Cleveland Sports Forum

A way-too-early projected power rating for 2025 at mlb.com puts the Guardians No. 10; Tigers are 12; Royals 13
10. Guardians
You’d presume that the Guardians would be a bit more active this offseason than they were last winter, but then again, that inactivity didn’t prevent them from nabbing an AL Central title in 2024. They could probably use an extra power bat or two, though, if you’ve got one lying around.

12. Tigers
Their late-season tear got them into the playoffs for the first time in a decade and served as a legitimate proof of concept for their entire plan. Now it’s probably time to take the next step forward: They should be one of the stealthily aggressive teams in free agency this offseason

13. Royals
They may have overperformed a bit, and that lineup was looking awfully thin by the ALDS, but this is still a team with an AL MVP candidate in Bobby Witt Jr., an excellent rotation, good vibes and a division in which they don’t have to blow the doors off to be competitive. Last season wasn’t a one-off.

18. Twins
It had to be frustrating for Twins fans to see all those other AL Central teams in the playoffs while their team sat out October. If Minnesota is going to get back to the postseason in 2025, health, as always, is going to be pivotal. [interesting comparing this ranking with the "talent level" ranking from last week; suggesting that either the players and/or the manager underperform dramatically]

30. White Sox
They’ve got a new, highly regarded manager in Will Venable, and don’t forget, Garrett Crochet is still here for now (and Luis Robert Jr. too!) We guarantee 2025 will be better than 2024. (Right?) [Pretty unlikely they'll do worse]

CLEVELAND, OH – The Cleveland Guardians and Manager Stephen Vogt today announced the following promotions and hirings to the 2025 Major League Coaching and Performance Staff.

Promoted Craig Albernaz to Associate Manager

Promoted Kai Correa to ML Field Coordinator/Director of Defense, Baserunning and Game Strategy

Promoted Grant Fink to Major League Hitting Coach

Promoted Jason Esposito to Major League Assistant Hitting Coach

Promoted Hasani Torres to Head Major League Strength and Conditioning Coach

Promoted Joe Kessler to Senior Coordinator, Strength and Conditioning, Integration and Development

Albernaz and Correa joined the Guardians Coaching Staff prior to the 2024 season and were key members in leading the Guardians to their sixth Postseason appearance in the last nine seasons. Albernaz spent the 2024 campaign as Bench Coach and will continue to support Vogt daily as well as organizing the Coaching and Performance Staffs. As part of his Field Coordinator duties, Correa will continue to organize and oversee ML Spring Training camp as well as daily regular season workdays while taking on additional duties coordinating club defense, baserunning and game strategy.

Fink, 33, joins the Major League Coaching Staff after spending the last three seasons as Cleveland’s Minor League Hitting Coordinator, overseeing the hitting development of the organization’s position players. He began his professional coaching career with Cleveland in 2017 after a three-year playing career, 2013-15, following his 23rd round selection by Cleveland in the 2013 MLB Draft out of Missouri Western State University. Rounding out the hitting group will be Dan Puente, who returns for his second season on the staff, and Jason Esposito. “Espo” spent the 2023 and ’24 campaigns as the ML club’s Run Production Coordinator.

The Guardians also confirmed the return of First Base/Catching Coach Sandy Alomar, Jr. (16th season), Pitching Coach Carl Willis (15th season with Cleveland), Asst. Pitching Coach Joe Torres (4th), Bullpen Coach Brad Goldberg (2nd), Infield/Third Base Coach Rouglas Odor (2nd), Outfield Coach JT Maguire (3rd), Hitting Analyst Josh Tubbs (2nd) and Bullpen Catchers Ricky Pacione (12th) and Eric Rodríguez (2nd).

2025 Major League On-Field Coaching Staff

Manager……………….. Stephen Vogt

Associate Manager…... Craig Albernaz

First Base/Catching….. Sandy Alomar, Jr.

