Differing opinions on DeLauter too. When he was drafted there were comments about his strange swing, making me think he could be another Brad Zimmer. It's not brought up by most evaluators now, but I guess is still a concern.

MLB choose one team with most pivotal season in 2024 in each division. Cleveland is the choice for the ALC:

AL Central: Guardians
2023 record: 76-86 | 2024 projection: 83-79

I’m sorry to bring this back up, but it has to be said: Since Rajai Davis’ breathtaking homer (remember how excited LeBron James was?) off Aroldis Chapman in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series, things have gone downhill for this franchise. Sure, there have been plenty of positive moments, from that thrilling comeback, walk-off win over the Yankees in Game 3 of the 2022 AL Division Series to just about everything José Ramírez has done in that time.

But the Guardians, despite three division championships since that 2016 World Series appearance, are 0-for-4 in postseason series since 2017. They bottomed out in 2023, finishing with their lowest winning percentage (.469) since 2012. And now, despite a division that seems perpetually winnable, they look like they might be running out of time. There’s young talent surrounding Ramírez, but none of it is proven, and while the pitching tends to come through for Cleveland, that wasn’t really the case last year. This team has little power outside Ramírez, and its biggest addition this offseason has been veteran backup catcher Austin Hedges.

The Twins are the default favorite here, but the Tigers are bulking up, and the Royals have been aggressive this winter. The Guardians have tried simply to keep their heads above water since the 2016 season, but last year, they finally fell under. What happens if there is a repeat in 2024?

[I'd disagree about the 2023 pitching; the rookie trio was enormously successful and there's reason to expect Williams at least will only get better. As for the glorious off season, it's hard to disagree, we can only hope that perhaps Florial turns out to be what the Yankees overrated him to be a few years ago; and that Manzardo turns out to be a great deadline trade addition from last summer.
And to continue in Pollyana mode, the Naylor Brothers can be a solid pair to combine behind Jose as a power trio,]

FORBESBUSINESSSPORTSMONEY
Cleveland Guardians’ Gabriel Arias Struggled At The Plate In Winter Ball

Bernie Pleskoff
Contributor

Following the trade of Amed Rosario to the Los Angeles Dodgers last season, Gabriel Arias became the Cleveland Guardians shortstop.

Arias is a gifted defensive player.

But Arias’ future is challenged by his lack of offensive progress.

Arias, 23, played 494 games in five years in the Guardians minor league system.

Arias’ last minor league experience was a partial season spent with the Triple-A Columbus Clippers in 2022. He hit .240 in 323 plate appearances. He hit 13 homers and drove in 55 runs in the 77 games played.

Arias was promising enough on both sides of the ball, allowing the Guardians to promote him at mid-season in 2022.

Arias made his major league debut with Cleveland in April 2022. He spent part of that year, and all of 2023 with the parent club.

Arias didn’t get much playing time with the Guardians in 2022. In fact, he made only 57 plate appearances in 16 games. Much of his time was spent on the bench learning the atmosphere of a major league club.

Last year, Arias had a much greater opportunity to showcase his qualifications to be the permanent Guardians shortstop. He played in 122 games, which is a good trial period.

Arias played very well defensively. But he struggled at the plate.

While there were times when Arias showed some pop in his bat, he hit only .210/.275/.352/.628 with 15 doubles, no triples, ten home runs, and 26 RBIs in 345 plate appearances. He stole three bases in seven attempts.

The right-handed hitting Arias struck out 113 times, and accepted 28 walks.

To this scout, Arias’ greatest offensive flaw is very weak pitch recognition, and an inability to lay off the high fastball. Arias swings mightily at pitches above the letters. He can also be fooled with a steady diet of breaking balls, especially late in the count.

Arias’ poor plate discipline has hurt him. He is trying so hard to succeed, he may be too aggressive in his approach.

Gabriel Arias in Winter Ball In Puerto Rico:

Arias recently finished playing 27 games for Santurce in the Puerto Rican Winter League.

He hit .214/.248/.295/.543 with nine doubles, no triples, and no home runs among his 24 hits in 118 plate appearances. He stole two bases, and was caught stealing twice.

Arias struck out 26 times, while accepting three walks.

Guardians Next Shortstop?

Looking for a shortstop in spring training will be a priority for the Guardians.

There could be several shortstop candidates. Among them, Arias will be the frontrunner. It is likely his job to lose. And that might just happen.

The Guardians also have Brayan Rocchio, and Tyler Freeman with major league middle-infield experience. Each is capable of playing sound defensively at shortstop.

Moving Gold Glove second baseman Andres Gimenez to shortstop may also be an option, but one that is not likely to happen.

Promising prospect second baseman, Juan Brito, 22, may be deemed capable and ready to assume the full time role at second, allowing Gimenez to move to short.

However, moving Gimenez may not be practical. He’s been outstanding at second base. Altering his defensive role may not be the most prudent move. But it is intriguing.

Brayan Rocchio in Winter Ball in Venezuela:

The switch-hitting Rocchio, 23, played for La Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League.

Rocchio had an impressive winter at the plate. He hit .377/.457/.541/.998 with seven doubles, no triples, and one home run among his 23 hits in 71 plate appearance. He stole two bases in five attempts.

Rocchio struck out only eight times, and walked six times.

It is clearly unfair to compare the winter production of the two players based solely on statistics. The great unknown is the quality of the pitchers faced by Arias and Rocchio. They may or may not have been equal.

Looking Ahead:

Rocchio has played in 23 games with the Guardians. He has hit .247, with 20 hits in 86 plate appearances. Six doubles are his only extra base hits.

One would think Rocchio could be very challenging to Arias for the starting shortstop role this spring.

The player not selected to start will most likely assume the role of the primary defensive replacement on the 26-man roster. Tyler Freeman may also stick as a bench player.

To this scout, Juan Brito can be the longer-term middle-infield wild card!

The switch-hitting Brito has a loud bat, with more power potential than Arias, Rocchio, and probably Gimenez.

