Joseph John Castiglione (born March 2, 1947)[1] is an American radio announcer for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball,[2] an author[3] and lecturer.[2] Castiglione is the recipient of the 2024 Ford C. Frick Award, presented by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. [4]
Early life and career
Castiglione was born in Hamden, Connecticut, and graduated from Colgate University with a BA in Liberal Arts.[2] He was the radio voice of Colgate football and baseball while a student.[3] He then received an MA in radio/TV from Syracuse University's S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in 1970. He also worked on the WAER-FM staff at SU.[5][6] While at Syracuse, he worked a variety of on-air jobs for WSYR-TV (now WSTM-TV). He began his career in Youngstown, Ohio, broadcasting football games for $15 a game, and as sports reporter for WFMJ-TV in 1972.[7]
Castiglione states that he was a New York Yankees fan as a kid,[8] then closely followed the Pittsburgh Pirates because they were the closest to Youngstown, and likewise became an Indians fan after moving to Cleveland.[9] His first major job as a sportscaster was in Cleveland in 1979, where he called Cleveland Indians and Cleveland Cavaliers games and did sports reporting for WKYC-TV.[8] He also called a handful of Milwaukee Brewers games for pay-cable channel SelecTV in 1981.[10]
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10144Thank you for your compassionate thoughts. I will have to consider a possible new identity.
Re: Articles
10145>O
"ne aspect that needs to be mentioned is the offensive environment in Amarillo. The Texas League is one of, if not the most, hitter-friendly leagues, and Amarillo is the most hitter-friendly environment in that league. That creates massively inflated numbers which can mask a lot of underlying problems for a hitter. Hazen addressed this as well. "The challenge for us with position players is in those environments in Amarillo and Reno it's really hard for us to pin down the true offensive profile. And if it's not built on plate discipline, on base, it's complicated.
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10146Perhaps Nevets Nawk?civ ollilavad wrote: Thu Dec 07, 2023 9:18 am Thank you for your compassionate thoughts. I will have to consider a possible new identity.
UD
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10147A good reason why mistakes are made both ways. This will give the Guardians a chance to form their own opinion. If I had to bet he will be returned or a trade will be worked out that will allow him to be in AA. No way is he on the major league roster opening day.civ ollilavad wrote: Thu Dec 07, 2023 9:19 am >O"ne aspect that needs to be mentioned is the offensive environment in Amarillo. The Texas League is one of, if not the most, hitter-friendly leagues, and Amarillo is the most hitter-friendly environment in that league. That creates massively inflated numbers which can mask a lot of underlying problems for a hitter. Hazen addressed this as well. "The challenge for us with position players is in those environments in Amarillo and Reno it's really hard for us to pin down the true offensive profile. And if it's not built on plate discipline, on base, it's complicated.
Re: Articles
10148After quiet Winter Meetings, Guardians trying to find their way back to … Baltimore?
NASHVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 05:
By Jason Lloyd
7h ago
26
Save Article
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — They are two franchises rarely compared, one a coastal city competing in the heaviest of big boy divisions, the other enjoying Midwest life in baseball’s flyweight class. Nevertheless, there remain striking similarities between the Cleveland Guardians and the Baltimore Orioles.
Both are the rare family-owned franchises, run by successful attorneys, in a sport quickly being swallowed up by billionaire business sharks. Both have built successful major-league products on tight budgets over the past five years that have produced a thriving farm system ranked among the best in the game.
And in 2022, they finished first and second in the Manager of the Year voting. Terry Francona was the well-deserved winner, nearly doubling the vote total of Baltimore’s Brandon Hyde.
Both franchises surprised in their division races and across baseball in 2022, but if we’re being honest, just based on geography, the Guardians seemed to have a clearer runway for sustained success within their division over the next 3-5 years. Yet in the 13 months since Francona’s award, the Guardians and Orioles have trended in opposite directions.
While the Guardians regressed from a 92-win division champion to a third-place finish with a losing record last season, the Orioles exploded into unlikely 101-win champions of the toughest division in the sport.
How did that happen?
“I thought our guys gained incredible, valuable experience last year,” Hyde said during the Winter Meetings. “A lot of things we did for the first time. Obviously, we made the postseason, but playing with a lead late in the season, being able to hold on to a lead, winning over 100 games, winning our division. It’s a big deal.”
To be clear, I don’t believe the Guardians are that far from flipping things back to 2022. Their dominant pitching will always keep them around the division race provided they’re healthy. Better production in a few spots in the lineup and this team could easily return to being division champions next year. Furthermore, Stephen Vogt has injected fresh blood and energy into a franchise that needed some juice.
Francona is a legend for what he did here and he left with the adoration of the entire franchise. But everyone around the Guardians spent this week talking about Vogt’s passion and energy, the smile that never wanes and the excitement for something new.
