Hey Guardians, it’s not too late to sign Joc Pederson

By Matt Lyons@mattrly Mar 14, 2022, 11:03am EDT

I have been personally trying to will Joc Pederson to Cleveland for the better part of two years now, and the first time there appears to be real smoke to my imaginary fire.

According to Jon Morosi, the outfielder is “drawing interest” from the Guardians, which, on the hierarchy of vague free agent terminology, means they might have at least called Pederson’s agent to see how much it would take to get him to Cleveland for a season or two. That’s enough to get a little bit excited.

Pederson, 29, split time last season between the Chicago Cubs and eventual World Series Champion Atlanta Braves. It was his first year out of Los Angeles after making a name for himself as a solid bat over seven years with the Dodgers (including a championship there in 2020). He slashed .238/.310/.422 with 18 home runs over 137 games for a wRC+ of 94. Probably not the kind of line you want heading into an opportunity at a big payday, but he believed in himself enough to decline a mutual $10 million option with the Braves and enter the free-agent market.

That leads us to today, where he has apparently caught the interest of the desperate-for-an-outfielder Cleveland Guardians Baseball Team of Ohio. Some of the sheen may have fallen off Pederson since he was rumored to be on the way out of LA ahead of the 2020 season, but that doesn’t mean he can’t help Cleveland in 2022.

There is one major caveat with him, though: he needs to be platooned. A left-handed batter himself, Pederson has a career wRC+ of 68 against fellow southpaws, but is well above average at 123 against righties. He has no issues making hard contact against any pitcher — last season, for example, he finished an average exit velocity in the 80th percentile despite being his worst power-hitting season by far. He just gets caught chasing too dang much against lefties.

Heading into last season, he wanted to shed the dreaded “platoon bat” tag and he actually came out slightly ahead against lefties (98 wRC+) instead of righties (93). But is that the start of a new trend, or a blip? He and his agent will surely say the former, but most likely it’s the latter.

Still, it’s not hard to see how a guy who can routinely crush right-handed pitching could help the 2022 Cleveland Guardians. Currently, their outfield consists of Myles Straw, an injured Josh Naylor, and several gigantic question marks. Do Oscar Mercado and Bradley Zimmer get more shots? Do Nolan Jones or Steven Kwan get promoted? Does Franmil Reyes get to truck his way out to fly balls like he’s back in San Diego? Are Trix really just for kids, or could you greedy little monsters give the rabbit some cereal once in a while?

There are just so many questions.

The combined efforts of every possible scenario, at least according to ZiPS, equal out to a projected 1.8 fWAR in left field (Kwan and Mercado), 2.3 fWAR in the center (Straw), and 1.8 fWAR (Zimmer, Naylor, and Nolan Jones) in right. Pederson alone is projected to be worth 1.4 fWAR in 140 games.

Joc is a left fielder by trade, so maybe he’d pair over there nicely with the right-handed Mercado. Hell, if he’s determined to be a full-time player and will only sign a deal if he can bat against everybody, I say let him do it anyway. He, quite literally, cannot be worse than the other outfield options right now.

Stepping outside of the numbers, Pederson could also bring the big clubhouse-leading personality they have been searching for since Mike Napoli helped shepherd a young 2016 team to the World Series. Believe in the “soft science” of clubhouse chemistry as much or as little as you want, but Braves’ third baseman Eric Young didn’t seem to mince words when he discussed the impact of Pederson when he arrived in Atlanta last season:

Absolutely. At the time when we got him, we were a .500 team. We were treading water. We could’ve gone in either direction. He came in and brought that swag, brought that confidence, that ‘this is what the other teams think of you guys’ and last year what the Dodgers thought of us.

Unless the Guardians plan to make a big splash with someone like Nick Castellanos or Michael Conforto, the outfield market isn’t all that deep this year. But Pederson is there, and he would instantly be one their best outfielders. We know they — like every MLB team — have the money to sign him. They just have to pull the trigger.

He slashed .238/.310/.422 with 18 home runs over 137 Whoopee. So I guess he is a platoon player as noted in the article. And what right handed bat do we have available to platoon with him? the only one available is Mercado and we don't really want to see him out there again, do we?



Palacios, Kwan, Jones, Naylor and the dreaded Brad Zimmer all hit from the same side as Pedeson.

Well there's Oscar Gonzalez invited to camp as a nonroster guy He had an OPS of 1008 vs lefties in AAA last year

Cleveland Guardians spring training guide: 55 notes for 55 players in big-league camp, from Allen to Zimmer



Sep 14, 2021; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Triston McKenzie (24) throws to the Minnesota Twins in the second inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
By Zack Meisel Mar 16, 2022 23

One minute, José Ramírez is manning third base. The next, it’s an unfamiliar prospect wearing No. 94. Such is life in the Cactus League.

