Cleveland Sports Forum

Scenes from the Guardians clubhouse after Saturday’s brawl with Chicago
Updated: Aug. 06, 2023, 11:22 a.m.|Published: Aug. 06, 2023, 11:20 a.m.



By Joe Noga, cleveland.com


CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Guardians clubhouse was loose and relaxed on Sunday morning, just hours after a 14-minute brawl on the field against the White Sox that highlighted a 7-4 loss to Chicago at Progressive Field.

With suspensions likely pending for José Ramírez and possibly Emmanuel Clase for their roles in a dustup sparked by White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson, Cleveland’s young roster appeared unaffected by the events of the previous night.



Anderson was notably absent from Chicago’s starting lineup, but there was a higher number of Guardians players on hand than usual on a typical Sunday morning in the clubhouse during the pregame time when media was allowed access.


Here’s a look at what transpired inside Cleveland’s clubhouse just hours after all the action.

9:50 a.m. A group of Guardians players gathered around Bo Naylor’s locker, watching video replays of the fight. One of the players was talking about ex-Guardians pitcher Touki Toussaint, who started one game for Cleveland and was released before signing with the White Sox. The group took exception to the way one of the Guardians players was being restrained in the scrum “... not strangling him, but ...” Toussaint spent most of spring training with Cleveland before opening the season at Triple-A. Josh Naylor walked away from the pack shaking his head. “Know who your real friends are, fellas.”

9:58 Triston McKenzie, who provided refreshment to Ramírez when he brought him a water bottle at second base while umpires sorted through the ejections, was asked why he decided it was the right time to play waterboy during the meleee. “He looked thirsty,” McKenzie said.


10:02 McKenzie, standing near the clubhouse stereo deciding what music was appropriate for the morning mood, looked over at Ramírez and inquired: “Hey, Mike Tyson, what do you want to listen to?” Ramírez let out a sincere belly laugh at the question.

10:03 McKenzie’s music slection included “I’m one” by Future, featuring Drake.

10:06 Ramírez walked across the room and encountered rookie Tyler Freeman, who joked about a previous encounter between the two teammates. Freeman left the conversation and could be heard telling Ramírez: “I’m not fighting you anymore. Now I know you would have broken my (behind).”

10:08 Emmanuel Clase, ejected for his role in the brawl, walked into the clubhouse and sat down in front of his locker. Moments later, Josh Naylor emerged from the showers wrapped in a towel and headed straight over to the club’s All-Star closer. No words were exchanged, but Naylor put his hand on Clase’s back and gave him a fist bump before stepping away.


10:10 Assistant hitting coach Victor Rodrίguez walked into the clubhouse and had an animated conversation with Ramírez and Oscar Gonzalez in front of Ramírez’s locker.

10:12 Cam Gallagher, on his way to the batting cage, bellowed “What up, Bro?” as he walked past Ramírez and gave him a big fist bump.

‘Down goes Anderson!’ Guardians broadcaster delivers epic play-by-play of brawl with Chicago
Updated: Aug. 05, 2023, 11:11 p.m.|Published: Aug. 05, 2023, 10:02 p.m.




By Joe Noga, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Guardians radio voice Tom Hamilton’s call of Cleveland’s benches-clearing brawl Friday with the Chicago White Sox is certain to go down as an all-time classic.

José Ramírez and Tim Anderson went toe-to-toe in the sixth inning, and Hamilton delivered a play-by-play reminiscent of Howard Cosell’s famous “Down goes Frazier” call of the fight between George Foreman and Joe Frazier.


“Now Josey and Anderson square up!


They’re fighting! They’re swinging!

Down goes Anderson! DOWN GOES ANDERSON!

Ramirez went in with a headfirst slide. Josey never gets upset about anything.


They came up chewing. Anderson squared off. Josey decked him!”

Anderson and Ramírez were ejected from the game along with Emmanuel Clase and managers Pedro Grifol and Terry Francona. It was Francona’s second ejection in as many nights.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1688040885307469825

Above is a video showing Josh Naylor coming to the rescue of Jose !

The possibility of the hilarious happening.

2 on 2 out 1 run lead, back to back errors on throws from Rocchio at 3rd to Calhoun an OF at 1st.
That's hilarious enough for me.

Who's to blame?

Rocchio's two throws?
Calhoun's two catches?
Clase getting into a jam?
Francona's lineup?
Absence of a single healthy 1st baseman on the team? [turns out David Fry is hurt too, see below]
Front office roster moves?

