Cleveland Sports Forum

You might not be able to trade draft picks, but you could have a secret handshake with another team, draft who they want, trade later.

MLB Scouting grades: Hit: 70 | Power: 50 | Run: 60 | Arm: 50 | Field: 50 | Overall: 60

A Pittsburgh area native, Wetherholt stayed in the region by heading to West Virginia for college ball. He had a solid freshman season then broke out as a sophomore, winning the Division I batting title and earning Big 12 Conference Player of the Year after hitting .449/.517/.787 with 16 homers and 36 steals. He performed well both for Team USA and in a brief stint in the Cape Cod League to set the stage for a big junior season.

Wetherholt might be the best pure hitter in the class and there are some area scouts who think he’s the best amateur bat they’ve ever seen. The left-handed hitter drives the ball to all fields with authority with excellent pitch recognition and elite bat-to-ball skills that resulted in a miniscule 10 percent miss rate in 2023 with the Mountaineers. He has shown the ability to hit the ball over the fence in all directions and should have at least average power at the next level.

A plus runner who is a legitimate base-stealing threat, the only real question about Wetherholt has been his defensive home. He will try to improve that area of his profile by playing shortstop for the first time. Some feel he has the arm and feel to do it, while he’ll have to focus on being consistent in making the routine plays. Even if he profiles as a second baseman, though, his bat belongs at, or near, the top of Draft boards.



2023 (So.)

Big 12 Player of the Year
All-Big 12 First Team
Unanimous First-Team All-American (NCBWA, Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game, D1Baseball, Baseball America, College Baseball Foundation, ABCA)
CSC Academic All-America First Team
CSC Academic All-District
ABCA All-East Region First Team
NCBWA District 2 Player of the Year
Lexington All-Region Team
Dick Howser Trophy Finalist
Bobby Bragan Award Finalist
Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist
D1Baseball No. 1 Second Baseman (Week 6 & Week 12)
3x Big 12 Player of the Week
Perfect Game College Player of the Week (May 15)
Played in 55 games, making 54 starts
Led the nation with a .449 batting average
Had 16 home runs, 24 doubles, and two triples
Led the Big 12 with 36 stolen bases
First player since 2002 with 40 extra-base hits and 35 stolen bases
Started the year with a 13-game hitting streak
Had two hits and three stolen bases against Maryland (Feb. 21)
Stole home in 11th inning against Arizona (Feb. 24)
Went 3-for-3 with a home run, three RBI, and three runs scored against Canisius (March 8)
Had a home run, a triple, and four RBI against Minnesota (March 10)
Went 5-for-6 with two doubles, two stolen bases, and six RBI against App State (March 14)
Hit walk-off double against Xavier (March 24)
Went 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBI against Xavier (March 25)
Went 3-for-5 with a home run at Kansas State (March 31)
Had three hits including a home run at Oklahoma State (April 14)
Went 2-for-3 off the bench against TCU with four RBI
Hit a grand slam and drove in five against Penn State (April 25)
Had seven hits in series against Baylor with two home runs and seven RBI (April 28-30)
Went 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBI, and three runs against Pitt (May 3)
Went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, and two RBI at Pitt (May 10)
Hit a home run against Ball State in NCAA Regional (June 3)
Went 3-for-4 at Kentucky in NCAA Regional (June 4)

2022 (Fr.)

All-Big 12 Honorable Mention
Big 12 All-Freshman Team
Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team
Big 12 Newcomer of the Week – Feb. 21
WVU Student-Athlete of the Week – Feb. 21
Played in 54 games, including 53 starts
Split time at third base and second base
Hit .308 with five home runs and 39 RBI
Also logged a team-leading 17 doubles, one triple and stole 15 bases
Finished with 64 hits and scored 51 runs
Went 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBI in his first career game on Feb. 18, against Central Michigan
Enjoyed a four-hit day with three RBI against Canisius on March 1
Tallied four RBI on a two-hit day against Youngstown State on March 25
Also had four stolen bases against the Penguins on March 25
Finished 4-for-5 with two doubles and three RBI on April 6, against Marshall
Four more hits with four runs scored on April 24, at Texas Tech
Collected 12 RBI in final seven games of the season
Finished the season with 20 multi-hit performances




MLB DRAFTPROFILES

JJ Wetherholt develops into a top player

By Dan Zielinski III

JJ Wetherholt wasn’t necessarily a top recruit coming out of the Pennsylvania high school ranks. West Virginia was his first college baseball offer, and he verbally committed to the program before his sophomore year of high school.