As you monitor the action this spring, here’s a handy guide, a note for every player with a locker in the major-league clubhouse at the Guardians’ complex in Goodyear, Ariz.

Logan Allen, SP: A few years ago, he was a top 100 prospect and a key piece in the Trevor Bauer trade. Now, he’s out of options on a team with a rotation that’s all but set. Life comes at you fast. Allen has totaled only 88 innings in the majors, so there might be more to learn about him, but he’ll need to carve out a spot in the bullpen or wait for an injury or a trade, or else he could be dangled on the market himself. He could benefit from the shortened spring; with starting pitchers unlikely to be fully stretched out by Opening Day, the Guardians are seeking candidates who could throw multiple innings out of the ’pen.

Brother’s keeper: The powerful tale behind Allen’s motivation

Gabriel Arias, SS: There’s not much left for Arias to prove in the minors. He posted a .284/.348/.454 slash line at Triple-A Columbus last season, and he boosted his walk rate and trimmed his strikeout rate. He turned 22 at the end of February and FanGraphs’ ZiPS projection system suggests he could produce pretty close to league-average offense (to pair with a well-regarded glove) this year if granted an opportunity. Now, he just needs to figure out how to seize playing time in a crowded middle infield.

Will Benson, OF: The bubbly Benson boasts a bunch of power, patience and speed, athletic tools that convinced the club to select him in the first round in 2016. It’s the contact part of the hitting equation that has proven challenging. Benson, one of those guys whom every player lists as their favorite teammate, reached Triple A last season. In all, he produced a .206/.349/.434 slash line with 17 home runs and 14 stolen bases in 107 games. He had a high walk rate and a sky-high strikeout rate.

Shane Bieber, SP: It’s pretty simple for Bieber: Stay healthy and good things will follow. The last three seasons, he has registered a 2.92 ERA, a gaudy strikeout rate, an excellent walk rate, two All-Star Game nods (there was no Midsummer Classic in 2020), a unanimous Cy Young Award triumph and a fourth-place finish in the voting. Shoulder trouble limited Bieber to 16 starts last season, but he insists he’s 100 percent and ready to anchor a rotation that should return to its customary status as team strength. “I’ve been feeling really good for a while now,” he said.

Bobby Bradley, 1B: We know there’s plenty of boom (about one home run for every 16 at-bats last season) and plenty of bust (a strikeout in 35.5 percent of his trips to the plate) in Bradley’s bat. He has the inside track to the first-base job and he’s out of minor-league options. He’ll need to prove his all-or-nothing approach at the plate is deserving of daily entry into manager Terry Francona’s lineup.

Robert Broom, RP: Broom posted a 0.90 ERA in his first two years in the organization, but his ERA soared to 5.29 last season with Triple-A Columbus. The sidearmer doesn’t throw hard, but he induces a lot of groundballs and, in his minor-league career, has still managed to amass more than a strikeout per inning.

Yu Chang, IF: Chang in April/May/June: .162/.198/.276 slash line. Chang in July/August/September: .280/.321/.546 slash line. So the key, then, based on around-the-clock scientific research in a high-tech laboratory: replicate what worked in the second half. In those late-summer months, Chang hit the ball with more authority. It probably didn’t hurt that he was playing regularly then.

Aaron Civale, SP: The soft-spoken, cerebral starter nicknamed “The Chemist” was flourishing with his new, shortened delivery last season until a finger injury interfered. Civale can and will throw any of his six pitches for a strike at any moment. So far, that strategy has guided him to a 3.76 ERA in 43 career major-league starts. And if he’s scuffling, there’s a good chance the science lover who studied mechanical engineering at Northeastern can devise a remedy.

The rise of ‘The Chemist’: How Civale remade himself on the mound

Emmanuel Clase, RP: At the moment, he’s the most experienced reliever on the 40-man roster… and he was still considered a rookie in 2021. This is an extremely young group — Clase has 93 big-league innings under his belt — but this is also a strong option to anchor a bullpen, since the guy wields a 102 mph cutter and a 94 mph slider. Once Clase started to lean on the latter offering more last summer, he became nearly impossible to conquer. The final results: a 1.29 ERA, with only two home runs allowed in nearly 70 innings.

Clase’s sterling 2021 season, by the numbers

Ernie Clement, IF: Clement broke into the majors last season and played in 40 games, appearing at second base, shortstop, third base and in left field. That versatility is valuable, but this is an organization stocked with young players who can bounce around the infield, so for Clement to stick, he’ll need his bat to state his case.

Enyel De Los Santos, RP: This is a team short on relievers, and to this point, De Los Santos is the club’s only addition in that department since the end of last season. The numbers from his 45 major-league appearances with the Phillies and Pirates aren’t noteworthy. He did spend much of his time in the minors as a starter, and the Guardians have considered doing some form of piggybacking early in the schedule.

