Cleveland Sports Forum

What to know about Guardians' Spring Training

By Mandy Bell

2/6/23 3:50 PM CST

CLEVELAND --

Punxsutawney Phil may have predicted six more weeks of winter, but that certainly won’t affect Spring Training, which is rapidly approaching.

On Friday, the Guardians packed up their equipment trucks with all the gear and bubble gum in sight to make the 2,000-plus-mile trip to Goodyear, Ariz., in preparation for the first day of camp.

As all the staffers get all the last-minute details ready to go for the players’ arrivals, let’s take a look at everything you need to know heading into Guardians camp:

When is the first workout for pitchers and catchers?

There is an optional report date (required for those who are participating in the World Baseball Classic) for pitchers and catchers on Feb. 13. The official day for all hurlers and backstops to be in Goodyear, Ariz., is Feb. 15. Those who arrive early will begin working out on Feb. 14. Everyone else will join on Feb. 17.

What is the date of the first full-squad workout?

Feb. 21.

Where is the team’s facility?

The Guardians’ Spring Training facility is located in Goodyear, Ariz. For those interested in stopping by for workouts, the address is 2601 S. Wood Boulevard.

Can fans attend workouts?

Yes, fans can stand in a fenced-in viewing area down the third-base line of Field 1. Spectators can also get a glimpse of the action in spots through the outfield fence at Field 1. These designated areas are free and open to the public daily, usually after 9 a.m. local time.

Who are some new faces fans should know?

C Mike Zunino
1B/DH Josh Bell

Who are some of the top prospects invited to Major League camp?

LHP Logan Allen
2B Angel Martinez
C Bo Naylor
3B Jhonkensy Noel
SS Brayan Rocchio
SS Jose Tena
OF George Valera



Which players will be participating in the World Baseball Classic?

The Guardians have not officially announced which of their players will be participating in the World Baseball Classic, but outfielder Richie Palacios took to social media last week to reveal he will be playing for the Netherlands. Middle infielder Andrés Giménez said early in the offseason that he would be joining Team Venezuela and Bo Naylor expressed interest at Guards Fest in playing for Team Canada.

When is the team’s first Cactus League game?

As always, the Guardians will open their Cactus League schedule with the Reds at Goodyear Ballpark. This year, Cleveland will serve as the road team at 3:05 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 25.

What are a few other notable spring games?

The Guardians will play Team Mexico on March 8 at Goodyear Ballpark. The club will also see its Opening Day opponent in the Mariners during a split-squad game at home on March 18. Cleveland will have two exhibition games prior to the regular season, against the D-backs at Chase Field on March 27 and 28.



Will the team’s games be televised?

The following eight spring games will be aired on Bally Sports Great Lakes:

Feb. 25 at Reds, 3:05 p.m. ET
Feb. 26 vs. Rangers, 3:05 p.m. ET
Feb. 28 vs. Royals, 3:05 p.m. ET
March 10 at Brewers, 3:10 p.m. ET
March 20 at Rangers, 4:05 p.m. ET
March 24 vs. Cubs, 9:05 p.m. ET
March 26 vs. Reds, 4:05 p.m. ET
March 28 at D-backs, 3:40 p.m. ET

When is the club’s last game in Arizona?

March 28 at Chase Field.

What are the details for Opening Day?

The Guardians will open the season in Seattle on March 30 at 10:10 p.m. ET. The opening series will consist of four games before Cleveland heads to Oakland for a three-game set before returning home for its home opener on April 7 against the Mariners at 4:10 p.m. ET.

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José Ramírez’s Hall of Fame chances: What history tells us about the Guardians star’s path

Cleveland Guardians' Jose Ramirez celebrates after hitting an RBI single off Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Drew Hutchison during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, July 15, 2022, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)
By Zack Meisel
Feb 6, 2023

9
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CLEVELAND — Let’s study the Hall of Fame merits of a Terry Francona-managed third baseman. No, not José Ramírez. Scott Rolen, baseball’s newest electee, fits that description, too. He played for Francona for four years in Philadelphia.

A year ago, we pondered whether Ramírez could forge a path to Cooperstown. What has changed since then to prompt an updated breakdown of his chances?

Well, Ramírez first ensured he’ll remain a Guardian until at least the twilight of his career. He authored another top-four MVP season despite playing the final few months with a torn hand ligament that ultimately required surgery. And the Baseball Writers’ Association of America voted Rolen into the Hall of Fame, giving us another data point as we evaluate whether Ramírez’s numbers might eventually meet the requirements to secure a spot in the sport’s sanctuary.

Rolen and Ramírez have contrasting résumés. Rolen won eight Gold Glove awards and recorded only one top-13 MVP finish. Ramírez has the more proficient offensive profile, including five top-6 MVP placements in the past six years, but he’ll obviously need to maintain that output well into his 30s.

José Ramírez: .279/.354/.503, 129 OPS+, 192 HR, 1155 H, 289 2B, 174 SB, 4 ASG, 4 SS, 41.2 fWAR, 40.3 bWAR

Scott Rolen: .281/.364/.490, 122 OPS+, 316 HR, 2077 H, 517 2B, 118 SB, 7 ASG, 8 GG, 1 SS, 69.9 fWAR, 70.1 bWAR

Rolen received a checkmark on only 10.2 percent of ballots in his first year of eligibility. Five years later, he eclipsed the mandatory 75 percent threshold.
Scott Rolen was voted into the Hall in his sixth year of eligibility. (Albert Dickson / Sporting News via Getty Images)

Only 18 third basemen have been selected to the Hall of Fame, and just nine in the past 60 years: Brooks Robinson, Paul Molitor, Wade Boggs, George Brett, Mike Schmidt, Eddie Mathews, Ron Santo, Chipper Jones and Rolen. Santo was chosen by a veterans committee nearly 30 years after his career ended. Adrián Beltré could join the exclusive club as soon as next year, his first on the ballot.
HOF 3B, last 60 years
Brooks Robinson

2848

268

105
Paul Molitor

3319

234

122
Wade Boggs

3010

118

131
Chipper Jones

2726

468

141
George Brett

3154

317

135
Mike Schmidt

2234

548

148
Eddie Mathews

2315

512

143
Ron Santo

2254

342

125
Scott Rolen

2077

316

122

Voting habits have changed over time. The game has evolved over time, too. The milestone standards of 3,000 hits or 500 home runs or 300 wins no longer separate Cooperstown from customary. Some voters prioritize the counting statistics. Others favor a player’s rate stats relative to his peers. Some focus on a player’s peak. Others prefer longevity.

