A New Investor Means Positive Changes For Guardians? (Fingers Crossed)

Even though Major League Baseball is in lockdown mode (and they don’t seem very anxious in rectifying the situation), fans of the Cleveland Guardians got some good news in the past week.

According to reports, the Dolan family has found a minority owner to take the place of John Sherman, who sold his interest in the team to purchase the Kansas City Royals. The rumor is David Blitzer, who owns shares in the New Jersey Devils (NHL) and Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) and several European soccer teams.

Hopefully, this will inject some capital into the operations of the Guardians, who badly need it, not only in terms of players but we feel in the business operations as well, particularly in marketing and scouting.

We love that Blitzer has experience in professional sports, so perhaps he will share the realization that you need to spend money to make money, a premise known by many people in the business world, but not by the majority owner of the Guardians.

It is no secret the payroll of the baseball team has dropped significantly since Sherman decided to buy the Royals, and we hope having another investor will cause the amount of cash spent on players’ salaries to rise dramatically and hopefully immediately.

Besides the on the field product, we would also like to see an upgrade in the marketing and game day experience at Progressive Field. We know the renovations were supposed to start this off-season, but we would like to see the hiring of more ticket takers and people working concessions stands at the ballpark as well.

The days of frugalness need to end right away.

If you visit this site often, you know how we feel about the Dolan ownership, and you also know we don’t believe for a minute they are losing money. We don’t believe anyone owning a Major League Baseball team is under a financial hardship, despite their claims to the contrary.

We believe one of the reasons fans do not go to Progressive Field is it’s not a fun experience. Hopefully Blitzer (assuming the rumors are true) takes what he learned from his other investments and makes going to a Guardians’ game the thing to do on a warm, summer night in Cleveland, and also does some things to boost attendance during the times when school is still in session.

On the field, the first big decision is with Jose Ramirez. The switch-hitter is one of the franchise’s all-time greats and it would be nice to see one of those types finish his career in a Cleveland uniform.

Remember, Ramirez did not receive a huge signing bonus when he came to the organization, and over the past five seasons, he has been one of the best players in baseball. If he and his agent see this as an opportunity for him to finally get paid, it could be difficult to get a long-term agreement here.

Regardless, the payroll has to increase to a more respectable number.

As part of the investment, Blitzer is expected have the opportunity to become the majority owner when the Dolans decide to sell. Assuming a lease (or by then, a new stadium deal can be put in place) extension. This could be another win for Guardians fans.

For whatever reason (and we don’t buy the reason they give us), the Dolan family decided to take a very frugal approach when it came to running this baseball team, and that wasn’t fair to the fans.

Yes, they had some success, particularly in the last 10 years, but they always seemed to stop short. Hopefully, this deal gets done, and the Guardians can end the longest championship drought in the sport.

When Baseball Is Back, Cleveland Fans Could Use Good News

Major League Baseball locked out the players when the Collective Bargaining Agreement ended at midnight on December 2nd.

Many fans of the Cleveland Guardians thought the organization might have been under the impression the lockout started a couple of weeks ago.

While the days leading up to the end of baseball operations were filled with free agent signings and huge financial commitments to players, as well as some trades (yes, try to reconcile that when the owners say the sport needs to be “fixed”), the offices on Carnegie and Ontario stayed quiet.

Hopefully, the people who run the National Pastime come to their senses and resolve their differences soon, and when that happens, the Guardians have plenty of time and opportunity to improve the roster, but from a fan’s viewpoint, the inactivity at Progressive Field while everyone else is making moves is maddening.

We asked on social media, when was the last time this organization did anything for its fan base, you know, their customers? The most common response was trading for Andrew Miller in the pennant winning season of 2016. That’s five and a half years ago.

A couple mentioned the trade for Brad Hand, which occurred in 2018. Again, that’s 3-1/2 years in the past.

And the owner wonders why fans don’t come to the ballpark.

Imagine if your favorite retail establishment didn’t have a sale for 40 months or your significant other hadn’t done anything extra special for you for five years. You’d be kind of ticked off, right?

That’s how the major league team in Cleveland treats its fan base. With utter disdain.