Pitching Coach……….. Carl Willis

Asst. Pitching Coach…. Joe Torres

Bullpen Coach…………Brad Goldberg

Outfield Coach………… JT Maguire

Bullpen Catchers…….. Eric Rodríguez/Ricky Pacione

ML Field Coordinator/Dir. of Defense, Baserunning and Game Strategy…... Kai Correa

Infield/Third Base Coach… Rouglas Odor

Hitting Coach…………. Grant Fink

Asst. Hitting Coach…… Dan Puente

Asst. Hitting Coach…… Jason Esposito

ML Hitting Analyst…… Josh Tubbs

ML Staff Asst./Interpreter..Agustin Rivero

Back in the ancient past there was a
Manager [switched almost every year]
First Base Coach
Third Base Coach
good chance George Strickland and/or Mel McGaha
Pitching Coach Mel Harder for several decades
Bullpen Catcher Hank [?] Iquierdo
Trainer Wally Bock forever
and that was about it.

JAPANESE PITCHERS USUALLY COME TO THE US with huge costs and fees owed to their previous team. But Sasaki still falls within the limitations of the International signing bonus pool so the cost will be affordable to any team even Cleveland. With that in mind Baseball America offers the following.

It’s unlikely that Roki Sasaki is going to end up as a Marlin, a Ray or a Pirate, but he is going to be available to all 30 teams. And because of MLB’s rules about bonus limits, he’s going to sign a contract that all 30 teams can afford without even having to take a meeting with the owner to get an addition to the budget.
With that in mind, here’s our elevator pitch from each and every MLB team for how they could try to convince Sasaki to choose them.

Cleveland Guardians

The Pitch: We’re as good as any club at identifying and developing excellent pitching. You can trust that we’ll have a meticulous plan in place to help accentuate your strengths and only help you get better as you settle in against MLB pitching. You can also win right away here—remember how close the ALCS was?—and more talent is on the way. We also have one of baseball’s best farm systems led by Australia native and No. 1 overall pick in 2024 Travis Bazzana.

[Makes sense to me]

But when I thought about Cleveland's wonderful pitching factory I wondered what they didn't do last year to keep Williams and Allen nearly as effective in their first seasons. Getting both back to 2023 levels would be an enormous boost to prospects in the Rough Tough Central.

These Top Guardians Prospects Could Be Eligible For MLB's Rule 5 Draft

Story by Tommy Wild • 4h • 2 min read

The Cleveland Guardians have some big decisions to make within their organization in the coming days. The deadline for adding players to the 40-man roster or potentially leaving them exposed to MLB's Rule 5 Draft is November 19.

Per MLB Pipeline, four players among the Guardians' top-30 prospects could become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft if they aren't added to the 40-man roster by Tuesday.


Doug Nikhazy (Guardians No. 24 Prospect)
The Guardians drafted Doug Nikhazy out of the University Of Mississippi in the second round (58th overall) of the 2021 amateur draft.

Nikhazy, 25, has a minor league career ERA of 3.90 and a 1.38 WHIP.

After being promoted to Triple-A during the second half of his 2024 season, Nikhazy makes a compelling case that he should be added to Cleveland's 40-man roster before the deadline.

Nikhazy had a 2.87 ERA with the Columbus Clippers and a 1.13 in 14 appearances (13 starts).



Petey Halpin (Guardians No. 26 Prospect)
Cleveland drafted Petey Halpin out of high school with the 95th overall pick of the 2020 draft.

Halpin, 22, spent the entire 2023 and 2024 seasons at Double-A. At that level, he hit .239/.313/.384 with a .731 OPS, including 21 home runs. Halpin has demonstrated more potential in the outfield, with some highlight-defensive plays.


Ryan Webb (Guardians No. 27 Prospect)
Cleveland selected Ryan Webb with the 125th overall selection in the 2021 draft.

Webb was promoted to Triple-A at the end of the 2024 season, where he finished the year. He made seven starts with the Columbus Clippers, recording a 2.60 ERA and 1.27 WHIP.

Franco Aleman (Guardians No. 30 Prospect)
As another 2021 draft pick, Aleman was selected in the 10th round.

The 24-year-old appeared in 24 games at Triple-A in 2024 and pitched 22.2 innings, posting a 1.99 ERA and 1.06 WHIP.

Cleveland's Other Rule 5 Draft Eligible Prospects
Nikhazy, Halpin, Webb, and Aleman are just some of the prospects the Guardians could risk losing this winter. According to FanGraphs' RosterResource, Cleveland has 43 players who could become Rule-5 eligible.