Some stick by the old mantra of, “I know a Hall of Famer when I see one.” Do you think you’re watching a Hall of Famer every time Ramírez struts to the batter’s box? Did you think you were watching a Hall of Famer when watching Rolen pick a one-hopper at the hot corner? What about while watching Santo or Harold Baines?

There’s little benefit to comparing Ramírez’s stats to those compiled by Jimmy Collins 130 years ago, or those compiled by Home Run Baker or Pie Traynor, a few of the other third basemen in the Hall. It’s already a complicated task to measure a current player against someone from, say, the steroid era.

For this exercise, we’ll examine those nine third basemen elected in the past 60 years. It’s imperfect; who knows how voting habits will shift 10 to 15 years from now, when Ramírez’s name surfaces on the ballot? But we can at least gain a sense of what Ramírez might have to accomplish to enter the conversation.

Those nine players averaged 2,478 games, 2,660 hits, 347 home runs and a 130 OPS+ (meaning, generally speaking, they were 30 percent better at the plate than their peers). Ramírez has a long way to go. He has delivered the necessary annual output; he just needs to keep doing it.

Since Ramírez established his major-league footing in 2016, he has submitted a .285/.363/.528 slash line and a 137 OPS+. In that span, he has played in 92.8 percent of Cleveland’s games. Using that number, we can determine he has averaged 160 hits, 29 home runs, 42 doubles and 24 stolen bases for a full, 162-game season, in which he’d appear in about 150 games. (It’s important to take that extra step to extrapolate his numbers to cover for the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, which cost Ramírez 100 games during an MVP-caliber year.)

Ramírez will play the 2023 season at the age of 30. How much longer can he maintain his MVP candidate level of production? Every impressive season he turns in diminishes the influence of his rough introduction to the majors in 2014-15.

He’s sitting at 192 home runs. If he has five more seasons in which he averages 29 homers (a somewhat daunting task, but certainly not impossible, because we would all take the over for at least 2023 and 2024), that would prop him up to 337 homers by his 35th birthday.

If he averages 160 hits for the next five seasons — again, perhaps a tall order — he would arrive at 1,955 around the time of his 35th birthday. Reaching the 2,000 mark could help his case with some voters.

Ramírez’s OPS+ figures the past six years: 145, 151, 106, 167, 142, 148. His career mark of 129 should get another boost over the next few years.

There are a couple of underlying factors helping his campaign, too. Ramírez has annually been one of the league’s top base runners. He has also proven to be a solid defender at third base. Even if those qualities aren’t always apparent to a voter sitting in the press box, they help to fuel Ramírez’s WAR.

Among those nine Hall of Fame third basemen, Molitor has the lowest fWAR total, at 67.6. Ramírez stands at 41.2. Ramírez’s fWAR totals the past seven seasons: 5.3, 6.7, 8.1, 3.5, 3.2 (but on pace for 8.6), 6.5, 6.2. That’s an average of 6.4, if we use his projected total for 2020. Ramírez can certainly catch Molitor if he authors a few more seasons at that level, plus another few at a lower level.
HOF-caliber 3B, by fWAR
Mike Schmidt

106.5
Eddie Mathews

96.1
Wade Boggs

88.3
Chipper Jones

84.6
George Brett

84.6
Adrián Beltré

83.8
Brooks Robinson

80.2
Ron Santo

70.9
Scott Rolen

69.9
Paul Molitor

67.6
José Ramírez

41.2

Beltré racked up 44.6 fWAR starting with his age-30 season; replicating that would launch Ramírez into Jones/Brett/Boggs territory. FanGraphs’ ZiPS projections forecast Ramírez accumulating 16.4 fWAR over the next three seasons, which would bring his total to 57.6 by his 33rd birthday and within striking distance of Molitor and Rolen, who retired at 41 and 37, respectively.

It’s a golden age for big-league third basemen, with Ramírez, Manny Machado and Nolan Arenado all building their Cooperstown cases, plus Alex Bregman, Rafael Devers and Austin Riley producing jarring numbers each year.

For Ramírez, it all boils down to his 30s. The odds will always be stacked against a player in this situation. Players decline. They suffer injuries. Even if Ramírez’s bat eventually slows and he struggles to yank fastballs down the line — his specialty — he should find ways to adapt and remain a valuable player. Teammates and coaches rave about his instincts and baseball IQ. Those traits should continue to help him. Perhaps the defensive shift restrictions will aid his cause, too. If he keeps plugging away, he could be the next player to enter Cooperstown wearing a Cleveland cap.

as to the backup catcher role, Lavastida seems like the most unlikely to me. He lost his job at Columbus and his offense was much worse in Akron. In fact he seems capable of being DFA'd to make room for one of the veterans. The left handed hitting Valoria with good defensive skills makes the most sense for me, as a place holder until Naylor is ready.

Unfortunately when we traded for Myles Straw, Houston judged Yainer Diaz correctly. He had terrific offensive success in AA and even more so in AAA last summer. He's the Astros No. 3 prospect.

a list of the most underrated players at each position [guys who have not been on all star teams, on top player lists, etc.] shortstop the name is

Shortstop: Amed Rosario, Guardians
We recently listed Rosario as the most interesting pending free agent at shortstop, because after two years of superstars reaching free agency at short, Rosario might actually profile as the best player available at the position next offseason.

Though nobody will confuse Rosario for one of those superstars, he’s proven he can help a playoff-caliber team. In each of the last three full seasons, he’s supplied league-average offense (with OPS+ marks from 100-106) and elite speed at a premium position. In Rosario’s two seasons in Cleveland, he’s stolen 31 bases with 22 homers, 51 doubles and 15 triples. He’s actually the only player in MLB in that span with at least 20 homers, 50 doubles, 10 triples and 30 steals.

