Guardians send 7 players to minor league camp in second roster reduction of spring

Updated: Mar. 11, 2025, 1:42 p.m.|Published: Mar. 11, 2025, 1:22 p.m.

By Joe Noga, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Guardians sent seven players to minor league camp on Tuesday in the latest roster reduction at the club’s Goodyear, Ariz. training facility.

No. 28 prospect Petey Halpin, who hit .063 with seven strikeouts in 10 Cactus League games, was among those cut loose from big league camp.

Halpin, 22, was added to Cleveland’s 40-man roster in November. He was optioned to Triple-A Columbus, where he will presumably open the season as the Clippers' starting center fielder.

A third round pick out of St. Francis High School in San Mateo, Calif. in 2020. He hit .233 with 12 home runs and 45 RBI in 90 games for Double-A Akron last year while missing time due to a wrist injury that required surgery in the offseason.

Other players reassigned to minor league camp for Cleveland included:

LHP Will Dion: Ranked second on the club with 11 strikeouts in six Cactus League innings. Allowed three runs, but did not walk any of the 25 batters he faced in three relief appearances.

RHP Tanner Burns: Made four relief appearances covering 5 1/3 innings with three strikeouts and a 6.75 ERA. Allowed two home runs and walked three.

RHP Mason Hickman: Allowed seven hits and six earned runs over 5 1/3 innings while striking out six and walking five. Earned a save Feb. 28 against Colorado.

RHP Jack Leftwich: Appeared in four games and allowed seven runs on eight hits with four strikeouts.

C Jake Anchia: Did not record a hit and struck out three times in six Cactus League at-bats.

C Cooper Ingle: Drove in four runs and hit .455 in 11 spring at-bats over six games. The club’s No. 7 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, he walked three times and struck two.

Tuesday’s cuts come after Cleveland’s first round of roster reductions on Saturday that saw injured players such as Chase DeLauter and George Valera reassigned to minor league camp while Franco Aleman, Nic Enright and Daniel Espino were optioned to Triple-A.

In the fold:

The club also announced Tuesday that it has reached agreement on one-year contracts for the 2025 season with all 28 of its pre-arbitration eligible players. The players include:

Aleman, Logan Allen, Gabriel Arias, Tanner Bibee, Will Brennan, Juan Brito, Joey Cantillo, Slade Cecconi, Enright, Espino, Tyler Freeman, David Fry, Hunter Gaddis, Halpin, Tim Herrin, Kyle Manzardo, Angel Martinez, Bo Naylor, Doug Nikhazy, Jhonkensy Noel, Luis Ortiz, Brayan Rocchio, Johnathan Rodriguez, Erik Sabrowski, Daniel Schneemann, Cade Smith, Andrew Walters and Gavin Williams.


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Why Carlos Santana turned down more money to return ‘home’ to Cleveland

Updated: Mar. 11, 2025, 6:38 p.m.|Published: Mar. 11, 2025, 5:59 p.m.

By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — For the longest time this offseason Chris Antonetti felt that Josh Naylor would be the Guardians first baseman on opening day.

It didn’t matter that Naylor would be a free agent at the end of the 2025 season. It’s still unclear if there was any attempt to sign Naylor to a multiyear deal, but if there was those talks had turned cold a while ago.

Antonetti, president of baseball operations, and the front office just couldn’t find the right match for a trade. But two days before Christmas, with the market for first basemen starting to move, the Guardians traded Naylor to Arizona for right-hander Slade Cecconi and a Competitive Round B draft pick.

An instant after that trade took place, the Guardians reached a one-year agreement with the second most productive switch-hitter in franchise history — free agent first baseman Carlos Santana. The soon to be 39-year-old Santana was coming home for the third time in his career.

“Cleveland is home to me,” said Santana. “Everyone knows I’ve played a long time here. I know everybody here. I know Chris Antonetti and the front office.

“They gave me the opportunity to start my big league career here. They wanted me back and I’m back.”

The Guardians weren’t the only ones pursuing Santana. The Mariners, both New York teams, Detroit, Arizona, Texas and San Diego showed interest. The Mariners, according to the Athletic, offered Santana a two-year deal with a club option for a third year for more money than Cleveland’s offer.

“There were plenty of other offers,” said Santana. “But Cleveland is my home. My family and I made the decision to come here.”

There’s nothing better than a good homecoming story. Santana made his big league debut with the Indians in 2010 after being acquired from the Dodgers in a 2008 trade for Casey Blake.

Santana left for the first time after the 2017 season to sign a three-year free agent deal with the Phillies. He returned in 2019 as part of a three-team deal with the Rays and Mariners.

This time he stayed through 2020 before signing with Kansas City as a free agent.

Now Santana, who turns 39 on April 8 (Cleveland’s home opener), is being counted on to help an offense that must replace the 31 homers and 108 RBI Naylor provided last year. If he’s worried about doing that, he hides it well.

“No, I don’t feel pressure,” said Santana. “Why? Nothing has changed. I don’t have pressure. It’s the same game. I just try to help my team to make it to the playoffs and the World Series.”

Jose Ramirez and Santana are the most productive switch-hitters in Cleveland history. Ramirez has 255 homers and Santana is next with 216. Regarding RBI by switch-hitters, Ramirez and Santana rank first and second as well with 864 RBI and 710, respectively.

Outside the realm of switch-hitting, Santana ranks second with 881 walks, sixth in homers and eighth in extra base hits with 503 in franchise history. When you play 1,334 games with one team, that’s what can happen.

