Cleveland Sports Forum

Chase DeLauter, OF, Guardians: Outside of a rough week, DeLauter has hit throughout his time in the Arizona Fall League. DeLauter went 2-for-4 with a double on Wednesday as Peoria defeated Glendale 2-1. Over 22 AFL games, DeLauter is hitting .281/.375/.524 with five home runs, five stolen bases and 14 walks to 11 strikeouts. The Guardians outfielder is a well-rounded player who could push his way to the major league roster by the middle of 2024 with a strong showing in the first half of the season.

DeLauter can play CF.

yesterday was Guardians Day in Arizona

DeLauter 3 singles in 5 at bats and another RBI at 299 914 OPS with a couple games to go
Manzardo outdid that: 3 singles, his first homer in a couple weeks; 4 rbi Avg back up to 272 OPS 905
and Ross Carver 3 inning 2 hits 2 walks 4 strkeouts 1 run -- a sole homer
I will skip over reliever Jake Mller who got bombed, but conclude with reliever
Hanner 2 2 0 0 0 2 1.59

Guardians Prospective
@CleGuardPro
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8h
He did it again! #Guardians 23yr old (1B) prospect Kyle Manzardo with a 2-run shot in the 6th inning for Peoria to give them a 11-to-9 lead in tonight's semifinal playoff game vs Scottsdale. The HR was his 2nd of the night and 3rd over his last two games.

Guardians Prospective
@CleGuardPro
·
7h
#Guardians 22yr old OF prospect Chase DeLauter reached base 3x tonight (2-4 2R 3B RBI BB) in Peoria's 12-to-9 playoff win over Scottsdale which included this RBI triple in the 8th inning. Reminder DeLauter is 6'4" and 235 lbs and can handle center field.

I have been saying it since the regular season ended. Starting the season with Manzardo/ Naylor on first/DH and DeLauter in center make this a much better team to watch. Sign a bat and keep Bieber for the entire season. Trade off infielders for relief pitchers.

Would they [would any team really?] move DeLauter directly to the majors with just a couple weeks in AA and not a game in Columbus?
HIs Arizona stats suggest he could be ready but bear in mind that the pitching in Arizona is not nearly the same level as the hitting.
He certainly should be the CF of the near future but I doubt he opens in Cleveland.

When you look at the lineup with the 2 Naylors, Jose, the Arizona Twins, Kwan and Giminez it really doesn't look so shabby after all. The power hitter in RF is the missing factor. Arias or Rocchio or Tena may be a decent SS to finish it out.

Do not expect DeLauter up at the beginning of the season. FO does not work that way. I would be all for it.

Not many teams will skip a guy over AAA completely. Cleveland rushed many of the best pitchers from AA to AAA to Cleveland. Not a position player that I recall.

BA isn't guessing or recommending who gets added; they are just offering analyses after the names are added. So all they have on CLE so are is

Analysis: Rodriguez was drafted out of the Carlos Beltran Academy in Puerto Rico back in 2017, but was left unprotected in each of the last two Rule 5 drafts. In 2023, the slugger made sure that wouldn’t happen again, hitting .286/.368/.529 over 135 games across Double-A and Triple-A. Rodriguez is the type of impactful slugging profile the Guardians lack in their organization and his 29 total home runs ranked 16th among all minor leaguers in 2023.

BA's first analysis of the potential Rule 5 draft picks. NOTE: please don't read this story if you are not interested in the potential success or marginal prospects

In the world of improv comedy, the first and most important rule is “Yes, and.” Whatever the premise, performers are expected to accept the idea another performer throws out and then try to add to it.

That’s also a good rule to follow when it comes to a MLB Rule 5 Draft Preview. It’s easy to find a plausible reason to explain why every player we write up for the Rule 5 draft shouldn’t be selected. Pretty much everyone included below has some sort of flaw to their game.

But when talking with people inside the industry about potential Rule 5 picks, it’s more important to focus on what a player can do that could lead to them being selected. While there are very few Joakim Sorias, Johan Santanas and Garrett Whitlocks available, there are a number of players who can help a team who has a specific need.



Image credit: Blaine Crim (Photo by Eddie Kelly / ProLook Photos)

In the world of improv comedy, the first and most important rule is “Yes, and.” Whatever the premise, performers are expected to accept the idea another performer throws out and then try to add to it.

That’s also a good rule to follow when it comes to a MLB Rule 5 Draft Preview. It’s easy to find a plausible reason to explain why every player we write up for the Rule 5 draft shouldn’t be selected. Pretty much everyone included below has some sort of flaw to their game.

But when talking with people inside the industry about potential Rule 5 picks, it’s more important to focus on what a player can do that could lead to them being selected. While there are very few Joakim Sorias, Johan Santanas and Garrett Whitlocks available, there are a number of players who can help a team who has a specific need.
The Best Of The 21st Century?

The 2020 Rule 5 Draft, which included Garrett Whitlock, is among the best we’ve seen in quite some time.
READ MORE

The Rule 5 draft is the land of misfit toys. Every player left unprotected was left off the 40-man roster for a logical reason. In some cases, they are too far away from the majors to be big league ready. In other cases, they don’t fit the profile at their position. Some players are well-rounded enough, but just lack the impact to fit clearly on an MLB roster.

