He was quite a character; knew is stuff and how to shutup the crazy callers.

Congratulations to all whose candidates won on Tuesday and condolences to those whose candidates did not.
Back to baseball.

Guardians injury updates & roster moves
November 25th, 2024

https://www.mlb.com/guardians/news/guar ... ster-moves

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Guardians Should Consider Reunion With This Free Agent Pitcher

The Colorado Rockies non-tended Cal Qauntrill on Friday evening, making him an unrestricted free agent.

The right-hander is coming off a respectable 2024 season in which he posted a 4.98 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, and 93 ERA+. This includes solid numbers at Coors Field, which is infamous for inflating pitcher's stats due to its high elevation.

The Guardians traded Quantrill almost a year ago to the date to give themselves more options with the 40-man roster. But a lot has changed since then.

With Quantrill looking for a job as a starter and the Guardians needing more arms in their rotation, a reunion between the two sides would make a lot of sense.

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Former Guardians Playoff Hero Signs Minor League Deal With Padres

It's always fun to track a player's career after they leave the organization they came up in. Plenty of former Cleveland Guardians players who once made a major impact on Cleveland's rosters are still scattered throughout MLB.

One of those players is Oscar Gonzalez, who just signed a Minor League deal with the San Diego Padres for the 2025 season.

Gonzalez will always be known for his incredible rookie season and historic postseason run with the Guardians. In 2022, he hit .296/.327/.461 with an OPS of 788. These stats included 11 home runs and 27 doubles.

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Guardians Urged to Pursue Another Trade with Cubs

Rowan Kavner of Fox Sports has suggested one intriguing trade that the Guardians could consider for starting pitching help. He has thrown out the idea of Cleveland pulling off another trade with the Chicago Cubs, this time to acquire Jameson Taillon.

Taillon would be a very intriguing target for the Guardians. He would be a major upgrade for their rotation and could help fill a major weakness from last season.

Of course, these two teams have already pulled off one trade together this offseason. Cleveland sent relief pitcher Eli Morgan to the Cubs. Now, they could try to acquire a win now piece from Chicago.

During the 2024 MLB season with the Cubs, Taillon ended up making 28 starts. He compiled a 12-8 record to go along with a 3.27 ERA, a 1.13 WHIP, a 3.8 K/BB ratio, and 165.1 innings pitched.

Those numbers are exactly what the Guardians could use. If they could find a way to re-sign Shane Bieber and acquire a talent like Taillon, they would come away with a big win from the offseason.

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Guardians Elite Prospect Could Be Rookie Of The Year Contender In 2025

MLB.com looked at each team and identified one possible 2025 Rookie of the Year candidate for them. Their choice for the Cleveland Guardians was No. 2 ranked prospect Chase DeLauter.

Here's what their team of writers had to say:

"Foot and leg injuries have slowed DeLauter's progress since he became the first first-round pick from James Madison (16th overall in 2022), but he'll be a franchise cornerstone if he can stay healthy. Few prospects can match his package of size (6-foot-3, 235 pounds), athleticism, performance and plate discipline. He slashed .261/.341/.500 with eight homers in 39 games between three levels (mostly in Double-A), then ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the Arizona Fall League for the second straight year."

Delauter, 22, could have made his major league debut in 2024 if he hadn't suffered a pair of injuries at the beginning of the minor league season. Despite those setbacks, he still put together a solid season, showing much promise as a power-hitting outfielder.

His status as a legit Rookie of the Year candidate in 2025 could come down to when (and if) he gets the call-up.

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This Outfielder Could Be An Intriguing Free Agent Target For Guardians

If the Guardians do take the route of spending some money this winter, then free-agent outfielder Michael Conforto could be an option for Cleveland.

Conforto is coming off a solid year as a member of the San Francisco Giants.

Conforto would be a welcome addition to Cleveland's outfield position group. He would slide in perfectly into the right field mix and could keep that spot warm until Chase DeLauter is ready to make the jump to the major league level.

The 31-year-old also has solid splits against right-handed pitching, posting a career .257/.359/.479 slash line and a .838 OPS against righties.

Ideally, Conforto could be an everyday player in Cleveland's lineup. But at the very worst, the Guardians could use him as a platoon partner with Lane Thomas.

The bottom line is that the Guardians need more offense from their outfield.

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Guardians Connected to Trade for Tempting Power Hitter

Outside of Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor, the Guardians didn't have a whole lot of power in their lineup in 2024, so adding someone with legitimate home-run power should be a priority.

That's why James Mastrucci of Away Back Gone is urging Cleveland to try and swing a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays to acquire infielder Brandon Lowe.

"Lowe also has positional flexibility, having appeared at second, first, and the outfield during his career (Lowe did not play outfield for Tampa Bay in 2024 but did in previous seasons)," Mastrucci wrote. "If the Guardians were to acquire Lowe, they could similarly use him to how Daniel Schneemann was used in 2024, but with a significantly higher offensive upside."

While Lowe is primarily a second baseman, he has the ability to play multiple positions, so he could forge somewhat of a super-utility role with the Guardians in 2025.

The 30-year-old slashed .244/.311/.473 with 21 home runs and 58 RBI over 425 plate appearances this past season.

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Guardians Urged To Sign This Veteran Starting Pitcher

The Cleveland Guardians have multiple pressing roster needs they need to address this offseason. The most important of those needs is adding more starting pitching.

But who?

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com recently compiled a list of one free agent who could make sense for every team. For the Guardians, he identified RHP Michael Lorenzen as a fit.

Here's what he had to say about the starting pitcher.

"The potential loss of Shane Bieber and Matthew Boyd will leave Cleveland not only with holes to fill in the rotation, but also a veteran presence on the staff. Lorenzen pitched well for the Rangers (3.81 ERA in 101 2/3 innings) and even better for the Royals (1.57 ERA in 28 2/3 innings) following a midseason trade, though a hamstring injury kept him out for most of September," wrote Feinsand.

Lorenzen would be a good fit in Cleveland. But then again, any veteran starting pitcher would be a logical fit to join the Guardians, given how much help they need in that area.

As Feinsand points out, Lorezen's experience and potential leadership of a young pitching group make him an intriguing target for Cleveland.

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Guardians' Hated Rival Makes Bold Comment on Cleveland Fans

Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal faced the Guardians during the ALDS, so he got a full taste of what the Cleveland faithful is like during postseason baseball.

Well, this week, Skubal decided to give Guardians fans their flowers.

"That environment, too, hats off to those fans," Skubal said on the Pardon My Take podcast. "That place was rocking. That place was buzzing. ... That was a really good environment for a postseason game."

Skubal then compared Cleveland to Houston, and for him, the edge went to The Land.

"We played in Houston, too, and Houston's loud," Skubal said. " ... But I thought Cleveland was a better environment."

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