Halpin hasn't shown enough offense to be added to the roster. 684 ops in 2023; 713 in 2024. He lifted his homerun total from 9 to 12 and cut his strikeout/walk ratio from 2.7 to 2.2.


Another possibility could be Kahlil Watson a big deal high school prospect and first round draft pick by Miami traded to us for Josh Bell. He has power he has speed and he's been getting time at various infield and outfield positions. Like Halpin he was at Akron last summer at age 21 which is very young for AA. He hit 16 homers, which was 1 for every 25 at bats. He also struck out just over 30% of his plate appearances and was nabbed 9 of 24 basestealing attempts. 220/305/407 doesn't excite but he'll remain an interesting prospect. Perhaps a non-competitive team would waste a season in the majors for him at age 22 hoping he'll develop within the following few years. He had some "attitude problems" while with the Marlins and was suspended at some point for pushing an umpire.

There are some other potential relief pitchers like Allan Hernandez [looked good in the Arizona Fall League and Nick Enright [31K in 17 IP in Columbus after his injury rehab]

This year I'm pretty Dayvison DeLos Santos will be protected by Miami and won't be going again in the Rule 5 draft. 26 homers in AAA 523 slugging average. But his K/BB numbers were again unimpressive: 108/22

Ken Rosenthal
@Ken_Rosenthal

Bobby Kinne leaving Rays to become Guardians director of baseball operations, sources tell
@TheAthletic
. Had been Rays’ major league pitching strategist.


6:46 PM · Nov 19, 2024

"Covering the Corners" comments on the roster moves yesterday

Examining the Guardians’ 40-Man Roster Moves
Welcome to the roster, Aleman, Nikhazy, Enright and Halpin

By Quincy Wheeler Nov 20, 2024, 8:00am EST 25 Comments / 25 New
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The Guardians removed three players from their roster and added four on Tuesday night - let’s take a look at why these moves were made.

Be sure to check out Zach's preview of these selections from yesterday with plenty of useful info fun to read in hindsight now.

First, pitchers Peter Strzelecki, Connor Gillispie and outfielder George Valera were designated for assignment. Both pitchers were touched by the Guardians’ pitching magic dust, as Strzelecki had a 2.31 ERA and Gillispie had a 2.25 ERA, but both had a good bit of luck involved in that outcome (with Gillispie not giving up a home run at the major league level and not getting hurt by a high walk-rate, and Strzelecki stranding runners at an unsustainable 90% rate). At 30 years old and 27 years old, respectively, both seem pretty well established in their roles, with Strzelecki as a decent middle relief option who throws a good slider and Gillispie as a swing starter or longman you don’t have to worry about designating for assignment in a pinch. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Gillispie make it through waivers and end up back in Cleveland’s system as a depth guy in a continued attempt to build out their rotation, but I’d guess someone else will give Strzelecki a chance at making the pen for an organization thinner in relief options.

Valera is the more noteworthy name, simply in terms of what he represents for fans' dashed hopes. Once a top five prospect in the system, Valera has sadly become a chronically injured player, his last setback coming in a late season tear of his patella tendon. The injury is often a death knell for players looking to play outfield and the Guardians likely recognized they have plenty of possibilities for left-handed DH's. Valera hasn't been able to hit LHP in the minors so there is significant platoon risk there, even if he can regain health. His story coming from the Dominican Republic is a good one, and when healthy, he puts up great at-bats with lots of loud contact. Hopefully, he finds a place where he can eventually make the big leagues (who knows, maybe it's back in Cleveland if he somehow clears waivers).

The newcomers are, first of all, a starting pitcher in Doug Nikhazy, a left-hander who put up a 2.87 ERA in Columbus last year in 13 starts and a 3.17 ERA in 11 starts in Double-A Akron. A second round pick in 2021, the word is that the Guardians love the 25 year old's makeup and work ethic. His 9/3.75 K/BB/9 won't make anyone start salivating for him to start sometime soon in Cleveland but his 42% groundball rate in Columbus was nice to see. He's only six foot tall so Cleveland is again betting on a guy shorter than the average major league starting pitcher. I can't really doubt the Guardians on their pitching evaluation so I guess we'll see how Nikhazy responds to a chance to help out in the bigs in 2025. He'll be in the top 8 or 9 starters so chances are he will debut at some point if he stays healthy.