The name change has been handled less than ideally. They released merchandise with the Guardians’ moniker and the new logo (called with disdain anything from “the flying G” to 92.3 The Fan’s Ken Carman calling it “the Paulie Walnuts logo”), but no “on field” merchandise (uniforms and caps) are available yet.

The new team shop sign at Progressive Field fell off the building the day of the name change. And the sign at the entrance to the ballpark has the word “Guardians” slightly off center.

A wise man once told me if you have time enough to do something twice, you have the time to do it once correctly.

Meanwhile, back to the personnel, the Guardians offered arbitration to all the players eligible on the 40 man roster. So, Bradley Zimmer is still part of the organization and will likely get a decent pay raise despite how he has performed over the past few seasons.

The Guards did sign two minor league free agents in catcher Sandy Leon, who was here in 2020, but hasn’t hit over .200 since 2017, and pitcher Enyel De Los Santos, who had a 6.37 ERA with the Pirates and the Phillies in 35 innings last season.

Oops, goosebumps just shot up the back of my arms.

We are sure the franchise will be mentioned, along with Pittsburgh, Miami, and others as revenue sharing is discussed during the labor contract. One of the owners’ problems with this is the money given to small market franchises isn’t used to help the big league rosters.

Both the owners and players agree this isn’t good for the sport.

There is an old saying that any publicity is good publicity, but it would be nice if some good news emanated out of the Guardians’ offices downtown.

Heck, it might result in selling a ticket or two. Then the organization would have to find something else to complain about.

Will Guardians’ Payroll Increase And Does It Help Ramirez’ Future?

According to Baseballreference.com, the Cleveland baseball team had a payroll of just under $50 million, a figure that gave them the fourth lowest in the sport, ahead of only franchises telling their fans they are in a rebuild mode: Miami, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore.

Why the ownership went that low, we do not know. We understand their reasoning for trading SS Francisco Lindor (although we don’t agree with it), but why did they also move Carlos Carrasco?

Their top four highest paid players from 2020 (Lindor, Carlos Santana, Carrasco, and Brad Hand) were pared from the roster, and the highest paid player brought in was Eddie Rosario, who lasted until the trade deadline before he was traded.

The lowest payroll to make the post-season in 2021 was Tampa Bay, and they spent $14 million more on players than Cleveland.

We know the Dolan family is looking for a minority owner to replace John Sherman, who went on to buy the Kansas City Royals (they had an $85 million payroll). However, according to reports, the Dolans’ want that investor to be a “silent” partner. So, good luck with that.

It has also been reported the Guardians will spend more in 2022, the question is how much more. Right now, their 40 man roster is top heavy with players who have no major league experience, which means they would be paid the minimum salary if they are on the big league roster.

What the minimum salary is will be determined when the new Collective Bargaining Agreement is made. But, to repeat, as of right now, a little over 1/3rd of the roster will be making the minimum, and that’s only if they are wearing a major league uniform.

So, it would seem there could be money to spend. The Toronto Blue Jays were 15th in spending at $118 million, and it would be shocking if the Guards (we aren’t using Cleveland.com’s “Guardo’s”) were anywhere near that neighborhood.

We would guess the payroll would be around $65-80 million. At the latter figure, they would still be 22nd in 2021, and 27th at the lower figure. Both would be in the comfortable area (for the Dolans) of the bottom third of the sport.

The first logical move would be the approach the team’s best player, and based on MVP voting over the past five seasons, one of baseball’s best, on a long term extension. Jose Ramirez, who has finished in the top six of the American League’s MVP voting four times in the last five seasons, is still under control via team option for 2022 and 2023.

He will be 31 at the end of that last season.

We are sure the Guardians will talk to Ramirez about keeping him here, but it will be not easy and we doubt the third baseman will be interested in giving a hometown discount.

Remember, he didn’t receive a big signing bonus when he signed with Cleveland before he turned 18 out of the Dominican Republic. According to WAR, he’s the 21st best player in the history (since 1901 remember) of the franchise.

By the end of next season, he should rank in Cleveland’s top ten all time in home runs and doubles, and in two more seasons, will creep into other categories as well.

Will the ownership have the stomach to pay one player a per season salary of close to $30 million? Because, if we were Ramirez’ agent, that’s the neighborhood we would want to be in.