Tyler Freeman, SS: Widely considered a top 100 prospect, all Freeman does is hit. He owns a .319/.378/.446 slash line in his minor-league career, and his numbers were slightly better than that last season at Double-A Akron before a shoulder injury derailed his season. Because of that, he’s likely destined for the minors to begin the year, but if his bat produces like it usually does, he’ll force his way into the infield conversation in the near future.

Justin Garza, RP: In 2019, Garza logged a 4.99 ERA as a starter in A-ball. The pandemic wiped out his 2020 season, then he snapped his fingers and found himself in a major-league bullpen in 2021. The path to the big leagues, as wise baseball philosophers often say, is not always a linear one. The club removed Garza from its 40-man roster during a November shuffle, when it protected 11 prospects from being selected in the Rule 5 draft, but he cleared waivers and the team extended him an invitation to big-league camp.

Andrés Giménez, SS: This is a pivotal season for Giménez to prove he deserves regular playing time, with a cast of middle infielders lined up behind him, waiting for a chance. Giménez described last season as “a storm”: He struggled early, was demoted to Triple A and fared a bit better upon his return to the majors. You’ll notice he occasionally kisses his bat before digging in at the plate, a ritual he said he’s performed since his days in Double A. “He works every day with us,” Giménez said. “We have to show some love for him.”

Oscar Gonzalez, OF: No hitter in Cleveland’s farm system belted more home runs in 2021 than Gonzalez, who hit 31 of them en route to an .871 OPS for Akron and Columbus. The 24-year-old doesn’t walk much, and outfield defense isn’t his strong suit, which explains why the Guardians didn’t add him to the 40-man roster in November. But his 6-foot-4 frame can produce plenty of power, and that’s a quality Cleveland’s lineup could always use.

Anthony Gose, RP: Gose completed his voyage back to the majors after relocating from center field to the mound. The switch sure seems like a wise one, given his 100 mph fastball and wicked slider (which carried a 44.4 percent whiff rate in a small sample). There should be ample opportunity for Gose to carve out a role as a late-inning contributor. He’ll just need to continue to throw strikes consistently, as he did upon his September call-up.

Fake flamingos and 100 mph fastballs: Gose’s implausible journey back to the majors

Austin Hedges, C: The Guardians appreciate what Hedges provides behind the plate — prospects Bo Naylor and Bryan Lavastida should benefit from working with him this spring — but they’ll need more output from him at the plate, especially with Roberto Pérez no longer part of Cleveland’s catching equation. Hedges can pop the occasional home run, but his career slash line sits at .194/.249/.347, and he produced only a .527 OPS last season in 88 games. He’ll be eligible for free agency after the 2022 season.

Sam Hentges, RP: Hentges endured a trying year at Double A in 2019 and yet, his next task was pitching in the majors last season. It wasn’t the ideal progression and Hentges suffered some growing pains, but he pitched better in relief in September. His metrics weren’t pretty in 2021, but he’s a young lefty whose fastball averaged 95 mph (and ticked up a bit when he rejoined the bullpen down the stretch).

Daniel Johnson, OF: Last year was rough for Johnson. He did hit his first major-league home run in front of friends and family in Oakland, a short drive from his (and CC Sabathia’s) hometown of Vallejo, Calif. He also made some defensive gaffes, including a collision with Bradley Zimmer on the warning track to catapult a catchable baseball over the fence in Chicago, and he bounced between Columbus and Cleveland throughout the summer. He was designated for assignment in November, but cleared waivers and is one of the many outfielders vying to stand out in camp.

Nolan Jones, 3B/OF: A couple of years ago, he was the organization’s top prospect and the heir apparent to José Ramírez at third base. Now, he’s tumbled down the team’s prospect rankings, he’s returning from ankle surgery after what he termed a humbling season, and he’s without an obvious position on the field. If he can hit, though, the Guardians will find a spot for him, at a corner infield or a corner outfield position. He’s still only 23, and he’s equipped with the ability to hit for power and draw a ton of walks.

Jones opens up about ‘humbling’ 2021 season

James Karinchak, RP: For the first part of the 2021 season, Karinchak looked like the most effective reliever in the sport. In early May, he had a 0.00 ERA and a negative FIP. When writers attempted to measure his strikeout rate, their calculators spontaneously combusted. As the summer wore on, however, he struggled to command his fastball and curveball. It’s unknown exactly how much of a role MLB’s ban on sticky substances played in his demise, but Karinchak still possesses two quality pitches, and the Guardians need both to be effective for the bullpen to reach its potential.

Steven Kwan, OF: Kwan might be the most intriguing player in camp. His track record is limited (only 217 games as a professional), but the numbers convey why he has nudged his way onto top prospects lists. He’s an elite contact hitter who walks more than he strikes out, and last year he added some power to his repertoire without sacrificing his contact skill. He posted a .328/.407/.527 slash line in 77 games between Double A and Triple A. A strong spring could vault him into consideration for a roster spot, if not on Opening Day then as soon as the club needs another bat.