Five years later, no one would know that Wetherholt was lightly recruited. He’s arguably the best hitter in college baseball as he enters his junior season at West Virginia. He has experienced tremendous growth and success in his first two years in college.

Scouts project the talented second baseman as a potential first-overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft due to his well-rounded skill set, tremendous feel at the plate and potential. Despite his prospect status, Wetherholt rarely reflects on his success and remains focused on the present.

“I don’t really take a step back and look at who I am because I want to get better and have dreams to play professional baseball,” Wetherholt said. “I’m pretty far from those dreams and have to continue to find ways to get better and better.”

Wetherholt has been a fixture in West Virginia’s lineup since stepping on campus. As a freshman in 2022, Wetherholt hit .308 with 17 doubles, five home runs, 39 RBIs and 15 stolen bases in 208 at-bats. He grew last year, batting .449 with 24 doubles, 16 home runs, 60 RBIs and 36 stolen bases in 225 at-bats.

Wetherholt displayed a mature approach and confidence at the plate last year. He had 43 strikeouts and 26 walks as a freshman and then posted 22 strikeouts and 26 walks as a sophomore.

His improvements at the plate have led to him receiving additional attention in anticipation of the 2024 draft.

“I have always been trying to stay under the radar and work hard,” Wetherholt said. “I don’t think a lot of people have always known who I was, especially coming out of high school. Last year, with the national attention I got, I think it was something I really didn’t expect. I was just hoping to build off my freshman year and have a solid year. Last year was a blow-up year. It’s not like I didn’t think it was possible, but it went really well. It was a big jump. It did beat my expectations a little bit.”

Wetherholt is a 5-foot-11, 200-pound left-handed hitting second baseman with strong tools at the plate. He uses a quick, compact swing to consistently barrel up the baseball. He also has advanced bat-to-ball skills and can drive the baseball hard to all fields.

In his time at West Virginia, Wetherholt refined his swing mechanics, tightened his swing against breaking pitches and improved his power potential. Wetherholt is a talented hitter who is only improving as he matures and gains additional experience against premium pitching.

“My ability to hit the ball to all fields is my biggest strength,” Wetherholt said. “I can hit almost any pitch that is thrown to me. I don’t try to get-pull happy or opposite-field happy. It’s just in the middle. I also don’t take at-bats off and just try to barrel up the baseball consistently.”

Defensively, Wetherholt has gained position versatility in college. He has played second base, third base and outfield over the last three years. He is willing to play any position but is most comfortable at second base.

Wetherholt is athletic and has respectable arm strength to handle an up-the-middle position. He likely projects best at second base in pro ball.

“Defensively, whether that it is playing a different position or whatever it is, being more confident in the field and trusting my ability,” Wetherholt said. “In the field, I can sometimes get nervous, but at the plate, I feel pretty confident in every situation. So that is a mental thing I can get better at defensively.”

Last year, West Virginia made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. Despite achieving their goal of qualifying for the tournament, the Mountaineers struggled down the stretch, dropping seven of their last eight games to finish with a 40-20 record.

Wetherholt believes last year’s ending can be a learning experience and help them this season. The Mountaineers hope to return to the tournament and qualify for the super regionals for the first time in program history.

“I want to have a similar season to last year,” Wetherholt said. “My big thing is that I want to end the year better. Last year, we were 1-7 in our last eight games after winning 39 games, which is really brutal. We have the talent to do so. We need some guys to step up. Just in general, I would like to see us finish strong, get into the postseason and go deeper in the postseason this year.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1651004711820984323

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Can't post this article very well so I'll post the link. It's basically about Clase to an NL contender - perhaps to the Dodgers for James Outman?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/ ... 95cd6&ei=3

The Article concludes:

The only question now is whether the Guardians are interested in trading him.

Could depend on what the Dodgers offer too. The article suggests a perfect fit is James Outman.
Just what we need?
He's a 26 year olf LH hitting outfielder who didn't arrive in the majors until last year. He hit 248/353/437. That's better than your typcial Guardian outfielder. And not in the same ballpark as the incumbant Guardian center fielder.
23 homers. 16 steals. 181 strikeouts.
Played almost exclusively in center field. I don't know how to read defensive stats.
Query: Does Outman or DeLauter have the arm for RF? If so there's a decent defensive grouping.
BUT WE SURE WOULD PREFER A RIGHT HANDED BAT SOMEWHERE

How can a hitter named Outman be taken seriously. If he was a pitcher, ok.