Generally speaking, Rosario plays with a hustle that rubs off on younger teammates.

and 2 guys signed by the Indians:

Right field: Anthony Santander, Orioles
Santander came to the O’s as a Rule 5 Draft pickup back in 2017 and turned into one of their best everyday players. Over the last three years, his .463 slugging percentage ranks 10th among qualified outfielders, just behind Bryan Reynolds’ .473 mark.

Right field is too deep with stars for Santander to have been saluted at the Midsummer Classic, but his .771 OPS over the last four years is identical to that of All-Star teammate Cedric Mullins.

Here’s the really important part (to me, anyway): You likely don’t realize that this man set a single-season American League record last year for home runs by a player who goes by the name Anthony (not Tony… that’s a completely different name, trust me), with 33.

Catcher: Eric Haase, Tigers
As described in a recent ranking of the depth at each position, the “everyday catcher” has become a bit of an endangered species in MLB of late. So the backstops who post up regularly and post good numbers and/or provide excellent defense all tend to get their due.

But Haase, a platoon catcher and occasional outfielder, has quietly compiled decent offensive numbers for the position. Among those with at least 500 plate appearances as a catcher over the last two years, Haase ranks seventh in OPS with a .753 mark. To put that in perspective, that’s just below recent Braves acquisition Sean Murphy’s .764 OPS in that span and just above Braves 2022 All-Star Travis d’Arnaud’s .749.

Haase’s 25 homers as a catcher over the last two years rank 10th at the position.

This year's free-agent market produced some eye-popping deals, the sum of which exceeded $3.8 billion.

We know which deal featured the most guaranteed money (Aaron Judge, $360 million), the most years (Trea Turner, 11 years) and the highest average annual value (Justin Verlander, $43.3 million), but which one is the best in terms of value, according to the game's decision makers?

MLB.com posed that question to executives around the league, asking which free-agent deal they considered to be the best in terms of value and fit for the club.

The results:

SS Carlos Correa, Twins: 3
RHP Zach Eflin, Rays: 3
1B Brandon Belt, Blue Jays: 2
OF Aaron Judge, Yankees: 2
LHP Carlos Rodón, Yankees: 2
1B José Abreu, Astros: 1
LHP Tyler Anderson, Angels: 1
OF Michael Conforto, Giants: 1
RHP Edwin Díaz, Mets: 1
LHP Andrew Heaney, Rangers 1
LHP Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers: 1
RHP Charlie Morton, Braves: 1
INF Jean Segura, Marlins: 1
RHP Kodai Senga, Mets: 1
SS Dansby Swanson, Cubs: 1
SS Trea Turner, Phillies: 1
RHP Justin Verlander, Mets: 1
C Mike Zunino, Guardians: 1

2023 Coaching Lineup

Is it just me or are the G's adding coaching positions or just renaming them to justify more money?

What is a "run production coordinator" or a "pitching strategist"?



https://www.cleveland.com/guardians/202 ... eason.html

Dumpster diving? Where's Brian Shaw?

Hoynes

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Guardians have added another pitcher to their spring training training roster.

They’ve agreed to terms on a minor league deal with right-hander Dusten Knight. The deal includes an invitation to big league camp if he passes his physical.

Knight, 32, was drafted by the Giants in the 28th round in 2013. He has appeared in 13 big league games with Baltimore and Tampa Bay. Last year he went 0-1 with a 5.73 ERA in six games with Tampa Bay. He struck out nine and walked four in 11 innings.

Reds Acquire Will Benson From Guardians

By Darragh McDonald | February 8, 2023 at 5:58pm CDT

The Guardians have traded outfielder Will Benson to the Reds in exchange for outfielder Justin Boyd and a player to be named later, per announcements from both clubs. The Reds also announced that Alejo López was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

More to come.

Caught Between a Walk and a Hard Hit, Guardians Starters Came Out on Top

by Chris Gilligan

February 8, 2023

When a pitcher throws the third ball of a plate appearance, it can start to feel like his back’s against the wall quickly. First base starts to seem awfully close without any more pitches to spare and a walk lingering. The batter knows this, too, and he’s digging in looking for a juicy pitch, thinking about doing more damage than just a walk if he sees it. It’s a stressful position for any pitcher: aim for the edge of the plate, and you risk a miss and a free pass; catch a little more of the plate, you risk getting clobbered by the barrel of an increasingly comfortable and aggressive hitter.

In 2022, the Guardians didn’t get the memo. In plate appearances that reached three balls, opposing hitters posted a .197/.500/.311 batting line, good for a best-in-baseball wOBA of .397. There’s a big difference between production levels on 3–0, 3–1, and 3–2, but Cleveland handled each about as well as anybody else; its .336 wOBA on 3–2 counts and .512 mark on 3–1 were each second in baseball, and its .630 clip on 3–0 ranked fourth. The club’s starters were even better, limiting opponents to a .165/.464/.289 line and a .371 wOBA. With all unintentional walks coming on three-ball counts, these are still ultimately pretty productive lines — ask (almost) any major leaguer if he’d sign up for a .371 wOBA next year — but by comparison with staffs across the league, Cleveland’s was able to limit damage in these tight spots better than any of its peers.
Baseball Reference carries a nifty splits statistic they call sOPS+, which compares a player’s OPS (or in pitchers’ cases, opponent OPS) under the conditions of a certain split to his peers, with 100 representing league average. It’s a helpful way to contextualize splits — that Trea Turner had a .601 two-strike OPS in 2022 is less intuitive than his 137 sOPS+ with two strikes, which tells us he was 37% more productive with two strikes than the league average. By sOPS+, Guardians pitchers were again the strongest in the league with their backs against the wall. In three-ball counts, they had an sOPS+ of 75, the seventh-lowest in 300 team seasons over the last decade.

