And I do wonder if Gimenez moving to 2B was made with Rocchio in mind. Down the line of course. Amed for now.

We really needed the bat of Gimenez ! I wonder if he tired out.

Wouldn't surprise me - none of these guys (except JRam of course) were used to going on and on like that deep into October.

BTW Tito can feel free to jump Gimenez up to the top of the order where he belongs. Screw the lefty righty thing since he hit both pretty evenly.

No reason not to have him bat 4th instead of Naylor - assuming we don't add another bat.

Great idea !

Baseball America is gradually publishing each team's Draft Report Card for 2022. I am not sure if Any of our draftees played at all this summer. It will be kind of challenging to grade them any differently than the day after the draft.

Guess what, another pitching prospect is starting to prosper in the hitter friendly Arizona Fall League

On this week's Hot Sheet
5. Hunter Stanley, RHP, Guardians
Team: Peoria
Age: 24

Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.00, 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO, 0 HR

The Scoop: As difficult as it might be to believe, Cleveland might have another pitching prospect from the college ranks. Stanley, whom the Guardians chose in the 11th round in 2021 out of Southern Mississippi, was limited to just 14.2 innings in the regular season. He’s one inning shy of that total so far in the AFL, but is tied for third place in the league with 19 strikeouts. That total includes eight in a four-inning turn this past week.

[AT 24 HE'S already kind of old for a Guardians player.]

Jose Tena, SS, Guardians: Cleveland has a long list of middle infield prospects, and Tena is near the top. The 21-year-old is continuing his season in the Dominican Republic and went off on Tuesday. Facing Cibao, Tena went 4-for-5 with his first home run of the winter campaign. The output matches his production on July 13, when he went 4-for-5 with a homer against Bowie.

Triple-A award winners and All-Stars
Rays' Aranda, Giants' Villar named league MVPs for 2022


By Stephanie Sheehan @Steph_Sheehan
1:00 PM EST

Minor League Baseball has revealed the end-of-season award winners and All-Star teams for the two Triple-A ciruicts, based on votes cast by league managers. Highlighting the winners for the International League are the Rays' Jonathan Aranda, who took home a circuit's MVP honors for the second straight year; Pitcher of the Year Greg Weissert (Yankees) and Gunnar Henderson (Orioles) as the Top MLB Prospect.

In the Pacific Coast League, the Giants' David Villar won MVP honors; the Astros' Hunter Brown added a Pitcher of the Year award to a trophy case that will also include a World Series ring; and the Dodgers' Miguel Vargas as the Top MLB Prospect.

Here are the major award winners from each circuit as well as the full All-Star teams.

International League
Most Valuable Player: Jonathan Aranda, Durham (TB)
Aranda earned league MVP honors as a member of Double-A Montgomery last year, and he followed that up with a repeat performance in Triple-A. The 24-year-old hit .318 and led the International League in OPS (.915) while setting career highs in games played (104), homers (18), RBIs (85), doubles (26) and walks (45). He made his MLB debut on June 24.


Pitcher of the Year: Greg Weissert, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (NYY)
Weissert followed a career year with an almost identical 2022 season. The right-hander was straight-up dominant out of the RailRiders bullpen, allowing just three homers and nine earned runs across 48 innings, good for a 1.69 ERA. The 27-year-old whiffed 70 batters and walked only 19 while holding opposing batters to a .149 average. He made his MLB debut on Aug. 25, striking out 11 in 11 1/3 innings.


Top MLB Prospect: Gunnar Henderson, Norfolk (BAL)
Henderson started the season with Double-A Bowie and rose all the way to the big league club, where he immediately made an impact on both sides of the ball. MLB's No. 2 overall prospect was one of several top prospects who homered for his first MLB hit, and he clubbed four dingers and drove in 18 runs in 34 games with the Orioles. Before that, the 21-year-old slashed .297/.416/.531 with 19 homers and 76 RBIs in 112 Minor League games across two levels in ‘22, highlighted by hitting for the cycle a day before his 21st birthday in June.