Newcomer Kole Calhoun takes blame for Guardians’ ninth-inning flop against Chicago
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Kole Calhoun took the blame for the Guardians’ 5-3 loss to the White Sox on Sunday afternoon.
He took the blame even though he hadn’t started a game at first base since Sept. 2, 2013.
He took the blame even though the Guardians asked him if he wanted to come out after the eighth inning. Calhoun said no.
“First of all both those balls have to be caught,” said Calhoun. “Both of those win the game. Brayan Rocchio (third baseman) made two really good plays. They have to be finished. That’s on me.
“I was asked before the inning if they wanted to take me out and I said no. That was my call to go back out there for the ninth inning. Having it come down to those two plays -- we make one of those and we win the game -- that’s tough.”

Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong in the ninth inning for the Guardians.
Closer Emmanuel Clase, working with a 3-2 lead, allowed consecutive singles to right-handed hitters Eloy Jimenez and Andrew Vaughn to start the inning. Right-handers came into the game hitting .198 (19 for 96) against Clase, but Jimenez and Vaughn must have missed that stat.

Clase, looking for his 30th save, struck out the next two batters, but Oscar Colas sent a slow roller to Rocchio at third. He charged the ball, barehanded it and made a low throw to first. It looked like Calhoun dug the ball out of the dirt, but it bounced free.
“If you want to second guess, I would second guess me, not him,” said Francona, when asked about Calhoun playing first base. “I actually think his actions are really good. The two balls in the dirt, I didn’t have an issue with him.

“The way he went about it, he didn’t want to let it get by him. Just from the little I know of him, I really have a lot of faith in him as a baseball player.”
Rocchio was charged with an error and the White Sox had the bases loaded.
Zach Remillard, the No. 9 hitter, sent a hard shot to third. Rocchio made a nice backhand strop, but once again he made a low throw to first that Calhoun couldn’t handle. The tying run scored, the bases were still loaded and Rocchio was charged with his second straight error.
Elvis Andrus, who has made a career out of hitting Cleveland pitching, followed with a two-run single for a 5-3 lead. Andrus, who had three hits Sunday, is a .376 (74 for 197) career hitter at Progressive Field.

So, let’s reset for a moment.

Rocchio, a rookie, is a shortstop by trade playing third base. Calhoun is a 35-year-old outfielder by trade who was appearing in just his second game with the Guardians after spending the entire season at Triple-A with the Dodgers and Yankees.
Why was Rocchio at third? Jose Ramirez was DHing after his one-punch knock out of Chicago’s Tim Anderson on Saturday night. Anderson did not play Sunday.

Why was Calhoun starting at first base? He told manager Terry Francona he’d give the position a try when they signed him, and Francona needed another left-handed hitter in the lineup against Chicago’s right-handed starter Jesse Scholtens. One more thing, first baseman Josh Naylor is on the injured list with a strained right oblique.

Francona was asked about replacing Calhoun with David Fry in the ninth. Francona revealed that Fry is dealing with a sore hamstring and was unavailable.
He was asked about playing rookie Jose Tena at shortstop and moving Gabriel Arias from shortstop to first.
I don’t know if you’re making yourself better by taking your shortstop (and moving him to first),” said Francona. “I don’t blame you for asking questions. There are usually reasons why we do stuff.”

Perhaps if utility man Tyler Freeman (right shoulder) was healthy and not on the injured list, Francona would have made a move with him. Maybe Freeman would have started at third, as he has in the past, when Ramirez is rested at DH.

Rocchio, who doubled and scored in the third inning, explained the two costly errors like this:
“The first one was a really slow chopper,” said Rocchio, through interpreter Agustin Rivero. “I felt I came as quick as I can, but I didn’t have much time to make a good throw.
“The second one was a little easier, but sometimes the game doesn’t go your way.”

Francona said the first grounder was a “do or die” play. On the second one, Francona said, “He made a nice play because the ball had top spin on it. I just thought he really rushed after that. He didn’t move his feet. He had time.”

GUARDIANS
Guardians claim veteran outfielder who was released by Oakland
Updated: Aug. 07, 2023, 2:41 p.m.|Published: Aug. 07, 2023, 2:37 p.m.
Cleveland Guardians vs. Oakland Athletics, June 12, 2022
The Guardians have claimed outfielder Ramon Laureano.John Kuntz, cleveland.com

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By Joe Noga, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Guardians claimed outfielder Ramon Laureano after he was designated for assignment by the Oakland Athletics on Saturday.