Brito only played eight games this winter with Toros del Este in the Dominican Winter League.

The wealth of major league middle-infield talent for the Guardians is a strength of the team.

Players like Angel Martinez, and Jose Tena will continue their minor league development. But they, too, are getting closer to graduation. Martinez is even getting a look as an outfielder.

For now, however, spring will tell if Gabriel Arias can bring enough offense to win the Cleveland Guardians shortstop role. His weak hitting winter season didn’t help his cause.

<

News and Notes: Guardians' Offseason Gets a D Grade

By Quincy Wheeler Feb 8, 2024, 6:54am EST

The Athletic graded team offseasons and gave the Guardians a D. Seems about right but hopefully the players the team is betting on can prove these writers wrong. Or, the team can shock us all by signing Jorge Soler.

FanGraphs released their playoff odds and the Guardians have 21.9% odds to win the AL Central and 33.9% odds to make the playoffs. Ben Clemens wrote an article explaining how to understand the playoff odds.

The Guardians will start their home opener at 5:10pm or later to accommodate the solar eclipse.

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Are the Phillies still sniffing around?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/em ... 3&ei=106

In Cleveland, every Corey Kluber outing was a spectacle: Meisel CLEVELAND, OH - MAY 30: Starting pitcher Corey Kluber #28 of the Cleveland Indians pitches against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Progressive Field on May 30, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images)
By Zack Meisel
7h ago

24
Save Article

CLEVELAND — It’s a short stroll from the mound to the dugout at Progressive Field, too quick to allow Corey Kluber a chance to escape his pitching trance and acknowledge his surroundings.

He’d walk off the rubber and pace back to the bench in a methodical manner, unaware of every human in the ballpark supplying him with a standing ovation.

When Kluber pitched, there was usually a standing ovation.

For five years, Kluber was as dominant as any pitcher in the sport. Every five days — every four during Cleveland’s October 2016 championship bid — was a spectacle.

But that’s what happens when you’re poker-faced and programmed to rack up strikeouts with perfectly placed fastballs and slurves.

Kluber announced his retirement Friday after a brilliant 13-year career in which he blossomed from non-prospect to award-winning artist.

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

Corey Kluber retires after 2 Cy Young Awards, 13 seasons

A Kluber outing was a treat. It was a rare display of precision and efficiency that allowed him to compile gaudy innings totals and gaudier strikeout totals, and not with an overpowering heater or a 12-to-6 curve, but with such command and conviction, hitters could never feel comfortable.

There was no better example of his sorcery than May 13, 2015, one of those mystique-filled days when sports feel scripted.

Anne Feller, the widow of Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller, snipped a red ribbon that afternoon to commemorate the grand opening of an exhibit honoring her husband at Progressive Field. Then, from a suite, she watched Kluber match Feller’s franchise record with 18 strikeouts in a nine-inning game.

Kluber carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Cardinals that night when Jhonny Peralta poked a two-out single to center. Kluber watched Cody Allen shut the door in the ninth, preventing him from flirting with more history.

Eight innings. One hit. No walks. Eighteen strikeouts. A special showcase in front of Anne Feller and one of the most prolific pitching performances in the history of a franchise that dates back to 1901.

And with the crowd’s roar inching closer to a crescendo after the top half of each inning, Kluber retreated to the dugout, unfazed, gazing ahead at nothing in particular.

Kluber ranks third in club history in strikeouts, behind only Feller and Sam McDowell, but he blows away everyone in strikeout rate. Those are the only three pitchers in team history with more than two consecutive seasons of 200 innings and 200 strikeouts. Feller and McDowell each accomplished the feat for four straight seasons; Kluber did it for five in a row.

From 2014-18, Kluber ranked alongside the game’s greats, including Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Jacob deGrom and Chris Sale. He exceeded 200 innings and 220 strikeouts in each of those years. He ranked second in the majors in innings pitched, fourth in ERA (2.85), third in strikeouts and third in fWAR. In 2017, he led the AL with a 2.25 ERA and tallied nearly twice as many strikeouts as hits allowed.

He’s among 22 pitchers in league history to win multiple Cy Young Awards. He captured the hardware in 2014 and 2017, the only Cleveland pitcher to win more than one. He also finished third in the balloting in 2016 and 2018.

After that five-year stretch, Kluber battled injuries and bounced around the American League, to the Rangers, Yankees, Rays, and Red Sox. He recorded a no-hitter with the Yankees in 2021. He made one final playoff appearance with the Rays in 2022, ironically in Cleveland, where he served up a series-ending home run to Oscar Gonzalez. By that point, though, he had exhausted his October powers.

Kluber made a valiant effort to break Cleveland’s World Series hex in 2016. He logged a 0.89 ERA in his first five starts that postseason despite twice pitching on short rest because the club was missing injured starters Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar. He finally sputtered in Game 7 of the World Series against the Cubs, running on fumes in another short-rest outing. Had the Indians emerged triumphant, they might have erected statues of Kluber and Rajai Davis on E. 9th Street the next day.

No one would have predicted such a rise to prominence for the right-hander.

Stuck in the depths of a rebuild in 2010, the Indians needed to salvage something for the final two months of Jake Westbrook’s contract. They dealt him to the Cardinals in a three-team trade that also included the Padres. Kluber’s strikeout rate caught the attention of Cleveland’s front office, but little else did. His name didn’t surface on any top prospect list. He was 24 and pitching at Double-A San Antonio. Cleveland couldn’t be picky, though.

Kluber called his parents to deliver the news about the trade in his typical, monotone manner. His dad, on the other hand, was ecstatic. Jim Kluber was a Cleveland native. He attended Mayfield High School. The Indians were his childhood team.

But that was Kluber: unfazed, even when those around him celebrated and cheered. During his Cleveland tenure, that was the scene every fifth night.

Bridge-year broadcast deals for Twins, Rangers, Guardians approved for 2024
By Evan Drellich
6h ago

61
Save Article

One-year deals for Diamond Sports to continue broadcasting the Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers became official Friday morning, when Judge Chris Lopez approved the contracts in bankruptcy court.

