On the Guardians Rule 5 Moves and Eli Morgan Trade

Examining the Guardians Rule 5 moves and wow the Guardians did in the Eli Morgan trade

Justin Lada
Nov 24

It was the most eventful week 2024-2025 offseason for the Cleveland Guardians so far, which is obviously a high bar to clear, competing with the re-signing of Austin Hedges. It might be the most eventful 24 hours the Guardians have all offseason regardless, so let’s break it down, starting with the Guardians Rule 5 additions, a surprising subtraction and the trade for a new prospect.

The Guardians Rule 5 Additions

Adding Franco Aleman was the easiest call in all of this. Relievers are the most selected players in the Rule 5 draft, and a reliever with the high-octane stuff like Aleman would have been one of the first picks off the board, maybe even the first. We wouldn’t even be talking about this in November if Aleman hadn’t suffered a lat strain back in April that knocked him out most of the season. He would have been on the 40 man earlier in the year and probably made his major league debut. Aleman has the stuff that shouldn’t be hard to crack the Guardians talented bullpen, though there are a list of things he needs to work on (availability, holding runners, fielding, control - probably in that order). He should provide nice depth in 2025, giving him time to work on some things in Triple-A and ride the I-71 shuttle a few times, which is incredible depth as Aleman would probably be in the bullpen of most other clubs.

It was the most eventful week 2024-2025 offseason for the Cleveland Guardians so far, which is obviously a high bar to clear, competing with the re-signing of Austin Hedges. It might be the most eventful 24 hours the Guardians have all offseason regardless, so let’s break it down, starting with the Guardians Rule 5 additions, a surprising subtraction and the trade for a new prospect.

The Guardians Rule 5 Additions

Adding Franco Aleman was the easiest call in all of this. Relievers are the most selected players in the Rule 5 draft, and a reliever with the high-octane stuff like Aleman would have been one of the first picks off the board, maybe even the first. We wouldn’t even be talking about this in November if Aleman hadn’t suffered a lat strain back in April that knocked him out most of the season. He would have been on the 40 man earlier in the year and probably made his major league debut. Aleman has the stuff that shouldn’t be hard to crack the Guardians talented bullpen, though there are a list of things he needs to work on (availability, holding runners, fielding, control - probably in that order). He should provide nice depth in 2025, giving him time to work on some things in Triple-A and ride the I-71 shuttle a few times, which is incredible depth as Aleman would probably be in the bullpen of most other clubs.

I was on the fence between Doug Nikhazy and Ryan Webb both getting added to the 40 man roster. I assumed one or the other would make it with a chance either would go in the Rule 5 draft. Nikhazy made some necessary changes to his delivery in 2024 which probably should have come sooner. That he finally came around on them and they saw positive results worked in his favor here. He found some new velocity this year, though he still needs to sustain it more consistently, which is something that hasn’t happened for Webb. His fastball was waning late 2024, down to 88-91, down from 90-93, 94, to go along with some unfortunate metrics. Nikhazy might have not a pitch as good as Webb’s changeup/curve now, but he has better fastball metrics, more velo, a better track record of health and maybe more average stuff across the board. I think Nikhazy would have been easy to carry on a 26 man roster all season, which is more the reason to add. Webb could be in the same situation, where he might regain some velocity in the bullpen. I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s taken, but I don’t think it’s a guarantee given his stature and velo. For now, Nikhazy has a chance to serve as valuable depth in Triple-A with the possibility of one of Joey Cantillo or Logan Allen pitching there along with names Will Dion (who I don’t think will hear his name called in December) and probably Austin Peterson, along with possibly Webb. Cleveland might also look to improve major league pitching, so a better year of health on that staff leaves some pressure off Nikhazy to jump into two years with his mechanical changes to take root and develop further, though he is 25.

The next two additions caught me off guard (no pun intended). Following the Guardians usual MO, I’m usually pretty good at guessing where this will go, even beyond the no-brainers. I had guessed Joey Cantillo, Tim Herrin and Cade Smith, and that Nic Enright and Kevin Kelly would get taken in the Rule 5 draft in 2022 if left off.

