Too Bad Ownership Didn’t Believe In This Year’s Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians have come roaring out of the All-Star break. winning 14 of their 20 games, and they’ve won 9 of their last 10, including a three-game sweep of the Mets on the road.

Steven Vogt continues to say his team is resilient and that’s an understatement. After a 10-game losing streak at the end of June, most people thought this team was done, but Cleveland has put together a 21-7 record since then.

Yes, the schedule got easier, but don’t forget, in addition to the sweep in New York, the Guardians also took all three games against the division leading Astros too.

Vogt has this team believing in themselves. It’s too bad the front office, and we mean ownership here, didn’t share that feeling.

The Guardians made two moves at the trade deadline, and both were basically done to shed salary. dealing the balance of the $10 million owed to Shane Bieber and the rest of the $6 million owed to oft-injured reliever Paul Sewald.

To be fair, neither pitcher had helped the Guardians to date, and the front office did net a solid prospect for the former Cy Young Award winner, and much like last off-season, highly paid players were moved and very little salary was picked up in their place.

Cleveland did sign reliever Carlos Hernandez, who was DFA’d by the Tigers. FYI, he’s making $1.16 million this year.

The point is this team, which as of today, sits just a half game out of a playoff spot, and has closed the gap behind the division leading Tigers to six games, didn’t get any help at the deadline, and they still need some added offense and the bullpen could’ve used another arm, especially with the suspension of Emmanuel Clase.

We have seen a lot of statistics talking about the Guardians’ offense since the losing skein and how it ranks among the best in baseball since then. However, it is still the third worst in the AL, ahead of just Chicago and Kansas City.

In that span, they’ve also faced three of the worst pitching staffs in the game, the A’s, Orioles, and Rockies. They also have only three batters with OPS+ over 100 in Jose Ramirez, Steven Kwan, and Kyle Manzardo, although Daniel Schneemann is very close at 99.

They finally called up C.J. Kayfus from AAA and he has helped so far, but he had only 23 at bats.

And let’s not forget the team still has Nolan Jones on the roster, and his playing time seems to be shrinking.

Not doing anything to help the relief corps after the Clase suspension might wind up being a bigger problem. Even with Hunter Gaddis not pitching like he did a year ago, you had to feel good if Cleveland had a lead after six innings with Gaddis, Cade Smith, and Clase ready to go.

To their credit, Erik Sabrowski (1.15 ERA, 23 K in 15.2 innings) and Nic Enright (1.96 ERA in 23 innings) have done well, but again, it still wouldn’t have hurt to get some relief help.

We would like to imagine that Vogt has a poster of Paul Dolan in the clubhouse and instead of tearing a piece of Rachel Phelps’ clothing off, they do something to it after every win to show the owner he should have had faith in the team.

That isn’t true, but it shows again that profits mean more than wins to Dolan. Oh, and by the way, 1948.

Will Guardians Take Easier Path Again?

It appears it is a foregone conclusion around baseball that the Cleveland Guardians will be sellers at today’s trade deadline. More of that speculation came about after the suspension of closer Emmanuel Clase on Monday.

Look, it is easier to teardown a team that build it up. And it’s an easier decision for the front office to justify. They simply use the reasoning that they didn’t feel the team was a World Series contender, so that decided to trade assets in order to get younger players.

The Guardians, by and large, are already a young team. Among the position players, they are about league average, but that is skewed by having 39-year-old Carlos Santana on the roster, and to a lesser extent, 32-year-old Jose Ramirez.

So, if Santana were replaced by say a 25-year-old player, the Guards would be among the 10 youngest teams in the sport among position players. And their pitching staff is already the most youthful in baseball.

The question is why the Clase suspension has anything to do with a decision of not trying to make the playoffs this season? Let’s say the Guardians were currently in the third wild card spot and the relief pitcher got injured, would they sell then?

We identified Clase as the best trading chip for Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff about a month ago. Mostly, because Cleveland has some depth in the bullpen, despite the blow-up on Monday from Cade Smith and to a lesser extent, Hunter Gaddis. We felt they could have received an MLB ready hitter and another prospect at the least.