The approvals mean fans of those teams can watch TV broadcasts in 2024 as they did before, via Diamond’s Bally-branded regional sports networks. At the same time, the deals do not provide any new in-market streaming option for fans who have had trouble watching games.

In the big picture, the one-year contracts serve to make 2024 a bridge year: the teams will continue to receive rights fees, albeit at a reduced rate, and they have a runway to figure out ways to ideally expand accessibility for 2025 and beyond.

In order to watch broadcasts in 2024, fans who are inside the three teams’ respective television markets still have to subscribe to a service, like cable or satellite, that carries the team’s RSN. The Guardians are carried on Bally Sports Ohio, the Rangers on Bally Sports Southwest, and the Twins on Bally Sports North.

Fans who are out of market, meanwhile, can sign up for MLB.tv (a streaming option), or MLB Extra Innings (offered through cable and satellite providers). That is also unchanged.

But the lack of an expanded in-market streaming option is likely to disappoint fans. While Diamond has an in-market streaming service called Bally Sports Plus, none of the three teams were available on that service previously, and they still are not for 2024. The teams did not newly grant Diamond their in-market digital rights.

And it’s not like the teams can use those digital rights in an alternative way, because Diamond does not want a competing product to be available.

“They will not voluntarily, during the term of this 2024 season, allow anybody else to use those digital rights, which was important to us, essentially, as we wanted to make sure we are getting the benefit of the bargaining for the amounts we are paying,” said Andrew Goldman, a lawyer for Diamond.

Now, had the teams broken off from Diamond in 2024 and had their games broadcast elsewhere — say, by MLB itself, or another third party — the teams could have done more with their streaming rights immediately. That would have allowed more fans, particularly those without cable or satellite, to watch.

But the clubs almost certainly would have made less money in that scenario, and revenues are always the driver. The one-year deal “provides us with security regarding an incredibly important component of our financial wherewithal,” Thomas Lauria, a lawyer for the Rangers, told the judge.

“Depending on the team and the particular agreement, the broadcast rights reflect 20 to 30 percent of a team’s cash revenues during the course of the season,” Lauria continued. “This is obviously critically important to the ability of the team to meet its … obligations to make payroll, etc.”

Commissioner Rob Manfred underlined the uncertainty of this moment in a press conference on Thursday: “This is a difficult time. You know, not only — knock on wood — have we been unfamiliar with revenue declines, but … it’s kind of been a fixed number (of revenue for teams from local media). You got a contract that goes on for 15 years, and you can plug the number in.

“But we’re trying to stay close with the clubs. We’re trying to make clear that we are exploring every opportunity to get them revenue in the short term. And we’re trying to reassure them with a vision as to what it’s gonna look like longer term, so that we rebuild that source of revenue.”

With no obligation to Diamond beyond this year, the three teams could have enhanced streaming options as early as 2025. Manfred said Thursday that he hopes to introduce a national streaming package of 14 or more teams next year. Although Manfred didn’t specify individual clubs, the Rangers, Guardians and Twins are naturally candidates for inclusion because they are not under contract for 2025.

How bad is the haircut on the rights fees? The Athletic previously reported that the Guardians and Rangers are taking fee reductions of no more than 15 percent.

Prior to this arrangement, both those teams had longer-term deals in place with Diamond that went beyond 2024. But as part of the company’s bankruptcy proceedings, Diamond was threatening to drop the teams immediately unless the rights fees were re-negotiated.

Exactly how much the teams are to be paid under the revised deal is something that Goldman, the lawyer for Diamond, said both his company and MLB did not want publicized. They asked for and were granted a seal of the deals.

“They are highly confidential; they contain sensitive commercial terms,” Goldman said. “Obviously, the teams would not like these in the public forum. We are fine with that. Obviously, the commissioner’s office has seen them, because the commissioner’s office has to sign off, as they have, on amendments to telecasts rights agreements.”

The Guardians reportedly received $55 million in 2023. The average annual value of the Rangers’ 20-year deal, which began with the 2011 season, has been reported to be $111 million. Estimates, however, have varied over time.

The Twins, meanwhile, had their contract with Diamond expire after the 2023 season, so they technically negotiated a new deal. Their rights-fee reduction for this year was not immediately known.

Twins president Dave St. Peter said in court last summer that the Twins’ TV payment in 2023 was about $60 million, including the annual rights fee of $54 million, plus other related, ancillary money (such as the allocation of signing-bonus money from the deal).

The Diamond bankruptcy case is still playing out more broadly. The court this summer could approve a restructuring plan that brings Amazon in as an investor. But Friday’s approval of the three MLB-related deals “provides some comfort to the fans who are out there who want to know how they’re going to see their teams,” said Lopez, who added it was “a good message to send.”

How will the Guardians’ new regime get acquainted? Biggest spring training questions Sep 24, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Triston McKenzie (11) pitches against the Baltimore Orioles during the first inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Josefczyk-USA TODAY Sports
By Zack Meisel
Feb 9, 2024



Outside of new faces on the coaching staff and the return of Austin Hedges, the Cleveland Guardians didn’t change much this winter. And yet, on the heels of a 76-86 season, they’re banking on a lot of things changing in 2024, primarily from the growth of some young hitters.

It might not be the most foolproof strategy, but it at least makes spring training mildly intriguing. Here are three questions facing the Guardians as their time in the Goodyear, Ariz., sun approaches.
How will the new regime get acquainted?

Stephen Vogt is the new face of the franchise (non-José Ramírez division), but there are plenty of other unfamiliar faces descending upon the desert. The Guardians have a new bench coach (Craig Albernaz), infield coach (Rouglas Odor), assistant hitting coach (Dan Puente), bullpen coach (Brad Goldberg), major-league field coordinator (Kai Correa) and hitting analyst (Josh Tubbs). There’s even a new replay coordinator (Gunnar Wilhelmy) and a new team dietician (Erica Auriemme).

