Cleveland Sports Forum

ought to.

one bad season by our front office last winter after many very good ones.
I'm sure they still have staff members n heavy demand by other organizations

There seems to be a thought that there is the FO and then there is Francona. I am sure that Francona signed off on every move. Positive that Francona wanted Brennen over Jones and Oscar over Benson.

And Straw over anybody that can hit a HR

true enough

I know as Guardians fans it is supposed to be doom and gloom but I am very optimistic about 2024 and the future. This team has the one commodity that every team wants and that is starting pitching. There is enough depth in the minor leagues to acquire weaknesses like relief pitchers. Should be enough salary space to acquire any other needs,

You can trade Bieber and Straw if you want to or keep them . Personally I would keep Bieber unless i am blown away by an offer or I wanted to do something out of the ordinary like signing Reynaldo Lopez with Bieber's money. You would think any trade of Bieber would have to bring a young outfielder back. We are going to need spots available for DeLauter, Valera and others. I would like to trade Straw for a middle reliever. Then I would like to take his 4.5 million dollar contract and buy another relief pitcher or a back up catcher. . Bo is solid at catcher. Need to find a solid back up and that could be Fry but I think it would be better to upgrade if possible.
The infield looks set with current players. (No matter how it shakes out).

All in all I think this team is ready for some success.

Do you have an opinion on who wins the SS competition?
Not that you;ve been forgotten him but you didn't mention Manzardo who could be a big offensive upgrade in the middle of the lineup as soon as next April

Manzardo should break camp with the big league camp based on talent but might have to wait based on service time. Hope not. He is a big part of next year barring injury. He frees up money for other areas.

Hard to say at shortstop. i like Rocchio. At the same time everything I see last year says that Arias is their guy and Jason Lloyd confirmed that he had been told by people in the organization the combination of the future was Arias and Giminez. I think Rocchio is the better all around player and has more value. Arias could be your utility infielder.

I gather they consider Arias the best defender of all their shortstops. He showed surprising power; one homer for every 35 plate appearances; better than any outfielder [Gonzalez was 2 in 180]. Same as Josh Bell, Team leaders were mostly named Naylor:
Bo 1 for 21 times at the plate; Ramirez 1 for 25, Fry 1 for 28, Josh 1 for 29.

But as an offensive player he had two horrendous splits:
vs LHP 083/168/148. Rumor has it he's a right handed hitter, but that didn't help
with RISP 136/220/272. Mr. Clutchless.

A little slow going looking for Tito's replacement. Wonder why there hasn't been any internal candidates mentioned.

Hope they don't settle for leftovers after the Giants and Mets get first choices.

Do you really think that Cleveland can compete with both of those markets ? Be realistic The Mets team president will make more than the entire Cleveland coaching staff and front office combined. San Francisco will probably sign Melvin. Cleveland will get a young guy probably with little actual managing experience.

The Guardians will interview Stephen Vogt this week for their vacant manager job. Vogt, a former big league catcher, retired as a player in 2022 and served as Seattle’s bullpen and quality-control coach this past season.

Cleveland’s front office is starting to narrow the field to find a replacement for Terry Francona, who stepped away from the job at the end of the season after 11 years. Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough, Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza and Giants bullpen coach Craig Albernaz are among the external candidates to interview for the job.

Jeff Passan
@JeffPassan
·
6h
Longtime major league catcher Stephen Vogt is emerging as a serious candidate for the Cleveland Guardians managerial job, sources tell ESPN. Vogt, 38, is a coach with Seattle and previously interviewed for San Francisco’s job, where Bob Melvin is the leading candidate.

Thinking out loud, who was the last first time manager Cleveland hired? Eric Wedge, 21 years ago.
We had good success with "rookie managers" Charlie Manuel and Mike Hargrove.

What's the deal with Mike Sarbaugh? Did he decline to interview for the job? He's got all the qualifications you could ask for. He certainly has paid his dues.

Guess he'll go the way of guys like Luvollo who were passed over and moved to a different organization.

I read that he declined. I guess he enjoys being a top notch coach.