The question remains how the Guardians improve their offense without Clase as a trade chip? Apparently, the front office is looking at moving Steven Kwan but would have to get the proverbial “offer they can’t refuse” to move the two-time All Star.

We also speculated about a Kwan deal about a month ago because he fits the profile. He has not signed a presumably club friendly contract extension and he has value.

Here’s one thing we don’t believe people think about, and they need to think about it from Kwan’s (or any player’s) perspective. You played on a team that went to the ALCS a year ago and made the decision to decrease the payroll. Would you sign an extension to play with that organization?

There’s only one Jose Ramirez.

Remember two years ago when the Guardians dealt Aaron Civale and then Josh Bell at the deadline. Yes, we know they received Kyle Manzardo for Civale, and he’s one of the three players who can hit on the current team.

But Antonetti and Chernoff had to fly to Houston after those trades to calm down a clubhouse that was upset by the moves, since the Guardians were still very much in contention. Reportedly, Josh Naylor was very upset.

The tougher move is to try to get in the tournament. And we know by looking at the past, that at least five of the players currently on the Guardians’ top ten prospect list won’t pan out.

The front office should be willing to move one or two to acquire a bat that can help the 2025 team, which is made up of a bunch of guys who were three games away from the World Series a year ago.

And once again, let’s remind everyone, 1948

Guardians’ Front Office Needs To Be Honest. With Themselves

The worst thing any business can do is lie to themselves. The world is constantly changing, and smart people learn to adapt and change. If you don’t it’s a matter of time before you get stuck in the mud and your competition passes you by.

Professional sports is no exception, and the front office of the Cleveland Guardians have a chance to reexamine their evaluation of certain players before the trade deadline this week. We hope they have not started this process today.

We trust that they haven’t, but we also hope they are taking an honest look at the current roster.

If they do, then they will see a position player roster made up of two all-star caliber players in Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan, a player with some pop and promise in Kyle Manzardo, and seemingly a bunch of journeyman players.

Their job would be to figure if any of that latter group can become everyday players.

We think the two players who could do this would be Angel Martinez and we also believe Brayan Rocchio could do that as well.

We have said before that Martinez, a switch-hitter, has a concerning strikeout to walk ratio, which is currently at 71:13. In AAA, it was a much more manageable 85:35 and in AA it was 101:49. Perhaps he is giving too much credit to big league pitchers.

He’s also fourth on the team in extra base hits, behind Ramirez, Kwan, and Manzardo. If he can walk more often, he will be a solid everyday player.

As for Rocchio, we realize we are going out on a limb here. Last year, he had a 614 OPS and this year, it’s even worse at 559. We think the approach Rocchio has taken at the plate since returning to the big leagues can be sustainable, and that’s a 735 OPS.

And if he doesn’t work out, you have Angel Genao, who is hitting .272 at Akron and is one of the top 100 prospects in the sport.

Moreso, they need to take an honest look at players like Nolan Jones, Daniel Schneemann, and Johnathan Rodriguez.

Schneemann looks like a solid utility man. He can play 2B, 3B, and SS (serviceable, but he scares us) and the OF. He has a little pop too, with 14 HR in 489 plate appearances. But he’s not really a good hitter (679 OPS) and his on base percentage is around .300.

Jones’ fans still point to the 20 home runs he hit with Colorado in 2023. His critics point to his almost 600 plate appearances since with six long balls. We jokingly referred to him as Will Brennan who walks more.

Brennan’s issue is he’s a singles hitter who doesn’t walk, which makes him kind of a useless offensive player. But Jones doesn’t get on base enough to offset the lack of pop. He has just 15 extra base hits on the year. Rocchio has 14 in 115 less times at the dish.

Rodriguez has received the least chances of the trio with just 106 plate appearances over two years, but has just a .161 batting average, a 533 OPS and 33 whiffs. He hits the ball on the ground a lot, 68.3% of the time. It’s hard to get extra base hits doing that.

He’s been great at the AAA level, with a 925 OPS, 47 homers and a decent K/BB ratio. But he has to start hitting the ball on a line or in the air more often.