For years, the club has operated like a well-oiled machine each spring because Brad Mills or DeMarlo Hale, Terry Francona’s chief lieutenants, outlined everyone’s schedule for every minute of camp. Throw all customs and traditions out the window, though. A new group is in charge, with new sets of eyes to evaluate players in a camp full of competitions, and perhaps with new structure and routines to implement.

For the first time since 2012, there will be a new orator on the first full-squad day, a new person to deliver the news that a player made the Opening Day roster or is being cut from consideration, a new person to field questions and sketch out batting orders and yank struggling pitchers.

It’ll be strange — but change can be refreshing, too.
(Jessica Alcheh / USA Today)
Who will make the most of their audition?

There are three candidates vying for the starting shortstop and utility infielder gigs, with a handful of other contenders lurking in the background. There’s Gabriel Arias, Brayan Rocchio and Tyler Freeman. There’s Juan Brito, whose trusty bat could eventually complicate the situation. Angel Martínez and José Tena are hanging around, too.

And then there’s the outfield, with Steven Kwan cemented in one starting spot and a cast of characters lobbying for attention: Myles Straw, Ramón Laureano, Will Brennan, Estevan Florial, Johnathan Rodriguez, George Valera, Jhonkensy Noel and Lorenzo Cedrola. Laureano will fill at least a part-time role, as evidenced by the front office’s decision to hand him a $5.15 million salary rather than a non-tender slip. Florial is out of minor-league options and Vogt is already on record as saying he’ll get a look. Straw will factor into the equation in some form since he has three years remaining on his contract. There’s opportunity to go around for anyone who can hit, though.

The theme of the spring will be young players showcasing what they’re capable of in front of new evaluators. Can Freeman, Rocchio and Brennan make more hard contact? Can Arias make more contact in general? Can Florial prove the since-faded prospect hype was warranted? Can Valera stay healthy and solve left-handed pitching? Can Kyle Manzardo convince the Guardians they shouldn’t manipulate his service time? Can Deyvison De Los Santos convince the Guardians not to return him to the Diamondbacks?
What’s the ceiling for the starting rotation?

So much is made about the question marks in Cleveland’s lineup — and rightfully so since the front office neglected to address the team’s deficiencies over the winter. But let’s take a moment to ponder the potential of the rotation. It’s littered with potholes, but there’s a path for the Guardians to once again employ one of the league’s top starting staffs.

Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie guided the club to the ALDS in 2022, but both suffered elbow injuries last year that cost them considerable time on the mound. Can McKenzie stay healthy? Can Bieber boost his value as he approaches free agency (or a midseason trade)? They’ll join three sophomores who made the transition to the majors last year look awfully elementary.

Tanner Bibee finished second in the Rookie of the Year balloting, Gavin Williams flashed frontline promise and Logan Allen seemed more than capable of holding down a spot. There’s not a ton of proven depth behind those five — next in line could be Xzavion Curry, Ben Lively, Hunter Gaddis, Carlos Carrasco, or Joey Cantillo — so an injury or two or sophomore-year regression could be debilitating. But there’s also reason to believe the rotation could be the strength of the club and the fuel behind what the Guardians hope is an AL Central title bid.

Cleveland Guardians' Ace Excites Fans with Improvements Made at Driveline

Cleveland Guardians' ace Shane Bieber is getting ready for the season by training at Driveline Baseball, and he's got fans excited by the velocity and movement gains he's made.

BRADY FARKAS

2/11/24 4 HOURS AGO

Cleveland Guardians' ace Shane Bieber had fans excited on Saturday when a video was posted showing his offseason improvement. Bieber has been working out at Driveline, the training center, which is now the offseason home of several big leaguers.

From Chris Langin of Driveline:

Shane Bieber (@ShaneBieber19) wrapped up his off-season @DrivelineBB with a bang!

Average 93.2 MPH

10 heaters > 93 MPH, surpassing his entire 2023 (8).

Curveball revived Session: 83.7 MPH | 14" VB

2020: 83.6 MPH | 14" VB

Looks like he's back in business...

To see Bieber's velocity up and his curveball back to 2020 levels is extremely encouraging for Guardians fans and new manager Stephen Vogt. There was talk of trading Bieber this offseason, but thus far, that hasn't happened and he appears set to anchor the Guardians rotation again.

Bieber, 28, won the Cy Young in that 2020 season, but is coming off a year in which he went 6-6 for the Guardians - and battled injury. He had a 3.80 ERA.

Lifetime, he's 60-32 with a 3.27, so getting him back to that level will be paramount for Cleveland if it wants to contend again in the American League Central.

Cleveland finished third in the Central a season ago, but it had a rotation that was ravaged by injury. If Bieber can stay healthy, with Tristan McKenzie, then Vogt's team should still have a solid rotation. The main question will be if they can find enough offense to compete in the improving division.

Spring training begins next week.



https://twitter.com/i/status/1756439533544173850

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Before Jackie, Paige dueled Feller in league ahead of its time

February 10th, 2024




The leaderboards are at once familiar and foreign.

We know the names of American and National League legends like Walter Johnson, Babe Ruth and Bob Feller. And of Negro League legends like Bullet Joe Rogan, Turkey Stearnes and Cool Papa Bell.

But to see these names unseparated by the sin of segregation and actually alongside each other on lists of season or career leaders for batting average, homers, wins, innings, etc. -- all under the same league umbrella -- is staggering.

This was baseball as it ought to have been. And it happened in a little-known circuit called the California Winter League.

Thirty-seven years before Jackie Robinson integrated MLB, the California Winter League (CWL) added not just a Black player but an entire Black team -- Rube Foster’s traveling Leland Giants. And from 1910 until the league folded in 1947, that’s how it was, with Black teams and eventually Negro League teams playing against and, in many seasons, dominating white teams that included scores of AL and NL players. The teams themselves were still segregated, but at least the league allowed Black players to compete on the same stage as their white counterparts.