If progress isn’t made toward an extension, we would guess this is Ramirez’ last season with Cleveland, and if the team isn’t in the pennant race at the deadline, he might be moved then.

This isn’t a doom and gloom scenario, it’s just how this ownership group does business.

Hopefully, the payroll will increase for 2022, and a bigger wish is a minority owner is found, and it is someone with the wherewithal to buy the team outright down the road.

The rumor is the payroll will increase, but will the action match the whispering?

A Flurry Of Moves Highlight Guardians’ First Day

Well, on the first day of the official name change of the Cleveland baseball team, the Guardians made a bevy of roster moves, designed to get the squad ready for the Rule 5 Draft.

Several of the minor leaguers were no brainers to be added, notably INF Tyler Freeman, OF George Valera, and INF Brayan Rocchio, all among the top 10 prospects in the organization.

Others figured to be added, like C Bryan Lavistida, two players making a name for themselves in the Arizona Fall League, INF Richie Palacios and Jose Tena, who won the batting title in the prospect oriented league, and P Cody Morris, who could pitch in the major leagues next season.

You wonder if Tena would have been added had he not had such a great AFL season.

What is very curious is that 14 of the 40 players on this roster have no major league experience, so you have to wonder are more moves in the works, if and when moves can be made due to the absence of a collective bargaining agreement.

The most notable players designated for assignment were OF Harold Ramirez and Daniel Johnson.

Ramirez received 339 at bats with the team in 2021, hitting .268 with 7 HR and 41 RBI (703 OPS), decent numbers, but was a defensive liability. Johnson, who was acquired in the Yan Gomes trade with Washington, hit .221 with 4 home runs, in just 77 at bats.

With all of the problems the Cleveland outfield had offensively in 2021, why Johnson didn’t get more of a chance was a head scratcher. In fact, we was sent down in the midst of a period where he was 8 for his last 28.

Out of the remainder of players released, the biggest surprise here was Kyle Nelson, who had a 3.72 ERA over his minor league career, but pitched just 10 innings at the big league level. We would guess the emergence of Anthony Gose, aced out Nelson.

We were happy that Steven Kwan was added. The left-handed hitting outfielder is an on base machine, getting on base at a .380 clip in the minor leagues. We were hoping he would have been added to the big league roster in September.

However, Oscar Gonzalez was not added. Gonzalez, who will be 24 years old next season, belted 31 homers at the AA and AAA levels this past season, and our guess is he is a good candidate to be drafted by another organization.

Somehow, Bradley Zimmer and Oscar Mercado survived this purge. We hope Gonzalez isn’t lost because of the blind loyalty to two players who really haven’t been productive for awhile.

Zimmer got his biggest look since his rookie year of 2017, and still had the same problems that have plagued him throughout his career, namely, he can’t make contact.

He fanned a whopping 122 times in 348 plate appearances, hitting .227 with a 669 OPS. In his career, totaling 754 at bats, the soon to be 29-year-old former first round draft pick has a 658 OPS.

We get that his tools are enticing. He has tremendous speed and good power when he connects, but that isn’t often. He’s a great athlete, but he’s just not a baseball player. And it’s not like he has age on his side as a prospect.

Mercado will be 27 next season, and had a very good rookie season in 2019 with a 761 OPS. Since then, he is 59 for 300, a .198 batting average. He did walk 21 times in ’21, but hit just .224, so his on base percentage was just .300. His OPS was just 669.

Looking At Free Agents Who Can Get On Base For Guardians

With the hot stove league season firmly in place, we have discussed the Cleveland Guardians’ need to help their offense, which has dropped to ninth in the American League in runs scored.

We also feel the biggest need for the team is getting hitters with the ability to avoid making outs. We understand that may sound trite, but Cleveland ranked third from the bottom in on base percentage at .303. In a nutshell, they need batters who can reach base in other ways besides getting hits.

Guardians’ hitters ranked fourth last in the AL in drawing walks a year ago, and only Jose Ramirez walked more than 50 times last season. Myles Straw drew 67 walks, but only 29 were in a Cleveland uniform.

Are there any free agents available that could help in this area. Yes, the front office could (and should) target players on the trade front who get on base as well, but we wanted to look at the players already available.