All-Star Team

1B: Jonathan Aranda, Durham (TB)
2B: Miles Mastrobuoni, Durham (TB)
SS: Gunnar Henderson, Norfolk (BAL No. 1, MLB No. 2)
3B: Mark Vientos, Syracuse (NYM No. 7)
C: Bo Naylor, Columbus (CLE No. 5, MLB No. 75)
OF: Alec Burleson, Memphis (STL No. 5, MLB No. 88)
OF: Will Benson, Columbus (CLE)
OF: Josh Lowe, Durham (TB)
DH: Mark Payton, Charlotte (CWS)
RHP: Grayson Rodriguez, Norfolk (BAL No. 2, MLB No. 4)
LHP: Kyle Muller, Gwinnett (ATL No. 1)
RP: Greg Weissert, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (NYY)
Manager: Rick Sweet, Nashville (MIL)


Pacific Coast League
Most Valuable Player: David Villar, Sacramento (SF)
Villar had the best year of his career on his way to earning the coveted MVP title. The 25-year-old hit 275/.404/.617 with a club-leading 1.021 OPS, 27 homers and 82 RBIs. Villar won his first-ever Player of the Week honor for the week of May 15 and earned a callup to the big leagues in July, closing out the season with the Giants. He smacked nine homers and drove in 24 runs in 52 games.









Pitcher of the Year: Hunter Brown, Sugar Land (HOU)
Before logging innings down the stretch and in the postseason for the Astros, the club’s No. 1 prospect (MLB No. 68) was dominating in the Pacific Coast League. Brown posted an impressive 2.55 ERA across 106 innings of work, setting a career high in strikeouts with 134, good for third overall in the league, while only allowing five long balls all year. The 24-year-old held opposing batters to a .189 clip.


Top MLB Prospect: Miguel Vargas, Oklahoma City (LAD)
In a loaded Dodgers system, Vargas stood out as one of the best. The 22-year-old hit .304/.404/.511 with 100 runs scored in 113 games with Oklahoma City, earning a callup to Los Angeles at the end of August and belting his first MLB homer in September. The club’s No. 3 prospect (MLB No. 41) was third in the PCL with a .915 OPS and his .404 OBP was second overall in the circuit.


All-Star Team

1B: Matt Davidson, Reno/Las Vegas (ARI/OAK)
2B: Eguy Rosario, El Paso (SD No. 5)
SS: David Hensley, Sugar Land (HOU)
3B: David Villar, Sacramento (SF)
C: Shea Langeliers, Las Vegas (OAK)
OF: Jason Martin, Oklahoma City (LAD)
OF: Stone Garrett, Reno (ARI)
OF: Wynton Bernard, Albuquerque (COL)
DH: Sean Bouchard, Albuquerque (COL)
RHP: Hunter Brown, Sugar Land (HOU No. 1, MLB No. 68)
LHP: Jake Kalish, Salt Lake (LAA)
RP: Enoli Paredes, Sugar Land (HOU)
Manager: Gil Velazquez, Reno (ARI)

Stephanie Sheehan is an contributor for MiLB.com.

Read More: Jonathan ArandaGreg WeissertGunnar HendersonDavid VillarHunter BrownMiguel VargasSeason 2022Top Prospect
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Benson was very good for Columbus, not so for Cleveland. His history is always to play lousy at a new level after promotion and then to be much better in year 2. His skills project an all around better RF than Oscar Gonzalez: good baserunner and basestealer, draws plenty of walks, very positive ratings for his defense and his throwing arm. Of course will he actually hit? I think we can get some value for him in a trade. Not too much however!