“It gave the country a rare look at high level integrated professional baseball,” author and researcher William F. McNeil wrote in his 2002 book on the league, “more than 25 years before organized baseball got the message.”

McNeil’s book, “The California Winter League: America’s First Integrated Professional Baseball League,” is the best, most comprehensive resource for information about a league not typically cited or studied (even the excellent, vast resource that is Baseball-Reference is mostly blank when it comes to the CWL). And as the recently formed Negro League Statistical Review Committee continues the important -- and complicated -- process of incorporating Negro League numbers into the official MLB register, it’s fascinating to look at a league where no such after-the-fact incorporation is required.

The CWL’s players had done that work already, when they opposed each other on America’s most significant integrated baseball stage of the early 20th century.

* * * * * * * *

The first instance of formal segregation in baseball occurred in 1867.

This was two years after the Union had defeated the Confederacy. The Civil War’s turning point occurred in the state of Pennsylvania, at Gettysburg, and Pennsylvania produced more Black soldiers than any other state in the Union. Yet it was a Black baseball team in the Keystone State that prompted the sport’s first official environment of exclusion.

As baseball’s rules became standardized in the mid-1800s, teams sprung up throughout the United States. And when Black men were excluded from joining white teams, they formed their own. One of these was Pennsylvania’s Pythian Base Ball Club, which went 10-1 in its first full season in 1867 and became a big draw in the Black community. On the heels of that success, the Pythians were one of 266 clubs to apply for membership in the Pennsylvania state chapter of the National Amateur Association of Base Ball Players.

At the Pennsylvania State Convention of Base Ball Players, 265 applications were accepted.

You can guess which one was not.

So it went as the early Majors emerged.

The only Black player in the nascent National League is believed to have been William Edward White, the son of a plantation owner and his slave. White passed as white and played in a single game for the Providence Grays on June 21, 1879. In 1887, Cap Anson and the Chicago White Stockings refused to take the field for an exhibition opposite Black players Moses Fleetwood Walker and George Stovey of the International League’s Newark Little Giants. And on July 14 of that year, the International League voted to ban the signing of Black players to new contracts.

That’s how the color line was born.

Though a number of Black players competed in the fledgling Minor Leagues in the 19th century, none of the attempts to integrate the Major Leagues from the 1890s up until Robinson’s debut with the Dodgers on April 15, 1947, were successful. There were instances of Black teams competing in otherwise white leagues (notably, the 1890 York Colored Monarchs were running away with the Eastern Interstate League before the rest of the league voted to disband). And the Cuban Winter League, which was active from 1878 to 1960, had Black players wintering in the island nation and competing in the first half of the 20th century.

But in the U.S., by the end of the 1890s, Black professional players had to play on all-Black teams, and any games between Black and white teams took place outside the channels of “organized baseball,” typically on barnstorming tours. This would not change, of course, until Jackie came along.

That’s what makes the open-mindedness of the California Winter League so remarkable. In the first four decades of the 20th century, it was the only professional league in the country in which Black players and white players of Major League caliber competed against each other in something other than scattered exhibitions.

Back in the early 1900s, baseball was a budding enterprise in the Golden State, which, for Black teams, became a land of opportunity.

* * * * * * * *

The seeds of western migration that would eventually lead to the Giants and Dodgers relocating and setting off a baseball boom on the West Coast were sown in the Bay Area, where bankers and businessmen who had moved from the northeast formed various amateur teams.

By 1869, the baseball scene was legitimized enough to attract a visit from the Cincinnati Red Stockings. The first professional team walloped the boys from the Bay (they were beating a team named the Atlantics, 76-5, before it was mercifully called off in the fifth inning). But this was a key step toward the California clubs understanding what it took to play at a pro level.

California’s first pro league, the Pacific Base Ball League -- featuring four teams from San Francisco -- was formed in 1878. The rival California League formed a year later, and the first iteration of the Pacific Coast League followed in 1887.

Southern California first got in on the action with the 1892 formation of the Los Angeles Seraphs (later, the Angels… though of course not the Angels franchise we know today), who won a California League pennant in their inaugural season. And when Major League teams began playing exhibition games up and down the coast in the 1890s, the concept of a winter baseball league took shape.

The first California Winter League had a false start in 1895, when it formed and folded within a month, and a Northern California Winter League came to be in 1897. By the early 20th century, there were both northern and southern circuits, but the latter emerged as the most popular league because of the warmer climate and ability to attract the country’s best players. (Walter Johnson pitched for Santa Ana in consecutive winters from 1907-08 through 1909-10, leading the league in wins twice and helping the Yellow Sox to a league championship in his first season.)

But things really get interesting when we get to the winter of 1910-11.

That’s when Rube Foster, who in 1920 would organize the first Negro National League, brought his traveling Leland Giants to California to participate in the California Winter League. Foster’s roster, which included future Hall of Famer Smokey Joe Williams, made its presence known by fishing second behind the champion San Diego Griefers.

After a year hiatus, Foster returned to California in 1912-13, this time with his Chicago American Giants. And in 1915-16, Foster’s club won the league championship with a roster that included not only Smokey Joe but another Hall of Famer in shortstop Pop Lloyd.

Of course, just because these Black teams were accepted in and successful in the CWL didn’t mean racism and segregation didn’t rear their ugly heads on the West Coast.

In the spring of 1914, the American Giants had scheduled a barnstorming tour in the northwest, including a series of exhibitions along the coast, against the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League -- a team managed by Walter “Judge” McCreadie. San Francisco Seals owner J. Cal Ewing spoke out against the plan.

“If I were a player, working for McCredie,” he said, “and he asked me to go out and play against these colored fellows, I would refuse to do it for him.”

PCL president Allen T. Baum agreed and insisted that PCL teams should not play games against Black teams or allow Black teams to use their parks.