Francona is 64. Vogt just turned 39. It’s obviously going to be different.
“I know I’m a leader. I know I can get the best out of the people around me,” Vogt said this week. “I don’t know everything. I’ve never pretended to know everything. I want a lot of smart people around me to help. I’m really good at leading people and I want to help a group of guys go out there and win a World Series.”
Vogt walked into managers meetings at the Opryland Resort this week surrounded by guys with whom he once played under. He has connections to about half the managers in the league. He was greeted by media members and league personnel alike everywhere he went.
His energy reinvigorated pitching coach Carl Willis, who strongly considered following Francona out the door but instead pivoted and agreed to return once learning Vogt was the choice.
Vogt has reached out to a number of players on the roster, although since he’s not far removed from being a player, he understands that guys don’t want to be bothered by their manager during the offseason. Some guys have been eager to talk. A few haven’t responded yet. No big deal. He’ll see them in February.
Where the Orioles thrived last year was on the success of young positional players meeting and exceeding their potential. Adley Rutschman is a flourishing superstar. Gunnar Henderson was the unanimous Rookie of the Year winner ahead of Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee, again illustrating the hitting and pitching differences between the two organizations. The Orioles are flush with hitting and there’s more on the way. Developing elite pitching has been more of a struggle.
The Guardians are the exact opposite.
Club officials spoke with an ominous tone at the Winter Meetings about adding payroll. The television rights fiasco has complicated future budgets. No one seems to know yet how much money the team will receive for its broadcast rights.
There won’t be a free-agent shopping spree in Cleveland this winter. The Guardians’ biggest transaction during the three days in Nashville was selecting intriguing slugger Deyvison De Los Santos from Arizona in the Rule 5 draft. De Los Santos, who has mostly played on the corners but who could also give the outfield a try with Cleveland, played in Double A last year at age 20. He brings electric power potential to a team that desperately needs some cheap punch.
“He has prodigious raw power,” Guardians assistant general manager Matt Forman said of De Los Santos. “And he’s working to find ways to consistently tap into that power.”
The payroll hovered around $90 million last season and is a safe bet to remain at that level again. That makes filling the gaping lineup holes incredibly difficult. Like Baltimore, Cleveland is bursting with top prospects. At least a few seem destined to be bundled and packaged for an impact player at a position of weakness, but we’ve been writing and waiting for that for multiple years and it still hasn’t happened.
Making trades is hard. Making trades of minor leaguers for established major-league talent under the order that there is little payroll flexibility is incredibly difficult.
As executives checked out of their hotel rooms Wednesday, the Orioles filled one of their biggest needs by signing free-agent closer Craig Kimbrel to a one-year, $13 million deal. The Guardians, conversely, may be forced to dangle their cost-controlled closer this winter to fill other needs.
They dipped into the free-agent waters last year and Josh Bell nearly drowned them. This year, they’re staying safe on land. It’s a slow, dry trudge back to the top.
NASHVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 05:
By Jason Lloyd
7h ago
26
Save Article
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — They are two franchises rarely compared, one a coastal city competing in the heaviest of big boy divisions, the other enjoying Midwest life in baseball’s flyweight class. Nevertheless, there remain striking similarities between the Cleveland Guardians and the Baltimore Orioles.
Both are the rare family-owned franchises, run by successful attorneys, in a sport quickly being swallowed up by billionaire business sharks. Both have built successful major-league products on tight budgets over the past five years that have produced a thriving farm system ranked among the best in the game.
And in 2022, they finished first and second in the Manager of the Year voting. Terry Francona was the well-deserved winner, nearly doubling the vote total of Baltimore’s Brandon Hyde.
Both franchises surprised in their division races and across baseball in 2022, but if we’re being honest, just based on geography, the Guardians seemed to have a clearer runway for sustained success within their division over the next 3-5 years. Yet in the 13 months since Francona’s award, the Guardians and Orioles have trended in opposite directions.
While the Guardians regressed from a 92-win division champion to a third-place finish with a losing record last season, the Orioles exploded into unlikely 101-win champions of the toughest division in the sport.
How did that happen?
“I thought our guys gained incredible, valuable experience last year,” Hyde said during the Winter Meetings. “A lot of things we did for the first time. Obviously, we made the postseason, but playing with a lead late in the season, being able to hold on to a lead, winning over 100 games, winning our division. It’s a big deal.”
To be clear, I don’t believe the Guardians are that far from flipping things back to 2022. Their dominant pitching will always keep them around the division race provided they’re healthy. Better production in a few spots in the lineup and this team could easily return to being division champions next year. Furthermore, Stephen Vogt has injected fresh blood and energy into a franchise that needed some juice.