I didn’t not foresee adding Enright at this stage of his career, turning 28 in January and missing much of 2024 with a shoulder strain. That being said, Enright was off to a great start in 2024. Early in the year, his fastball saw a little bump to 93-95, up from about a 90-94 mark. And his fastball has tons of carry up in the zone, so it often plays above its velocity there. He also brings a high spin slider with plenty of depth and does have a useable changeup. Enright used to have a big, power curve that he hasn’t thrown as much in recent years but I thought was a strong offering. Had he been healthy in 2024, I think there’s a good chance he was also already on the 40 and made his pro debut. Enright has always has above average control and plenty of extension due to a big, lanky frame.

Having a feel for who in your organization would be selected is part of the calculus in all of this. That was why I was not considering Petey Halpin at all here. But, there are defensive tools to consider here. He should be able to play all three outfield spots and has the arm to play in right field. He made some small gains last year getting the ball in the air (42% up from almost 39% in 2023) and pull side (41% up from 38%) thanks to some swing changes, which seemed to be ongoing the last couple of seasons. He did run the highest ISO (slugging percentage-batting average = isolated power) (.166) in his second year in Double-A, playing in a pitcher friendly park and league (unless you play for Reading). Strikeouts and contact are still an issue for Halpin, but he did walk enough to make you think that might translate (walk rates are becoming increasingly unstable translation wise through levels thanks to the ABS in Triple-A and the minor/major league pitching gap). It’s not that hard to hide a defensive/speed first outfielder on a bench. I felt like the odds of Halpin being selected were still pretty low, but this is a spot where you either have to trust the Guardians feelers for interest in Halpin in the draft, or look back at a waste of a roster spot. His upside still looks like a fourth outfield type, but I suppose that is the type that also gets taken in the Rule 5 draft. Does adding Halpin also give Cleveland some motivation to move on from some upper level players that aren’t working out (George Valera for one, which I’ll get to, Will Brennan or Johnathan Rodriguez, or somehow maybe even Myles Straw?). There may also be a piece of the signing bonus in there, guarding (again, no pun intended) a $1.525M bonus from 2020, a class right now Cleveland is getting almost nothing from (Carson Tucker is out of baseball, Tanner Burns has stalled and Logan Allen is trying to put the pieces back together after 2024).

A few things should have made me see Enright could be added. In addition to the fact that he would have probably been up this year had he been healthier, he has been selected before and I think other teams would have seen that and he would have been selected again.. Second, there was always a chance Cleveland was going to trade from its bullpen depth to make some moves this winter. Adding Enright made it easier to do so, as now they have a controllable, cheap, optionable depth that throws strikes. They really didn’t have that kind of option in 2024 once Enright and Aleman went down, while they were waiting for Andrew Walters to go through his first pro season. They’ll really need both to be healthy in 2025 in order to realize the advantages of their depth, but you don’t really have that option to bet against when it comes to the Rule 5 because other teams look for players they can stash on injured lists anyway. It’s an even better story that Enright is going to be 28 and previously beat Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2022, shortly after being selected, but it derailed his chances of sticking with Miami. As a former 20th round pick, this is true perseverance and a big deal for this career.

Guardians 40 Man Subtractions

No real surprise that Peter Strzelecki and Connor Gillaspie’s roster spots were used to open room to add others, especially when the other two were Aleman and Enright. Strzelecki was out of options and Gillaspie was a minor league rule 5 pick, so kudos to him for cracking the big leagues anyway. But would Gillaspie and Strzelecki have been needed last year if Aleman and Enright been healthy and available? I expect Gillaspie to clear waivers and Strzelecki to become a free agent, and not having options made him expendable. The only question was how much Cleveland valued having roster fodder (i.e., extra bodies on the 40 you felt like you could move on from in the event of another move.)

Like the Halpin and Enright moves, I did not see Valera being designated for assignment. He is getting a fourth option year due to all the time missed due to injuries, though he wasn’t going to be ready until possibly midway into next season. But they paid him $1.3 million as part of a big international signing class (along with Aaron Bracho, who is now gone, Brayan Rocchio, Alexfri Planez, and Jhonkensy Noel, though Noel was a low money signing) that has not panned out either. Valera has dealt with multiple wrist injuries, hamstring injuries, an abdominal injury and now a torn patellar tendon. Availability is the most important ability. Valera has only played over 100 games once in his six year career (not counting 2020). He had power, a good idea of the zone and a good arm from right field, but there were more swing and miss issues than most reports were suggesting early in his career, often falling for the aesthetically pleasing swing and not acknowledging a hole at the top of the zone due to a grooved swing. But ultimately, it was the injuries. He hadn’t progressed on the field and when injuries mount, it can be hard to maintain past athleticism and abilities you once had. Though there is a possibility that Valera could be traded now, don’t be surprised if he clears waivers, because a team that would try to claim him wouldn’t be able to protect him from the Rule 5 draft and because of his injury status, he’d be an easy pick to stash on the injured list, which is appealing as a former top prospect. That and the injury status now probably make him an unattractive DFA claim and trade candidate. I’m not saying he won’t be traded but I think it’s just as likely he just clears waivers and winds up back in the minors with Cleveland.