Laureano, 29, will join Cleveland’s major league roster this week. In a corresponding move, the Guardians designated right-hander Chris Vallimont for assignment. Vallimont had been with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Columbus since early July.


Laureano has spent his entire six-year major league career with Oakland, batting .246 with 98 doubles, seven triples, 68 home runs, 205 RBI and 53 steals in 471 games.


He was originally selected by Houston in the 16th round of the the 2014 draft and was later traded to Oakland prior to the 2018 campaign.

In 2023, he is hitting .213 with 10 doubles, three triples, six HR, 21 RBI and eight steals in 64 games. Laureano was on the injured list twice due to a left groin strain and a right hand fracture.

Vallimont, acquired from the Orioles in exchange for cash on July 6, joined Cleveland’s 40-man roster when Triston McKenzie was moved to the 60-day injured list. He appeared in seven games for the Clippers, posting an 0-1 record with a 7.84 ERA in 10 1/3 innings.

So if a player is too bad for the A's who've won about 27% of their games, he's just right for Cleveland
I have been eager to get rid of Vaillemont; now I'll probably be eager to get rid of Lauerano

In 2023, he is hitting .213 with 10 doubles, three triples, six HR, 21 RBI and eight steals in 64 games. Laureano was on the injured list twice due to a left groin strain and a right hand fracture.

Vallimont, acquired from the Orioles in exchange for cash on July 6, joined Cleveland’s 40-man roster when Triston McKenzie was moved to the 60-day injured list. He appeared in seven games for the Clippers, posting an 0-1 record with a 7.84 ERA in 10 1/3 innings.

can he play 1st base?

in 2016 he played one game at 1st base for Lancaster in the California League. [No joke; that's what I find at Baseball Reference] that is his full professional experience there. Nothing listed about his days in Little League.
That should prepare him for the Guardians.

Williams goes where no Cleveland rookie has gone before
Righty becomes the first rookie in franchise history to K at least 12, allow no more than 1 hit

CLEVELAND -- Guardians pitching coach Carl Willis could notice his young starter Gavin Williams was getting frustrated.

A week ago, Williams had turned in his fourth consecutive start of five or fewer innings. In that span, he hadn’t given up more than five hits or two runs in a single outing. But he noted on multiple occasions that he was trying to be too fine with his pitches, which ran up his pitch count and caused him to exit each start much sooner than he would like. That’s when Willis stepped in to give him a little advice, and the results led to a one-hit, 12-strikeout performance in the Guardians’ 3-1 loss to the Blue Jays on Monday night at Progressive Field.

The guidance was rather simple. Willis wanted to remind Williams just how impressive his numbers were if you excluded the 14 walks in his previous 18 innings. When his pitches were going over the plate, he was seeing the results he wanted.

“He’s doing all of this and he’s not giving up very many hits or very many runs,” Willis said. “It’s been a fast path for him here, and I think he’s still giving a little too much credit to Major League hitters. They deserve credit, but a little too much. … Kind of challenged him to be a little more aggressive, and I think we saw the results of it tonight against a really good-hitting club.”
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It was clear from the first inning that Williams had a little extra in the tank. He struck out the first two batters he faced on 97.1 mph and 96.6 mph heaters. After a double by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Williams settled back in to fan George Springer on an 85.9 mph slider.

“From the start, I was just trying to throw it over the plate,” Williams said. “I don’t think I was being too fine today.”

The 24-year-old righty didn’t slow down after the first. By the time he finished the fifth inning, he already had racked up 10 strikeouts. Williams ended his night after seven frames and he became the first rookie pitcher in Cleveland history to have at least 12 strikeouts while allowing no more than one hit. It was the most strikeouts in a start by a Cleveland rookie since Luis Tiant fanned 12 on Aug. 18, 1964.

“His fastball was electric today,” Guardians catcher Bo Naylor said. “I feel like I could’ve just only called fastballs and it would’ve played really well.”

Of Williams’ 12 strikeouts, seven were recorded on his heater. He threw 52 four-seamers, which induced 25 swings. The 12 whiffs he got on those hacks were the most he’s had in a start so far in his career.