And we’ve already addressed the issue with Carlos Santana. He’s been an excellent player over the years for the Guardians, but right now, he’s blocking a lot of players, including Rodriguez.

We are sure the offices on the corner of Ontario and Carnegie are very busy this week. Hopefully, the folks still think a playoff spot is attainable this year.

Any Deadline Move Needs To Help The Offense

The Cleveland Guardians have rebounded nicely from their 10-game losing streak a few weeks ago by winning 11 of their next 14 contests.

The offense has perked up scoring 4.5 runs per game since July 1st after averaging less than three a game in June. Part of that is the schedule. Cleveland hitters have faced two of the worst pitching staffs in the American League as of late (Athletics and Orioles), and another that ranks in the bottom third in the league in the White Sox.

Despite the recent surge, the Guardians still rank 13th in the AL in scoring. That’s third worst.

So, if the Guards want to make a run at a post-season spot, the front office needs to address the hitting.

Right now, the league average OPS is 718 and to date, Cleveland has three hitters who are above that figure, and we are sure everyone knows they are Jose Ramirez, Steven Kwan, and Kyle Manzardo.

We also think to have a solid batting order on most nights, a team needs at least six, and hopefully seven hitters can put together solid at bats. Right now, Steven Vogt doesn’t have that luxury.

In Thursday’s loss to Baltimore, the only game the Guardians dropped in the series, Vogt used Will Wilson (since sent back to AAA) and Austin Hedges, because Bo Naylor needed a day off.

Wilson and Hedges are terrible hitters. And since you only get 27 outs in a game, you have to figure the pair will account for 6 of those, two innings worth, meaning you better get some runs from the other 21 outs.

As a comparison, let’s look at the Houston Astros, who rank 7th in the AL in runs scored. They have six batters with over 250 plate appearances and OPS over the league average. The Los Angeles Angels are eighth in runs scored and they also have six hitters with that many plate appearances and an OPS over 718.

One more team to look at, the Yankees, who lead the AL in runs scored, have seven guys that qualify under this criterion.

To be fair, Angel Martinez has been hot, and his OPS is up to 687. We like that he is showing more pop, but our concern is his walk to strikeout ratio, which is currently at 13 walks vs. 69 strikeouts.

That’s not the profile of a good offensive player, but if he can develop some patience and strike zone judgment, he could fill one of the three spots needed.

The question is will the front office go out and get a solid bat this week before the deadline. They have prospects at the A level that could draw some interest to a team out of contention, but would the organization be willing to do that?

We saw folks on social media heralding the return of Gabriel Arias from the IL, but he’s a below average bat, his 658 OPS is below Daniel Schneemann.

And speaking of Santana, it appears he is showing that Father Time remains undefeated, but knowing how the organization feels about him, we ask if the team has the stomach to move on from him?

We hate to depend on a rookie, but we would like to see if C. J. Kayfus can be more productive than the veteran.

And we will repeat, the profile of this front office is they do not add to stay in contention, but on the other hand, do they have anyone another team will be interested in come Thursday?

We know about guys like Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee, etc., but the Guardians are not in a position to deal them. And we don’t think teams have an interest in Lane Thomas either.

If the Guardians want to stay in contention for a spot in the tournament, they need to add to the offense. They simply don’t have enough hitting for the last two months.

Buyers Or Sellers? That’s the Guardians’ Big Quandry

The All-Star break arrives for the Cleveland Guardians and all other major league teams following today’s game. And with the trading deadline on the horizon at the end of this month, teams have to decide if they are buyers or sellers.

Of course, the Guardians’ front office, like most organizations won’t admit to being one or the other, they will reason they are trying to improve their teams for this year and the next few seasons.

Because of the wild cards in both leagues, the Guardians are still in the race for a playoff spot, sitting just 4.5 games out of the last playoff position. On the other hand, since June 1st, Cleveland is just 14-23.

The schedule seems to be favorable for a while. As it currently stands, the Guardians don’t play a team over the .500 mark until they travel to New York to play the Mets. Until then, resume the schedule with the Athletics, Orioles, Royals, Rockies, and Twins.

