Cleveland Sports Forum

the player manager idea is supposed to be a joke I've been telling since I started following the team 65 years ago, but since we haven't won since I wonder if it's our only possibility

Long time ago Cleveland sportscasters beat off Tom Hamilton

Red Sox radio voice Castiglione wins 2024 Frick Award.
Joe Castiglione, who has called Red Sox games on the radio for a record 41 seasons, has been selected as the 2024 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for excellence in broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Castiglione will be honored during the Hall of Fame Awards Presentation as part of Hall of Fame Weekend, July 19-22, 2024. Castiglione becomes the 48th winner of the Frick Award, as he earned the highest point total in a vote conducted by the Hall of Fame’s 15-member Frick Award Committee.

Castiglione honored for decades as voice of Red Sox
The final ballot featured broadcasters whose main contributions came as local and national voices and whose careers began after, or extended into, the Wild Card Era. The 10 finalists were: Joe Buck, Gary Cohen, Jacques Doucet, Tom Hamilton, Ernie Johnson Sr., Ken Korach, Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper, Dan Shulman and Castiglione.

“Bringing knowledge and passion to the booth every day for more than four decades, Joe Castiglione has given voice to the greatest era of Red Sox success in the broadcast era,” said Josh Rawitch, President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “Starting with the team in 1983 in Carl Yastrzemski’s final season, Joe has connected generations of Red Sox fans with a delivery that has become part of the New England fabric. His calls of the team’s four World Series wins in the past 20 seasons provided fans with memories that will echo forever throughout Red Sox nation.”

Born March 2, 1947, in Hamden, Conn., Castiglione earned an undergraduate degree at Colgate University and took his master’s degree at Syracuse University – each about an hour from Cooperstown – before beginning his career at WFMJ-TV in Youngstown, Ohio. After moving to Cleveland to work for WKYC-TV, he began calling Indians games in 1979 before working Brewers games in 1981 and then returning to the Indians’ booth in 1982.
[He left Youngstown before I got here.]

Castiglone use to do the sports Youngstown for a local channel.

are you from Youngstown Rusty? I moved to the big city in 78

Tanner Burns cited as 2nd most likely to be picked reports BA. I would expect someone to pick him up.
Cleveland now has an open spot on the roster; there are a few OFs listed as possible picks by Baseball America; none especially compelling but that's why they're available in Rule 5 draft.

Today BA has added Aaron Bracho to its list of best hitters available; he had a pretty good 2023 in Akron returning to the offensive game he had in rookie ball, but his defense restricts his prospect potential. "Bracho has the best chance of hearing his name selected but his bat is not likely enough to carry his lack of defensive value"

RoboScout tool and Stuff+ scores for minor league prospects does not rate Burns among top 20 pitchers available. We'll see if the pickers rely on analytics or scouting reports.

Looking for an OF for CLE to select among the top 50 Rule 5 prospects cited by BA, most of the OFs they list are both flawed and LH hitters. I assume if we want to try someone he'll be a right handed bat.

Here are 2:

Hudson Haskin, OF, Orioles

Despite the shortened nature of the 2020 draft, Baltimore still managed to nab three of its 10 best prospects in OF Heston Kjerstad, IF Jordan Westburg and 3B Coby Mayo. But the third-highest bonus of the class actually belonged to outfielder Hudson Haskin ($1,096,800). A draft-eligible sophomore, Haskin rode a standout freshman season and a strong summer wooden bat league performance in the NECBL to the second round. Haskin has been solid across parts of three professional seasons. He spent the entire 2022 season with Double-A Bowie, hitting .264/.367/.455 over 109 games while starting at all three outfield positions and spending a majority of his time in centerfield. Haskin was limited to just 33 total games in 2023, hitting .287/.394/.443. He began the season with Triple-A Norfolk before hitting the injured list on April 17, missing a month of play. He returned to Triple-A on June 8 but played just 10 games before going down with a hip injury that required surgery. Haskin has shown enough impact with the bat and defensive value that he could potentially stick on an MLB roster devoid of outfield depth and versatility.

Shane Sasaki, OF, Rays

Sasaki has yet to play above High-A, so asking him to jump to the majors is a big request. But if a team wants to take a flier on a productive center fielder who can run and has a track record of hitting, Sasaki wouldn’t be a crazy choice. He’s a career .302/.379/.463 hitter with 82 steals in 92 tries as a pro. Sasaki will likely continue to struggle to maintain his strength throughout a full 162-game season because of his slight stature [5-11 165, he towers over Kwan], but he has a plan at the plate, can handle left and center field and can run.

No one picked Burns. He could move on up to Columbus as either a starter or reliever or some of both.

CLE made a pick, for an IF of course: 10. Cleveland Guardians — Deyvison De Los Santos, 3B, D-Backs. I'll look for a scouting report

Hmm, he's a power hitter, something we actually are trying to accumulate these days. [e.g. 1st round pick Velazquez]

Deyvison De Los Santos, 1B/3B, D-Backs

De Los Santos has arguably the highest profile any prospect left exposed to the Rule 5 Draft. He’s a classic power-over-everything prospect. His power, however, borders on double plus. De Los Santos’ 90th percentile exit velocity of 106.5 mph was top 10 among players 21 years old or younger. Despite his standout power, his lack of skills has limited his production over time. He’s a below-average contact hitter with aggressive swing decisions, which is a bad combination for any hitter. His lack of skill and ability in all other areas means De Los Santos is unlikely to be chosen in the Rule 5, even despite the standout power.

A young Oscar Gonzalez? And one who doesn't play a position of need? How can he help the team in 2024? Perhaps he can be parked as the 26th man and get lets of batting practice assstance from the new coaching team.

DeLosSantos was the NO. 5 prospect in the Arizona MLB.com list. That's a pretty high ranking prospect to be available for the rule 5. His scouting grades are:

Hit 45
Power 65
Run 40
Arm 50
Field 45
Overall 50

RH bat.
He's had a whole season in AA where he hit 254/297/431 with 125 K and 25 BB an 20 HR.
That was at age 20 which is very young for AA
[EDITED TO CORECT THE LEVEL HE PLAYED AT; THANK YOU TF see below]

He may possibly join the Naylor/Manzardo 1B/DH rotation.

Honestly, I'm impressed that they're thinking outside their comfort zone.

Civ

I read he hasn't played above AA.

Looks like he hits the ball hard....when he hits it.

20 yr old AA experience INF ..... I doubt he lasts the year

Might have to find a mystery injury to keep from offering him back.

did I read that wrong? He's only 20 so he has promise but so does J. Noel who has a similar profile. Yep. you're right AA. Well, those scouting grades are not bad. He's obviously NOT ready for the majors. But I still like the pick if no reason other than the willingness to try something different

The "no big deal" Rule 5 draft was over in an hour with only 10 picks in the Major League part.

G's were +1 in players gained/lost

G's lost none in the Major League part and gained 3 pitchers and lost 3 in the Minor League part.

Much ado about not so much.