16.5%
Pirates
16.5%
Reds
13.2%
Royals
10.0%
Tigers
7.5%
Rangers
5.5%
Rockies
3.9%
Marlins
2.7%
Angels
1.8%
Diamondbacks
1.4%
Cubs
1.1%
Twins
0.9%
Red Sox
0.8%
White Sox
0.6%
Giants
0.5%
Orioles
0.4%
Brewers
0.2%
How to watch the draft lottery
MLB Network will air the lottery during a half-hour show at 8:30 p.m. ET.

All teams who did not make the prior year’s postseason can participate in the lottery,

Congratulations to the Guardians for NOT qualifying.

Houston Astros
·
See more
MLB Metrics
@MLBMetrics
·
5h
Most regular season wins in the last decade (since 2013):

1. Dodgers 931
2. Yankees 858
3. Cardinals 848
4. Indians/Guardians 845
5. Astros 832
6. Red Sox 818
7. Rays 809
8. Braves 793
9. Cubs 789
T-10. Nationals 778
T-10. Brewers 778

Congratulations to the Rangers for giving a 5 year contract to a 35 year old pitcher who when he is able to pitch is great, but whose innings pitched
in 2022 were 102
in 2021 were 146
in 2020 were 104 [not his fault that year]

as a general rule with very few exceptions, Texas signings are almost always flops. Perhaps they get lucky this time, but I sure would be surprised.
Could qualify as the Least Successful Organization of the Decade, especially on a dollars spent per game won basis.

One team in Texas knows what it's doing; one does not.

TFIR wrote:

civ ollilavad wrote: But unlike last year when nearly the entire rest of the relievers had not pitched a full big league season everyone has experienced a full season, a stretch run to the playoffs and the postseason, so I don't think the old guy role is so important.

Totally agree - and hey how about Bryan Shaw for replacement bullpen coach?

Ditto, coach Shaw!

How MLB front office execs continue their quest for an elusive work-life balance


Milwaukee Brewers President of Baseball Operations David Stearns talks about stepping down from that role at a news conference Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
By Andy McCullough and Will Sammon
Nov 28, 2022


Earlier this year, Chris Antonetti tried something he had never before attempted in the 13 years since he had taken over the baseball operations department of the Cleveland Guardians. He took a summer vacation.

In June, Antonetti went to Italy. For nine days, he tried his best to stay off his phone. He traveled the country with his wife, his two teenage daughters and his parents. “It was like a multi-generational trip,” Antonetti said. It was also, he explained, something of a strategic decision he made with his chief lieutenant, general manager Mike Chernoff, who jetted to London with his family at a different point during the season.

“We actually made a point to do it, both for ourselves and for our families,” said Antonetti, Cleveland’s president of baseball operations, earlier this month. “But also to set a tone for the organization, too. It’s hard — we keep telling other people, ‘It’s important to have balance, we want you to be able to get time away.’ And they often times when we do, they’re like ‘Yeah, you say that. But we’re not seeing you guys do that.'”

 
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The pursuit of a work-life balance is nearly universal. For the well-compensated, privileged few who run baseball teams, it is a subject rarely raised in public. As a famed fictional ad man once said, that’s what the money is for. “We’re really, really fortunate to have these jobs,” Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said.

But the topic came up often earlier this month at the GM Meetings, in part because of one executive who was not there. In October, David Stearns resigned his post as Milwaukee’s president of baseball operations and shifted into an advisory role. At 37, Stearns was considered by his peers to be, as Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto put it, “one of the best executives in baseball.” Stearns had been mentioned as a candidate to leave the small-market Brewers for a team with deeper pockets like the Mets or Astros. The status of his contract, which expires after 2023, was a topic of considerable interest in Queens, Houston and beyond.

Stearns cited a desire to spend more time with his family at a press conference last month. He indicated he had been grappling with the decision “for some time.” He considered himself unable to provide the “complete and total commitment” required in his position. He would not speculate on his future beyond this coming season, but stressed the need to reset. Stearns declined an interview request for this story, but several colleagues within Milwaukee’s front office described his burnout as genuine.

“David is a unique guy, and he’s not defined by baseball,” said Brewers general manager Matt Arnold, who took over for Stearns. “A lot of us in this game, we can gravitate to that life, where this defines us and we have to check ourselves. David has such incredible perspective that he was able to do that. He wanted to put his family first. He wanted to put his life first.

“That is a really, really, really tough thing to walk away from. And I respect that a ton.”

As Stearns’ former peers gathered in Las Vegas a few weeks later, several executives empathized with his situation.