Bryan Lavastida, C: One way to add some offense at the catcher position? Turn to Lavastida, who boasts a .305/.397/.448 slash line in three minor-league seasons. He reached Columbus at the end of 2021, and that’s likely where he’ll begin 2022, but Lavastida could enter the major-league mix at some point this season, so long as he makes defensive progress. He’ll benefit from spending a few weeks with Cleveland’s big-league pitchers, as well as Sandy Alomar Jr. and the club’s veteran catchers.

Sandy León, C: León’s cameo with Cleveland in 2020 wasn’t pretty: a .136/.296/.242 slash line with a weekly reminder that there’s a catcher’s interference rule. But the organization desperately needed veteran catching depth, so before the lockout, it brought back the 33-year-old on a minor-league deal. If he plays a significant role on the major-league team, that spells trouble. If he can impart some wisdom upon Lavastida and Bo Naylor, that’s a win.

Luke Maile, C: Cleveland signed Maile to a one-year deal to serve as Hedges’ backup. The 31-year-old owns a .568 OPS in 230 career big-league games with the Rays, Blue Jays and Brewers. He joked with teammates this week that he is the first major-league signing in Guardians history.

Kirk McCarty, SP: When Cleveland’s rotation was crumbling last summer with one injury after another, McCarty nearly received a chance to make his debut. The 26-year-old left-hander spent the year at Columbus, where he registered a 5.01 ERA in 24 starts.

Triston McKenzie, SP: Is this the year the 6-foot-5 McKenzie takes the leap? After a rough first half in 2021, he started throwing with more conviction, developed more confidence and became less predictable with his offerings. The results spoke volumes about his potential, as he rattled off a seven-start stretch in August and September in which he limited opponents to a .385 OPS. Another step forward in his performance could elevate this rotation from above-average to elite.

‘My stuff plays’: Inside the mind of McKenzie

Oscar Mercado, OF: The clock’s ticking on Mercado, who enjoyed a ravishing rookie season in 2019, but hasn’t accomplished much since. He did work with new hitting coach Chris Valaika before the league’s shutdown, but he faces an uphill climb to secure regular playing time. If there’s a role for Mercado, perhaps it’s in a platoon: He posted a .294/.381/.435 slash line against lefties last season.

Nick Mikolajchak, RP: Looking for a sleeper candidate to crash the bullpen party at some point this season? Here’s your guy. Cleveland selected him in the 11th round of the draft in 2019 out of Sam Houston State. He joined the organization that summer and promptly logged a 0.36 ERA in 25 innings. Yeah, that’ll garner some attention. Mikolajchak spent last season at Akron, where he posted a 3.18 ERA with 57 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings.

Owen Miller, IF: For about a month at Triple A last season, Miller compiled the sort of statistics you see when you create a player in a video game who boasts a 99 rating in every category. That didn’t translate upon his promotion to the majors, and he’s now part of a congested infield picture, but the team’s evaluators have expressed confidence in his hitting prowess, as he’s historically been adept at making contact with a short swing that produces line drives.

Eli Morgan, SP: The changeup specialist made his major-league debut in a scene stolen from “Twister.” Once Mother Nature calmed down, Morgan did, too, finding some success while filling in for Cleveland’s injured starting pitchers. He figures to play a similar role this year, as one of the first options ready to spring into action when the rotation needs a lift.

Cody Morris, SP: Morris is one of the more fascinating pitchers in big-league camp. He’s 25, but he has a limited track record because of the pandemic and injuries. Last season, he overpowered hitters at Double A and Triple A, to the tune of a 1.62 ERA with nearly 14 strikeouts per nine innings. But where does he fit? The rotation is all but set. Could he be a bullpen option? Would his mid-90s fastball creep into the upper-90s in a shorter stint?

Tobias Myers, SP: Cleveland and Tampa Bay are two organizations other teams are sometimes leery of trading with, based on each front office’s history of negotiations and results. So what does it mean when the Guardians add a Rays pitcher to their own pitching factory? Myers reached Triple A last season, and he logged a 3.90 ERA overall, with a healthy walk rate (2.1 per nine innings) and strikeout rate (11.2 per nine). The 23-year-old could enter the big-league mix at some point in 2022.

Bo Naylor, C: He and Lavastida represent the organization’s future at catcher, with Naylor the better defender and the guy needing more polish at the plate. He had a difficult year in the batter’s box at Double A in 2021. This is his second big-league camp with his older brother, Josh.

Josh Naylor, OF/1B: Naylor suggests he’s “as close to 100 percent as I think I can get” after a gruesome collision at Target Field in Minnesota last summer required surgery to repair his right leg/ankle. Naylor admitted he thought, while being carted off the field, that he might never play again, but after a winter spent training independently of the team because of league’s lockout rules, he’s ready to claim a spot in either the corner outfield or at first base.

