Cleveland Sports Forum

Paul Hoynes is especially concerned about Tolentino noting his 21 homeruns this summer in AAA; but also noted this stat: 158 K in 394 AB.

I was hoping some vets would be non-tendered to make room for a couple prospects, probably Antunez and Perez.
I still don't understand why the non-tender deadline comes days after the Rule 5 protection deadline.
If they dump Jones, e.g. tomorrow, it's too late I guess to add others to the roster.

Nest Year in Cleveland writer on the roster moves:

Truth be told, following this organization, as long as I have, it wasn’t that hard to have an idea of what they would do.

Most years, I have gotten their rule 5 roster decisions correct, save for a player or two. I don’t have any inside info on most of it. It’s going by their usual logic, what I see from the prospects, past decisions and the state of their roster. But I’m still going to count that as a win.

The real reason I think they made the right decisions is because they balanced upside with depth, along with roster management.

The roster management component of this won’t be complete or make total sense until we see what they do at the non-tender deadline for arbitration eligible players, which comes at 4 PM ET on Friday, November 21st.

Let’s start with the most obvious prospect they were going to protect.
Angel Genao

Though he missed a portion of the 2025 season due to a shoulder injury, he was coming off a breakout season in 2024 where he showed good bat to ball skills, pop in the bat from both sides of the plate, a strong throwing arm, effortless speed and improving defense, as well as growing into his body.

The question now is – can he be the shortstop of the future that they’ve been looking for since they traded Francisco Lindor despite the amount of time and money they’ve invested into the middle infield across the roster over the last decade.

But Genao isn’t like the previous middle infield prospects they’ve had. He has much more pop in his bat than players like Angel Martinez, Tyler Freeman or Brayan Rocchio.

He probably doesn’t have as much raw power as Gabriel Arias, but his defensive upside could be close, he is a switch hitter, and probably makes better swing decisions.

2025 will have to be considered a mulligan for him based on his injuries and his limited time at Akron, where he didn’t show much in the power department.

It’s going to be an adjustment for him in 2026 to get back to that. But the skills are there, and it made obvious sense to protect him as he could be the answer shortstop in the future.
Austin Peterson

In 2022, I thought Peterson was a nice potential steal when the Guardians drafted him out of Connecticut. His pro debut at Low-A in 2023 was underwhelming, but since then he’s started to look more like the kind of arm that it looked like he could be when Cleveland drafted him. A big durable strike throwing arm has a lot of value on a 40-man roster.

He would have been a rule 5 pick for some team desperate for pitching, as you could hide him as a swing man type arm on the roster because of his strike throwing ability, relative track record of innings, plus deep pitch mix.

The fastball isn’t special in terms of velocity or movement but there is value there with his control and ability to get extension with his big frame and long arms and delivery. I suspect he will have to adjust his pitch mix at the major league level to succeed because he is often too four seam fastball heavy now. But he has a complete arsenal in terms of what he throws to be a kitchen sink type starter who does have what could be a swing and miss pitch in a slider. I think his changeup and sinker will play and he throws everything for strikes. He could be an option for them in 2026 although right now he sits behind Parker Messick, Doug Nikhazy in the rotation, and Khal Stephen could also come up around him to be an option in 2026. I don’t think his presence on the 40-man roster will be a determining factor on whether or not the Guardians will trade a starting pitcher for a bat unless that pitcher is Logan Allen. In which case, the return of the bat is not going to have the obvious impact that the team or fans would be hoping for.
Yorman Gomez

Gomez was not on a lot of people’s radar to be added to the roster. He was not on anyone’s radar last year when he was rule 5 eligible for the first time. The reason he caught attention this year was due to velocity gains from 92 to 94 to getting up to 94-96 and touching 97. He has a slider as a good secondary pitch, and a change up and curveball that both could use refinement. He’s only six feet tall, but given what they saw in him, the data results and reports, would have made him an easy stash for somebody to hide in their bullpen and maybe make a few starts – or at least give it a shot. The Guardians obviously believe in the strides he made in 2025. They said they are impressed with the work he put in to get there and believe it will hold. The future may still be a relief role for Gomez. But he should go to Columbus to start the season in the rotation and start until he proves he can’t do it. He could be an option sometime in 2026.
Kahlil Watson

This was not a surprising addition at the moment, but definitely the last one on my list that I predicted and expected. There’s been a lot of ups and downs in Watson’s career that started with the Miami Marlins as a first round pick in a former top 100 Prospect that saw them trade him to Cleveland a year later in the Josh Bell deal after some on-field character incidents. Perhaps some off-field ones as well that made the Marlins brass at the time sour on him. So, his addition to the 40-man roster tells us about what the Guardians feel about Watson. There have been some reported – or under-reported incidents of things that have happened this year.

But what is undeniable is that he has tools that other players in the system simply don’t have, or have not put together the way he has.

He moved to the outfield, worked hard to acclimate himself out there. He has the arm for center field as well as the speed and athleticism overall. There’s still some work to be done. But it was only his first full year at the position. There’s obvious power. That has never been an issue for him. The speed impacts his base running in a good way.