By this metric, Guardians starters were especially impressive when they had no room to spare. Among 129 pitchers who found themselves in three-ball counts at least 85 times in 2022, the top three pitchers by sOPS+ were Shane Bieber (26), Cal Quantrill (27), and Triston McKenzie (39). Just two other pitchers on that list — Zack Greinke and Luis Severino — came in below 50. And the rest of the rotation had good success, too: Aaron Civale ranked 27th with a 65 sOPS+, and Zach Plesac tied for 30th with a 68 mark. In other words, every member of the Guardians regular rotation was at least 30% better than average in three-ball counts, and three of the five were better than 60% more productive. This was an uniform improvement from 2021, when none of the five finished with an sOPS+ below 100.
So what allowed Carl Willis’ starting staff to have so much success? It wasn’t that they hit the strike zone more often than others; Cleveland starters’ 60.2% in-zone rate with three balls was just about in line with the league average of 59.9%, coming in near the middle of the pack on both 3–1 and 3–2 counts and below average on 3–0 counts. Nor were they painting the edge of the zone with any more frequency than the average staff; in fact, their 41.6% shadow rate with three balls was dead last in baseball. As a group, they threw more pitches in the chase zone — 19.2% — than any other team.

What they did do extremely well as a unit was induce swings. Opposing hitters offered at 65.2% of their pitches in these situations, including 85.9% over the heart of the plate, 67.4% over the shadow, and 30.5% in the chase zone. When they got hitters to swing, Cleveland’s starters had a profound advantage: the -62.1 run value of those pitches was the lowest in the league, as were opposing hitters’ .179 average, .313 slugging, and .211 wOBA. This includes 3–0 pitches, which hitters swung at just 11.9% of the time; on 3–1 and 3–2 counts, Guardians starters earned swings 72.6% of the time.

All five of the primary starters got in on the swing party. On 3–1 and 3–2 counts, McKenzie ranked second out of 141 pitchers with as many as 100 such pitches with swings on 79.0% of his deliveries, and Plesac ranked fifth at 76.6%. Not too far behind were Civale at 23rd, Bieber at 33rd, and Quantrill at 57th.

How they went about getting those swings differed pitcher by pitcher, but for most, it involved dramatically increasing usage of their most tempting pitches. McKenzie leaned heavily on one of the most swung-at four-seamers in baseball, opting for it 81.2% of the time on 3–1 and 3–2, and got swings on 78.2% of those. Plesac’s changeup and slider were among the most enticing pitches in baseball last year, inducing swings on 59.1% and 58.1% of respective uses; he ramped up their usage from a combined 46.7% overall to 61.3% in 3–1 and 3–2 counts (and 75.8% against righties). Civale doubled down on his cutter, already his highest-usage pitch but also his most frequently targeted, going right after lefties in the strike zone and cutting down and away from righties. Quantrill also went to his go-to pitch — his sinker — 15 percentage points more often in 3–1 and 3–2 counts, and got swings on 72.4% of them. Only Bieber, whose 49.7% overall swing rate was a career high and 16th among qualifiers, stuck with a relatively similar pitch mix on 3–1 and 3–2.

Despite the idea that hitters should get good pitches to hit in favorable counts, it is still every bit as advantageous to pitchers to get hitters to swing in hitter’s counts, if not moreso. Against starting pitchers in 2022, the league averaged a run value of -5.89 per 100 swings on 3–2 counts, -7.21 per 100 swings on 3–1 counts, and -3.71 per 100 swings on 3–0 counts. Pitchers were more likely to get good outcomes out of swings than to sneak called strikes past hitters. On pitches that weren’t swung at, hitters had the advantage, to the tune of a 14.64 run value per 100 swings on 3–2, 8.12 on 3–1, and 0.31 on 3–0.

To get outs, you’re better off getting swings, especially on good pitches. Guardians starters took this basic pitching philosophy and executed it better than anyone when they were in trouble. Their success was in large part a product of their ability to induce opponents to pull the trigger, but having the right tools in their individual arsenals let them achieve that goal.

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I’m surprised that they have chosen to thin out marginal OF depth by trading Jones and Benson.
I guess Palacios is the only major league ready guy besides Brennan. Valera in awhile. And maybe they plan to convert Arias or Freeman or Tena or Martinez or Brito
Noel perhaps
At A they have Fox and Halpin
And just drafted DeLauter. But I assume he’ll be a bust like lots of 1st round tall outfielders

Nine Guardians make World Baseball Classic rosters; José Ramírez, Emmanuel Clase not among them

By Joe Noga

Updated: Feb. 09, 2023, 6:39 p.m.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Nine Guardians players were announced Thursday as having made rosters for their home countries competing in the upcoming World Baseball Classic, but most noteworthy for Cleveland fans were the names that did not appear on the list.

All-Stars José Ramírez and Emmanuel Clase had both been rumored to be under consideration for spots on the Dominican Republic roster, but right-handed reliever Enyel De Los Santos was the only Cleveland player to appear on the list when it was revealed on MLB Network along with the other rosters in the 20-team field.

Ramírez, recovering from offseason thumb surgery, is said to be taking swings and should be on schedule to open spring training when the Guardians report to Goodyear, Arizona in two weeks. Clase, who led the majors in saves and appearances last year, XXX.

Among the Guardians players who will compete for their home countries, three played meaningful roles for Cleveland in 2022. Besides De Los Santos, who went 5-0 with a 3.04 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 53 1/3 innings, Gold Glove infielder Andrés Giménez (Venezuela) and right-handed pitcher Cal Quantrill (Canada) will represent their homelands.

Giménez, An All-Star starter at second base for the American League, hit .297 with 17 home runs and 69 RBI in his second season with Cleveland. He is listed as a shortstop for team Venezuela, and should be the starter there for manager Omar López. The Venezuelan squad features Ronald Acuña Jr., Jose Altuve and future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera.

Quantrill, who worked out of the bullpen at the start of the 2021 season for Cleveland before moving to a role in the starting rotation, was listed as a reliever on Canada’s roster. Quantrill’s father, former major league pitcher Paul Quantrill, is serving as Canada’s pitching coach for the tournament. Quantrill pitched 186 1/3 innings and posted a 15-5 record with a 3.38 ERA in 32 appearances for the Guardians, making a pair of postseason starts in the American League Division Series.