Jhonkensy Noel, 3B/1B: How does a prospect convince the front office to add him to the 40-man roster when most of his professional experience has come as a high school-aged kid? Hit .340 with a 1.005 OPS, that’s how. Noel split his time between the two corner infield spots and he feasted on A-ball pitching last year, exhibiting a ton of power potential. In turn, the Guardians added him to the 40-man roster to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft … which was ultimately canceled after the league’s 99-day lockout ended.

Richie Palacios, 2B/OF: Palacios has been limited to 148 games as a professional because of shoulder surgery and the pandemic. But there’s a lot to like about the 24-year-old, who has posted a .318/.409/.492 slash line in the minors. In 103 games last year at Akron and Columbus, he logged a .404 on-base percentage with 33 doubles and 20 stolen bases. He played second base and in the outfield, which is where he’ll probably have an easier time forcing his way into the mix this year.

Konnor Pilkington, SP: Cleveland dealt César Hernández to the White Sox at the trade deadline in a no-brainer type of move. They had other middle infielders to evaluate and Hernández wasn’t part of their long-term plans. In return, they received Pilkington, who logged a 2.33 ERA in eight outings at Akron after the trade. The 24-year-old lefty could break into the majors as a back-end starter at some point in the next year or so.

Zach Plesac, SP: Plesac described his 2021 season as “a whole year of adversity from start to finish.” That checks out. He broke his thumb in one of those customary post-start shirt/chair accidents. He logged a 4.67 ERA. His metrics weren’t inspiring, with low marks in hard-hit rate, exit velocity, strikeout rate and swing-and-miss rate. But that’s after a brilliant, eight-start showcase in 2020, in which he registered an elite walk rate and chase rate and a strong strikeout rate and whiff rate while limiting hard contact and producing a 2.28 ERA.

Cal Quantrill, SP: Quantrill transitioned to the rotation midseason and, out of necessity, did so while pitching on short rest. That’s not how he or the team would have scripted it at the start of the year, but he still recorded a 2.89 ERA across 150 innings, with stellar numbers in the second half once he settled into his new role. Now he’s a full-time member of the starting staff (and winner of the team’s fantasy football league), and that makes his goal for 2022 pretty simple. “If you make your only goal as a starting pitcher, ‘I want to throw seven, eight, nine innings every time I pitch,’” he told The Athletic, “it’s amazing how all of the rest of the stuff works itself out.”

José Ramírez, 3B: Here is a full, thorough, complete, exhaustive list of major leaguers who have produced a higher fWAR total than Ramírez since 2016:

Mike Trout
Mookie Betts

That’s all.

Year after year, he racks up doubles and home runs and stolen bases and airborne helmets and, last season, he submitted the best defensive showing of his career, which earned him a nod as a Gold Glove finalist. Of course, you know all of that. You just want to know what his future holds, since he has only two years of team control remaining.

The ins and outs of a potential Ramírez extension

Franmil Reyes, DH: The muscle in the middle of Francona’s lineup, Reyes slugged 30 homers last season despite missing six weeks with an abdominal strain. He believes there’s more power in the tank, though.

“The years I’ve been having — 37 homers, 30 homers … I don’t think it’s enough,” he said at the end of last season. “In my heart, it’s not enough. I don’t know. Maybe I can (have) a 45-50 home run season with 120 RBIs. Cleveland hasn’t seen it all. Me, I haven’t seen it all. So, I don’t know what the limit is. I don’t have a limit.”

Mike Rivera, C: Rivera is in major-league camp to help with the catching depth, which is especially important in the early portion of the Cactus League slate when the starters aren’t yet ready to spend more than a few innings in their crouched stance. A sixth-round selection out of the University of Florida in 2017, Rivera reached Triple A last summer.

Brayan Rocchio, SS: You’ll hear constant comparisons to Francisco Lindor, thanks to the swing similarities, the switch-hitting ability, the position, the uniform number and the way no moment seems too daunting. After all, seemingly every time Rocchio made an appearance in a Cactus League game as a teenager, he left a lasting impression with a towering home run into the Arizona sky or a slick scoop at shortstop. He’s an elderly 21 now, and The Athletic’s Keith Law considers him Cleveland’s top prospect, and the No. 22 prospect in the sport.

Amed Rosario, SS: Rosario was one of the few bright spots in Cleveland’s batting order last year, but where does he fit best defensively? For now, the answer seems to be shortstop, though that’s also where Giménez, Arias and Rocchio fit best. Rosario has two more years of team control remaining, and he could wind up being the club’s second-highest paid player in 2022, with an estimated salary (via arbitration) of $5 million.