Thanks, Eli, Welcome Alfonsin Rosario

There was always a chance that Cleveland was going to trade a reliever this offseason, we just didn’t know who and for what. This may not be the only relief trade they make this offseason, but it’s definitely an interesting one.

Morgan was an expendable piece of a deep bullpen and the Guardians probably could have brought back a big leaguer or a player closer to the majors, but it would have likely been a player with low upside and impact. Essentially another Eli Morgan. Instead, they chose to cash in on an expendable player’s value at his peak and did something the organization doesn’t often do, go for upside. Cleveland will swing for upside in the first round of the draft, but often look for safety down the board (though the high school pitching drafted in 2024 is a little bit of a diverging path) and they do the same in international classes. So in a lot of ways, Rosario isn’t a player they’d normally draft.

The Guardians were reportedly talking to the Cubs about trades, quite possibly involving a reliever, for a solid six months or longer. Multiple versions of a trade were probably discussed, and Morgan was probably shopped to multiple teams.

So, why did the Guardians land on Rosario?

Cleveland took a gamble on some big tools here that they don’t really have in their system. A young, athletic outfielder with present power, some speed and the arm to play right field. It’s a big risk and this trade might bear nothing for the Guardians and the Cubs get a solid, controllable middle reliever out of it. That shouldn’t be that costly for the Guardians if Rosario doesn’t work out, because the odds are greater that his swing and miss issues make it difficult for him to get enough of his power to get past Double-A, than becoming a star or anything usable at the big level. He does a good job hitting the ball out front and gets to his power when he makes contact with a mistake. Cleveland needs guys who can punish mistakes, not just hit them for singles, though they need it at the big league level now, not at High-A.

Rosario isn’t a chaser, staying in the zone enough for his age/level. But his bat path is very grooved and you don’t see a lot of barrel adjustability here to really take advantage of his big power unless someone misses right into the path of his barrel, which is very vertical, but lacks the ability to get to anything else even in the zone, which is why he has so much swing and miss despite not being a big chaser. Maybe Cleveland thinks he’s athletic enough to make some adjustments with health, but this was an issue for him going back to high school.

He’s more likely a corner than a centerfielder, but shouldn’t be an awful defender with time. He’s got below average speed on the bases but enough to work in right field. In high school, Rosario was a pitcher that had a fastball in the upper 90s. He also has athletic bloodlines, the younger brother of Padres OF Eguy Rosario and is related to former Cleveland slugger Franmil Reyes, and Diamondbacks MVP candidate Ketel Marte as native of the Dominican and is bi-lingual. He also gets high marks for character, which we know Cleveland has been more stringent about in recent years.

But for Cleveland, it shows a willingness to take a different method into taking a gamble on high-risk, high-reward, which is something they aren’t doing in other avenues of player acquisition very often.

And it may not just be about if Rosario pans out into anything for the Guardians specifically, but as we saw last season, high-upside high school talents hold their value longer, meaning they hold trade value. So Cleveland may also have the opportunity to flip a high-value asset in a trade for major league talent soon, because outside of the high school pitchers they took in the 2024 draft class, that’s also the kind of talent they don’t have much of in the system either, and it’s one other teams may value in trades. Which is why this low risk gamble moving a middle reliever for a player who could have high upside or carry trade good trade value in the coming year or so makes a ton of sense rather than flipping Morgan for a low-impact high minors player or major league bench player. They have enough of those and it’s about time they did something different.

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Bracho signed with the Dodgers. He never got beyond AA.
Is Valera a minor league FA? IF not, he's still under our control in Columbus.
Also, Reynald Delgado, another depth IF, was signed by the Brewers. He has much greater chance to stick: 24 year old, hit 275 with 791 OPA in AAA last year after a very slow start. 6th round draft pick 2018. From July to end of the season his stats were:
202 AB
31 runs
63 hits
8 double
1 triple
7 homers
20 walks
53 strikeouts
19 steals
7 caught stealing
323/374/465
Left handed hitter. I would have seriously considered him a competitor vs. Schneeman

Is Valera a minor league FA? IF not, he's still under our control in Columbus.