This had a domino effect on the CWL, which primarily used PCL parks for its games. By 1917, Baum’s decree had filtered down to the Los Angeles-area clubs. The facilities available to Black teams were too small to generate enough attendance and revenue to make the trips feasible, so there is no record of Black teams participating in the league from 1917-19 (on the flip side, there is a record of Babe Ruth suiting up for a few games in the winter of 1919-20). The league itself faced extinction.

But whereas the adversity created by the PCL ban could have spelled the CWL’s demise, it instead led to its heyday.

* * * * * * * *

Now a gentrified, “it” neighborhood where upper-class Los Angelenos flock, Boyle Heights, on the city’s east side, has a dramatic, diverse history.

When Los Angeles was still under Mexican rule, in 1845, the Indigenous group known as the Tongva was displaced and relocated to an area on the east bank of the Los Angeles River then known as El Paredon Blanco (The White Bluff). After Los Angeles was seized by American forces, the site was razed to the ground in 1847, and 22 acres of the land were purchased by an Irish immigrant named Andrew Boyle, who would inspire the name Boyle Heights.

In the late 1800s, Boyle Heights was primarily home to the large estates of affluent, white Protestants. But in the early 1900s, as those residents divided their estates into smaller parcels and sold them off at more affordable prices, it became an immigrant enclave. Boyle Heights was one of the few communities in the area that did not have housing restrictions against non-whites. So it became home to thousands of Eastern European Jewish immigrants and people of Mexican, Japanese, Armenian, Italian, Russian and Black descent. An American melting pot had come to Boyle.

This, appropriately, was the place where the integrated baseball of the California Winter League thrived for a time. You wouldn’t know it to look at the section of East Fourth Street that now houses a food distributor and an electrical supply store, but Boyle Heights was once a bastion of Black baseball.

Two men were responsible for that. The first was a Black entrepreneur named Doc Anderson, who came to the rescue of the sagging CWL by building Anderson Park, which came to be known as White Sox Park, at East Anderson and Fourth Streets, in 1920. This became home to the league’s annual Black team.

Four years later, a nightclub owner named Joe Pirrone, who had played briefly in the Minor Leagues and was a strong supporter of the league and its integration concept, replaced the primitive White Sox Park with the (slightly) more permanent White Sox Park II, which held about 3,500 fans.




With the Boyle Heights base established for the Black teams, the 1920s became a golden era for the Golden State’s winter circuit. The style of play gradually elevated from what McNeil estimated to be A-ball quality early in the century to something closer to what we would consider Triple-A. Anderson assembled some terrific Black teams, including a 1920-21 unit that featured Rogan, Dobie Moore (a would-be Hall of Famer profiled here), Rube Curry, Hurley McNair and more. The following year, the legendary Oscar Charleston suited up for a team known as the Colored All-Stars in the CWL.

“Some, if they were only white,” wrote the Los Angeles Times of the Black players in the CWL, “would be stars of the first magnitude in the Major Leagues.”

* * * * * * * *

With Pirrone, who had previously pitched in the CWL, recruiting players from across the country for a white squad called Pirrone’s All-Stars, the level of talent was strong on both sides. In 1920, Pirrone’s club had seven position players and four pitchers who had appeared in the big leagues the previous season and three more players who would become full-time big leaguers the following year.

In a typical year, the league consisted of four teams -- three white and one Black. Games were played on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and on holidays.

“It kept the money flowing,” Negro Leagues researcher Phil S. Dixon said of the CWL. “The money that Black players got in those days was just not like the money the white teams got. So that was a way to supplement your income.”

In his conversations with Negro League players before they passed, Dixon heard stories of other supplemental income that emanated from those winters in California.

“One time, I was out in Los Angeles, and Chet Brewer took me to Buster Haywood’s house,” Dixon recalled. “We’re sitting there talking, and Buster says, ‘Chet, did you tell him you’re in the Tarzan movie?’”

Dixon was floored.

“They would go out there and sometimes they were extras in movies,” he said with a laugh. “I said, ‘Chet, which movie was it?’ But I couldn’t get any more out of him.”

(Dixon also heard a story of Mule Suttles appearing as an extra in the Mae West movie “I’m No Angel.” He bought the DVD and looked hard for Mule, to no avail.)

Because of the opportunity and paychecks available, the CWL had no trouble attracting some of the biggest names in the Negro Leagues, including the powerful 1925 Philadelphia Royal Giants -- a squad that included Rogan, Biz Mackey, Rap Dixon, Newt Allen and Crush Holloway.

That club defeated a team called the White Kings to win the league championship -- the first of 13 CWL titles for a Black team in a 16-year span.

The 1927 CWL season was disrupted by an edict from Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis that prohibited Major League players from participating in the league, effective Oct. 31 of that year. The league started play a couple weeks early so that a few such players, including Bob Meusel and Babe Herman, could play a handful of games prior to Landis’ deadline. The white teams then had to rely on former big leaguers and Minor Leaguers the rest of that winter, and, in ensuing years, the league had to work around demands that big leaguers only be available to the CWL for 15 days after the conclusion of the Major League season.

In the late 1920s, a third iteration of White Sox Park was built, at Compton and 38th Streets. And here, the concept of night baseball -- an innovation adopted by the Kansas City Monarchs in 1930 -- was eventually brought to the CWL, with White Sox Park illuminated for weeknight games to attract more crowds.

The Black rosters continued to be lit up by luminaries like Suttles, Satchel Paige, Turkey Stearnes, Cool Papa Bell, Wild Bill Wright, Double Duty Radcliffe, Willie Wells and Dan Bankhead (who would go on to become the first Black pitcher in the AL/NL). A true who’s who of Black baseball, and the white teams in this era were routinely overmatched. (Though the San Diego Gold Club in the late 1930s did have a pretty good outfielder -- a Minor Leaguer named Ted Williams.)

Alas, Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, put an abrupt end to that CWL season and was part of a series of changes that would ultimately bring about the league’s demise. The talent level of the league was severely depleted during the war years.