We also aren’t going to look at players who will be well outside of the price range the Guardians operate in. So, even though Kris Bryant has a .376 on base mark, we know the Cleveland front office isn’t living in an area where they could give the former Cub and Giant what he is looking for.

We would be interested in a one or two year deal for former National League MVP Andrew McCutchen, who not only gets on base, but also would solve one of the corner outfield spots.

McCutchen is 35 years old and had a 778 OPS in 2021, hitting .222 with 27 HR and 80 RBI. He did walk 81 times however, so his on base percentage was a respectable .334. If his batting average got back into the .250 range it has been over the past few years, he would be a solid addition.

Another intriguing option, although he might want big money, is Anthony Rizzo. In our opinion, the Guardians need a first baseman, and Rizzo had a .344 OBP last year and a 783 OPS, hitting 22 dingers, knocking in 61 and drawing 52 walks in his time with both the Cubs and Yankees. He has a lifetime .369 on base average.

There is also soon to be 34-year-old Tommy Pham, coming off a poor season with San Diego, in which he hit .229, but still had a .340 OBP. He also had 15 homers. The right-handed hitting Pham has a career .364 on base mark, and also has a career 810 OPS. He might be worth a one or two year deal as well.

And last is the player the Guardians have been linked to by many sources, former Oakland A’s outfield Mark Canha. He will be 33 next year, and over the last three seasons, has on gotten on base at 39.6%, 38.7%, and last year’s 35.8%, drawing a career high 77 walks.

He also has some pop, hitting 60 home runs over the past three full major league seasons.

All of these players strikeout a little more than we would like, but as long as they are drawing a good share of walks, we can live with the whiffs.

Adding one of these players would be a big help to the offense for Terry Francona’s squad, and the fact they are veterans wouldn’t hurt. The game is measured by the number of outs, and these guys do a better job of avoiding them than what the Guardians currently have.

A Major Off-Season Starts For The Guardians

The 2021 Major League Baseball season ended last night and fans of Cleveland baseball were subject to seeing highlights from the 1995 World Series, because the Atlanta Braves won their first world championship since defeating the Indians in six games that season.

And the end of the season means any reference to the team henceforth will be as the Guardians, as Cleveland’s name change takes effect. In fact, the name “Indians” above the giant scoreboard in left field was starting to be removed on Tuesday.

Besides the name change, the front office has a lot of work to do before spring training opens (hopefully because of the negotiations for a new CBA) in February in Goodyear, Arizona.

The offense needs to be improved for sure. The Guardians have finished in the lower half of the league in each of the last two seasons in runs scored, and it has been noted, you have to score runs to get into the post-season. Four of the top five teams in scoring made the playoffs in the American League.

While it is always noted pitching wins in October, and that is true for the most part, but in the regular season, teams need to score. Cleveland finished 9th in runs in 2021, and they likely need to get into the top six if they want to play past game 162 in 2022.

The corner outfield spots need to be upgraded badly, as well as second base and first base. And the offense in general would be helped by getting more guys who avoided making outs. Guardian hitters had an on base percentage of just .303 in ’21, ranking 13th in the league.

They ranked 7th in home runs, but it would be nice if there were men on base when Jose Ramirez or Franmil Reyes launched one into the seats.

For the first time in awhile, the pitching was also below the league average, with Cleveland ranking 10th in the AL in ERA, dropping from 1st in the COVID shortened season of 2020.

Certainly the injuries to Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale, and Zach Plesac had a lot to do with that. For a stretch in June and July, Terry Francona was using J.C. Mejia and Sam Hentges as rotation pieces.

However, the pitching for 2022 could actually already have been bolstered by what happened this past summer. Cal Quantrill emerged as a rotation piece, going 8-3 with a 2.89 ERA in 40 appearances, including 22 starts. As a starter, he went 8-2 with a 3.12 ERA.

He most certainly will start spring training as a starter.

The other excellent development was the growth of Triston McKenzie. The wiry right-handed finished the season 5-9 with a 4.95 ERA, but in a seven start span from August 5th to September 14th, he went 4-2 in 46 innings, with a 1.76 ERA and 48 punch outs. Included in that span was a near perfect game against the Tigers, where he didn’t allow a baserunner until two outs in the 8th.