Non tendered. Free agent

That's right. Thanks. I don't remember the distinction between DFA and nontender. Guys who are Designated generally remain within the organization, but I don't know the rules on when the player leaves team control. e.g. Can the Guardians keep Myles Straw on the Columbus roster just because they choose to, or is it a mutual agreement?

He's back. Apparently he and his agent didn't find anyone interested in him, so why not return to the team that has put up with you all these years

CLEVELAND -- Guardians former top prospect George Valera isn’t going anywhere. Last week, Valera was designated for assignment before he was officially non-tendered on Friday evening. On Monday night, the Guardians announced that they re-signed the outfielder to a Minor League contract.

Valera was a top prospect for the Guardians as recently as 2022, as ranked by MLB Pipeline. He had been on the 40-man roster since that season, but he has yet to make his Major League debut, as injuries derailed his '23 campaign. He got hurt again during Spring Training this past year, but finally returned and settled in during the second half of the regular season. In August, he hit .304 with a 1.018 OPS, seven homers and 17 RBIs.

Here’s where it gets complicated.

Valera’s performance was catching everyone’s attention -- to the point that it seemed more than sensible for him to be a September callup. Because starter Alex Cobb was set to come off the injured list on Sept. 1, the second opening came down to Kyle Manzardo and Valera. Manzardo already had a short stint in the Majors earlier in the year that wasn’t overwhelmingly successful. Valera was still waiting for his chance at his debut.

The Guardians knew that Valera was going to be out of options next season. If he didn’t make the Opening Day roster, he’d have to be designated for assignment. That alone made it easy to believe that the team would at least get a look at him in the Majors in 2024 before having to put all their eggs in the ’25 Spring Training basket. Instead, they called on Manzardo, who proceeded to hit two homers in his first game back.

It worked out for Cleveland in the short term, but it threw another wrench into the long-term picture. While playing in the outfield in Triple-A Columbus in September, Valera awkwardly crashed into the wall and fell to the ground, rupturing his patellar tendon in his right knee. His season was over and he had to undergo knee surgery. His recovery window is six to nine months, which means he'll be ready to play between March and June.

Given his medical history, it’s hard to assume that his recovery will take the least amount of time and he’ll be able to be back in action in the early weeks of the season. The Guardians needed spots on their 40-man roster to protect other prospects from the Rule 5 Draft this offseason, and promising one to an injured Minor Leaguer who may not be able to play until the summer was difficult to commit to. So, Valera was designated for assignment and non-tendered, becoming a free agent.

Not only was he not called up before he ran out of options, but for a few days, he was out of the organization without ever seeing the big league field. However, on Monday night, Valera agreed to come back on a Minor League deal, opening up the possibility of seeing his future pan out in Northeast Ohio. Even though his potential is great enough to garner interest from other clubs, a reunion still makes sense for both parties.

Obviously, the Guardians will want to see this through, even though they needed his roster spot until he’s healthy and can prove that he’s ready for the final promotion. But Valera is also returning to an organization that needs outfield depth. This may be the same team and same roster that didn’t find a way for him to get in the grass this past year, but that doesn’t mean it will stay that way in the future. Steven Kwan is in left field. Lane Thomas will either be in center or right (preferably right, if Cleveland can find a center fielder). But everything else is still a question mark.

Alfonsin Rosario

Scouting grades: Hit: 35 | Power: 55 | Run: 60 | Arm: 70 | Field: 55 | Overall: 40

The younger brother of Padres infielder Eguy Rosario, Alfonsin was born in the Dominican Republic and grew up in New Jersey before moving to South Carolina for his high school senior season. He impressed with his physicality on the showcase circuit, though he also came with significant swing-and-miss concerns. A sixth-round pick by the Cubs in 2023, he showcased some of the best all-around tools in their system before they traded him to the Guardians for Eli Morgan in November.

Already 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds, Rosario generates well-above-average raw power and high exit velocities with strength and bat speed from the right side of the plate. He can flash similar speed and plays more as a plus runner who looks to steal bases. He also offers double-plus arm strength and could develop into a solid center fielder, though some scouts think his instincts will land him in right field.