Nick Sandlin, RP: Sandlin had an impressive debut last season before a shoulder injury cut short his rookie campaign. He had worked his way into some high-leverage opportunities, with his fastball/slider combination and sidewinding delivery helping him limit hard contact. He figures to be a staple in key situations in 2022.

Adam Scott, SP: Scott, 26, reached Triple A last season after climbing to Double A prior to the pandemic. The 2018 fourth-round pick out of Wofford posted a 4.52 ERA in 15 starts in 2021 with 77 strikeouts in 63 2/3 innings. The southpaw would have been eligible for the Rule 5 draft if there was one.

Trevor Stephan, RP: Stephan might be the wild card in the bullpen. His fastball averaged 96.2 mph last season, but hitters fared pretty well against it. They were far less successful against his split-change, but he threw that only 8.1 percent of the time. Stephan induced a decent number of swings and misses, but when hitters made contact, they caused damage. With his first year of relief and his first year in a new organization behind him, can he cement his spot in the Guardians’ ’pen?

Myles Straw, CF: Seventy-one percent of Earth is covered by water; the rest is covered by Myles Straw … or something like that. He’s the only sure thing in Cleveland’s outfield, a Gold Glove-caliber defender (97th percentile in Outs Above Average last year) who racks up a ton of stolen bases. Straw rarely swings and misses and rarely chases pitches out of the zone. But for all of the contact he does make, he doesn’t hit the ball hard. Hence, five career home runs in four seasons. He did hit .285 with a .362 on-base percentage after being traded to Cleveland for Phil Maton last summer, though. Even Francona, who was watching from afar, came away impressed. “I saw enough baseball to know that he’s our center fielder,” the manager said.

Jose Tena, SS: As if a strong showing at High-A Lake County as a 20-year-old wasn’t enough, Tena proceeded to post a .983 OPS in the Arizona Fall League last year. That convinced the front office to add him to the 40-man roster. He’s yet another well-regarded shortstop prospect in the pipeline.

Tanner Tully, SP: In 2016, Cleveland snagged Tully in the 26th round, which no longer exists in the recently shortened draft. The Ohio State product made a start for Triple-A Columbus — he certainly knows his way around the area — in 2017, and has bounced between Akron and Columbus ever since.

George Valera, OF: Perhaps Cleveland’s most valuable prospect given its long-standing deficiencies in the outfield, Valera has power, patience and the bat-flipping ability to make any curmudgeonly baseball traditionalist squeamish. The 21-year-old, ranked by Law as the sport’s No. 29 prospect, seems destined to break into the big leagues in 2023.

Carlos Vargas, SP: Vargas is 22, but he hasn’t pitched in a game setting since he was 19 because of the pandemic and Tommy John surgery. The hard-throwing righty has occupied a 40-man roster spot for more than a year now. But how much has the world changed since he last pitched in 2019? Well, he was pitching for short-season Mahoning Valley, a team that no longer exists. He’ll begin the season on the 60-day injured list as he completes his recovery from the elbow operation.

Alex Young, RP: The Westlake, Ohio, native was claimed off waivers by his hometown team last July. He allowed nine runs in 10 1/3 innings of relief with Cleveland in 2021. The club designated Young for assignment in November and outrighted him to Triple A. The 28-year-old lefty is competing for one of several bullpen vacancies this spring.

Bradley Zimmer, OF: The 2014 first-round pick had a season full of the three true outcomes last season, only he did so with a twist. Instead of the usual strikeout/walk/homer, Zimmer tended to strike out, get struck by a pitch or launch a 470-foot homer into the stratosphere. It was a bizarre development for an injury-riddled player who seemingly has nine baseball lives. His speed and power could make him a useful fourth or fifth outfielder.

Nice summary of the 55 guys. Realistic evaluations of all.

Meisel is the man when it comes to Cleveland baseball.

Was with the PD, who does he work for now?

The Athletic

Guardians look like a team without a direction

Help me understand what they are trying to accomplish

By Blake Ruane Mar 19, 2022, 10:00am EDT 94 Comments

Help me understand what the Cleveland Guardians are trying to do.

José Ramírez is not at risk of being traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, but the fact that people were even talking about it is telling. Perhaps it’s not entirely clear to those outside the organization whether the Guardians are actually interested in winning baseball games?

If the Guardians were in full rebuild mode, dealing Ramírez for prospects would make sense. In that scenario, trading Shane Bieber would be understandable, too. But neither Ramírez nor Bieber are being traded. So Cleveland must be trying to win, right?

Well if that were the case, they’d be looking to build around Ramírez and Bieber by improving a lineup that made history last year as the only team to get no-hit three times in the same season. But thus far the organization’s only offseason addition has been journeyman catcher Luke Maile, who will likely serve as Austin Hedges’ back-up. Not exactly the type of free agent signing that builds excitement among fans and drives ticket sales.