His fastball has been his calling card since he was drafted, consistently sitting in the upper 90s and occasionally seeing triple digits flash on Minor League radar guns. His fastball spin isn’t overwhelming, considering he ranks in just the 39th percentile in that category according to Baseball Savant. But the extension he has ranks in the 99th percentile, causing his heater to look even faster.

“He doesn’t have exactly the ride that you hear about,” Willis said. “I mean, it’s above average, but it’s not well above average. There’s velocity. His delivery, he’s a tall guy with long limbs, so he has some deception in terms of hiding the baseball before it’s released and he can create some angles, as well.”
Williams is starting to establish why he was the team’s No. 1 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. In his debut in June, he was a little rattled making the transition to the big leagues. In his next outing, he wasted no time getting comfortable on the rubber, going seven scoreless innings with one hit, one walk and six strikeouts. It took some time for him to again look like that pitcher who took the ball on June 27, but he’s had to endure a crash course in pitching in the Majors, as he was abruptly thrown into the big league rotation after making just nine Triple-A starts because the Guardians suffered some injuries.

The FO really wanted Lauerano ! How much ? They were willing to pay for him.

Guardians Claim Ramon Laureano
By Steve Adams | August 7, 2023 at 1:33pm CDT

The Guardians announced that they’ve claimed veteran outfielder Ramon Laureano off outright waivers from the A’s. He was designated for assignment by Oakland over the weekend.

As a reminder, Major League Baseball did away with revocable August trade waivers five years ago. Laureano was claimed off (irrevocable) outright waivers. He’s now under Guardians club control through the 2025 season, and Cleveland will pick up the remainder of this year’s $3.55MM salary. The Guards currently have MLB’s tenth-worst record, indicating that the eight non-A’s clubs ahead of them — Royals, Rockies, White Sox, Cardinals, Nats, Tigers, Mets, Pirates — all passed on putting in a claim.

Just two years ago, the notion of Laureano being placed on waivers would’ve seemed difficult to fathom. From 2018-21, the now-29-year-old Laureano was a core piece in Oakland, batting a combined .263/.335/.465 (119 wRC+) and coupling that production with strong baserunning, respectable glovework in center and plus defense in right field.

Laureano, however, was hit with an 80-game PED suspension midway through the ’21 campaign and has never regained his footing. He was suspended for the final couple months of play in 2021, and that ban lingered into the 2022 season. He’s since missed time with oblique, groin and hamstring strains, as well as a fractured hand. Since returning from that PED suspension, Laureano has four IL trips and a collective .212/.285/.371 batting line in 158 games/629 plate appearances — effectively one full season’s worth of games.

The A’s have surely had varying levels of trade interest in Laureano over the past couple years, but they’ve understandably opted against selling low on a player whose value was once considerable. Unfortunately for the club, they’ll now lose Laureano for nothing more than the $1.07MM in salary relief they’ll gain with Cleveland claiming the outfielder and his contract. It’s a sub-par outcome that’ll draw ire from fans and criticism from pundits — particularly given the lackluster results of the current rebuilding effort. Laureano would likely have been non-tendered rather than given a raise this winter, so once a trade failed to materialize prior to the deadline, the A’s apparently shifted gear and simply looked to recoup some of salary obligation.

The final two months of the season will serve as an audition for Laureano in Cleveland, where outfield production is a near-annual concern. Guardians outfielders are batting a combined .248/.310/.342 this season, and the resulting 81 wRC+ (i.e. 19% worse than the MLB-average hitter) places the Cleveland outfield 29th of all 30 teams, leading only the last-place Royals. Steven Kwan is the only Guardians outfielder with even average offensive output at the plate this season, so the chance to buy low on Laureano for a cost of just over $1MM is a sensible roll of the dice for the team.

Laureano will at the very least provide a right-handed-hitting complement to lefty-swinging Will Brennan in right field, but the production (or lack thereof) from Brennan and center fielder Myles Straw is glaring enough that there ought to be an opportunity for Laureano to claim a larger role if the change of scenery proves beneficial.

So someone thinks this is a signficant pickup I guess.
Can they instruct him on playing first base?

Lauerano is playing right field and batting 5th tonight. No one should complain because this team has been boring at the plate. Need to give the fans something to cheer for. Fry to IL.

The fact that the FO got Calhoun and Lariano instead of Judge or Betts or Roberts is probably not do to lack of trying. Last year in the Benson/Brennan/Gonzales/Jones race for a bat we all thought that we caught lighting in a bottle, especially after the success of Kwan.

Not sure I would want to be a General Manager!