It all comes down to the bat with Rosario. He's an extremely aggressive hitter who looks to pull every pitch he sees and struggles to recognize and adapt to breaking balls and changeups. He struck out at a 35 percent clip in his first two months in Single-A this season and he'll need to prove he can make adjustments, especially as he advances to face higher quality pitching.

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Alfonsin Rosario Prospect Video

https://youtu.be/qmfCsW2jcLA

https://www.mlb.com/stories/alfonsin-rosario-806210

PROSPECT RANKINGS 2024 - Rosario Clock in at #27

https://www.mlb.com/prospects/guardians/

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Travis Bazzana on being drafted, his career and more

First overall pick in the 2024 Draft, Travis Bazzana talks about being drafted, his first season of professional baseball and more

November 21, 2024


https://www.mlb.com/guardians/video/tra ... b-pipeline

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Guardians Breakout Prospect Is Already Preparing For 2025

November 27, 2024

By Andres Chavez

Guardians Breakout Prospect Is Already Preparing For 2025

November 27, 2024

By Andres Chavez

he Cleveland Guardians have several exciting young players that have already left their mark in the MLB club (such as Kyle Manzardo, Jhonkensy Noel, Cade Smith, Andrew Walters and many others) or are close to doing it (Chase DeLauter, Juan Brito, and others).

However, if we take a look at the lower minors, there are many interesting, supremely talented guys who made strides in 2024.

Jaison Chourio and Angel Genao are the two most popular names, but there is another outfielder who might warrant your attention.

His name is Jorge Burgos, he is 22 years old and experienced a power breakout this past season between High-A and Double-A.

According to a clip uploaded by Guardians Prospective, the young slugger is already putting in some work in the batting cage with 2025 in mind.

“Cleveland #Guardians 22yr old OF prospect Jorge Burgos getting in some off-season cage work. Burgos exploded for a career high 18 HR’s in just 86 games played between High-A Lake County and Double-A Akron in 2024. His previous career high mark was 7 over 94 games during the 2023 season,” he posted on X.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1861608799275979091

Burgos has a sweet swing from the left side of the plate.

He returned a solid 113 wRC+ in 305 plate appearances in High-A, where he hit 15 home runs.

They came with a .233 batting average, though.

Burgos also played 15 Double-A contests in which his average dipped all the way to .127 and his strikeout rate rose to 38.3 percent.

If he wants to reach his potential, Burgos would need to significantly drop his strikeout rate.

His brief stint in the high minors evidenced that he needs to work to be prepared to hit tougher pitching with better command.

There is some promise in his lefty swing, though, and it’s good to see him hitting the cage so early.

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Very unlikely prospect considering his low average and strikeout rate. But I wish him well.

BA Rule 5 preview; suggesting top prospects,

Here is a look at the five players who jump out as having the kind of traits that make them among the most plausible picks.
Ryan Webb, LHP, Guardians
Webb was a surging fourth-year lefthander at Georgia in 2021 when he blew out his elbow and had Tommy John surgery. The Guardians selected him in the fourth round that summer, and he debuted a year later in the Arizona Complex League. After making 17 starts with High-A Lake County in 2023, Webb began his season at Double-A Akron. He pitched to a 2.87 ERA with a 26.8% strikeout rate and a 8.8% walk rate and was promoted to Triple-A. He made seven starts with Columbus, pitching to a 2.60 ERA. Webb has below-average velocity on his fastball sitting 90-92 mph, but he mixes a trio of quality secondaries in his low-80s gyro slider, low-80s changeup and upper-70s two-plane curveball. Webb shows excellent command of his slider, changeup and curveball combination and generates whiffs against all three pitches. He has the ability to generate whiffs against his secondaries, attack the strike-zone and suppress hard contact. He could fit into a similar vein as successful 2023 Rule 5 pick Mitch Spence.

QUERY: are we allowed to draft our own player? Unfortunately, by the time Cleveland's chance comes up Webb will be gone.
Why protect Halpin instead of Webb?

Guardians Season in Review: Johnathan Rodriguez

The Guardians prospect had a phenomenal season in AAA

By ZachF1324 Nov 30, 2024, 10:35pm EST

Despite his poor performance in a tiny sample size at the MLB level, Johnathan Rodriguez had a phenomenal 2024 season! It was arguably the best season of his career, which is very impressive considering he has raked at every level of the minor leagues. His final AAA slash line was .301/.390/.540 with a 140 WRC+. While it may not look like a huge difference from his awesome 2023 season where he slashed .280/.376/.560, when you dive deeper you can really see the improvements.