Speaking of fan excitement and ticket sales, you would think Cleveland would want to capitalize on their first official season as the Guardians. I recognize that a subset of fans are still pouting about the name change, but there are also fans willing to embrace the rebrand as a new chapter for the organization. But a page-turner this chapter has not been, at least in the early goings.

Fan morale is almost as low as the Guardians’ payroll, which currently sits at $35 million according to Spotrac. Though, to be fair, that number will increase once the salaries of pre-arbitration players are added. Only Pittsburgh and Baltimore have a lower payroll than Cleveland at the moment. But this is by design as the front office has slashed payroll each year since the end of the 2018 season.

Guardians President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti has been pleading his case to the press, citing a franchise-record $135 million payroll in 2018.

“We had franchise-record payrolls the last few seasons and ownership invested a lot in the team and the path we were on was unsustainable,” he said back in January of 2019. Antonetti even reiterated that the organization’s goal was to win the World Series, though his actions have spoken far louder than his words. He has been rightfully skewered for comments he made after the Corey Kluber trade about that deal providing Cleveland with “more resources to invest in our team,” a promise as empty as Progressive Field on a week night.

Conventional wisdom has been that Cleveland’s coupon-clipping owners have been putting the screws to the front office, forcing them to slash the payroll to reduce costs and increase revenue. But at a certain point, the lack of financial investment dilutes the product on the field, as evidenced by last season’s 80-82 finish despite the fact that Guardians were competing in a division with only one team that finished above .500. When the product is poor, that impacts fan enthusiasm. No one wants to want watch a mediocre baseball team, especially in Cleveland.

If your goal is to increase revenue, wouldn’t it make sense to make at least a free agent signing or two and add a little sizzle to your steak? With one of the lowest payrolls in baseball — and repeated promises to invest in roster improvements — why sit on your hands and sleepwalk through the inaugural season of a rebrand? You risk alienating the fans actually willing to embrace the new Guardians name by inviting them to hope and pray that this is finally the year Bradley Zimmer and Oscar Mercado figure out big-league pitching.

I don’t know if Cleveland is trying to win now or build for the future. I wish I did, because some sense of direction would be better than whatever direction this is.

Yup!

State of the Cleveland Guardians’ bullpen: How will they assemble the relief corps?



CLEVELAND, OH - SEPTEMBER 21: Emmanuel Clase #48 of the Cleveland Indians celebrates a 4-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field on September 21, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images)


By Zack Meisel 6h ago 13
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — If and when the Guardians deploy a five-man starting rotation, the members of the group are no mystery. Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale, Cal Quantrill, Triston McKenzie and Zach Plesac are slotted in as Cleveland’s starting quintet, barring an injury.

The identities of those covering the later innings, well, that’s a bit of a riddle. We know the name of the closer. We know a few of the candidates who will get opportunities to protect leads before the ninth inning. But there’s not much written in ink … or pencil … or in the air with the manager’s finger as he mentally sifts through his options. After all, there are only six actual relievers on the club’s 40-man roster.

Let’s examine the state of Cleveland’s bullpen.

The back end
The Guardians are short on experience but stocked with firepower. Emmanuel Clase is the anchor. His metrics resemble a Van Gogh, a masterful depiction of nearly flawless results. He ranked among the major-league leaders last season in almost every relevant statistical category.

Does he throw harder than everyone else? Check. Does he limit hard contact? Check. Do hitters’ hands sting after they get jammed with a cutter? Check. Does he avoid walks? Check. Does he convince hitters to chase pitches out of the zone? Check. Does he induce swings-and-misses? Check. Does he make 102 mph look effortless? Check.

An increase in his slider usage paid dividends in the second half. In his final 32 appearances, Clase allowed only one earned run and he limited opponents to a .322 OPS. (For comparison’s sake, the worst qualified hitter in the league last year, Pittsburgh’s Kevin Newman, posted a .574 OPS, so Clase essentially turned every opponent into someone about half as productive as the league’s least productive hitter.)

That’s a great starting point for building any bullpen. Clase, 24, was still considered a rookie last season, so maybe, somehow, there’s still room for improvement.

And yet, he also has the most experience of any reliever on Cleveland’s roster …

A veteran arm or two?
There should soon be a rush of relievers signing non-roster or meager one-year deals. With each passing day, there’s less of a chance those pitchers will be ready for Opening Day. Manager Terry Francona and pitching coach Carl Willis have spoken highly of the team’s in-house relief options but also expressed a desire for a veteran voice to join the group.

“We love our ’pen,” Willis said. “It has the makings of being a very special bullpen. I think it was very good last year. But we are missing a veteran guy down there. We’re all aware of that. But we can’t just get anybody. It has to be the right fit. I feel good about the guys who are down there. If those are the guys we have, there’s so much potential, so much ability. We’ll see where it goes. We lost (Bryan) Shaw, we lost (Nick) Wittgren, we lost Blake Parker, so there is a void to fill from that veteran leadership spot.”