Francona is a legend for what he did here and he left with the adoration of the entire franchise. But everyone around the Guardians spent this week talking about Vogt’s passion and energy, the smile that never wanes and the excitement for something new.
Francona is 64. Vogt just turned 39. It’s obviously going to be different.
“I know I’m a leader. I know I can get the best out of the people around me,” Vogt said this week. “I don’t know everything. I’ve never pretended to know everything. I want a lot of smart people around me to help. I’m really good at leading people and I want to help a group of guys go out there and win a World Series.”
Vogt walked into managers meetings at the Opryland Resort this week surrounded by guys with whom he once played under. He has connections to about half the managers in the league. He was greeted by media members and league personnel alike everywhere he went.
His energy reinvigorated pitching coach Carl Willis, who strongly considered following Francona out the door but instead pivoted and agreed to return once learning Vogt was the choice.
Vogt has reached out to a number of players on the roster, although since he’s not far removed from being a player, he understands that guys don’t want to be bothered by their manager during the offseason. Some guys have been eager to talk. A few haven’t responded yet. No big deal. He’ll see them in February.
Where the Orioles thrived last year was on the success of young positional players meeting and exceeding their potential. Adley Rutschman is a flourishing superstar. Gunnar Henderson was the unanimous Rookie of the Year winner ahead of Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee, again illustrating the hitting and pitching differences between the two organizations. The Orioles are flush with hitting and there’s more on the way. Developing elite pitching has been more of a struggle.
The Guardians are the exact opposite.
Club officials spoke with an ominous tone at the Winter Meetings about adding payroll. The television rights fiasco has complicated future budgets. No one seems to know yet how much money the team will receive for its broadcast rights.
There won’t be a free-agent shopping spree in Cleveland this winter. The Guardians’ biggest transaction during the three days in Nashville was selecting intriguing slugger Deyvison De Los Santos from Arizona in the Rule 5 draft. De Los Santos, who has mostly played on the corners but who could also give the outfield a try with Cleveland, played in Double A last year at age 20. He brings electric power potential to a team that desperately needs some cheap punch.
“He has prodigious raw power,” Guardians assistant general manager Matt Forman said of De Los Santos. “And he’s working to find ways to consistently tap into that power.”
The payroll hovered around $90 million last season and is a safe bet to remain at that level again. That makes filling the gaping lineup holes incredibly difficult. Like Baltimore, Cleveland is bursting with top prospects. At least a few seem destined to be bundled and packaged for an impact player at a position of weakness, but we’ve been writing and waiting for that for multiple years and it still hasn’t happened.
Making trades is hard. Making trades of minor leaguers for established major-league talent under the order that there is little payroll flexibility is incredibly difficult.
As executives checked out of their hotel rooms Wednesday, the Orioles filled one of their biggest needs by signing free-agent closer Craig Kimbrel to a one-year, $13 million deal. The Guardians, conversely, may be forced to dangle their cost-controlled closer this winter to fill other needs.
They dipped into the free-agent waters last year and Josh Bell nearly drowned them. This year, they’re staying safe on land. It’s a slow, dry trudge back to the top.
Re: Articles
10149Baseball's Flyweight class.
Sums it up rather well.
Maybe our luck is changing now that we won the draft lottery.
Gonna need luck....lots of it.
Sums it up rather well.
Maybe our luck is changing now that we won the draft lottery.
Gonna need luck....lots of it.
Re: Articles
10150Good suggestion;Perhaps Nevets Nawk?
If I were a 14 year old baseball fan, I'm sure he'd my favorite like Vic was when I WAS 14.
Not to mention that Nevets Nawk is a pretty cool name.
I could try Sicnarf Loopstock backwards, but that's kind of missing the point.
[I believe Noel Rengaw is also gone? How about Yrral Nworb.... the last name was always quite musical sounding.
Re: Articles
10154Guardians must place their bets early on player extensions these days
HOUSTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 02: Tanner Bibee #61 of the Cleveland Guardians pitches in the first inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on August 02, 2023 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)
By Jason Lloyd
Dec 8, 2023
37
Save Article
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As the Guardians celebrate their surprising victory in Major League Baseball’s draft lottery, here’s something to consider. Whoever they choose with the first pick in June, they might need to come prepared with a seven-year contract that buys out all of his arbitration seasons right there at the podium. If they wait until spring training 2025, it might be too late.
It’s a joke, sort of. But not really. Players are increasingly rejecting the long-term, pre-arbitration deals that Cleveland made famous in the mid-1990s, choosing instead to cash a few checks in arbitration before taking their shot in free agency. That’s making it increasingly difficult for small-market teams like the Guardians to bake any sort of cost certainty into future payrolls. The price tag on the final arbitration season on elite talent is getting awfully expensive — Cleveland traded Francisco Lindor in 2021 when his final arbitration season was worth $22 million and now Juan Soto should surpass $30 million this year in his final season before free agency.
