Cleveland Sports Forum

Guardians Prospective
@CleGuardPro
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17m
Some Cleveland #Guardians players I think have a chance of being selected in the MLB Rule 5 Draft that were not protected today.

OF George Valera (if he clears waivers)
LHP Ryan Webb
RHP Allan Hernandez
LHP Andrew Misiaszek
RHP Aaron Davenport

The most notable piece of news here is the club opting to part ways with Valera. The 24-year-old is just a couple of years removed from being a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport but has been plagued by injuries over the past two years. Valera underwent offseason hand surgery prior to the 2023 season and ultimately did not make his season debut until May of that year, ultimately playing just 11 games prior to June 17 of that year due to additional injury woes. Overall, he hit just .211/.343/.375 despite an excellent 16% walk rate last year.

Things improved in his age-23 season with the Guardians this year on offense, as he hit .248/.337/.452 with 17 home runs, a major step in right direction after slugging just ten the year prior. Unfortunately, Valera was once again limited by injury and played just 90 games in 2024 before going under the knife again back in September. That surgery came with a six-to-nine month recovery timetable, which left him poised to start 2025 on the injured list and likely not be available as a potential big league contributor until the second half of next year at the earliest.

Given the former top prospects injury woes and relatively modest production at Triple-A, the Guardians evidently decided to cut him from the 40-man roster. Now, Valera will be available for any interested club to claim off waivers. If he manages to clear waivers, the Guardians will have the opportunity to outright him to the minor leagues and retain him in the organization for 2025. Importantly, Valera does not have minor league options remaining so any acquiring club would either need to carry him on their active roster or sneak him through waivers themselves later in the offseason

Analysis of the additions:

Cleveland Guardians
Added: RHP Franco Aleman, RHP Nic Enright, LHP Doug Nikhazy, OF Petey Halpin

Analysis: Aleman is a righthanded reliever who spent the entirety of the 2024 season with Triple-A Columbus, where he posted a 1.99 ERA in 22.2 innings with a 36.6% strikeout rate and 10.8% walk rate. He missed time with a right lat strain and pitches off a mid-90s fastball that touched 99 mph and a low-80s slider.

Enright was previously claimed in the Rule 5 draft by the Marlins, who selected him from Cleveland after a strong 2022 season. Back with the Guardians, Enright will be protected this year after posting a 1.06 ERA with Triple-A Columbus in 17 innings that included one start. He dealt with a right shoulder strain that kept him out for a significant chunk of the season. He throws a three-pitch mix that includes a 90-94 mph fastball with great riding life, an 82-85 mph slider and mid-80s changeup. He’ll enter his age-28 season in 2025.


A second-round pick who signed for $1.2 million in the 2021 draft, Nikhazy posted a 2.98 ERA in 123.2 innings between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus in 2024. He’s a softer throwing lefthanded starter who sits in the 89-92 mph range with his fastball but will get the pitch up to 95-96 at peak. He also mixes in a mid-80s slider, low-80s changeup and upper-70s curveball.

Halpin was a third-round pick in the 2020 draft and spent the 2024 season repeating Double-A Akron, where he hit .233/.314/.399 in 90 games and tapped into double-digit home runs (12) for the first time in his pro career. A left wrist injury ended his season in late August. While Halpin’s bat is light, he is one of the best baserunners and outfield defenders in the Guardians system. He is a plus defender in center field with the arm strength, instincts and route running ability that should allow him to be a strong defender in any spot, if necessary.

Guardians Prospective
@CleGuardPro

Cleveland #Guardians newest acquisition from the Cubs in the Eli Morgan trade 20yr old 6'1 215lbs CF prospect Alfonsin Rosario has a nice blend of power and speed hitting 16 HR's and 20 SB's with an impressive 127 wRC+ during his 1st full-season of pro-ball in 2024 for (Low-A) Myrtle Beach.

Rosario also has a tremendous arm that grades out at 70. He started 80 of his 109 games in CF last year.

He does have swing and miss concerns but his overall tools are very exciting.

We traded Eli Morgan? He's not great but he's been a nice middle reliever. Kind of surprised they're cutting back on bullpen depth but there's good reason to expectd Walters to be a major arm in the pen; perhaps Sabrowski can continue his great September; and they can hope Enright and/or Aleman with their high end fastballs will be 2025 contributors. Eli's softer stuff isn't quite in line with the current Guardians bullpen style.

I'll have to look for some ratings for this new guy.

Rosario moves to No. 28 on the Guardians prospect list at MLB.com.

Age 20
Hit grade 35: that's well below major league level
Power: 55
Run: 60'
Arm: 70
Field: 55
Overall: 40

He impressed with his physicality on the showcase circuit, though he also came with significant swing-and-miss concerns. Since turning down a Chipola (Fla.) JC commitment to sign as a sixth-rounder last July, he has showcased some of the best all-around tools in the system.

Already 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds, Rosario generates well-above-average raw power and high exit velocities with strength and bat speed from the right side of the plate. He can flash similar speed and plays more as a plus runner who looks to steal bases. He also offers double-plus arm strength and could develop into a solid center fielder, though some scouts think his instincts will land him in right field.

It all comes down to the bat with Rosario. He's an extremely aggressive hitter who looks to pull every pitch he sees and struggles to recognize and adapt to breaking balls and changeups. [but as stats below show, he knows when to lay off some pitches out of the strike zone] He struck out at a 35 percent clip in his first two months in Single-A this season and he'll need to prove he can make adjustments, especially as he advances to face higher quality pitching.