The CWL had one last burst of interest in the mid-to-late 1940s. In 1945, as rumors spread of Jackie Robinson potentially signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Pasadena native suited up for Brewer’s Kansas City Royals in the CWL and had his every move followed intensely by the press.

“Paced by the peerless all-around play of shortstop Jackie Robinson,” wrote the Pittsburgh Courier, “the Kansas City Royals opened the annual winter league exhibition series Sunday with a 4-2 victory over the Service All-Stars at Recreation Park in Long Beach. An overflow crowd attended. Robinson hit a homer inside the park, and was riot on the paths and fielded brilliantly.”

Speaking of brilliant, future Cleveland teammates Paige and Bob Feller had some fantastic pitchers' duels in the CWL in the fall of 1945, ’46 and ’47.

But as was the case with the Negro Leagues, integration in the AL and NL spelled the end of the CWL, which wrapped in 1947.

Also like the Negro Leagues, records of the CWL are inevitably incomplete. McNeil’s book, crafted with the help of newspaper research by Society for American Baseball Research member Walt Wilson, is the closest thing we have to a complete document, and it includes appendixes with a bevy of statistics.

Peer through the leaderboards in the book, and you’ll see fun things like a career strikeouts list topped by Satchel Paige (766), Bullet Joe Rogan (351) and Walter Johnson (321). And you’ll see Babe Ruth leading the league in home runs (with one) in 1919, followed by Rogan (five) and Biz Mackey (four) the next two years.

We’ll never know what the AL and NL leaderboards would have looked like had Black players been permitted to participate at that time. But the surviving accounts of the California Winter League give us a taste of integrated baseball as it could have -- and should have -- been.

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Vogt’s first spring training as Guardians manager starts Feb. 12

Jeff Schudel

February 10, 2024

Stephen Vogt is about to get his first real taste of what it’s like to be a big league manager — or a manager on any level, for that matter.

Pitchers and catchers are due to report to the Guardians training complex in Goodyear, Ariz. on Feb. 12. The first spring training workout for pitchers and catchers is set for Feb. 15. The first full-squad workout is Feb. 20, then four days later the grind begins with the Cactus League opener on Feb. 24 vs. the Cincinnati Reds.

“It’s fun that we’re getting closer to baseball,” Vogt said last month at Guards Fest. “Just when you take over this role, how much studying goes into it to learn every player you can and everything about them.

“I’ve done a lot, obviously, just trying to get up to speed on what guys have done in the past and kind what their skill sets are. But at the same time I want to see it with my own eyes. It’s a fresh start for everybody. I don’t want to go into it with a ton of preconceived notions.”

Terry Francona, 64, retired as the team’s manager at the end of the 2023 season after 13 years in the Cleveland dugout. He ls the franchise’s all-time winningest manager with 921 victories.

Vogt, 39, retired as a Major League catcher in 2022 after 10 years behind the plate. He played for the Rays, Brewers, Giants, Diamondbacks, Braves and A’s. Vogt was the Mariners’ bullpen coach in 2023.

The roster Vogt inherits is basically the one that finished 76-86 and third in the weak American League Central Division last season. The Guardians added veteran backup catcher Austin Hedges in December and strengthened the bullpen by trading right-hander Enyel De Los Santos to the Padres for reliever Scott Barlow. Neither transaction is going to make the Guardians favorites to win the American League pennant.

There are a few battles that will be worth watching. Kyle Manzardo is the hard-hitting minor league first baseman acquired from the Rays for pitcher Aaron Civale at the trade deadline last summer. Manzardo will be trying to earn a spot on the 26-man roster. So will corner infielder Deyvison De Los Santos, whom the Guardians claimed in the Rule 5 Draft from the Diamondbacks.

De Los Santos, 20 years old, has to be on the 40-man roster when camp breaks for the Guardians to retain him. If he isn’t, the Diamondbacks can reclaim him.

De Los Santos would never get much playing time at third base because Jose Ramirez will likely play at least 150 games as long as he stays healthy. First base would be too crowded with Manzardo, De Los Santos and Josh Naylor. Manzardo or De Los Santos are likely to start the season at Triple-A Columbus.

The Guardian’s regular season begins March 28 in Oakland when they play the A’s in the first of a four-game set. That gives 36-year-old Carlos Carrasco about six weeks to prove he deserves a spot as a long reliever in the bullpen.

Vogt, of course, will not be making roster decisions on his own. He will have president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff to lean on as he grows into his new job.

I didn’t know that

… until I read my Snapple bottle cap.

An alligator can go through 3,000 teeth in a lifetime.

They have no molars, so they swallow small prey whole.

They tear apart larger prey by biting and shaking into smaller pieces to swallow. …

Ancient Romans thought strawberries could cure bad breath, kidney stones and fever. …

A pearl can be dissolved in vinegar. …

DFW Airport in Texas is larger than the island of Manhattan. …

At one time, serving ice cream on cherry pie in Kansas was illegal. …

Ninety-nine percent of our solar system’s mass is taken up by the sun.

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Fan Highlights The Bargain Of Jose Ramirez

By Andres Chavez February 11, 2024

The Cleveland Guardians are usually very careful with how they spend their money.

This often results in some missed opportunities to add talent to the roster, but also in some very good deals.

When they extended Jose Ramirez a couple of years ago, they might have secured one of MLB’s biggest bargains.

“God Bless Jose Ramirez. Please extend/sign people around him to make it all worth it,” Guardians fan @c0ry024 tweeted, with a picture of Ramirez’s contract details.




t’s a seven-year, $141 million commitment that pays him, on average, a little over $20 million per season.

We can list some players making more money than him that are objectively worse, but we don’t have that much space.

He is basically performing like a star under the salary of a very good player.

For years before signing that contract, he was an even bigger star playing for pennies on the dollar.

Ramirez has always been willing to give the Guardians a hometown discount in negotiations, and has stated that it’s the place he wants to be.

There might come a time in which his performance declines, but the Guardians still pay him big bucks.