The window to sign players to extensions is closing earlier and earlier. The Guardians’ last chance with pitcher Tanner Bibee, for example, might be this winter. Given the fact he was awarded an extra year of service time for finishing second in the Rookie of the Year voting, that’s not even a guarantee.
The changing climate is making it increasingly difficult for the Guardians to sign pre-arb players to long-term deals.
The Guardians signed Andrés Giménez to a seven-year deal in March, but the last pitchers here to get such extensions were Carlos Carrasco and Corey Kluber before the 2015 season. That was nearly 10 years ago. Extension-worthy pitchers such as Mike Clevinger, Trevor Bauer and Bieber have all passed through Cleveland since. None have signed extensions, although the Guardians at least tried with each, and now Bieber remains a popular name in trade rumors just a year from free agency.
go-deeper
GO DEEPER
What I'm hearing at Winter Meetings on Guardians' payroll, Shane Bieber, Emmanuel Clase
Bibee, Gavin Williams and Triston McKenzie are the next group of pitchers who are prime extension candidates.
McKenzie and the club neared a deal toward the end of spring training last year, according to an industry source with direct knowledge of the discussions. The complex deal included a number of incentives, but the negotiations broke down around the time he strained a muscle in his shoulder that forced him to miss two months. It wasn’t the first significant arm injury for McKenzie, who was limited to just four starts last season. The two sides never agreed on the extension. He is eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter.
The larger theme in all of this is how teams are getting pushed to make decisions on guys faster than ever before. Just this week, the Milwaukee Brewers signed 19-year-old outfield prospect Jackson Chourio to an eight-year, $82 million deal before his first big-league at-bat.
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I asked Brewers general manager Matt Arnold this week if he ever could’ve imagined 10 years ago signing a player to that much money before his first at-bat.
“Great question. Probably not,” Arnold said. “But the world is different now. You have to make different bets and we think there’s asymmetric upside to this one.”
The Guardians’ comfort levels are about to be tested again. There’s Bibee and Williams and Josh Naylor and Steven Kwan, each of whom has at least varying degrees of experience and success and would seem to be extension candidates. But there’s also Kyle Manzardo. He may not be as highly ranked in prospect circles as Chourio, but he’s a bat that could be in the middle of Cleveland’s lineup for years to come. Would the Guardians actually sign him to a deal before Opening Day? It doesn’t appear likely. The Guardians seem averse to taking such gambles on unproven commodities because the consequences for being wrong are so punitive. They need at least a little bit of proof guys can play in Cleveland before they’re ready to pay up.
go-deeper
GO DEEPER
The Athletic’s 2023-24 MLB Top 40 Free Agent Big Board: Tracking where they land
For every such deal that works in favor of the club, such as the time Eloy Jiménez signed with the White Sox before his debut, there are cases like Jon Singleton, Scott Kingery and Evan White.
Singleton signed a five-year, $10 million deal with Houston in 2014 before his first major-league plate appearance. The Astros received 357 at-bats and 14 home runs for the investment. Singleton was a bust, although he is attempting a comeback at age 32. Kingery never lived up to the six-year, $24 million deal he signed with the Phillies and spent all of last season in Triple-A.
White was Seattle’s first-round pick in 2017. He signed a six-year, $24 million deal before his debut in 2020. He logged 279 at-bats and 10 home runs with the Mariners, but hasn’t played in a game since 2021 because of an assortment of injuries. The Mariners dumped the final two years and $15 million on Atlanta this week in a salary purge that cost them Jarred Kelenic as the sweetener.
The Brewers are also a Midwest, small-market franchise like Cleveland. Whether Chourio becomes more Jiménez or Singleton remains to be seen, but the franchise is gambling on the person as much as they are the player.
The Guardians have their own gambles to make. The difference from 10 years ago is they have to get to the tables earlier than ever before.
— The Athletic’s Zack Meisel contributed to this report.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 02: Tanner Bibee #61 of the Cleveland Guardians pitches in the first inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on August 02, 2023 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)
By Jason Lloyd
Dec 8, 2023
37
Save Article
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As the Guardians celebrate their surprising victory in Major League Baseball’s draft lottery, here’s something to consider. Whoever they choose with the first pick in June, they might need to come prepared with a seven-year contract that buys out all of his arbitration seasons right there at the podium. If they wait until spring training 2025, it might be too late.
It’s a joke, sort of. But not really. Players are increasingly rejecting the long-term, pre-arbitration deals that Cleveland made famous in the mid-1990s, choosing instead to cash a few checks in arbitration before taking their shot in free agency. That’s making it increasingly difficult for small-market teams like the Guardians to bake any sort of cost certainty into future payrolls. The price tag on the final arbitration season on elite talent is getting awfully expensive — Cleveland traded Francisco Lindor in 2021 when his final arbitration season was worth $22 million and now Juan Soto should surpass $30 million this year in his final season before free agency.