Rookie catcher Bo Naylor and reliever Cade Smith join Quantrill on the Canada roster. Naylor appeared in five games for Cleveland at the end of the season, and was a surprise addition to the playoff roster. Smith pitched at Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus last season and was recently among eight minor leaguers invited to major league camp by the Guardians.

Josh Naylor told reporters in January that he would not play for Team Canada in the WBC as he continues to focus on strengthening his right ankle following surgery in 2021.

Columbia’s roster features Guardians minor league shortstop Dayan Frias who hit .236 with six home runs and 46 RBI in 443 at-bats for Akron and catcher Meibrys Viloria, who signed a minor league deal with Cleveland in December with an invite to big league training camp after eight seasons with the Royals and Rangers.

Outfielder Richie Palacios appears as a second baseman on the roster for the Netherlands. Palacios, who hit .232 with 10 RBI in 112 at-bats for Cleveland last season, will join his brother, Josh Palacios, a Pirates outfielder on the Dutch roster.

Josh Wolf, 22, a right-handed starting pitcher acquired by Cleveland from the Mets in the Francisco Lindor trade, appears on the roster for Team Israel.

GUARDIANS ON 2023 WBC ROSTERS

Dominican Republic: Enyel De Los Santos, RHP

Columbia: Dayan Frias, SS; Meibrys Viloria, C

Venezuela: Andrés Giménez, SS

Canada: Noah (Bo) Naylor, C; Cal Quantrill, RHP (reliever); Cade Smith, RHP (starter)

Netherlands: Richie Palacios, 2B

Israel: Josh Wolf, RHP (starter)

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Josh Wolf has pitched little and not well since we got him. He had a promising amateur background.
Not quite given up on him yet.

Guardians top 20 prospects 2023: Keith Law ranks Cleveland’s minor league farm system
Mar 25, 2022; Scottsdale, Arizona, USA; Cleveland Guardians infielder Brayan Rocchio (66) throws with team mate Yu Chang (2) between innings during a spring training game against the San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports
By Keith Law
Feb 9, 2023

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One of the best systems in baseball, the Guardians’ farm offers position players and pitchers, possible stars and a lot of depth, and a huge group of players who play either up the middle or at third base and give the team a ton of options for moving them around or including them in future trades. They’ve done a tremendous job developing pitching of late, and their international signing classes continue to produce strong prospects.
go-deeper

GO DEEPER

MLB prospect rankings 2023: Keith Law’s complete guide to every farm system
The ranking
1. Brayan Rocchio, SS (Top 100 ranking: No. 22)

Age: 22 | 5-10 | 170 pounds
Bats: Switch | Throws: Right
Drafted: International signing in 2017

Rocchio got off to a slow start in Double A last year, although he was one of the youngest players in the Eastern League at age 21, but improved as the season went on, hitting .316/.383/.539 in his last 50 games (of 99) before he was promoted to Triple A for the last five weeks of the season. He’s a smaller guy but makes hard contact, hitting 15 homers in 2021 and 18 last year, although he puts the ball on the ground a little too often for this type of hitter. He’s always had a compact, direct swing, and over the past few years he’s learned to stay back on the ball, with great balance through contact. He hits well from both sides but his swing is slightly better right-handed. He’s an above-average defender at shortstop with good hands and 55 speed, although once again, he was bad at the whole base-stealing thing, going 14-for-23 (61 percent) to bring his career success rate down to 64 percent. I guess it’s a good thing he can field, hit, and hit for power. He could stand to walk a little more, although some of his impatience may stem from him always being young for his levels, and he needs to continue to put the ball in the air. I still see All-Star upside here, a shortstop who saves a few runs a year with his glove and adds a ton more with .280-.300 averages, adequate walk rates and 15-20 homers a year.
2. George Valera, OF (No. 27)

Age: 22 | 6-0 | 195 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Left
Drafted: International signing in 2017

Valera and Rocchio have been on nearly parallel tracks the past two years, moving up from High A to Double A and then Double A to Triple A within two weeks of each other. Rocchio is the safer bet with the higher floor, but Valera offers more upside, especially with the bat, where he could be a high-OBP, 30-homer guy if he can keep his contact rate intact. Valera works the count extremely well, rarely chasing fastballs out of the zone, and is comfortable hitting with two strikes, only expanding slightly in those counts. He has very easy power to pull and the other way, with 30 homers a realistic projection for him, especially as he continues to learn which pitches to take and which to attack. After barely facing southpaws in 2021, he showed only a small platoon split in 2022, hitting better against right-handers but making almost as much contact against lefties. He’s a “flashy” player, but I say that as a compliment, as I think the game needs more guys who play with flair and energy. With average defense in right, he could be a huge impact bat who has OBPs near .400 with the aforementioned power, as long as he can hold or reduce his strikeout rate (25.6 percent last year) as he moves up the ladder.
3. Danny Espino, RHP (No. 33)

Age: 22 | 6-2 | 225 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 24 in 2019

Espino looked incredible in spring training and in April, when he made four starts for Akron and punched out 35 of the 68 hitters he faced — not literally, that would be battery — for a strikeout rate of 51.4 percent. Then he suffered patellar tendinitis in his knee, going on the injured list in May … and never returned, as his shoulder came up sore while he was trying to return from the knee injury in late June and early July. When healthy, he shows a four-seamer in the mid- to upper-90s, touching 100, that he works with up in the zone, and then works down with a plus slider with fierce vertical break. He has a curveball that he’s largely dismissed in favor of the slider, and a changeup that’s still a work in progress but was mostly solid-average in late 2021. He also came out throwing strikes in 2022, which was the main area left for him to improve after his incredible season the year before. Now it’s down to health; he’s supposed to be ready for spring training, and if we had a crystal ball that said he was going to hold up all year, he’d be the Guardians’ top pitching prospect — which is really saying something.
4. Tanner Bibee, RHP (No. 36)

Age: 24 | 6-2 | 205 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 156 in 2021