As good as he was in 2023, he was still striking out at a 32.7% clip in AAA, which is a lot higher than you’d like to see. In 2024, that strikeout rate plummeted to a very respectable 25.2% in 508 AAA plate appearances. So where exactly did that improvement come from? In 2023, Rodriguez had a swinging strike% of 16.5%, an overall contact% of 64.2%, a Zone-contact% of 74.1%, and a chase rate of 30.9%. Simply put, he was a guy that swung and missed a lot and swung at a lot of balls out of the zone. In 2024, he drastically improved in all of those metrics. His swinging strike% went from 16.5% to 12.1%. His overal contact% went from 64.2% to 71.3%. His Zone-contact% went from 74.1% to 80.4%, and maybe most importantly his chase rate went from 30.9% to 24.2%. In one offseason, we saw a young hitter who had already been succeeding at the highest level of minor league baseball, improve tenfold in every aspect of his game. He became a much more patient hitter, and drastically improved his swinging and missing at pitches inside the zone.

So what exactly went wrong for Johnny Rockets in his MLB debut? Outside of the fact that he had an extremely small sample size, he simply could not hit the ball in the air in his 40 plate appearances. He had a hilariously high 82.4% groundball rate when he played for the Guardians this year, that is unfathomably bad. While that number obviously would have gone down with more ABs, lifting the ball remains an issue for Rodriguez. In 508 2024 AAA plate appearances, he hit the ball on the ground 50.2% of the time, which is not good at all, that number would have tied him for 10th worst in the MLB. Rodriguez consistently hits the ball really hard, but if you’re hitting the ball on the ground most of the time, it makes it much much harder to be a successful hitter at the big league level, especially if you aren’t a fast runner. The good news is that he did have a 45.5% groundball rate in 363 plate appearances in AA in 2023, and while that still isn’t ideal, if he can get back to that number, it’s a lot more doable than being over 50%.

I’m not all too sure how Johnathan Rodriguez gets an opportunity next season, but there’s no doubt in my mind that he deserves one. He has been one of if not the best hitter in the Guardians minor leagues over the last couple years. He has raked at every level, has borderline elite raw power/bat speed, and has shown major improvement in multiple key areas. I’m hoping to see him contribute for the Guardians in 2025.

Here are some Johnathan Rodriguez highlights from 2024:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1793359160441991518

https://twitter.com/i/status/1798904202879726005

https://twitter.com/i/status/1799980471599698149

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Guardians Reporter Reveals List Of Potential 2025 Signings Ahead Of International Free Agency Class

November 30, 2024

By Andres Chavez

he Cleveland Guardians are projected tohave a little under $7 million to give away in the upcoming 2025 international free agency class.

They have two options: trying to lure Japanese starter Roki Sasaki and spent most, if not all of their allocated money on him or spread the wealth and secure multiple high-upside prospects.

Even if they already have agreements in place to sign some Latino players, they could break them if it means they have a realistic chance at Sasaki.

Since the talented Sasaki is not a lock to go to Cleveland, the team must keep doing its scouting job and identify the right players from the 2025 Class in Latin America.

Team insider Guardians Prospective posted a list of names linked to the Guardians ahead of the signing period.

“Cleveland #Guardians are currently linked to signing the following 24 players listed below for their 2025 International Free Agent Class. The official signing date for the class is January 15th, 2025. Top two signings monetarily are: C- Hiverson Lopez, SS – Heins Brito,” he wrote.

Cleveland #Guardians are currently linked to signing the following 24 players listed below for their 2025 International Free Agent Class. The official signing date for the class is January 15th, 2025.

Top two signings monetarily are:

C - Hiverson Lopez
SS - Heins Brito





The Guards and all MLB teams will be able to sign these players starting on January 15.

Since Sasaki is expected to be posted long before then, that’s probably the date in which he will become available.

The Guardians are currently focused on Lopez, Brito, and the rest of the 24 names listed here.

Part of their recent success can be attributed at how well they scout and develop talent.

Keeping the farm competitive and replenishing it with quality players like Lopez and Brito is what makes Cleveland such a sustainable force.

Sasaki or not, they will remain highly competitive for years to come.