They will also enter the break having played 52 games on the road, compared to just 43 at Progressive Field. That of course means, they will play 38 of the final 67 contests at home. The bad news there is right now, the Guards are under .500 on the shores of Lake Erie.

We have reviewed in the past how the Cleveland front office kind of only adds to the roster when they are ahead in the standings. They generally don’t try to get better when they are trailing in the standings.

So, it would seem the first 10 games out of the break will be key for Steven Vogt’s crew. Winning seven or eight of these games would probably narrow the gap between Cleveland and the current team with the sixth seed, the Tampa Bay Rays.

If they do fall out of contention, the Guardians need to make deals for major league ready prospects, getting players who are 2-3 years away should not be an option.

Why?

First, they have to maximize Jose Ramirez who is 32 years old. The front office should be thinking about how long Ramirez will remain one of the games’ top players. Second, the biggest issue with the current roster is the hitting.

We would all like to see Chase DeLauter with the big club, and C. J. Kayfus deserves a promotion as well. But the system isn’t loaded with hitters, particularly from the right side. And if the team wants to be a contender again in 2026, they need to add some offense.

And while the Guards still are the youngest pitching staff in the AL, they are only the 7th youngest team among the hitters, although that ranking is due in part to Ramirez and 39-year-old Carlos Santana.

Antonetti and Chernoff are in a tough place. No matter what they decide, buying or selling, they are going to irritate fans and possibly players.

So maybe the best course of action is to maybe move a couple of veterans to make room for some youngsters and also deal from a strength (bullpen?) to get some young bats that can help right now.

That’s why that duo gets the big cash, to make decisions like the one coming up.

Thoughts On The Guardians And Platooning

Platooning. It’s kind of a buzz word right now for Cleveland Guardians’ fans. We get it, the team isn’t going well, so the lineup decisions made by skipper Steven Vogt come under intense scrutiny.

But it isn’t something that started in the last ten years. The 1950’s New York Yankees, managed by Casey Stengel famously platooned at several positions. Earl Weaver, the Hall of Fame manager used statistics to get favorable matchups all the time.

His most famous platoon in the late 70’s and early 80’s was in leftfield where he played former Indian John Lowenstein and Gary Roenicke to form a tremendously effective offensive duo.

However, not all players are built that way, meaning not all left-handed hitters kill right-handing pitching and vice-versa. Obviously, the better players don’t have a platoon advantage, they can hold their own against same side hurlers.

In more recent times for Cleveland, Brandon Guyer is a great example. A right-handed hitter, Guyer’s career numbers show a .250 batting average and a 727 OPS. However, during his time in the big leagues, he batted .274 vs. southpaws with an 824 OPS.

Even better, the year the Indians went to the World Series in 2016, Guyer batted .336 vs. lefties with an incredible 1021 OPS. He simply killed lefties.

This season, Vogt uses the platoon advantage more than any other manager, but should he? Against left-handed pitching, only three Guardians’ hitters have OPS over 800. Of course, one is Jose Ramirez at 922, and the other two are Angel Martinez, a switch hitter, and the third is a guy who swings from the left side in Kyle Manzardo.

However, Manzardo only has 45 at bats vs. southpaws, and yes, we know he has struggled lately, but he still has 4 home runs. And of course, this is really his first year in the majors.

The right-handed bats the skipper seems to use vs. lefties haven’t really done the job. Lane Thomas, who has solid career numbers against them is just 6 for 40. David Fry is 7 for 53, Johnathon Rodriguez is 6 for 36, and Will Wilson is 7 for 38.

Those aren’t exactly Guyer numbers.

Against right-handers, there are two players with OPS over 800: Ramirez and Steven Kwan. The players Vogt platoons aren’t doing the job.

Nolan Jones: .233/.312/.347/669
Daniel Schneemann: .218/.296/.400/696
Manzardo: .220/.292/.402/694

On the roster, right now, Martinez fits the platoon player bill. Against righties, he’s hitting just .206 with a 541 OPS. His at bats against these pitchers should be limited.