If that scenario presents itself, it will be very much deserved: that’s how long-term contracts work.

With a career .854 OPS, 216 home runs, and 202 stolen bases at 31 years old, Ramirez still has a lot left in the tank.

He is still elite, and the Guardians are lucky to have him.

With some of the savings they got on his deal, they extended Andres Gimenez.

If they can get another power hitter or two, they would greatly enhance Ramirez’s chances of making the playoffs and, why not, the World Series.

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MLB Highlights Must-See Set Of Jose Ramirez Projections

By Andres Chavez

February 8, 2024

The Cleveland Guardians happen to roster a top MLB star.

Jose Ramirez might not be built like your prototypical slugger, yet he has averaged 29.6 home runs over his last three seasons.

He doesn’t look like your average burner, yet he has stolen 75 bases since 2021, averaging 25 per year over that span.

Often playing with questionable offensive talent, J-Ram has averaged 103 RBI in the last three years.

He is a bona fide star, an elite player who had to work to achieve everything he has to this point.

The best of all is that he is still in the back-end of his prime, and he is poised for another huge campaign in 2024.

MLB tweeted some of his projected stats by FanGraphs, and the numbers look extremely good.




FanGraphs is projecting him to finish the year with a rock solid .865 OPS, a .364 OBP, 93 runs scored, 97 RBI, and 27 home runs.

Hopefully, the Guardians can bring in at least another top hitter to strengthen the lineup around him and enhance their possibilities of making the postseason.

With that pitching staff and bullpen, and led by Ramirez, Cleveland could be very dangerous in the postseason.

They have to get there, though, and they missed that objective last year.

As long as they have Ramirez, however, the Guardians will be highly competitive, even if they fail to bring in more people for their lineup.

He has been, quietly, a WAR star and one of the most consistent producers in the game ever since becoming a regular in the mid-2010s.

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Guardians Show Up Last In Familiar Ranking

By Andres Chavez

February 8, 2024

The Cleveland Guardians have traditionally been low spenders under their current ownership.

That is no secret to anybody: year after year, they run low payrolls.

However, more often than not, they are still competitive because they excel at other aspects of team building: scouting, developing talent, and executing trades, just to name a few.

It’s important to point out, however, that the rest of the AL Central is starting to spend more and more.

Yes, a team can be competitive without spending too much money, but things get harder when almost the entire division is committed to winning.

Here are the current payrolls for the 2024 season in the AL Central.

“AL Central’s current payrolls, per @fangraphs: $151M — White Sox, $123M — Twins, $115M — Royals, $108M — Tigers, $96M — Guardians. They rank #15, #20, #21, #22, and #28 out of 30 teams. AL Central’s average payroll is $119 million, which would rank #21 out of the actual 30 teams,” Twins insider Aaron Gleeman tweeted.

AL Central's current payrolls, per @fangraphs:

$151M — White Sox
$123M — Twins
$115M — Royals
$108M — Tigers
$96M — Guardians

They rank #15, #20, #21, #22, and #28 out of 30 teams.

AL Central's average payroll is $119 million, which would rank #21 out of the actual 30 teams.

The largest payroll of the bunch, the Chicago White Sox, is tied to the worst roster in the division.

That doesn’t happen often, but the White Sox seem destined for last place in the Central and are a mess at the moment.

After that, the Twins have the look of the favorites to take the Central, just like it happened last year, with their $123 million payroll.

The Royals went on a spending spree this offseason and are looking competitive, at last, and the Tigers are also dangerous.

Truth be told, the Guardians are not that far from the pack with their $96 million payroll.

They just need to add an accomplished power hitter or two to support their bid for a playoff spot this campaign.

Will they be able to do that?

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Jorge Soler Is A Perfect Fit For Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians should pursue Jorge Soler in MLB free agency.

TOMMY WILD NOV 20, 2023

Fans are going to continue to talk about the Cleveland Guardians' lack of power until the front office addresses it. Unfortunately, there aren't a ton of home run-hitting players on the free agency market, but there is one who would be perfect on the Guardians.

That's former Miami Marlin Jorge Soler.

Cleveland's front office should be very familiar with Soler as he spent five seasons with their division rival Kansas City Royals earlier in his career. They should also realize that it's pretty clear that this is the type of player that needs to be added to the roster.

Soler finished the 2023 season with a slash line of .250/.341/.512 and an OPS of .853. He also slugged 36 home runs and drove in 75 RBI in his resurgent season. That would've easily been the most homers on the Guardians and third-most RBI.

The former World Series MVP ranked in the 81st percentile in average exit velocity, the 91st percentile in barrell%, and the 84th percentile in hard-hit%, per Baseball Savant. Soler's job is to hit the ball hard and far and that's exactly what he does.

FanGraphs projects Soler to make around $45 million over three years putting his AAV at about $16.0 million a season. Cleveland spending that much on a 31-year-old isn't typically in their game plan.

The last time they spent that much on a player about the same age with a similar skillset was Josh Bell, he didn't make it past the trade deadline.

At the end of the day, the Guardians need to do something about their lack of home runs. They've now hit the fewest baseball the last two seasons which isn't something to brag about.

Soler would definitely help with that problem.

Why you want him:

The power. He hit 48 homers in 2019. He whacked three crucial homers in the 2021 World Series. He walloped 36 homers for the surprise Miami Marlins this past season. There were a lot of less thrilling spells in between, but home runs matter, so Soler will have plenty of suitors.

What it will take to get him:

Something like the deal he just opted out of with Miami: two or three years with an average annual value near $15 million.

[ SHOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM - PAYROLLL IS UNDER $100 MIL]

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DH J.D. Martinez
Age: 36

Like some others on this list, Martinez bounced back from a subpar 2022 (by his standards) to post big numbers in 2023, hitting 33 home runs with 103 RBIs and an .893 OPS in 113 games for the Dodgers. Los Angeles’ signing of Shohei Ohtani ended any hopes of a return to Hollywood for Martinez, who has been selected to the past five All-Star Games.

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