On the other hand, this season should have told the brass you can never have enough pitching depth. Eli Morgan is still around, and they traded for Peyton Battenfield and Konnor Pilkington at the deadline, and second round pick (2020) Logan Allen had an excellent season. And of course, Mejia, Hentges and Logan Allen (the Reyes’ deal) are still around, depending if they stay on the 40 man roster.

Hentges might be viewed as more of a reliever.

The first big decision will be which minor leaguers need to be protected from the “Rule 5” draft, and that determines how many players currently on the 40 man roster will be protected.

It should be an interesting winter, besides the rebranding, for the Cleveland Guardians

First Step To Help Guardians’ Attendance? Have Fun!

The Cleveland Guardians’ organization is very good in soliciting opinions. As a former season ticket holder (we guess), we are on their mailing list and we get surveys all the time regarding our feelings, usually about the experience at Progressive Field.

We have a confession too. We are probably not the demographic they really want to hear from. At the end of each questionnaire, we are asked for our age. Let’s just say, our favorite player growing up was Sudden Sam McDowell, so we bet our answers go into the “he’s get off my lawn” guy file.

We are often critical about the “game experience” at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario, mostly because (we know, this is silly) we go downtown to watch a baseball game.

Most of the surveys have to do with the different types of food or beverages at the ballpark, although recent ones have dealt with the renovations which will occur over the next few years at Progressive Field and the latest had to do with game experience and the franchise name change, a bit late on that one, no?

The attendance for Cleveland baseball spiked under two separate times: The late 90’s when the team was dominant and the Browns did not exist, and the late 1940’s when yes, the franchise won its last World Series (1948) and it was owned by Bill Veeck, who was in touch with things people liked and was willing to take risks.

Many times in sports, the answer is right in front of you.

For instance, the Browns were successful in the late 50’s through 1970 with a running attack led by the great Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly. The current edition of the team is following that path with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt (no, we didn’t forget D’Ernest Johnson).

The late 80’s Browns’ defense had two shutdown corners. The current organization is trying to do the same, although it’s a plus having Myles Garrett.

We doubt the Guardians’ front office can put together a lineup with potentially six Hall of Famers (Jim Thome and Eddie Murray are already there, and you can make very good cases for Albert Belle, Kenny Lofton, and Omar Vizquel, while Manny Ramirez would be there if not for PEDs), so why not go the Veeck route in an effort to boost attendance.

Veeck spoke to the fans, asked them what they liked and what they didn’t, and then put that into action. Instead of announcing giveaway days and special promotions, he just did them, so fans didn’t know when they showed up if someone special was going to happen or not.

We greeting fans when they arrived and spoke to them as they departed. He was like a host at a party who wanted to make sure everyone had a good time.

We understand Paul Dolan doesn’t seem to be comfortable doing this sort of thing, but he could hire people who can do it.

This is not to say all of the folks who work at Progressive Field are uncaring robots. Many enjoy the people who attend the games, but it has to be universal.

Once you create fun, then allow people to experience it, lower ticket prices, which are among the highest in the sport. Get rid of dynamic ticket prices. Have ticket deals for the times when the weather is less than ideal in Cleveland.

Alternative jerseys? Fans love them, Cleveland hasn’t done this. When was the last time the franchise celebrated a former player by putting them in the team’s Hall of Fame? Those are just simple things? Why doesn’t the organization do them?

We have said it many times over the past few years, there is interest in the major league baseball team here, the television rating show it. Why don’t folks come downtown? That’s what the ownership should be trying to find out?

It’s not rocket science, but it is about fun. Make it fun to attend a Guardians’ game.

Maybe the front office doesn’t know what fun is?

Guardians Have To Be Better On Right Side On Infield

In reviewing the American League teams position by position using WAR (wins above replacement), the Cleveland Guardians worst spot was behind the plate. We understand the organization values defense first at catcher, but Austin Hedges’ and Roberto Perez’ offensive numbers are tough to take in.

The next two bad spots (according to Baseballreference.com) were the two spots on the right side of the infield, first base and second base. What are the current prospects for each position heading into the off-season.

First Base. Cleveland opened the season with a platoon of Jake Bauers and Yu Chang at the spot, but Bauers hit just .190 in 100 at bats (557 OPS), so the organization turned to Bobby Bradley to replace him in early June.