For what it’s worth, Shaw and Parker remain free agents. So does former Cleveland relief ace Andrew Miller. Wittgren signed a one-year deal with the Cardinals last week. Other free-agent relievers with Cleveland ties include Tyler Clippard, Oliver Drake, Ross Detwiler, Josh Tomlin and Tommy Hunter. Perhaps an injury-related reclamation project such as Dellin Betances or Trevor Rosenthal would pique Cleveland’s interest.

The setup crew
This is a critical area of the roster, one that could elevate the bullpen to a team strength or create headaches for Francona. The three primary late-inning setup candidates have loads of talent but also come with questions. Can James Karinchak recapture his early 2021 form? Can Nick Sandlin remain effective after a shoulder injury cut short his rookie season? Can Anthony Gose consistently throw strikes?

When Karinchak sat down in Francona’s office for his preseason meeting with the manager, pitching coach and assistant GM Eric Binder (who heads the front office’s pitching analysis), Willis told the reliever: “I don’t want to turn back the clock and get too deep into this, but some of the challenges that came along last year, do you feel like you’re beyond that?”

Karinchak replied that “it’s a non-issue.”

“In his bullpen sessions, the data we’re getting back,” Willis said, “(it) is comparable to the data we got back prior to the middle of June last year, when his struggles began. We’re feeling good that he’s figured some things out.”

Hitters versus Karinchak through June 16: .125/.233/.240 slash line

Hitters versus Karinchak after June 16: .232/.357/.474 slash line

Sandlin threw his first live batting practice session Sunday. He could appear in a game in a few days. He logged a 2.94 ERA in his first bit of big-league action, with nearly 13 strikeouts per nine innings. Sandlin’s slider was supremely effective. (It doesn’t hurt that he delivers the baseball from a sidearm angle.) Opponents batted just .100 with a .200 slugging percentage and a whiff rate of nearly 48 percent against the slider, so he threw it 46 percent of the time. Willis suggested Sandlin’s fastball, which averaged 94.5 mph, is better than the pitcher might think, too.

“His slider is so good, it’s just so easy to go to, regardless of the count, regardless of the situation,” Willis said. “I think a little more unpredictability and usage of his fastball (could help) because he certainly has enough to do that.”

Gose’s fastball averaged 99.3 mph last season. His slider is pretty effective, too. The question that has followed him along his path back to the majors is whether he can limit walks. Gose issued only two free passes in 6 2/3 innings in his September cameo. He’s out of minor-league options, so he’ll need to maintain that sort of command.

Related: Fake flamingos and 100 mph fastballs — Gose’s path back to the majors

The innings-eaters
The club is waiting for direction from MLB on April roster sizes. The league could allow teams to carry a few extra players for the first few weeks of the season. Cleveland’s brass expects its starting pitchers to be stretched out to 65 pitches or so by Opening Day on April 7. They have considered, for the first few turns through the rotation, having a four-man rotation with a piggyback setup, and leaning on relievers who can log multiple innings to bridge the gap to the back of the bullpen.

That’s where extra starting pitchers, such as Logan Allen, Eli Morgan, Tobias Myers and Cody Morris, could factor into the equation. Francona said the spring meeting with Morris was one of the most enjoyable of the bunch, as he’s heard plenty of buzz about the 25-year-old from the player development staff. Morris posted a 1.62 ERA with 93 strikeouts in 61 innings last season between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus.

A couple of wild cards
Trevor Stephan and Sam Hentges will likely make the Opening Day roster, and the team plans to count on them to provide multiple innings in the early going.

In 2019, both were pitching at Double A. Stephan was a starter in the Yankees’ system. Hentges had a rough showing at Akron that year. The pandemic wiped out the 2020 season for both hurlers. Then, in 2021, Stephan pitched out of Cleveland’s bullpen as a Rule 5 draft selection and Hentges was rushed to aid the rotation and the bullpen. It was a year marked by growing pains. Hentges’ role constantly changed. Stephan sometimes went a week or more without seeing game action. Both trended in the right direction as September arrived.

“We told (Stephan) this spring,” Francona said, “‘Hey, the gloves are off and you’re competing now to try to show that you belong not only in our bullpen, but maybe innings with more leverage.’”

By the way on Meisel:

Zack Meisel is a writer for The Athletic covering the Cleveland Guardians. Zack was named the 2021 Ohio Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. He has been on the beat since 2011 and is the author of four books, including "Cleveland Rocked," the tale of the 1995 team. Follow Zack on Twitter @ZackMeisel.

I would edit his conclusion on Zimmer:

"Bradley Zimmer, OF. His speed and power could make him a useful fourth or fifth outfielder."

Sixth or seventh outfielder is more like it.

civ - I'll go with Meisel on this one. Improvement finally happened last year and who says it can't continue?

if that's improvement [227/325/344] he's still got a long way to go.