A MLB Rule 5 draft pick is most similar to an out-of-options player signed to a MiLB contract with an invite to spring training. The chance of the player sticking and contributing may sometimes be small, but the cost of taking a chance and adding them to the spring training competition is also small. The $100,000 cost of acquiring a Rule 5 pick is negligible, especially when almost everyone picked is set to receive an MLB minimum salary if they make an MLB roster. The opportunity cost of carrying a player on the 40-man roster all offseason is more significant, but for a team needing depth (or with a barren 40-man) that’s also a modest expense.

So our Rule 5 preview lays out the case for why a player could be selected. We also explain why another team may be leery of the same player. We’ll keep adding to this list over the next few weeks leading up to the Rule 5 draft on Dec. 6.



Image credit: Blaine Crim (Photo by Eddie Kelly / ProLook Photos)

In the world of improv comedy, the first and most important rule is “Yes, and.” Whatever the premise, performers are expected to accept the idea another performer throws out and then try to add to it.

That’s also a good rule to follow when it comes to a MLB Rule 5 Draft Preview. It’s easy to find a plausible reason to explain why every player we write up for the Rule 5 draft shouldn’t be selected. Pretty much everyone included below has some sort of flaw to their game.

But when talking with people inside the industry about potential Rule 5 picks, it’s more important to focus on what a player can do that could lead to them being selected. While there are very few Joakim Sorias, Johan Santanas and Garrett Whitlocks available, there are a number of players who can help a team who has a specific need.
The Best Of The 21st Century?

The 2020 Rule 5 Draft, which included Garrett Whitlock, is among the best we’ve seen in quite some time.
READ MORE

The Rule 5 draft is the land of misfit toys. Every player left unprotected was left off the 40-man roster for a logical reason. In some cases, they are too far away from the majors to be big league ready. In other cases, they don’t fit the profile at their position. Some players are well-rounded enough, but just lack the impact to fit clearly on an MLB roster.

A MLB Rule 5 draft pick is most similar to an out-of-options player signed to a MiLB contract with an invite to spring training. The chance of the player sticking and contributing may sometimes be small, but the cost of taking a chance and adding them to the spring training competition is also small. The $100,000 cost of acquiring a Rule 5 pick is negligible, especially when almost everyone picked is set to receive an MLB minimum salary if they make an MLB roster. The opportunity cost of carrying a player on the 40-man roster all offseason is more significant, but for a team needing depth (or with a barren 40-man) that’s also a modest expense.

So our Rule 5 preview lays out the case for why a player could be selected. We also explain why another team may be leery of the same player. We’ll keep adding to this list over the next few weeks leading up to the Rule 5 draft on Dec. 6.
Top 10 Players

NUMBER ONE: Tanner Burns, RHP, Guardians

Burns has one of the most significant profiles of any player left unprotected. He was a college star at Auburn based on the strength of his fastball and slider combination. He has found success as a professional with a career 3.31 ERA, a 25.3% strikeout rate and a .221 opponents batting average against over 251 innings. He’s been successful as a starter in the upper-minors and spent the last six weeks of 2023 coming out of the Akron bullpen. Burns pitched to a 1.35 ERA with 13 strikeouts to 7 walks over 13.1 innings as a reliever. His fastball sits 92-93 mph as a starter, but his average induced vertical break is one of the highest numbers in the minors, often exceeding 20 inches of IVB during starts. Burns’ 54% fastball usage is extremely high. His primary secondary is a mid-80s cut slider that he throws 25% of the time, but he mixes in an upper-70s curveball with two-plane break and a mid-80s changeup. Burns has no plus pitch, but all of his pitches produced positive run values this season. He shows the acumen to adapt to a variety of roles.

Cleveland knows what he can do and preferred to protect harder throwing Cade Smith. We;ll see who's right.
One thing Burns has going for him is his durability.

The G's can't pick in the Major League portion of the rule 5 draft because their 40 man roster is full. So, they're sellers not buyers.

How many other teams are full?

Here's the 2023 All-Arizona Fall League Team

based solely on performance during the six-week circuit. A Top 25 Prospects list -- that has more to do with future value -- will come later this week

1B: Kyle Manzardo, Peoria (CLE No. 2, MLB No. 58)
This was a close one between Manzardo and Wes Clarke, with Manzardo’s two-homer game to send Peoria to the championship game a big factor. The first baseman who came to the Guardians in the Aaron Civale trade has a hit-over-power profile, but he may have started to answer the questions about his pop by hitting six homers (not including the two in the semifinal) and slugging .565. He finished third in the AFL with 52 total bases.

OF: Honorable mention: Chase DeLauter (CLE),
Honorable mention: \ Ryan Webb (CLE)

Here's a detailed list of all 40 man rosters as of the moment. They give a total for each team at the end of the list. My quick count is 9 full rosters; 31 with spots from 1 to 7 vacancies. I bet the Dodgers have someone specific in mind to fill their 1 vacant spot
Good way to find ex-Guardians, e.g. on Arizona Kyle Nelson and Carlos Vargas
Carlos Carrasco has been removed by the Mets; Kluber by the RedSox.

https://www.thebaseballcube.com/content/40man/