Franco Aleman was an obvious choice, as the 6'6" 235 lb RHP has been posting K-rates in the +13 per 9 range from the time he started pro ball. Last year in Columbus, while navigating some injury issues (a lat strain), he had a 1.99 ERA and 13.5/3.97 K/BB/9. He's got a fastball that sits at about 97 mph and comes out of a low arm slot that makes it look even faster. He's also got a pretty darn good slider. He is a guard against any bullpen regression from last year's amazing relief corps if he can stay healthy.

Nic Enright was an interesting choice simply because he was selected from the Guardians in a previous Rule 5 draft in the fall of 2022 and then returned in June 2023 by the Marlins. In the meantime, he beat a cancer diagnosis which speaks to his incredible will to overcome obstacles. Enright has a good fastball even though it is only 93 mph in average because it has a high iVB, a very good slider, an average changeup and a usable curve. It's a little surprising the Guardians added another reliever to their roster of bullpen arms but the calculus here is that Enright is better than Strzelecki or Gillispie, or possibly more likely to be again picked in the Rule 5 draft than either of those players are to be claimed on waivers. In 11 innings at Columbus, Enright struck out 16.41 per 9 and walked fewer than 3 per 9, putting up a 1.06 ERA.

Finally, the surprise addition was Petey Halpin. Not because Halpin is a bad prospect but because it seemed surprising that any team would be considering rostering the 22 year old who has yet to play above Double-A. This is where I generally trust that teams like the Guardians have got a credible reason to believe someone was going to pick Halpin. So, why did Cleveland want to protect a player who repeated Double-A last year and only put up a 105 wRC+ with a 23.5/10.6% K/BB%, who appears to be clearly a platoon bat given dismal professional numbers vs LHP, and who also got caught stealing 7 out of 19 times? I think it's probably a combination of belief in Halpin as a defender in centerfield and recognition that he managed to increase his ability to pull fly balls last season (42.1 FB/41.2 Pull). Halpin's BABIP was also about 30 percentage points lower than his norm, so he was unlucky in 2024, also. It's at least somewhat possible another team sees a player like that as a good 26th man/5th outfielder, or that someone is interested in Halpin as a piece of a potential trade the Guardians are trying to finalize. Or this simply means the Guardians believe in their ability to develop further this left-handed hitting, 6 foot, 200 lb 3rd round pick from 2020... I'm just not as confident in their abilities here as I am with pitchers. Wishing Halpin all the best, though, and excited to see what he can do at Columbus.

The most interesting omission was left-handed starter Ryan Webb, who put up a 2.80 ERA and 9.62/3.31 K/BB/9 between Akron and Columbus last year, throwing 140 innings. The numbers are pretty similar to Nikhazy as is Webb's age. I had rumors that the Guardians liked Nikhazy better, but I am not 100% sure why that is the case. Again, I don't have a really good reason to doubt the Guardians when it comes to pitching so I guess I will just trust them on this one and hope Webb makes it through the draft. I also hope Tommy Mace, a groundball specialist favorite of mine, makes it through, but it feels that's far less likely to be a concern than it is that Webb is selected.

Overall, some very interesting choices by the Guardians yesterday. Now, we wait to see what else unfolds with the Guardians' roster as the offseason continues to unfold.

According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, Chicago has traded for Eli Morgan of the Cleveland Guardians, a deal that brings an elite reliever into the mix early this offseason.

The Cubs have had a poor bullpen the last few years, and despite knowing that unit was a weakness following their late-season collapse in 2023, the front office didn't do enough to overhaul that group ahead of this past campaign which ultimately hurt their chances of playing in October.

President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer admitted he let the team down in that area, and now he is looking to make amends immediately.

Morgan is a great addition for Chicago.

During his four-year tenure with the Guardians, the right-hander has posted a 3.97 ERA and 104 ERA+ across his 161 outings and 19 starts that spanned 265.1 innings pitched.

He's also coming off the best season of his career with a 1.93 ERA and sizzling 212 ERA+ in 32 relief appearances. This was marred only by two separate stints on the injured list because of right shoulder and elbow inflammation.