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Those stats for Rodriguez certainly showed significant improvement. I'd like him to get a long look in 25 while Fry recuperates.

Talking Cleveland Guardians Player Development in 2024 with Assistant GM James Harris
Justin Lada
Dec 2


Back in November, I had the opportunity to have a 15 minute phone call with Cleveland Guardians Assistant General Manager James Harris. In the past, I’ve spoken with Harris about player development in his role as the organization’s farm director and then more recently, I had spoken with Rob Cerfolio before he left for a promotion with the St. Louis Cardinals this offseason.

Harris has also been good about shedding light on player development behind the scenes from injuries, on field and off-field changes, as well as other insights that go into player development.

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Questions and some answers have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

Justin Lada: What has the process been like partnering with Travis Bazzana so far, as someone who wants to play, work and develop at a rapid pace and played a very heavy college workload and then wanted to play a lot once he got into the system? Have you had to reign him in a little on workload?

James Harris: He’s his own best coach. He knows exactly where he wants to get better and drives himself to get better every day. He's partnering with our defensive coaches as well as our offensive coaches. And he has an idea of what he wants to work on. It's not a coach-player relationship. It's a partner relationship between the two and it's been great. We love it.

JL: How is Daniel Espino’s rehab going and what does his status look like going in 2025 as far as getting back to pitching at an affiliate?

JH: If you know Daniel, you know, he's going to come every single day and give his best effort towards getting healthy. We want him to be healthy and he wants to be as healthy as he possibly can. He's starting a throwing program now. As far as projection for 2025, we won't know until earlier in the year but he's starting that throwing program now, and so far so good.

JL: What adjustments did Jhonkensy Noel have to make to get a better handle on Triple-A and then impact the big league club the way he did? And will he be getting a fourth option year?

JH: We're thinking this is going to be his last year of options and we'll get that information here shortly. But we're optimistic in that regard. He’s finding better pitches to hit. So he’s reduced his chase rate and identified pitches that he can drive extremely hard and he's been able to do that at the major league level along with the pressure.

JL: Another guy who really jumped on the radar this year with a lot of people. It was Austin Peterson. You know, I really liked him in college and Um, Maybe thought we'd see more from him. Maybe results wise, I know you guys always stress results, don't mean progress, but the results were much better for Austin Peterson this year. What do you think changed for him?

JH: He’s an elite strike thrower, and he also has the curveball, slider and the changeup to complement the fastball. He throws them all in the zone for strikes. I think the mentality is different this year where he's challenging hitters in the zone and he's having great results…Mostly a fastball slider, but he's thrown his curveball more, and he's getting a lot of people taking it for called strikes. So he got a lot of results with it along with the changeup and fastball throwing it about 15% of the time.

JL: What went into the changes to mechanics and delivery for Doug Nikhazy and how did the organization and Doug feel about how they worked out?

JH: It started off with increasing his velo. He was able to increase a mile or two coming into the season and he was able to hold that. Then it was adjusting to the ball at Triple-A. If you know Doug, he takes the ball and competes. He’s trying to compete in the zone. And with an extra two miles an hour, it was pretty successful for him.

Initially, we thought (adjusting the Triple-A ball) was mental. It's a different ball because it's the major league ball and they don't use that in any other level except for Triple-A and the major leagues. But we saw pitcher after pitcher going back to guys like Logan Allen and Triston McKenzie. With the transition to the Triple-A level with the Triple-A ball, it takes almost like a quarter of a season to get used to it, but once they do it's pretty good.

JL: Regarding guys like Peterson/Messick/Wilkinson/Webb, when it comes to promotions, you always say that the player dictates when he’s ready for a promotion and new challenge. How much do you have to factor in when a player might need a promotion and new challenge, but there may not be meaningful playing time for them at the next level and if you also have someone to backfill that playing time as well?

JH: It's less about backfilling because we have a lot of pitchers in the system and some guys can adjust their role to take more innings. It's more about the promotion and opportunities. So if a guy is starting at one level and he’s got the ability to continue to start at the next level, it's a lot easier to move that player if he's dominated the level that he’s currently at. We like to align to give him the full opportunity and if that opportunity is not ready, we might hold them a little bit but then that will allow us to create a new opportunity at a higher level…(Backfilling) is not zero but a lot of times we have guys in the pen and have length at the current level. So you only have five sometimes six starters but the guys who are in the pen, in some cases used to be starters. So some of those guys, if you don't have a starter who's coming from a level below, you can kind of extend some of the people in the pen at the current level. There's a lot of strategies that we can do to do that, but we tend not to push guys who aren't ready for the next level.