Guardians Acquire Estevan Florial From Yankees
By Nick Deeds | December 26, 2023 at 1:03pm CDT

The Yankees and Guardians have agreed on a trade that will send outfielder Estevan Florial to Cleveland in exchange for right-hander Cody Morris, per an announcement from both clubs.

The trade ends Florial’s tenure with the Yankees, with whom he signed out of the Dominican Republic back in 2015. After posting solid numbers in the lower levels of the minor leagues during his teenage years and reaching the High-A level before his 20th birthday, Florial began getting buzz as a consensus top-50 prospect throughout the sport prior to the 2018 season. Unfortunately, things came off the rails for Florial somewhat from there as the outfielder struggled at the High-A level in both 2018 and 2019. He made his big league debut during the shortened 2020 season and since then has served as a depth outfielder for the big league Yankees, with 48 appearances in the majors total in his four-year big league career.


While Florial, 26, has managed a slash line of just .209/.313/.296 across his 134 career plate appearances in the majors, his time in the minor leagues has seen him improve substantially in recent years. Fl0rial sports a career slash line of .265/.358/.490 at the Triple-A level, with an even more impressive .284/.380/.565 slash line in 101 games at the level in 2023. Given Florial’s extremely limited big league exposure to this point in his career, it’s easy to imagine him finding some level of success in Cleveland, where he should have a clear path to at least semi-regular at-bats. The Guardians put forth the third-worst outfield unit in the majors last year by measure of wRC+, as the club’s outfielders collectively hit just .250/.312/.342. Florial could challenge the likes of Ramon Laureano and Myles Straw for regular playing time alongside Steven Kwan, who appears locked into left field entering the 2024 campaign.

In exchange for Florial’s services, the Guardians are parting with Morris. The 27-year-old right-hander was the club’s seventh-round pick in the 2018 draft and first made his big league debut in 2022, where he performed well in seven appearances (five starts). While Morris posted an elevated walk rate of 12% that pushed his FIP up to 4.34, he struck out a respectable 23% of batters faced and managed an excellent 2.28 ERA in 23 2/3 innings of work during his first season in the majors.

In the minor leagues, Morris was even more impressive, with a career 1.68 ERA and a 37.8% strikeout rate in 80 1/3 innings of work between the Double-A and Triple-A levels as the 2022 campaign came to a close. Morris opened the 2023 season on the injured list due to a teres major strain but returned to action in June. While the right-hander put up respectable numbers at Triple-A, including a 3.23 ERA in 39 innings of work across 21 appearances, he struggled badly across six relief appearances in the majors with a 6.75 ERA over eight innings of work.


Despite Morris’s struggles with injury and ineffectiveness at the big league level last year, he provides the Yankees with an interesting, optionable arm who has experience pitching both out of the rotation and in the bullpen with strong numbers at the minor league level and some small-sample size success at the big league level. That type of arm would surely be attractive to just about any club, but could be particularly appealing to the Yankees after the club shipped cost-controlled pitchers like Michael King, Randy Vasquez, and Jhony Brito to San Diego as part of the package that landed the club Juan Soto earlier this month.

So Florial is supposed to be a plus defensive center fielder with a real strong arm and ability to play all 3 outfield positions. How could he be any worse at the plate than Straw ? If he can play center any where as good as Straw let him bat 9th and leave him there. Oh and he stole 25 bases !

Yankees trade Estevan Florial, former top prospect, to Guardians for pitcher
NEW YORK, NEW YORK -
By Brendan Kuty
6h ago

The New York Yankees once had high hopes for outfielder Estevan Florial. Now, he may get a better chance at a big-league opportunity someplace else.

The Yankees traded Florial, previously one of their top prospects, to the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday, the team announced. In exchange, righty Cody Morris was sent to the Bronx.


Baseball America ranked Florial as the 38th-best prospect in the game in 2018, and he appeared in the 2017 All-Star Futures Game. But injuries, inconsistency and a lack of a path to the majors contributed to New York deciding Florial, 26, was expendable.