This is the kind of talent that you don’t risk losing for nothing. The Guardians have a very deep, but weak outfield roster on the 40-man right now. Watson is at the bottom of it, but could quickly work his way up as other decisions are made, and by his own performance in 2026.

Had he been unprotected, a team could have easily found interest in his previous first round and top 100 status, his multi-position versatility now, as well as the power speed combo and make him a utility type on the bench that is easy to hide with pinch hitting and pinch running appearances.

What holds Watson back is his inability to stay within the zone and not making consistent contact in the zone. Both were poor rates in Triple-A last year.

Despite that, he put up good numbers and hit the ball hard when he made contact. These data points make me doubt what he can do at the big league level. But it could always improve, and it’s worth betting on athletes and talent. The work ethic really isn’t a question, just some questionable decisions and words. It’s a good addition because the Guardians have already invested in him in terms of time and the trade. They took a lottery ticket on him in the Josh Bell trade, which made a ton of sense at the time – and still does. The Guardians are not a team that has taken a ton of risks, however, if you connect the last couple of years, adding Watson, even though he was a lottery ticket.

Trading Eli Morgan for Alfonsin Rosario and then their first couple of picks in the 2025 draft, including Jace LaViolette and Nolan Schubert. They’ve targeted a different kind of player, at least in small pockets.

At the very least, they don’t lose him for nothing. The profile is risky. But the decision to protect him is not risky.

It’s still possible he could be used as a piece in the trade this offseason because his upside and age still represent value that could push a trade over the edge. He can’t be a centerpiece of a trade, but he could be a third piece that gives somebody else a lottery ticket that is a little closer to the majors now than when he was when the Guardians acquired him.
Prospects NOT Added

The Guardians did not protect left-hander Steven Perez, who was a minor league free agent before they gave him a minor league contract early in the offseason, which indicated they probably weren’t going to protect him

He is a lefty who throws 96 and has a good slider. He has limited experience in Double-A at this point and his control did improve this year, but it’s still not great. So I wonder if the Guardians aren’t convinced it’s going to stick. But this is a profile that has the potential to entice somebody in the Rule 5 draft because he’s a left-handed reliever who throws hard and can miss some bats.

Wuilfredo Antunez also got a minor league contract from the Guardians this offseason before becoming a minor league free agent. He’s another outfielder with power and speed, and a good throwing arm. But if you think Kahlil Watson’s approach is not great, Antunez’s is even worse. and he does not have strong traits in the outfield in terms of range and footwork. He’s similar to Johnathan Rodriguez in terms of a strong throwing arm, but not much else defensively. He hasn’t been in Triple-A yet, so I don’t see another team drafting him.

Dylan DeLucia was another consideration of mine. He’s got solid stuff, decent control, can get the fastball up to 96 and has a good three pitch mix. He has very limited experience at Double-A at this point and limited pro Innings overall. So, it’s unlikely another team could find a way for him to stick on a roster all year.

The last name of note is Trenton Denholm, mostly because of the knuckleball he rolled out late this year in the Arizona Fall League. The results were good in the AFL, however. They were scattered at best by being able to hold a decent number of base runners allowed from scoring. As you’ve seen or heard me say before, Denholm is not a knuckleballer. He is a pitcher who throws a knuckleball, meaning he’s still a pitcher who throws cutters and curveballs and change-ups. And then also adds a knuckleball in with that arsenal. We’ll see how that develops throughout the year. It’s almost surprising Cleveland kept him as they’ve traded their last two, knuckleballers Steven Wright and Matt Waldron.
Spots Cleared and Not

Nic Enright is not going to pitch in 2026 because of Tommy John’s surgery. It’s unlikely he will be claimed on waivers. So Cleveland should have the opportunity to stash him in the minors to help him rehab and hopefully bring him back in 2027. He deserves that after what he’s gone through to be here now.

The other question is why did the Guardians hold on to players like Nolan Jones, Will Brennan or Zak Kent, not to mention players like Jhonkensy Noel and Jonathan Rodriguez.

Jones, they’ll make a decision on Friday, at the non-tender deadline. He’s due about $2 million dollars in arbitration this year. It’s hard to believe with the outfielders on the 40-man roster that they see value in paying Jones in arbitration.

I thought Brennan was going to be a roster casualty risk, but he has options and he is still cheap for depth. Noel and Rodriguez, I’m not sure at this point how they factor in, given that DeLauter and Valera were given chances at the end of the year. Rodriguez was only up in the absence of David Fry, not another outfielder, and they need to upgrade severely.

As for Kent – they keep him right now as roster fodder. He’s out of options in 2026. I find it very unlikely he will make it to spring training with them on the roster because of that. But they can use him to cut at a later date to add somebody else, and you always need those players on your roster that are easy to designate when other moves are made.

We’ll see what the Guardians do on November 21st at 4 PM ET at the non-tender deadline.

Right now they cannot add anybody in the Rule 5 draft because their roster is at 40.

If they decide to not tender someone like Jones, they could be at 39 and still participate in the roll five draft. I don’t see them participating heavily in it, if at. They could target a reliever, but I think it’s more likely they’ll be looking for major league external options.