The window to sign players to extensions is closing earlier and earlier. The Guardians’ last chance with pitcher Tanner Bibee, for example, might be this winter. Given the fact he was awarded an extra year of service time for finishing second in the Rookie of the Year voting, that’s not even a guarantee.
The changing climate is making it increasingly difficult for the Guardians to sign pre-arb players to long-term deals.
The Guardians signed Andrés Giménez to a seven-year deal in March, but the last pitchers here to get such extensions were Carlos Carrasco and Corey Kluber before the 2015 season. That was nearly 10 years ago. Extension-worthy pitchers such as Mike Clevinger, Trevor Bauer and Bieber have all passed through Cleveland since. None have signed extensions, although the Guardians at least tried with each, and now Bieber remains a popular name in trade rumors just a year from free agency.
go-deeper
GO DEEPER
What I'm hearing at Winter Meetings on Guardians' payroll, Shane Bieber, Emmanuel Clase
Bibee, Gavin Williams and Triston McKenzie are the next group of pitchers who are prime extension candidates.
McKenzie and the club neared a deal toward the end of spring training last year, according to an industry source with direct knowledge of the discussions. The complex deal included a number of incentives, but the negotiations broke down around the time he strained a muscle in his shoulder that forced him to miss two months. It wasn’t the first significant arm injury for McKenzie, who was limited to just four starts last season. The two sides never agreed on the extension. He is eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter.
The larger theme in all of this is how teams are getting pushed to make decisions on guys faster than ever before. Just this week, the Milwaukee Brewers signed 19-year-old outfield prospect Jackson Chourio to an eight-year, $82 million deal before his first big-league at-bat.
ADVERTISEMENT
I asked Brewers general manager Matt Arnold this week if he ever could’ve imagined 10 years ago signing a player to that much money before his first at-bat.
“Great question. Probably not,” Arnold said. “But the world is different now. You have to make different bets and we think there’s asymmetric upside to this one.”
The Guardians’ comfort levels are about to be tested again. There’s Bibee and Williams and Josh Naylor and Steven Kwan, each of whom has at least varying degrees of experience and success and would seem to be extension candidates. But there’s also Kyle Manzardo. He may not be as highly ranked in prospect circles as Chourio, but he’s a bat that could be in the middle of Cleveland’s lineup for years to come. Would the Guardians actually sign him to a deal before Opening Day? It doesn’t appear likely. The Guardians seem averse to taking such gambles on unproven commodities because the consequences for being wrong are so punitive. They need at least a little bit of proof guys can play in Cleveland before they’re ready to pay up.
go-deeper
GO DEEPER
The Athletic’s 2023-24 MLB Top 40 Free Agent Big Board: Tracking where they land
For every such deal that works in favor of the club, such as the time Eloy Jiménez signed with the White Sox before his debut, there are cases like Jon Singleton, Scott Kingery and Evan White.
Singleton signed a five-year, $10 million deal with Houston in 2014 before his first major-league plate appearance. The Astros received 357 at-bats and 14 home runs for the investment. Singleton was a bust, although he is attempting a comeback at age 32. Kingery never lived up to the six-year, $24 million deal he signed with the Phillies and spent all of last season in Triple-A.
White was Seattle’s first-round pick in 2017. He signed a six-year, $24 million deal before his debut in 2020. He logged 279 at-bats and 10 home runs with the Mariners, but hasn’t played in a game since 2021 because of an assortment of injuries. The Mariners dumped the final two years and $15 million on Atlanta this week in a salary purge that cost them Jarred Kelenic as the sweetener.
The Brewers are also a Midwest, small-market franchise like Cleveland. Whether Chourio becomes more Jiménez or Singleton remains to be seen, but the franchise is gambling on the person as much as they are the player.
The Guardians have their own gambles to make. The difference from 10 years ago is they have to get to the tables earlier than ever before.
— The Athletic’s Zack Meisel contributed to this report.
Re: Articles
10155Way-Too-Early Potential 1st Overall Picks For the Cleveland Guardians
Against all odds, the Guardians will have the first selection in the 2024 MLB Draft
By Bwalsh52@Cle_Brendan52 Dec 9, 2023, 9:00am EST 7 Comments / 8 New
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The 2024 Winter Meetings have just wrapped up, and there is a lot to unpack as the Guardians move on from a very profitable couple of days. On one side of the coin, the team acquired Deyvison De Los Santos from the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Rule 5 Draft, but they also received the rights to the first overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. Somehow, this happened when the team had approximately a one-in-twenty chance to land the pick. Now the Guardians have the pick of the litter, and there are plenty of candidates in a solid class to be taken at the prized position of the Draft. These candidates have plenty of potential to be a serious player in the future generations of the Cleveland Guardians, so it is only right to cover these potential picks.