The left-handed hitting slugger started out like a house afire, getting 11 hits in his first 25 at bats (.440) with three homers and striking out just four times. No one expected him to keep that pace up, but after that stretch, Bradley hit just .182 in 220 at bats, fanning 95 times.

Chang was horrendous in the first half, batting .176 (498 OPS) before the All Star break, but rebounded in the second half and hit .271 (857 OPS) with seven homers. Is that sustainable? Even in the hot second half, Chang still had a poor strikeout/walk ratio, fanning 39 times with just six walks.

What happens when pitchers figure out they don’t need to throw Chang a strike to get him out?

If the organization goes out and gets some outfielders who can hit, it would also bring Josh Naylor into play. Naylor had a 700 OPS this past season in 250 plate appearances, but hit .287 with an 805 OPS vs. right-handed pitching.

Our vote would be to move on from Bradley. Sure, the power is enticing, but he doesn’t give you much when he’s not hitting home runs, and certainly consistency is a big key.

Moving Naylor to first would help the outfield defense, and we believe in the long run, he will be the better all around hitter. Naylor does need to do better vs. southpaws, as a career .237 and 608 OPS won’t cut it if he wants to hold down an everyday spot.

Second Base Cleveland started with Cesar Hernandez at the position, but when he was moved at the trade deadline, a combination of Owen Miller, Chang, Andres Gimenez, and Ernie Clement manned the position.

There is a lot to sort out here, especially involving Gimenez, who came over to the team in the Francisco Lindor deal.

First, what are the Guardians going to do with Amed Rosario, who had a solid season (.282 BA, but just 731 OPS) at the plate, but whose defense at shortstop is below par. If the organization decided it can’t live with his glove there, does he also become a candidate at second?

Gimenez did hit .245 (702 OPS) after his recall when Hernandez was dealt, but does he give you enough with the bat? By the way, he did walk more after his recall.

Miller came up in May after scorching AAA at an almost .400 clip early in the season, but struggled mightily once he arrived, swinging at everything. He hit .162 (449 OPS) in the first half. After the break, he was better, batting .250 (659 OPS) in 100 plate appearances.

With Miller, we lean on the minor league pedigree. He is a .303 (818 OPS) hitter in three minor league seasons. The hit tool is there, but can he relax enough at the big league level to approach that level in The Show?

And to us, Clement has the look of a solid utility man.

You also have the specter of Gabriel Arias, who hit .284 (802 OPS) with 13 homers at AAA this season. Arias’ issue? 110 strikeouts vs. 39 walks at Columbus. He’ll be just 22 next season, so is there a need to rush him?

Our thought would be to give Miller the first look based on his minor league numbers. That is, of course, unless Rosario slides over to second base because the Guardians feel they have a better option as SS.

Improving at these two spots will be important for Cleveland going into 2022.

A better right side of the infield is definitely needed.

First Move For Guardians? Anyone Have New Hitting Coach?

In what figures to be a winter with a lot of changes, including the team’s name, the first move for the Cleveland Guardians was the announcement that hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo will not return for the 2022 season.

You can insert your no-hitter jokes here, and certainly getting held without a hit three times (four times if you count the seven inning effort in Tampa), a Major League record, doesn’t speak well for the person in charge of swinging the bats.

On the other hand, there is the old saying of you can’t make chicken salad out of chicken poop, and it is not like Van Burkleo was working with a bunch of Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, and Jim Thomes.

The front office gave the hitting coach a bunch of hitters with high strikeout and low walk rates, and generally, that doesn’t lead to have a productive offense. Not knowing the strike zone seems to be poison to the theory many hitting coaches espouse, that of getting your pitch, and do something with it.

Occasionally, it works. For us, Tim Anderson of the White Sox is the poster boy of this. Anderson has never had even a decent strikeout/walk ratio. This season, he hit .309 (806 OPS) despite drawing just 22 walks and fanning 119 times.

By the way, those 22 free passes are the second highest total of his career.

Cleveland has a hitter in their system that shows similar numbers, with more power than Anderson, and we wish we would have seen him in September. That man is Oscar Gonzalez.

Playing at both AA and AAA this season, Gonzalez hit .293 with an 869 OPS despite striking out 112 times (in 504 plate appearances) and drawing just 22 walks. Oh, and he belted 31 home runs too.