However, the object of platooning is to put a hitter who has a better chance of success at the plate. In Tuesday’s game, Vogt pinch hit Wilson for Jones, who has a career mark of .254 vs. LHP.

Later in that game, he pinch hit Rodriguez for Schneemann, who is his still young career has hit .270 vs. lefties.

Now, the lefty on the mound was Josh Hader, one of the best closers in the business, but we aren’t sure Wilson and/or Rodriguez are major league players, so was the skipper giving his team an advantage?

That’s the object of platooning. Creating an advantage. It seems right now, the Guardians are just doing it to do it.

Guardians At Halfway Point, Teetering On A Cliff

The Cleveland Guardians have hit the halfway point of the 2025 schedule and it’s not looking at though they can return to the post-season.

Steven Vogt’s squad was sitting at 25-17 on May 13th after beating Milwaukee, but since have struggled mightily, going 15-24 in that span. The offense has been mediocre at best. In the month of June, they have scored four runs or more in just ten games, and currently rank 12th in the American League in runs scored.

The pitching has been inconsistent at times, but still ranks ahead of the league average ERA at 3.93.

But back to the hitting. When you look at this team, seriously, how many good hitters do they have? Of course, there is the incomparable Jose Ramirez, a perennial all-star, and Steven Kwan, one of the best leadoff men in the sport.

Kyle Manzardo’s walk rate has dipped in June (just two free passes), but he looks like he has potential, tied for the team lead in homers (13) and third in RBI (33).

Beyond that? Daniel Schneemann has been a surprise, but this month has dropped to .196 with just one homer and overall, his OPS is just a little above league average.

For us, there isn’t anyone else on the team that we can see a path to being an above average hitter, and having only three players like that on a team pretty much ensures you are going nowhere.

The frustration is that this team went to the AL CS a year ago and was just three wins away from the World Series. They’ve had some bad luck, true, but as we have written many times, they also traded one of their best hitters in 2024.

FYI, they weren’t a good offensive team a year ago.

There’s been some bad luck. David Fry provided some offense last year (804 OPS), but had to have elbow surgery, can’t play in the field, and probably needed more than the 33 at bats he received rehabbing before he was activated. He’s currently 6 for 40 with 19 strikeouts in 44 plate appearances.

Their closest hitting prospects to the major leagues, Juan Brito and Chase DeLauter had injuries where they missed significant time. Both are back in action, and the latter seems poised to make his big-league debut anytime now.

With others, the organization has done some miscalculation. Lane Thomas has been made an everyday player, when his career mark vs. right-handers is a 672 OPS. Carlos Santana was signed after Josh Naylor was traded, and right now, he is producing like someone who is 39 years old, which he is. His OPS is below league average and in June, he is batting .163 with two home runs.

Gabriel Arias was supposed to provide some pop, but his contact problems haven’t been resolved (he leads the team with 88 whiffs), and he has only six home runs.

Bo Naylor looked promising in ’23 when he came up and hit .237 with 11 homers (809 OPS), but since has batted .190. He is tied with Ramirez for third on the team in walks, which is a good thing.

Rightfield, centerfield, and shortstop rank among the worst in the league in terms of production.

And perhaps the worst development recently is the defense is falling apart. This team makes way too many defensive mistakes, resulting in extra outs being needed, extra pitches by the guys on the mound, and extra baserunners for opponents.

Perhaps all of the defensive shifting has taken its toll on the team.

As an old coaching friend once told me, starters are starters for a reason.

The good news is the Guardians are at .500 and there is still half a season to go. We saw what the Tigers did last season, and Cleveland isn’t buried like Colorado or the White Sox.

But thinking this is going to turn around with the same players and style of play is probably foolish. Where is the “Guards Ball” the team advertises?

We have speculated about trading Emmanuel Clase, with the bullpen being a strength for the Guardians. We hate saying that, but this lineup simply isn’t good enough.

Right now, this team looks listless, and while it is true teams that aren’t hitting tend to look like that, we believe it goes beyond that. Something has to change in the second half.