Since the Guardians are in possession of the No. 1 pick, they will most likely aim to take the best player available, rather than a player at a position of need. Especially when you consider the fact that the Guardians have three top 50 picks, they must shoot for the player that they believe will most likely be a cornerstone and the most talented one out of the class. Sometimes we could end up taking the best player on the board and a need at the same time, but sometimes we can’t. So with that being said, everything is on the table for the team. There is no one path that we will take, and we will consider all possibilities with the best pick in the draft. Now, let’s dig into this group of potential Guardians for this draft.
Nick Kurtz, 1B - Wake Forest University
Many people across the Guardians’ fanbase have taken a liking to Nick Kurtz since the organization gained possession of the first overall pick. Kurtz stands in at a towering 6 feet and 5 inches, weighing 235 pounds. Although he is a 1st baseman, Nick provides a great heaping of power and contact potential, with high grades on both of those tools. He displays a vicious swing with great barrel accuracy, allowing him to make hard contact on many pitches. In 265 plate appearances this year, Kurtz hit for a .353 batting average, .527 on-base percentage, and .784 slugging percentage for Wake Forest. He also hit 24 homers and walks nearly twice as much as he strikes out. Prospects Live also gave Kurtz a plus field grade, and he even reached a .998 fielding percentage this year. Given all the evidence provided, I believe that Kurtz has the biggest chance to be taken by the Guardians at first overall so far. He is very toolsy, and even though the Guardians already have options at 1st base right now, there is still no denying how big of an impact he may have for the organization further down the line.
Travis Bazzana, MIF - Oregon State University
Just a fun fact to start off Travis’ case for the first overall pick: The dude is from Australia, so he automatically gets points from me for living in the Land Down Under. But on a more serious note, Travis Bazzana might take the title as the best draft prospect and run with it this Spring. He managed to take one of the most prestigious awards for a college baseball player and that is the MVP of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He contains a prodigious affinity for making contact with the ball as well as hitting the ball very hard. Just to give you an idea of how great Bazzana is at making consistent hard contact, the Sydney kid has made contact with pitches in the strike zone 90% of the time and barrels 36% of the pitches he makes contact with (regardless of whether they were in the zone or not). It is most common for hitters to only have a tendency to do one or the other but Bazzana could do both. This is a hitting coach’s dream, because the tools are already there and all he needs to do is sharpen them up for the big leagues. He could also hold his own at 2nd base with great sprint speed (stole 36 bags this year), so he could easily have the best case to be taken by the Guardians in July of next year.
PJ Morlando, OF - Summerville HS, SC
This is my favorite draft prospect of the bunch. Morlando is the No. 1 ranked high school prospect in America by Perfect Game, and it isn’t hard to tell why they think of him so highly. PJ’s quick hands and smooth bat path help him a lot in producing a lot of easy power in his swing. Morlando this year was able to pull the ball in the air at a very high rate with a 60.9 Pull% and a 52.2 fly ball%. His Walk-Strikeout ratio was also exceptional at 2:1, and with a 1.261 on-base plus slugging (OPS) it isn’t hard to see how great he could really be. To add, he has good enough speed (77th percentile 60 yard dash out of his HS class) and fielding capabilities to play center field, so he likely could provide great potential beyond his bat. As it stands, though, Morlando still has a few months to go before he could realistically prove his case as a No. 1 overall pick. I won’t be willing to take him this high at this point, but I really believe that has a great possibility of changing once his senior season of baseball is all said and done with. As a little kicker for Morlando’s case, PJ reached out to me in a direct message on X Wednesday to mention that his grandfather played for the Indians, and his mother was born during that time in Cleveland. He expressed some interest in playing for the Guardians, so take this for what it’s worth, but it is pretty intriguing (and cool if you ask me). This was all in response to me posting about him and his case for the draft pick on the app.
JJ Wetherholt, MIF - West Virginia University
The aforementioned Travis Bazzana holds a lot in common with JJ Wetherholt. Both the contact and power abilities are out of this world. Wetherholt has a very free swing with a lengthy leg kick, but still is able to get under the ball consistently, averaging an 18 degree hard hit launch angle. His barrel percentage falls under Bazzana at 28.8%, but he still managed to post a .333 isolated power (ISO) despite that. His overall slash line of AVG/OBP/SLG is as follows: .449/.517/.782. He is an all-around hitter at its purest form, which is what many scouts look for in college prospects. I would throw caution into the wind about his 9.7 walk rate, however. But with that being said, I could live with that and his okay fielding abilities at second base in exchange for a guy meant to be stapled in the cleanup spot for years to come.