Bibee is yet another command right-hander taken by Cleveland from a California college whose last name starts with B who has entered their system and seen his velocity jump from fringy to plus. The other guy was a fourth-rounder, and Bibee was a fifth-rounder, so the symmetry isn’t quite perfect, but work with me here. Bibee saw his velocity increase across most of the season, to the point where he hit 99 mph a few times in July and August, and was still sitting 93-97 when I saw him at the start of September. His fastball has some ride to it, but it’s probably his third-best pitch. He has a wipeout changeup at 82-84 with late, biting fade to it, and it’s so effective that hitters whiff on it more than half of the time they swing. (Maybe they should stop swinging?) He also has an above-average slider in the mid-80s, up to 88, with solid tilt, that he uses almost exclusively to right-handers, and a show-me curveball that looks pretty but that he probably shouldn’t use more than a few times a game. Even with the big jump in velo, he’s still a strike-thrower, with a walk rate of just 5.2 percent, thanks to a repeatable delivery that keeps him online to the plate, with added deception from his high three-quarters slot. He looks like a potential No. 2 starter, especially if he goes heavy changeup/slider and doesn’t rely too much on the fastball.
5. Gavin Williams, RHP (No. 42)

Age: 23 | 6-6 | 255 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 23 in 2021

Williams fell to the 23rd pick in the 2021 draft despite having clear top-10 stuff and results because some teams were concerned about the health of his back at the time. Cleveland has a history of taking pitchers with medical concerns in the first round, hitting on some (Danny Espino) and whiffing on others (Brady Aiken, Ethan Hankins). Williams might be another hit, as his elite fastball helped him tear through High A and Double A in his full-season debut last year, with strikeout rates of 40 percent and 29 percent at the two levels and an ERA on the season of just 1.96. His fastball is up to 98 mph and he’ll sit 95 with big-time vertical break, while his power slider is an above-average pitch at 86-89 and he’ll show an average curveball with good shape and tight spin. His changeup is a below-average pitch, lacking much deception or action, even though he has a good idea of when and how to use it. Lefties hit for 100 more points of OBP and 200 more points of slugging against him last year, yet he still struck a third of them out on the season, so there’s reason to think he can close that platoon split at least part of the way. The fastball/slider and his above-average control point to a No. 2 starter ceiling if he does.
6. Bo Naylor, C (No. 55)

Age: 23 | 6-0 | 205 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 29 in 2018

Naylor returns to the top 100 after a year off the list — he was No. 42 going into 2021, but had such a disastrous year at the plate, hitting .189/.280/.332 in Double A after the off year and a two-level jump from Low A, that I couldn’t include him last year no matter how much I liked the player. Naylor returned to Double A to start 2022, hit well enough to earn a promotion to Triple A, then hit well enough there (.257/.366/.514) to get a brief call-up to the majors in September. Naylor is still quite young, turning 23 in late February, and shows a broad mix of skills as well as the athleticism to continue improving. He’s a disciplined hitter who doesn’t chase much and has fared better against breaking stuff than most hitters his age at the higher levels. He doesn’t miss many fastballs or changeups, and the power he showed in the minors last year (21 homers) is backed up by his solid contact quality and tendency to put the ball in the air, although he can get too pull-happy. He’s become a solid defender with work and time, but there is still skepticism around whether he stays there long-term. I think he’s a solid regular as a catcher who could also move to some other positions if needed, with mediocre batting averages but strong walk rates and 20-odd homers a year.
Bo Naylor (David Richard / USA Today)
7. Will Brennan, OF

Age: 25 | 6-0 | 200 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Left
Drafted: No. 250 in 2019

Brennan was the Guardians’ eighth-round pick in 2019, so he lost 2020 and went to High A at 23 to start his first full season in 2021, but he’s hit his way to the majors and could end up their starter in center at some point this season. He’s a high-contact hitter who makes enough hard contact for doubles power with maybe 8-12 homers a year, able to stay in center or move between all three outfield spots. He has some platoon split, still making contact against lefties but without the same impact, enough that maybe he needs a right-handed caddy on a good club, which is the only thing keeping him from projecting as a solid-average or better regular right now.
8. Angel Martínez, SS/2B

Age: 21 | 6-0 | 186 pounds
Bats: Switch | Throws: Right
International signing in 2018

Martínez has one of the best approaches in the Guardians’ system paired with great bat speed, so depending on how much he fills out, he could end up a high-OBP guy with average power. He’s athletic enough for any spot in the infield, but he’s much better at second base and as he gets stronger he’s likely to outgrow shortstop anyway. It comes down to what sort of bat he’s going to have — with more strength, he’ll have more power and better contact quality, and that will give him a chance to be a 55 or better everyday player at second.
9. Jack Leftwich, RHP

Age: 24 | 6-4 | 220 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 216 in 2021

Leftwich pitched mostly in relief as a fourth-year junior at Florida in 2021, sliding to the seventh round, where Cleveland took him with the intent of returning him to the rotation. His first full year in pro ball was a huge success — he struck out 33 percent of batters he faced, walked just 5.6 percent, and posted a 2.72 ERA between Low A and High A. He’s always had a good arm, so Cleveland worked with him after the draft to develop a better changeup (ditching his split grip) and refine the slider to tighten its spin. He’s got some natural deception to the delivery as well, which should help him as he faces more disciplined hitters. He looks like a clear starter, at least a No. 4 and trending up from there.
10. Jose Tena, SS

Age: 22 | 5-11 | 190 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
International signing in 2017

Tena was on the top 100 last year but his aggressive approach caught up with him in Double A last year, as he walked less than 5 percent of the time and posted a .299 OBP with too little contact. He did show similar power to the year before and improved at the plate as the year went on, not to the level that you could handwave away the first half but enough to hold out hope for further improvement. He’s a plus defender at short who doesn’t have to hit a ton to have major-league value, which is how he’s still ninth in a strong system — there’s some floor here, but also still the upside of a strong regular or a bit more.
11. Jhonkensy Noel, 1B

Age: 21 | 6-3 | 250 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
International signing in 2017