“I have tremendous respect for people who have the courage to say, ‘You know what? I don’t want to do this anymore,'” Rays general manager Peter Bendix said. “That takes so much courage. And if they change their mind in a year? Good! Great for them.”

Added Athletics general manager David Forst, “I think all of us can relate to David on some level. And he’s certainly not the first to express that sentiment. It is a 24-hour-a-day job. You have to make time for your life outside of it. Otherwise you risk running into that same scenario.”

A life outside of baseball, of course, can be a fleeting concept. Hobbies can be hard to maintain. No longer does Antonetti play golf during the summer; he carves out time to snowboard with his daughters in the winter. Bendix’s wife has encouraged him to follow his passion for ping-pong and join a club.

“It’s not like this job prevents it,” Bendix said. “But it’s a lot harder to say I’m going to go do that once a week when we’ve got home games.”

“I try,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said, “when I’m not focused on work, to be focused on my family.”

Brian Cashman has worked for the Yankees since 1986. He has run the baseball operations department since 1998. He cited his affection for his colleagues, “a good cup of coffee starting my day,” and an atmosphere heavy on practical jokes as helpful to maintaining enthusiasm over the decades.

Cashman is a renowned prankster. He has deployed fart machines in the office, crafted fake trades to goof reporters, and passed out counterfeit lottery tickets to players. He once duped organizational Mahatma Gene Michael into believing he was a candidate for a big-league managing job. Another time he convinced Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera he owed a significant debt to the Internal Revenue Service.

“You want to create a place that’s fun to come to and compete at,” Cashman said. “Even though there’s so many things constantly on the table that you have to be all-in on.”

Marlins general manager Kim Ng stressed the importance of building little breaks into the schedule. The time does not need to be lengthy. But it does need to exist.

“You set finish lines for yourself,” Ng said. “For me, it’s like, ‘OK, after we hire the manager, I can take a breather.’ And you give yourself half a day.”

Bendix got promoted to general manager in Tampa Bay less than a year ago, but he had been a Ray since 2009. “You learn the little things that you can do that really go a long way,” Bendix said. So he creates small rewards for himself during the season. If he visits the team’s Double-A affiliate in Montgomery, Ala., he’ll also partake in some barbecue. His wife has accompanied him on trips to Boston, New York and even Charleston, the home of another Rays minor-league team. On a visit to the minor-league team in South Carolina, Bendix watched games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, then hung around with his spouse for a couple extra days.

“I was on my phone and doing all these things,” Bendix said. “But we were in Charleston, I wasn’t going to a game, we ate at restaurants.” He added, “It’s a day. It’s two days. It’s three days. But it really goes a long way.”

Part of the challenge is the vastness of each organization, which spans several minor-league affiliates plus operations in Latin America. There is scouting for the draft during the spring. There are trades in the summer. There is free agency — without featuring a frenzied spurt like other sports — in the winter. Player development has become a year-round endeavor. The calendar creates little room for a break — especially in the thick of the regular season. Which is why some executives greeted the concept of a summer vacation with incredulity.

“Back in the day, I got out of a lot of weddings thanks to the season,” Zaidi said. “I guess it would depend what a vacation was. If you’re talking like literally unplugging and not being off at all, it’s just impossible.”

“I don’t think you can, not in this market,” Cashman said.

The closest Forst has come, he said, is visiting the beach at the All-Star break. Otherwise? “During the season? No,” Forst said. “Has anyone ever answered yes to that question?” Informed that Antonetti and Chernoff had done so in 2022, Forst cracked a smile. “Good for Chris,” Forst said. “He’s way ahead of all of us on that stuff.”

Some teams, like the Giants and Mariners, recommend time away for staffers during the season. “From player development to scouting, we mandate that our people take a week or a series off,” Dipoto said. In San Francisco, Zaidi made a similar suggestion to the big-league coaches. They don’t always listen.

“There’s just a burden of expectation of, like, ‘It’s my job to be here,'” Zaidi said. “Baseball has that culture of, like, you’re there, you’re grinding every day. But we just try to encourage that because I think it’s good for them. It’s really good for the organization to have people be able to unplug and re-energize.”

That concept was part of the impetus for Antonetti and Chernoff visiting Europe last summer. The duo broadcast their time off to the rest of the organization, hopeful that others would notice. “Just that signal of ‘Hey, this is what Mike and Chris thought that they needed to do for themselves and their families. I should be thinking about what are the things that I need to do,'” Antonetti said.

So Antonetti took a vacation. For a little while, the season took place without him.

“And the world kept moving,” Antonetti said. “The world kept spinning.”

missed this one

Just moments after Sweeney was announced in Kansas City, Cleveland lost Justin Toole, the team’s former hitting analyst, who was hired by Seattle as its director of player development.