Chase Burns, RHSP - Wake Forest University
For my last candidate, I am turning over to the mound for the best pitcher in the draft. Chase Burns’ pitch arsenal is headlined by a wicked slider sitting in the upper 80s in mph that displays plenty of late, heavy lateral break. He also throws a mid-upper 90s four-seam fastball that tops out at 101 mph. Furthermore, Burns chucks a changeup that ranges from the upper 80s to the low 90s. That changeup runs on the arm side and is able to miss some bats when it is thrown complimentary to the fastball. Lastly, he started to utilize a curveball this year that sat in the low 80s with plenty of vertical drop. As it is right now, Burns’ changeup and curveball need a little bit of work, but everything is there for him to have an elite overall pitch arsenal. Also, with enough work with the Guardians’ excellent pitcher development program, Burns can further sharpen up his fastball and slider to be among the best in the league. Moving on from the arsenal, Burns posted a 4.25 earned run average (ERA) and a 1.14 walks and hits per innings pitched (WHIP) in 72 innings pitched this year. His fielding independent pitching (FIP) dropped down to an excellent 2.79 as he went on to strike out 14.3 batters for every 9 innings pitched. Though he gives up a good amount of barrels, he still generates some whiffs and gets hitters to chase on a regular basis. I do believe that Chris Antonetti and the rest of the Guards front office will opt to choose a position player this high in the draft, but I wanted to provide at least one serious pitching candidate nonetheless. I would have full confidence that Burns would evolve into a premier pitching talent in the Guardians’ system.
Who Should the Guardians Pick?
In its current state, this slew of prospects has not provided enough evidence for one clear-cut winner. I see Morlando as one of, if not the the likeliest possibility once the rest of his high school career plays out, but I also do not doubt the abilities of his older counterparts in college ball. Luckily for us, we have until July to make a decision and we get to watch the candidates separate themselves from the non-factors. I have a lot of confidence that Antonetti and co. will make the right choice for the team. It could be one of the guys I mentioned, or it may not even be any of them. But no matter what, the Guardians always seem to make the right choices when it comes the Draft lately.
Against all odds, the Guardians will have the first selection in the 2024 MLB Draft
By Bwalsh52@Cle_Brendan52 Dec 9, 2023, 9:00am EST 7 Comments / 8 New
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The 2024 Winter Meetings have just wrapped up, and there is a lot to unpack as the Guardians move on from a very profitable couple of days. On one side of the coin, the team acquired Deyvison De Los Santos from the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Rule 5 Draft, but they also received the rights to the first overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. Somehow, this happened when the team had approximately a one-in-twenty chance to land the pick. Now the Guardians have the pick of the litter, and there are plenty of candidates in a solid class to be taken at the prized position of the Draft. These candidates have plenty of potential to be a serious player in the future generations of the Cleveland Guardians, so it is only right to cover these potential picks.
Since the Guardians are in possession of the No. 1 pick, they will most likely aim to take the best player available, rather than a player at a position of need. Especially when you consider the fact that the Guardians have three top 50 picks, they must shoot for the player that they believe will most likely be a cornerstone and the most talented one out of the class. Sometimes we could end up taking the best player on the board and a need at the same time, but sometimes we can’t. So with that being said, everything is on the table for the team. There is no one path that we will take, and we will consider all possibilities with the best pick in the draft. Now, let’s dig into this group of potential Guardians for this draft.
Nick Kurtz, 1B - Wake Forest University
Many people across the Guardians’ fanbase have taken a liking to Nick Kurtz since the organization gained possession of the first overall pick. Kurtz stands in at a towering 6 feet and 5 inches, weighing 235 pounds. Although he is a 1st baseman, Nick provides a great heaping of power and contact potential, with high grades on both of those tools. He displays a vicious swing with great barrel accuracy, allowing him to make hard contact on many pitches. In 265 plate appearances this year, Kurtz hit for a .353 batting average, .527 on-base percentage, and .784 slugging percentage for Wake Forest. He also hit 24 homers and walks nearly twice as much as he strikes out. Prospects Live also gave Kurtz a plus field grade, and he even reached a .998 fielding percentage this year. Given all the evidence provided, I believe that Kurtz has the biggest chance to be taken by the Guardians at first overall so far. He is very toolsy, and even though the Guardians already have options at 1st base right now, there is still no denying how big of an impact he may have for the organization further down the line.