Sometimes, hitters have that type hand-eye coordination which allows them to put the bat on the ball, it just has to be near home plate. We’ve heard about guys being “bad ball” hitters, so they do exist.

On the other hand, if you are going have a batting average of say, .230 or less, it’s probably smart to be able to draw some walks, and get on base (read that as avoid making outs).

Now, back to Van Burkleo. As we said, it’s not like he was working with this year’s Astros lineup, and since we aren’t privy to his sessions with the players, we have no idea what he is telling them to do.

What we do know, is for whatever reason, the hitters weren’t buying in. The pupils had tuned out the teacher, and sometimes, that happens.

And we have always maintained we would like to see some different voices on Terry Francona’s coaching staff as well. There have been very few changes to the staff since Francona took over in 2013. At times, the message can get stale.

That said, we love Tito’s basic philosophy of the squad going out there everyday and trying to win the game played that day. It’s really all the team can do.

So, a philosophy change with a new hitting instructor is welcome. However, if the front office isn’t going to get some better hitters, we doubt we will see a huge improvement in terms of the hitting next year.

The two things go hand in hand.

Cleveland Baseball Has Big Chore In Improving Offense This Winter

The Cleveland baseball team ended it’s season on Sunday, just missing a non-losing season at 80-82, their first non-winning season since 2012, when they finished 68-94 and Manny Acta lost his job.

They finished 13 games out of first in the AL Central, and 12 games out of a wild card spot, but despite almost breaking even this year, hopefully the ownership and front office realize there is a lot to fix if they want to be in the hunt for a playoff spot in 2022.

There are a lot of weaknesses on this ballclub that need to be addressed. According to Baseballreference.com, the Guardians have the worst catching in the American League, the second worst play out of their first basemen, and the fourth worst second base play.

Looking at the division winning White Sox, they have no positions ranking last or second to last in terms of value. NOTE: This is using WAR.

No doubt this organization values defense and handling a pitching staff at the catching position, but Austin Hedges and Roberto Perez were pretty much useless with a bat in their hands this season.

Hedges hit 30 points higher than Perez (.178 vs. .149) but still had a lower OPS (527 vs. 564) because he simply refuses to walk. It is doubtful (to us) that both will return in ’22, and our guess is that Hedges will be the regular. He is younger and makes less money.

Cleveland simply needs to get more offense out of the position going forward.

At first base, while Bobby Bradley looks like Ted Williams compared to Jake Bauers, especially in the power department, the fact remains, the Guardians need more offense out of the position. Bradley did slug 16 home runs, but by and large is an out maker, with an on base percentage of just .294.

He also still has severe contact issues, fanning 99 times in 279 plate appearances.

We are a little bit more optimistic at second, because we think Owen Miller’s minor league hitting prowess will translate. That said, it didn’t in the second half, but he did hit .236 (638 OPS) in the second half.

If we were in charge, he would get the first shot at the everyday job in spring training.

This team also needs guys who can get on base, and by this we mean not “out makers”. The only measurement of baseball is the number of outs, and Cleveland has a lot of players who make a lot of outs.

It is not a surprise that the top five teams in runs scored in the AL all rank in the top six in the league in on base percentage. We understand you need extra base hits too, to get those runners home, but the Indians/Guardians/Tribe has one player that gets on base more than 35% of the time: Jose Ramirez. Myles Straw fell just short at .349.

And there are not many who avoid making outs in more than 70% of the plate appearances either. The next closest player to Straw is the strikeout prone, hit by pitch king Bradley Zimmer at .325, followed by Franmil Reyes at .324, and then Amed Rosario, who finished at .321, despite a .282 batting average.

By the way, that’s tough to do.

We talked about catcher, 1B, and 2B, but in reality, Cleveland should be satisfied only with Ramirez, Reyes, and Straw. They should be looking for an upgrade at every other spot.

That’s a tall task for the front office.

You win with pitching, but you have to score runs to get to the post-season. Four of the playoff teams in the American League rank in the top five in the league in runs scored.

Cleveland has to improve their offense next season. Hopefully, the front office isn’t fooled by some brief glimpses of hope by certain players in the last two months of the 2021 season.