FINAL 2024 STATS: 230/344/423 147 K in 439 Total AB, that's 33.5% for the full season. Good number of walks: 56 reflected in his On Base Pct Of his 88 hits 18 doubles 4 triples 16 homers. 20 steals in 25 tries.

BA ANALYSIS


The Cubs added a reliable, playoff-tested arm to their bullpen Wednesday when they acquired Eli Morgan from the Guardians.

The Cubs ranked in the bottom third of the league in reliever WAR. Morgan provides the Cubs some length in middle relief, as he’s capable of getting four-to-six outs per appearance. In exchange, the Guardians get an exciting, high-upside prospect in the toolsy Rosario. The Guardians also clear a spot on their 40 man roster with the move.

Cubs Receive
Eli Morgan, RHP
Age: 28

Initially a member of the Guardians’ bullpen in 2021, Morgan was developed as a starter and made 18 starts. Cleveland later identified his ability to get outs as a reliever, and the team moved him to the bullpen in 2022. Over the last three seasons, Morgan has thrown 176 innings with 18 holds, a 3.27 ERA and an 18.4% strikeout-to-walk rate. Morgan mixes a low-90s four-seam fastball with a plus changeup and mid-to-high-80s slider.

Guardians Receive
Alfonsin Rosario, OF
Age: 20

The Cubs drafted Rosario out of P27 Academy in Lexington, S.C., but he’s a native of the Dominican Republic. Rosario made his full-season debut in 2024 with Low-A Myrtle Beach, hitting .230/.344/.423 with 16 home runs and 20 stolen bases over 109 games. He saw a majority of time in center field this season, though he’s below-average there and is likely to move to an outfield corner. Rosario is a three-true-outcomes-style hitter, with plus raw power and outlier contact quality but well below-average bat-to-ball skills. With a profile driven by impact and plus bat speed, his swing decisions were solid in his first full professional season, but he’ll need to improve his plate skills to develop into an everyday player.

Lots of room for development!

Great pickup for Morgan.

civ ollilavad wrote: Wed Nov 20, 2024 6:13 pm Lots of room for development!

Replacement for Valera?

Valera had much better stats in the low minors and then kept on running into walls, literally and figuratively.
We're not especially good at developing big bats especially for some reason outfielders. We'll see
Perhaps replacement for Florial, big flop pickup from the Yankees last year.

Jim Callis at MLB.com

Here are the top 30 prospects from the 2024 Arizona Fall League
Do we get anyone other than DeLauter? I wouldn't think so.

No. 2 on the list is the prdictable:
2. Chase DeLauter, OF, (Guardians No. 2 prospect/MLB No. 41)
DeLauter also ranked second on this list a year ago and continued to show an uncommon combination of size (6-foot-4, 235 pounds), athleticism, performance and plate discipline. After missing much of the Minor League season with foot and hamstring injuries, he slashed .340/.475/.511 while playing twice a week and spending the rest of his time working with the training staff at the Guardians' base in Goodyear.

That's it

I think DeLauter is going to be the LH hitting platoon player in right field next year. Noel the RH hitter in right field. DH open for both and Manzardo.

You still would have Brennen, Freeman, Schneeman and Martinez to figure out.

If you don't think DeLauter will be involved next season remember how the FO worked Schneeman, Martinez and Noel in last season.

Francona moving on unclogged that pipeline !

As Paul Harvey use to say........

And now the rest of the story...

Speaking of Kody Huff Catcher -

The Rockies announced they’ve non-tendered right-hander Cal Quantrill and second baseman Brendan Rodgers. Both players are now free agents and the club’s 40-man roster count drops to 38.

Quantrill, 30 in February, once seemed like a rotation building block for the Guardians but this is now two years in a row in which he’s lost his roster spot after a tough season. From 2020 to 2022, he tossed 368 innings for the Guards with a 3.08 earned run average. His 18.4% strikeout rate wasn’t amazing but he limited walks to a 6.7% clip and kept the ball on the ground 42.7% of the time.

But in 2023, shoulder inflammation limited him to 19 starts with a 5.24 ERA. His strikeout rate, which was already subpar, slid to 13.1%. The Guards designated him for assignment and flipped him to Colorado for minor league catcher Kody Huff.


With that being said, here’s a list of who I think are the Guardians prospects with the best defensive tools, weighted a little for impact of position, and the best defender.

C Kody Huff: Huff threw out an impressive 33% of would-be base stealers in Double-A (33/99). He finished head and shoulders better than any other catcher in Double-A in Baseball Prospectus’ catcher DRP (defensive runs prevented) at 15.8 (second place was 9.7). He was also first in framing runs (11.3), and second in throwing runs (3.9). He did finish sixth in blocking runs (0.7). This tracks with clocking him at a (.) pop time in my looks. He’s a (one) leg catcher, which is popular these days for low framing and easier blocking, plus in most cases less health issues. Dan Szymborski’s defensive ratings for all minor leaguers had Huff at +8.6. The data and live looks here all make a strong case for Huff’s defensive prowess. He was voted best defensive prospect in the California League in 2023 by league managers. This should easily have Huff on track as a defensive minded backup catcher in the majors by 2025 or 2026. He’s also continued to put up some strong exit velocities in the AFL this year, which is also interesting to watch even though it has nothing to do with defense.

Guardians Prospective
@CleGuardPro
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Crazy to think the #Guardians top two International signings from the organizations 2017 class Aaron Bracho and George Valera never made it to Cleveland and now both are out of the system.

Just as crazy to think that Brayan Rocchio, Jhonkensy Noel and Jose Tena are from the same 2017 class and did become MLB players.