JL: You guys added a lot of high school pitching talent from this draft class. What are some of the different ways you might have to work on roster assignments and development plans for that size of a pitching group, vs. how you might approach that with a larger class of college pitchers that you’ve had in the past?

JH: You can’t take anything for granted about what they know about their bodies, their pitch mix, arm care and things of that nature. It's almost like the John Wooden ‘teach them how to put their shoes on and make sure that they don't get blisters.’ We brought all of our young players in (during a week in November), and we're talking about mindset, we're talking about the mental aspect to the game. We're talking about physical components. So that's part of the program that's occurring right now in November, but when we draft them early on, it’s about arm care, catch play, structure, strength and conditioning and things a high school player might not know that might help them take the next step in their development.

JL: How’s Chase DeLauter’s progress going playing in the AFL and getting back those at bats he missed this year? What went into the decision to just have him DH out there?

JH: We were looking to increase his at bats for this year. We felt like he played in the outfield enough, especially in his rehabs. We just wanted him to see some live pitching

Chase was excited about it. And in between, he's coming to the complex every day to get additional work. So that's why we wanted to DH him, because we're going to be putting so much of a workload on him here at the complex with our coaches that we didn't want to double up on it.

JL: Angel Genao really showed a lot of growth this year, what did the organization see the most growth in from him and what do you think led to that?

JH: He’s maturing before our eyes. As he’s added the dedication off the field, the onfield performance increased. It’s positive reinforcement for the work he was putting in. Other players looked at him and followed him. It had a positive snowball effect.

JL: Jaison Chourio earned quite a lot of attention this year and it was unfortunate how his season ended, is he on track to be good to go in spring of ‘25 and how do you feel about what he was able to accomplish in 2024?

JH: He’s good to go now. He’s another guy who’s matured and played well at that level.

Unfortunately, two days before we were going to move him onto the next level, he got hurt. So we felt that he was ready last year for the next level and be able to do that in High-A and he'll be ready to go right out of shoot on once spring training starts.

We were disappointed for him, but he had a great year and there’s more to build off of there and we're excited to get him back in and start working again.

JL: Juan Brito played around the diamond quite a bit this year and that didn’t seem to phase his offensive game. What did you make of his ability to continue to be who he is at the plate while doing that and his progress at different positions?

JH: We don't know where he's gonna be able to impact us at the major league level. It might be right field. We have a platinum glover in second base. We have, um, Naylor and Manzardo at first base. We have a potential future Hall of Famer at third base. We know we like the bat and we think the bat can play at the major league level. So he has to play every position to maintain versatility. It was awesome to see that and still succeed offensively.

JL: We saw Ralphy Velazquez play some OF in 2024 and make a really great catch robbing a home run last year. And he went from playing high school ball in ‘23 to a full pro season in ‘24. What do you make of how he handled the year and does 1B/OF continue to look like his future for the time being, and not a return to catching?

JH: So Ralphy had the hand injury last year, so we backed off of catching a little bit. We wanted to make sure that he maintained versatility. So we put him in the outfield because he's an athlete and he wanted to do it. He performed out there and exceeded our expectations off the field as well, and he loves the game. So you just can't keep the guy off the field. He's coming from high school so he's learning how to take care of his body and he's learning routines. So the sky's the limit for him, I would not eliminate catching from his future. Think of the success we had with David Fry. I’m not saying he’s David Fry, but we don't want to limit his versatility. If we can keep catching alive, I think it would be the most advantageous thing to do for our organization.

JL: Cooper Ingle mentioned in an interview with me earlier this year how one of the focuses he really took to was learning to work on pulling the ball in the air more. What was it about Cooper that you guys thought that was something he could do better and is that a trait the organization values or looks at, someone who can do that or seeing qualities that makes them seem like they will be able to do that more?

JH: If you look at our org, you can see we have guys who put the ball in play. Those are the types of players we like. But if you can identify pitches that you can drive, we want to help players do that and then do that effectively. So for him, we knew that if he could pull those balls in the air, he could make more of an impact out of his profile. That doesn’t mean that he's not going to be the same guy that he's always been. It's more about identifying opportunities to take shots. Our coaches have done a good job of helping our players identify those opportunities.

Great article !