Noel is an all-or-nothing prospect. His power is next-level — he hit 32 homers and 26 doubles last year, mostly in High A and Double A, but he makes exceptionally hard contact often enough to believe it’ll carry forward to the majors. He swings so hard, however, that there’s a lot of swing and miss as well, with a 27 percent strikeout rate last year. He’s huge, listed at 6-foot-3, 250, and he’s probably bigger but moves well for a man of his size. He’s played third, left, right, and first, but only the last of those is realistic. If he hits enough to get to the power, it won’t matter, and he’ll be an impact cleanup-type bat.
12. Gabriel Arias, SS

Age: 23 | 6-1 | 217 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
International signing in 2016

Arias’ best attribute has always been his age — he’s been young for every level, so his mediocre offensive performances were easy to handwave away as a matter of youth. I think it’s more that he’s not that great of a hitter who has never hit decent-quality stuff, but can play shortstop and has a little pop, which gives him a role as a utility infielder but probably no ceiling.
13. Chase Delauter, OF

Age: 21 | 6-4 | 235 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Left
Drafted: No. 16 in 2022

Delauter was the Guardians’ first-round pick in 2022 but hasn’t played since late March, when he broke his foot while playing for James Madison, and it wasn’t healed enough for him to play last summer or fall. Before the injury, he had a strong track record of performance against weaker competition but struggled when facing better stuff. He opens his front side way too early, cheating to try to get to velocity, which makes him more vulnerable to offspeed stuff away from left- or right-handed pitchers. He played mostly center as an amateur but projects to move to a corner. He did hit well on the Cape in the summer of 2021, looking better with the wood bat, so the Guardians weren’t basing the pick on nothing. He really has to prove he can hit better stuff, though, before I can project him as the sort of above-average regular teams want in the first round.
14. Logan Allen, LHP

Age: 24 | 6-0 | 190 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Left
Drafted: No. 56 in 2020

Allen dominated Double A in the first half of the season, then … uh … was dominated in Triple A in the second half? There’s got to be a better way to say that. Anyway, Allen’s got two good offspeed pitches, but his fastball is just average and Triple-A hitters teed off on it, which forced him to try to work away from contact with it. It’s a vicious cycle that can entrap a lot of finesse pitchers, requiring them to be much better with fastball command to get over the hump. He has some funk and deception in the delivery to help him, but without a ton of life or movement on the fastball, he has to be more precise to avoid becoming a quadruple-A starter.
15. Justin Campbell, RHP

Age: 22 | 6-7 | 219 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 37 in 2022

Beware: The Guardians took another college right-hander with an average fastball and plus control, a demographic with which they have had, shall we say, some modest success before. He’s also got a plus changeup and a solid-average curveball. He’s 6-foot-7 with a little room to add some muscle, but he’ll have to show he can avoid losing velocity moving from pitching once a week to every fifth day — and then add some on top of that. As is, he’s probably a fifth starter, maybe a little better, but I would like to see what his fastball looks like next spring, given what they’ve done with Bibee, Shane Bieber and others.
16. Jacob Zibin, RHP

Age: 18 | 6-4 | 218 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 301 in 2022

The Guardians gave Zibin $1.2 million in the tenth round in 2022 to buy the Canadian right-hander, who was pitching in Florida, out of his commitment to South Carolina. He’s up to 95 with an above-average changeup and promise to his curveball, with a good body for a starter’s workload. He slid to the tenth round in part due to makeup concerns, with reports he didn’t get along with coaches as an amateur. The physical upside here points to the middle of a rotation, though.
17. Angel Genao, SS

Age: 20 | 6-0 | 165 pounds
Bats: Switch | Throws: Right
International signing in 2021

Genao was one of the best hitters in extended spring training in Arizona last year, and then one of the best hitters in the Arizona Complex League, all at age 19 and as a potential shortstop to boot. Signed in January of 2021 for $1.175 million, Genao is a switch-hitter who takes a big cut, especially left-handed, but gets the bat to the ball more than you’d expect from how hard he attacks the ball. He’s not a lock to stay at short, but moves well enough and has the arm for the position. He’ll move to Low A this year at 20, and if he continues to hit like he has while adding a little strength and power, he’ll be a top 5 guy in the system.
18. Bryan Lavastida, C

Age: 24 | 6-0 | 200 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 463 in 2018

Lavastida struggled at Triple A last year, hitting .209/.289/.349, a huge falloff from 2021, although he’s still a potential backup catcher in the majors, good enough to catch infrequently with some power to give him some value.
19. Dayan Frías, SS

Age: 21 | 5-7 | 180 pounds
Bats: Switch | Throws: Right
International signing in 2018

Frías is strong for his size, with strength in his hands and wrists for some present pop, along with a cannon of an arm that should allow him to slide over to third base or just to end up an infielder who bounces between three positions. He struck out just under 25 percent of the time in Low A last year, slightly high for a shorter guy with a swing that should generate a ton of contact. He might be a year-per-level guy but there’s at least a utility infielder in here.
20. Gabriel Rodríguez, IF

Age: 21 | 6-2 | 210 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
International signing in 2018

Rodríguez’s full-season debut in 2021 was disappointing, but he stepped it up with the move to High A in 2022, boosting his walk rate by about 50 percent and gaining over 100 points of slug. He has 60-65 power, especially to his pull side, combining strength and a super-quick bat. He’s played all over the infield but should settle in at third base. His season ended a bit early due to a minor shoulder injury, but this year in Double A could be his breakout.
Others of note