Travis Bazzana, MIF - Oregon State University
Just a fun fact to start off Travis’ case for the first overall pick: The dude is from Australia, so he automatically gets points from me for living in the Land Down Under. But on a more serious note, Travis Bazzana might take the title as the best draft prospect and run with it this Spring. He managed to take one of the most prestigious awards for a college baseball player and that is the MVP of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He contains a prodigious affinity for making contact with the ball as well as hitting the ball very hard. Just to give you an idea of how great Bazzana is at making consistent hard contact, the Sydney kid has made contact with pitches in the strike zone 90% of the time and barrels 36% of the pitches he makes contact with (regardless of whether they were in the zone or not). It is most common for hitters to only have a tendency to do one or the other but Bazzana could do both. This is a hitting coach’s dream, because the tools are already there and all he needs to do is sharpen them up for the big leagues. He could also hold his own at 2nd base with great sprint speed (stole 36 bags this year), so he could easily have the best case to be taken by the Guardians in July of next year.
PJ Morlando, OF - Summerville HS, SC
This is my favorite draft prospect of the bunch. Morlando is the No. 1 ranked high school prospect in America by Perfect Game, and it isn’t hard to tell why they think of him so highly. PJ’s quick hands and smooth bat path help him a lot in producing a lot of easy power in his swing. Morlando this year was able to pull the ball in the air at a very high rate with a 60.9 Pull% and a 52.2 fly ball%. His Walk-Strikeout ratio was also exceptional at 2:1, and with a 1.261 on-base plus slugging (OPS) it isn’t hard to see how great he could really be. To add, he has good enough speed (77th percentile 60 yard dash out of his HS class) and fielding capabilities to play center field, so he likely could provide great potential beyond his bat. As it stands, though, Morlando still has a few months to go before he could realistically prove his case as a No. 1 overall pick. I won’t be willing to take him this high at this point, but I really believe that has a great possibility of changing once his senior season of baseball is all said and done with. As a little kicker for Morlando’s case, PJ reached out to me in a direct message on X Wednesday to mention that his grandfather played for the Indians, and his mother was born during that time in Cleveland. He expressed some interest in playing for the Guardians, so take this for what it’s worth, but it is pretty intriguing (and cool if you ask me). This was all in response to me posting about him and his case for the draft pick on the app.
JJ Wetherholt, MIF - West Virginia University
The aforementioned Travis Bazzana holds a lot in common with JJ Wetherholt. Both the contact and power abilities are out of this world. Wetherholt has a very free swing with a lengthy leg kick, but still is able to get under the ball consistently, averaging an 18 degree hard hit launch angle. His barrel percentage falls under Bazzana at 28.8%, but he still managed to post a .333 isolated power (ISO) despite that. His overall slash line of AVG/OBP/SLG is as follows: .449/.517/.782. He is an all-around hitter at its purest form, which is what many scouts look for in college prospects. I would throw caution into the wind about his 9.7 walk rate, however. But with that being said, I could live with that and his okay fielding abilities at second base in exchange for a guy meant to be stapled in the cleanup spot for years to come.
Chase Burns, RHSP - Wake Forest University
For my last candidate, I am turning over to the mound for the best pitcher in the draft. Chase Burns’ pitch arsenal is headlined by a wicked slider sitting in the upper 80s in mph that displays plenty of late, heavy lateral break. He also throws a mid-upper 90s four-seam fastball that tops out at 101 mph. Furthermore, Burns chucks a changeup that ranges from the upper 80s to the low 90s. That changeup runs on the arm side and is able to miss some bats when it is thrown complimentary to the fastball. Lastly, he started to utilize a curveball this year that sat in the low 80s with plenty of vertical drop. As it is right now, Burns’ changeup and curveball need a little bit of work, but everything is there for him to have an elite overall pitch arsenal. Also, with enough work with the Guardians’ excellent pitcher development program, Burns can further sharpen up his fastball and slider to be among the best in the league. Moving on from the arsenal, Burns posted a 4.25 earned run average (ERA) and a 1.14 walks and hits per innings pitched (WHIP) in 72 innings pitched this year. His fielding independent pitching (FIP) dropped down to an excellent 2.79 as he went on to strike out 14.3 batters for every 9 innings pitched. Though he gives up a good amount of barrels, he still generates some whiffs and gets hitters to chase on a regular basis. I do believe that Chris Antonetti and the rest of the Guards front office will opt to choose a position player this high in the draft, but I wanted to provide at least one serious pitching candidate nonetheless. I would have full confidence that Burns would evolve into a premier pitching talent in the Guardians’ system.
Who Should the Guardians Pick?
In its current state, this slew of prospects has not provided enough evidence for one clear-cut winner. I see Morlando as one of, if not the the likeliest possibility once the rest of his high school career plays out, but I also do not doubt the abilities of his older counterparts in college ball. Luckily for us, we have until July to make a decision and we get to watch the candidates separate themselves from the non-factors. I have a lot of confidence that Antonetti and co. will make the right choice for the team. It could be one of the guys I mentioned, or it may not even be any of them. But no matter what, the Guardians always seem to make the right choices when it comes the Draft lately.
"I've suffered a great many tragedies in my life....most of them never happened". Mark Twain