Sometimes, Looking Within Is Needed

Lately, there has been a great deal of conversation about possible trades for the Cleveland Cavaliers this summer and also about the roster makeup of the Cleveland Guardians.

This led us to think about the front offices of both teams.

Both of those teams are very successful, at least by Cleveland terms. The Cavs won a title nine years ago, and basically rebuilt the team following the 2017-18 season, LeBron James’ last season in wine and gold, to a point where they had the best record during the regular season in the Eastern Conference this past year.

They’ve been to the NBA Finals five times during the 21st century.

As for the Guardians, they have made the playoffs six times in the last nine years and of course went to the World Series in 2016 and played in the League Championship Series a year ago.

All of that success said, both groups can fall prey to perhaps the biggest weakness any organization can make, and that is overrating the talent they have.

It’s easy to do, we get that. When you draft a player, you do a crazy amount of research on them and in your mind, project what they can be when they mature and gain experience. When the progress is either slower than expected or simply cannot happen, coaches even talk them into scenarios where the player can flourish.

Isaac Okoro is the manifestation of that currently. Okoro was the fifth overall pick in the 2020 draft. He was over drafted in our opinion because you shouldn’t take a defensive minded wing that high (and yes, we said that at the time).

Okoro scored 9.6 points per game as a rookie and that remains his career high. For his five years in the league, he’s at 8.1 per contest. He’s become a respectable three-point shooter during the regular season, making 36.3%, 39.1% and 37.1% the last three seasons.

In the playoffs, it’s another matter. In three playoff years, he’s scoring 5.3 points and shooting 29.7% from distance. Those kinds of numbers keep you off the floor in the post-season.

Cleveland signed him to a three-year extension after his rookie deal ended and now would like to move him to free up space under the cap. But the cold reality comes from other teams, who don’t value the player at that salary. It has been reported the Cavs might have to throw in a draft pick or player for another team to make a deal.

The Guardians have the same problem at times. They keep hoping players will finally “figure it out” at the big-league level. We were asked a couple of days ago what we like in certain hitters coming through the farm system and we replied knowledge of the strike zone.

We understand the organization is trying the develop hitters, outside of Steven Kwan, who is last good hitter that came through their system? Obviously, Jose Ramirez, but no one else except for Francisco Lindor, who they traded when he was approaching free agency.

In their search for power, they are taking long looks at guys who have extreme strikeout rates, and those guys usually don’t have long careers. Pitchers figure them out.

We understand it is tough at times to admit a mistake has been made. That’s human nature. But it can hold a business or a sports team back if that can’t be done.

Jose Stepped Up And Stayed. Why Doesn’t Ownership Help Him?

We are watching another tremendous season from the Cleveland Guardians’ resident superstar, Jose Ramirez. He will likely make his seventh All-Star Game appearance, which will tie him for second place (with Ken Keltner and Larry Doby) in franchise history, one behind franchise icon Bob Feller.

He’s currently hitting a career high .333 and still providing the power, with 12 home runs and 32 runs batted in. He’s now 32-year-old and still one of the games’ best, although way overlooked players.

We have all heard the story. Ramirez was likely to be traded before the 2022 season, before he and his agent sat down with the Guardians’ brass and ink a seven-year deal with the team. His highest salary in those years will be $25 million, a tremendous bargain for Cleveland, seeing he was and still is one of baseball’s top ten players.

We remind everyone again. It was Ramirez and his agent that made the deal happen, it wasn’t Paul Dolan trying to get the deal finished, although he did sign off on it.

The Guardians went on to win the division in 2022, bolstered by the return from the Francisco Lindor deal in Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario, and the pitching of Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, and Emmanuel Clase. Their payroll was estimated at $66 million (using figures from baseballreference.com)

That off-season, the front office really didn’t make any moves, they did deal Nolan Jones and Will Benson for minor league prospects, and the payroll only increased by $4 million, and the Guardians finished third in 2023 with a 76-86 record.

They were sellers at the deadline that season, moving Rosario, Aaron Civale (for Kyle Manzardo) and Josh Bell with the team just a game out of first place on July 31st. When the team was still in contention, just five out at the end of August, the Guardians picked up Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, and Matt Moore from the Angels, but it didn’t work out.