While Ramirez is the Guardians' focal point on offense, Santana shouldn’t be far behind. Last year with the Twins, he hit .236 (124 for 521) with 26 doubles, 23 homers, 71 RBI and a .749 OPS (onbase percentage + slugging percentage). He is tied for fifth among active big leaguers with nine seasons of 20 or more homers.

This spring manager Stephen Vogt has been testing Ramirez in the No.2 spot in the lineup — he traditionally hits third — with Santana or Lane Thomas batting third. Without Naylor, he’s trying to find more protection for Ramirez.

“Steven Kwan (leadoff) and Jose (second or third) are pretty dialed into their spots,” said Vogt. “It’s among Carlos, Lane and some others as to how can we best protect everyone and put them in a position to get on base, drive in runs, steal bases ... all those things.”

Vogt builds his lineups to swing hard and fast. He wants to beat the opposing starting pitcher. Santana should have no problem with that strategy. He’s spent his career hitting in the middle of the lineup.

In Santana’s big league debut on June 11, 2010, then manager Manny Acta inserted him in the No. 3 spot. Santana, a catcher at that time, stayed there until his season ended in a collision at the plate in Fenway Park on Aug. 2. Santana needed surgery on his left knee.

Santana has played catcher, third base and the outfield during his career. But it wasn’t until he became a fulltime first baseman in 2015 that he found his position. Last year the 38-year-old Santana became the oldest position player in history to win a Gold Glove.

“I’ve been fighting for that,” said Santana. “I’d finished in the top three, but never won it. Last year I focused on that and I won it.”

The Gold Glove almost didn’t happen. After the 2023 season, Santana drew little interest as a free agent after playing for Milwaukee and Pittsburgh. He thought his career was over.

“Last year was tough,” he said. “I felt I was almost done. But people around me kept me positive. They said look at you, you look great. You have passion for baseball. Why would you retire?

“When you make that decision, and your body says no more, you’re done. Right now, I feel great.”

The Twins threw Santana a lifeline when they signed him on Feb. 2, 2024.

Santana is determined to play for as long as he can. He hired a chef and a trainer. He no longer drinks alcohol.

What he doesn’t have is a house in Cleveland. The day before he came to terms with the Guardians, he sold his home in Bratenahl.

Here’s betting Santana’s homecoming won’t be homeless for long.


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Guardians pitchers issue 13 walks in 10-4 spring training loss to Dodgers

Updated: Mar. 11, 2025, 7:21 p.m.|Published: Mar. 11, 2025, 7:10 p.m.

By Joe Noga, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Guardians pitchers issued 13 walks and allowed six runs in the first inning Tuesday as the Dodgers prepared for their season-opening trip to Japan by dealing Cleveland a 10-4 spring training loss at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz.

Doug Nikhazy, competing for a spot on Cleveland’s opening day roster, made his first Cactus League start in his fourth appearance of spring training, allowing seven runs on four hits in 1 2/3 innings.

He tossed three shutout innings with six strikeouts in his previous outing against the Diamondbacks last week, but ran into trouble early when Shohei Ohtani walked and Tommy Edman belted his third spring home run to put the Dodgers in front.

Will Smith and Max Muncy added doubles off Nikhazy, with Muncy’s two-out shot to left scoring Smith for a 3-0 Dodgers lead. Magnus Ellerts replaced Nikhazy and walked four straight batters as LA scored three more times and led 6-0 by the end of the first.

Nikhazy re-entered in the second and hit Teoscar Hernandez with a pitch before loading the bases and allowing a two-run single to Andy Pages. Seven of LA’s first nine runs scored with two out.

Nikhazy was not the only Guardians pitcher who had trouble commanding the strike zone. Relief ace Tim Herrin struggled in the third, walking three and allowing an RBI single to Enrique Hernandez.

It was the first run allowed by Herrin, who had not walked a batter in three previous spring appearances for Cleveland.

Dodgers rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki, meanwhile, dominated Guardians hitters for four innings in his final spring tuneup before he starts Game 2 of LA’s series at the Tokyo Dome next week against the Cubs.

Sasaki, signed by the Dodgers in the offseason after pitching four seasons for the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan, walked two and struck out two, allowing only a base hit to Gabriel Arias leading off the second.

Arias has hits in back-to-back games and is batting .269 in 27 plate appearances as he battles for the Guards' starting second base job.

The Dodgers built a 10-run lead before Cleveland scored four unanswered runs after starters on both sides were long gone from the game.

Kahlil Watson singled and scored on an RBI triple by Micah Pries in the sixth off Dodgers righty Landon Knack. Pries later scored on a base hit by Guardians No. 5 prospect Ralphy Velazquez.

Cleveland added two more runs in the seventh on a Guy Lipscomb double and an RBI ground out by Jonathan Rodriguez.

Pries, in his second big league camp, added a base hit in the eighth and is batting .471 in 19 plate appearances. His six RBI are tied with Bo Naylor for second most by a Cleveland hitter this spring.

The Guardians fell to 7-10-1 in spring training exhibition games. The Dodgers finished their Cactus League run at 12-8.

Next:

The Guardians return to Goodyear Ballpark to host San Francisco on Wednesday. Left-hander Joey Cantillo (1-1, 6.00) will make his fourth Cactus League start for Cleveland. Righty Tristan Beck (0-0, 6.75) will take the mound for the Giants. First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET. The game will air on WTAM 1100 AM and the Guardains Radio Network. Pitchers scheduled to follow Cantillo include Emmanuel Clase, Jakob Junis, Slade Cecconi and Zak Kent.


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Off day for Nizhazy.