No information has been revealed at the time of writing about who the Cubs gave up to get him, so it's hard to assess who got the better end of this deal.

But, with him being arbitration eligible for the first time this season, Chicago has now added a cost controlled asset in their bullpen who is coming off the best performance of his career which is exactly what they needed.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/cubs as Chicago Cubs Acquire Star Reliever in Trade With Cleveland Guardians.

Cubs To Acquire Eli Morgan, Designate Patrick Wisdom For Assignment
By Steve Adams | November 20, 2024 at 12:14pm CDT

The Cubs and Guardians are in agreement on a trade sending right-hander Eli Morgan from Cleveland to Chicago, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. Chicago is designating infielder Patrick Wisdom for assignment to open space on the 40-man roster, ESPN’s Jesse Rogers adds. Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic reports that the Cubs are sending a prospect from A-ball back to the Guardians in the swap.

Morgan, 28, isn’t a household name but nonetheless represents a notable addition to the Chicago relief corps. The former eighth-round pick is fresh off a terrific season in Cleveland, having posted a 1.93 ERA in 42 frames out of the bullpen. Morgan was the beneficiary of a microscopic .222 average on balls in play and a bloated 85.2% strand rate, both of which serve as a portent for some ERA regression. However, he’s been a quality reliever for the past three seasons, working to a combined 3.27 ERA in 176 innings for the Guards.



Morgan did see his strikeout rate check in at a career-low 20.4% this past season, which is something of a red flag. The primary culprit has been a drop in swinging strikes against his four-seamer, though he hasn’t lost much in the way of velocity on the pitch. Morgan still racks up plenty of whiffs with his slider and changeup, and that pair of secondary offerings has helped him to keep both righties and lefties off balance in his four-year MLB career. Even with the dip in punchouts — Morgan fanned 28.1% of his opponents in 2022 and 25.1% in 2023 — he maintained strong command, issuing a walk to only 6.6% of opponents.

For the Cubs, Morgan will be a multi-year option in the ’pen — and an affordable one at that. He’s controlled for another three seasons and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn just $1MM this coming season. His role in Chicago will determine the extent to which his price tag rises over the next few seasons — saves are compensated more in arbitration than middle relief work, for instance — but the Cubs will very likely pay fewer than $10MM for the three years of service they’re acquiring.

Guardians Acquire Single-A Outfielder From Cubs In Eli Morgan Trade

Cleveland announced that it has acquired MLB Pipeline Top 30 Cubs prospect Alfonsin Rosario from Chicago in exchange for Eli Morgan.

Logan Potosky



On Wednesday, it was reported that the Cleveland Guardians traded right-handed relief pitcher Eli Morgan to the Chicago Cubs for a Class A player.

This player's name is now known, officially completing the deal.


The Guardians announced that they have acquired Single-A outfielder Alfonsin Rosario from Chicago. Standing at 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, the 20-year-old right-handed hitter is currently MLB Pipeline's 21st-ranked Cubs prospect.


Rosario was selected by Chicago in the sixth round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of P27 Academy in Lexington, South Carolina. He was initially committed to play junior college baseball at Chipola College (FL), but chose to forgo his commitment to sign with the Cubs.


After playing nine games in rookie ball last year, Rosario played his first full professional season with the Single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans in 2024.

And he excelled, hitting .230 with 88 hits, 18 doubles, four triples, 16 home runs, 73 RBI, 20 stolen bases, and a .767 OPS in 109 games. Rosario ranked third in the Carolina League in both RBI and extra-base hits (38), fourth in both home runs and total bases (162), and seventh in slugging percentage (.462).



He was one of just three Single-A players with at least 16 home runs and 20 stolen bases during the 2024 campaign.


Rosario joins a strong group of Guardians outfield prospects, seven of whom are on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Guardians Prospects list.

Based on his productive 2024 season with Single-A Myrtle Beach, Rosario could start next year with the defending High-A Midwest League Champion Lake County Captains. But time will ultimately tell where his 2025 campaign will begin.

OK with me if his year begins and ends in Lake County; what counts is his ability to refine his hitting approach. Front office has been more aggressive with taking on big swingers lately.

And the trade clears a spot on the Roster for a free agent signing. Perhaps they'll be one??