The payroll increased prior to the ’24 campaign going up to $94.2 million due to raises for Myles Straw, Gimenez, Ramirez, and the signings of Austin Hedges and reliever Scott Barlow.

And the Guardians won the division and advanced to the American League Championship Series, losing to the Yankees in five games.

After the season, the front office dealt the bloated contracts of Straw and Gimenez, the latter was never going to perform up to the level the team was going to have to pay him, but they didn’t really reinvest those savings, and the payroll started the 2025 season less than the prior year.

Remember, we said Ramirez is now 32 and you have to wonder how much longer he will be one of the top players in the game. Meanwhile, the Guardians payroll still ranks in the bottom five in the sport.

Yes, we understand market size, and we will say again we understand the Guardians can’t spend with the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, etc. However, why can’t they have the same payroll as the Twins ($135.6M), Brewers ($97.4M), Royals ($110.6M), and Tigers ($132.9M)?

They have the great franchise player. Not surrounding him with enough talent to try to win a World Series, a goal of Ramirez, is a shame and the ownership should be held accountable.

It is incredible that Jose Ramirez seems to continue to get better after the age of 30, when most players start to decline. It would be great if the franchise gave him some help.

Going To Be Tough For Guards To Stay In It Without Runs

Over the years, we have noticed this trend in Major League Baseball. While pitching is very important, especially in the post-season, (as Terry Francona used to say, when you think you have enough pitching, you go out and get more), you have to score runs to get to the playoffs.

Last season in the American League, of the seven teams that scored over the league average in runs, five made the post-season. Only the Red Sox and Twins did not.

In the National League it was the same.

In 2023, the top five runs scoring teams in the AL claimed a playoff spot while in the NL, surprisingly only five teams scored above the league average and three of those played in October.

And those seasons aren’t out of the ordinary. There are certainly outliers, teams that ride their pitching to the top of the standings. And obviously, if you have a pitching staff that can limit teams to two or three runs per game, you should be successful.

Which leads us to the Cleveland Guardians, who based on this trend are going to have a tough time advancing to the playoffs as they are currently constituted.

Right now, Steven Vogt’s club is 11th in the AL in runs scored, 10th in on base percentage and 12th in slugging percentage. And that’s with Jose Ramirez, who is 7th in the league on OBP and 3rd in slugging.

Imagine what the attack would look like without the irrepressible Ramirez, who should make his 7th All-Star Game appearance and likely his seventh top 10 MVP finish the way he is playing right now.

Steven Kwan and Carlos Santana have been solid, but their specialty is getting on base at least at this point in the latter’s career. Kyle Manzardo is third on the team in slugging (behind Ramirez and Daniel Schneemann), but he figures to lose some playing time with David Fry back.

The league average in OPS is around 700, and Cleveland has just five players (5!) on the roster above that. And it is all the players we mentioned except for Fry, who has just 11 at bats.

That means on a daily basis, Vogt has to put four below average bats in his lineup. No wonder the Guardians have trouble scoring runs. And if Ramirez and/or Kwan are having days where they are going hitless, the Guards are really in trouble.

It’s worse when they face a left-hander because Vogt usually go with Jhonkensy Noel, who has an OPS under 400, career minor leaguer Will Wilson (518) who has fanned in 21 of his 56 plate appearances, and when healthy, Austin Hedges.

No doubt if top prospect Juan Brito was healthy, he’d be here. You have to wonder why Johnathan Rodriguez doesn’t get another shot. He’s hitting .325 with a 911 OPS at Columbus since being sent down in April.

He’s really the only right-handed hitter producing at AAA. C. J. Kayfus and Petey Halpin are hitting well, but they swing from the left side, and Nolan Jones’ recent stretch has earned him a longer look, although his OPS is just slightly over 600.

Our point? Unless the Guardians can find a couple of hitters who can produce, on the roster or not, they could have a problem staying in the race.

We continue to go back to the off-season inactivity of this front office/ownership. The price for that is being paid so far.