Eastern League
Most Valuable Player: Quincy Nieporte, Erie (DET)
After missing three straight years of playing affiliated ball, Nieporte was signed by the Tigers on March 30 and assigned to Double-A the following day, the highest level he's played at professionally. The 28-year-old looked right at home with the SeaWolves, as he paced the circuit in home runs (31), RBIs (91), extra-base hits (58) and total bases (246) and finished second in slugging (.536) and OPS (.867).

Nieporte's go-ahead homer
Sep 22, 2022 · 0:26
Nieporte's go-ahead homer
Pitcher of the Year: Tanner Bibee, Akron (CLE)
The 2021 fifth-round Draft choice by the Guardians made his professional debut this year, and it was a loud one. After opening the season at High-A Lake County, where the right-hander posted a 2.59 ERA over 12 starts, Bibee was promoted to the RubberDucks and performed even better there. Over 13 starts with Akron, the 23-year-old posted a 1.83 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and a .194 average against with 81 strikeouts over 73 2/3 innings.

Bibee fans 10 for Akron
Aug 25, 2022 · 0:51
Bibee fans 10 for Akron
Top MLB Prospect: Ezequiel Tovar, Hartford (COL)
The 21-year-old opened the season with the Yard Goats and played his way to the big league club. MLB's No. 27 overall prospect posted a .318/.386/.545 slash line with 13 homers, three triples, 15 doubles, 47 RBIs and 17 stolen bases across 66 games with Hartford. After a five-game stint at Triple-A in which Tovar went 7-for-21 with a dinger, the second-ranked Rockies prospect made his debut in The Show on Sept. 23. He connected on his first career long ball on Oct. 5 off Clayton Kershaw.


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All-Star Team (view stats >>)

1B: Quincy Nieporte, Erie (DET)
2B: Connor Norby, Bowie (BAL No. 11)
SS: Ezequiel Tovar, Hartford (COL No. 2, MLB No. 27)
3B: Brett Baty, Binghamton (NYM No. 2), MLB No. 18)
C: Francisco Álvarez, Binghamton (NYM 1, MLB No. 1)
OF: Parker Meadows, Erie (DET No. 16)
OF: Elijah Dunham, Somerset (NYY No. 19)
OF: George Valera, Akron (CLE No. 2, MLB No. 31)
DH: Andres Chaparro, Somerset (NYY)
RHP: Tanner Bibee, Akron (CLE No. 6, MLB No. 99)
LHP: Joey Cantillo, Akron (CLE No. 23)
RP: Carson Coleman, Somerset (NYY No. 30)
Manager: Dan Fiorito, Somerset (NYY)

Cantillo is bit of a surprise
He did pitch very well but injury again ended his season early

Minor League free agents from our organization are:

Cleveland Guardians

LF Trenton Brooks

LHP Raymond Burgos

C Gavin Collins

RHP Justin Garza

RHP Ian Hamilton

SS Jonathan Lopez

CF Oscar Mercado

RHP Juan Mota

RHP Bryan Shaw

2B Mitchell Tolman

What's the difference between Minor League Free Agents and Free Agents?

Can guys are free for anyone to sign with no obligation to pay the prior organization anything. But that's the case for many major league FA too.
They dontt have to go onto on a major league roster. They are free compared to Rule 5 picks

Maybe there's more it? Basically they are inexpensive to sign and many became Spring Training invitees.

I note some other Minor League FAs this winter include Cleveland draftees or former major leaguers who have flopped

Erik Gonzalez
Rob Kaminsky
Jake Miednik
Ryder Ryan
Francisco Perez

Hunter Wood
Jake Bauers
Franmil Reyes: not sure why he's on this list, but of course any team may put one of these guys on the major league roster if that's what it takes to sign him
Zach McAlllster. He's still around??
T.J. McFarland
Tony Wolters
Daniel Johnson
Jefry Rodriguez
and more

Guardians Prospective
@CleGuardPro
Can confirm #Guardians 20-year-old switch hitting INF prospect Angel Martinez has been added to the 40-man roster.
6:36 PM · Nov 15, 2022
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