Cleveland signed Jaison Chourio, brother of #3 overall prospect Jackson Chourio, last January for $1.2 million, and the then-17-year-old hit .280/.446/.402 in his pro debut in the DSL. He’s an excellent athlete who can run, throw, and projects to stay in center, with the frame to grow into power but not much on him yet. … Jake Fox is a 55 runner who split time between center and second base this year, looking much better in the outfield, while at the plate he shows good ball/strike recognition but no impact with the bat, and I worry he’s more passive than patient. He’s a pretty good athlete and was just 19 in Low A, finishing fourth in the Carolina League in walks and sixth in OBP. He has to get a lot stronger before he projects as more than a soft utility guy. … Johnathan Rodríguez, the team’s third-round pick way back in 2017 out of Puerto Rico, hit .292/.346/.573 in High A last year before a mid-summer promotion to Double A, where his aggressiveness at the plate was his undoing and he struck out 43 times in 113 plate appearances. It’s real power, though, and he can handle either outfield corner. He’ll return to Double A at 23 to see if he can make further adjustments at the plate. … Second baseman Juan Brito walked more than he struck out last year, with very little power, and he’s a switch-hitter with equal production from both sides last year. The Guardians acquired him from Colorado this winter for Nolan Jones. … Xzavion Curry has two 50/55 breaking pitches with a fringy fastball, getting to the majors briefly last year, with a chance to make the Guardians’ bullpen at some point this year. … Parker Messick was their second-round pick in 2022, a soft-tossing and soft-bodied lefty from Florida State with big spin and deception, coming in at hitters from a low attack angle that fools them into swinging under his fringy fastball. He has a plus change and plus control, so he could end up a finesse lefty in the last spot or two of a rotation. … They took right-hander Tanner Burns with the 36th overall pick in 2020 out of Auburn, but his stuff has backed way up, and he’s working with a 45 fastball and average breaking stuff, walking too many guys and giving up hard contact. … Cody Morris and Hunter Gaddis could be bullpen pieces for Cleveland this year, Morris working 94-95 mph with a good changeup, Gaddis with a 45 fastball but plus curveball and good extension, but I don’t see either as more than a decent reliever. … Isaiah Greene has a great eye at the plate, not just patient but selective, and he’s a plus runner with great baserunning instincts, but there’s still no impact with the bat — he slugged .340 last year as a 20-year-old in Low A. He’s one of two prospects remaining in the system from the Francisco Lindor trade, along with right-hander Josh Wolf, who walked 19 in 22 2/3 innings at the same level. … Doug Nikhazy, their second-round pick in 2021 out of Ole Miss, can spin a plus breaking ball but his fastball is just average and he walked 79 guys in 102 1/3 innings last year. The consensus on him out of college was that he’d have to go to the pen. … Yordys Valdes is an incredible defender at short who puts the ball in play but might have 20 power and doesn’t get on base — like, really. He hit .243/.312/.308 in Low A last year, so there isn’t much hope for the team’s second-round pick from 2019, except that he’s so good defensively I don’t want to omit him completely. … Ethan Hankins, their supplemental-round pick (35th) in 2018, underwent Tommy John surgery in mid-2021, made one rehab appearance in August of 2022, and then was shut down again with further soreness. He was already a big injury risk when they drafted him as a very short strider who missed a month as a high school senior with a sore shoulder, and now he’s thrown one inning in the past three seasons.
2023 impact

Naylor should be their everyday catcher by midyear. Brennan could take Myles Straw’s job if the incumbent centerfielder has another bad year at the plate. Morris and Gaddis should end up getting spot starts or some relief work. Arias might be their best option for a fifth infielder.
The fallen

Carson Tucker was a reach in the first round in 2020 anyway, but he has just 44 pro games in two years since the minors resumed, with a .139/.267/.234 line, missing most of last year with a forearm strain.
Sleeper

Do I have to choose just one? Fine, I’ll go with Angel Martínez, the position player who combines tools with a fairly advanced approach for his age.

The Cleveland Guardians are trading away the 2016 draft class

By Chris Slocombe

Feb 10, 2023 2:36 PM EST

You know, 2016 doesn't feel like it was that long ago. But things do move quickly in the span of seven years, and when you look back at that draft for the Guardians... wow. They did ton of things right in that draft, but their top two picks (numbers 14 and 55 overall) have not panned out as fans had hoped. And now both of those players are gone.

If you haven't made the connection yet, we're referring to Will Benson (14th overall) and Nolan Jones (55th overall), each of whom debuted with the Guardians this past season. But neither one really made an impact, and compounding the matter further, neither one had much of a clear path to any regular playing time, either.

Is this poor drafting? Others seizing an opportunity? A degree of bad luck? An organization moving in a different direction? If we're being honest, it's all of this. Last season, there where questions galore across the outfield but then Steven Kwan, Oscar Gonzalez and Will Brennan (to an extent) showcased their abilities and the front office had to take notice. This is not meant as an indictment on either Benson or Jones, but this, along with multiple other factors, played against each of them.

Not all is lost, however, as the front office did turn Benson and Jones into two prospects. Back in November, the team traded Jones to Colorado in exchange for infield prospect Juan Brito, who profiles as a bat-to-ball switch-hitting second baseman. Then, just the other day, the club decided to move on from Benson, as they sent him to Cincinnati for outfielder Justin Boyd. Boyd is another bat-to-ball type who has the ability to play across the outfield. The Guardians will also receive a second player from the Reds as there was a PTBNL as part of that deal, too.

As mentioned, both Boyd and Brito are bat-to-ball types that the club has certainly made a point to covet in recent years. And for good reason, too. Even though Brito had to be added to the 40-man roster, each of these moves lessens the logjam at their respective positions.

The addition of Boyd adds to a very intriguing set of outfield prospects within the organization that also includes last year's top pick Chase DeLauter, Petey Halpin, Jaison Chourio, Joe Lampe, and Isaiah Greene, all of whom may start the season in High-A Lake County. This is surely a wave of outfielders to keep an eye out for in the next two to three years.

On the flip side Brito, seems like an insurance policy if Brayan Rocchio, Jose Tena, Gabriel Arias, and Angel Martinez falter.

Are these the moves most fans clamor for? Hell no. But we can't condemn the front office here, either. Each of these trades has provided the Guardians with a little something, and time will tell if each move pans out. You hope that your top picks turn out to be All-Stars and have long careers, but that's not always the case. In that same sentiment, the 2016 draft should not be considered a failure either, as it did net the organization Aaron Civale, Shane Bieber, and Zach Plesac.

Then again, there is the real possibility I could be writing a follow-up article soon on the return the team received after it trades Plesac before camp breaks for the season.

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