Last season, Florial seemed like he might be on the verge of forcing the Yankees to give him a chance. In 101 games at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he hit .284 with 28 homers, 79 RBIs and a .945 OPS. But he played just 19 games in the majors, most of them in September when New York’s outfield was wracked with injuries. He watched prospects Jasson Domínguez and Everson Pereira leapfrog him for MLB playing time despite his seemingly strong campaign.

In July, Scranton hitting coach Trevor Amicone praised Florial for cutting down his whiffs.

“He got to a good spot with his bat path to where he was able to swing-and-miss at less fastballs and … do more damage on the fastballs he was hitting just from being able to be longer (with his bat) through the zone and in the zone earlier, and able to be late and still do damage on a pitch,” Amicone said at the time. “I think the emphasis this year has really been on game planning at a higher level.”

Morris, 27, has had difficulty staying healthy but his fastball averages approximately 95 mph, which he pairs with a high-80s cutter. He appears to be headed to the Yankees to become a swingman- or middle-innings type. The club traded a lot of its upper-level pitching depth in deals for Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo, and Morris seems likely to fill in that hole.

At Triple A last season, he had a 3.74 ERA in 18 games (one start), striking out 40 batters in 33 2/3 innings. He’s pitched in parts of two major-league seasons with a 3.41 ERA in 13 appearances (five starts). Morris also has two minor-league options remaining, according to Fangraphs’ Roster Resource.

Worth a shot.

Both guys were league minimum, good numbers in the minors but not much in The Show. Maybe our ace hitting instructors can flip the switch.

Makes Straw really, really, really expendable.

Typical G's deal...pray to get lucky.

I was looking forward to Morris joining the rotation in 2022. Hurt then. Did some decent relief work late in the year
Less success in 2023.
I wish him well and agree that we have a nice new No. 9 hitter in the lineup.

Adding Florial along with DeLos Santos and J. Rodriguez shows a willingness to divert away from the contact first offensive player definition at least for low cost contracts.

I always wonder who made the first offer. Did the Skanks say we're willing to give you Florial. Give us some pitching. Or, did the G's say we'll give you Morris. Give us an outfielder.

In my next incarnation, maybe I will be a fly on the wall.

I wondered the same thing. I would guess the Yankees called about Bieber.

Same thoughts for me too. With names of that caliber do teams only revert to them when bigger deals cannot be worked out?

REPORT: Franmil Reyes Drawing Interest From Guardians, Multiple MLB Teams

Hector Gomez reported that Franmil Reyes is drawing interest from MLB organizations including the Cleveland Guardians.

TOMMY WILD 8 HOURS AGO

Who doesn't love a good comeback story? They sure do make sports more exciting to watch. There could be a resurgence on the horizon for a once-promising talent in the Cleveland Guardians organization.

MLB Inside and journalist Héctor Gómez reported that Franmil Reyes is drawing interest from MLB organizations and Japanese teams as well. The Cleveland Guardians, Miami Marlins, Minnesota Twins, and Baltimore Orioles were the Big League teams linked to Reyes in the report.

This all comes after Reyes played in the Dominican Winter League on the same team as Jose Ramirez. Franmil even made an Instagram post indicating how much he'd love to return to Cleveland and the Guardians if given the opportunity.

Franmil played pretty well in the LIDOM which could be one of the reasons that MLB teams are becoming interested in him. Reyes played 42 games and posted a slash line of .296/.353/.546 with an OPS of .899.

Franmil's fall was shocking considering his history as a power hitter. He went from being a 30-home run, 85 RBI, and .846 OPS hitter in 2021 to a 73 OPS+ with the Guardians in 2022.

This lack of production led to him being designated for assignment by the organization to open up a roster spot for someone who could add versatility to the lineup.

The Guardians need more offense and power, there's no other way to put it. Franmil is unlikely to be the answer to all of Cleveland's issues. However, there's no harm in the organization signing him to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training allowing him to prove he's still a Big League talent.

[ ADD IN YASIEL PUIG AND THAT SHOULD PROVIDE THE POWER SUPPLY THAT IS SORELY NEEDED. BOTH ARE ENJOYING A HUGE AMOUNT OF SUCCESS THIS WINTER ]

( no harm in the organization signing him to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training allowing him to prove he's still a Big League talent. )



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Puig had a gambling problem and Reyes showed up fat and out of shape. Not the type of players the G's covet.