Tag: noah syndergaard

Important Series In Minnesota? Don’t Think The FO Thinks So

The Cleveland Guardians should be entering a crucial stretch as five of their next eight games are against the Minnesota Twins, who currrently lead the AL Central Division by six games over Cleveland.

We say should because we aren’t sure the management of the team are interested, or should we say fully invested in catching the Twins.

We are sure the players are trying to win every night, but it seems like Terry Francona, Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff are ambivalent.

In Sunday’s game, the Guards had a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning and Noah Syndergaard had thrown over 80 pitches. He allowed a runner to reach, but no one was warming in the bullpen meaning the starter was out there to complete the inning.

He gave up a two-run homer to allow Toronto to capture the league and was removed after six frames. He was also designated for assignment after the contest.

With Cal Quantrill likely to be activated on Friday, he will take Syndergaard’s place in the rotation, but to replace him, the Guardians called up retread Daniel Norris to take his place.

Norris replaced Xzhavion Curry last night and promptly gave up four runs turning a 6-5 contest into a 10-6 Twins’ lead.

Last year, the organization was very aggressive bringing up young players like Will Brennan, Gabriel Arias, Tyler Freeman, and Cody Morris, even if they weren’t on the 40-man roster to help down the stretch.

Why not bring up Franco Aleman, who has made 13 scoreless appearances at Akron, striking out 29 and walking just 3 in 19.1 innings at AA. To be fair, he didn’t have great numbers at Lake County (5.52 ERA) but did whiff 46 batters in 31 innings.

Norris is a 30-year-old journeyman who made six appearances at the big league level this year and walked 11 batters in 10.2 innings coming into last night. Heck, if they didn’t want to go with Aleman, Hunter Gaddis, who opened the season in the starting rotation would have been a better choice.

Francona could’ve turned to Eli Morgan in the 3rd and maybe went with Morris later, but no, it was Norris, just like a game in June against a team not ahead of them in the standings.

We understand the Blue Jays threw two southpaws at the Guardians over the weekend, but instead of playing Bo Naylor, the best catcher on the roster, in one of the games vs. a lefty, both Cam Gallagher and Eric Haase, who at best are replacement level major leaguers both got starts.

We have seen fans angry that Naylor only played in one game in essentially his hometown. That shouldn’t be the argument. He’s clearly the best hitter of the three, and isn’t a terrible defensive catcher. He should be in there most nights.

This shouldn’t be news. The organization told the fan base they weren’t interested in contending on August 1st. And it wasn’t trading Amed Rosario, Josh Bell, and Aaron Civale that was the main crime, it was not trading for someone to help a bad offense and a struggling bullpen.

A sweep could have cut the Minnesota lead to three games, heck, they could still walk out of the Twin Cities down five. But we don’t think that was a major consideration.

Fans can’t want something more that the organization does.

Is Rosario Trade The First Shoe To Drop?

The Cleveland Guardians took their first step in rebuilding their roster before the trade deadline when they dealt SS Amed Rosario to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Reportedly, the Guards are getting RHP Noah Syndergaard and cash in return.

Reports are Cleveland is not releasing the veteran right-hander.

Moving Rosario helps clear up some of the glut of middle infielders Cleveland has either at the big-league level or in the high minors.

When the Guards moved Francisco Lindor to the Mets, we said Andres Gimenez was the key to the trade because Rosario doesn’t walk much and doesn’t have much pop. He has to hit in the .280 range to have value, and he did that in his first two seasons here but dropped to .265 this year.

Add that to his poor defensive work at shortstop, and it was time for Cleveland to take a look at other options.

What didn’t or doesn’t help Rosario’s cause is he didn’t seem to either embrace or take to any position changes. He played 24 games combined in the outfield his first two years with the Guardians but didn’t appear to be comfortable. He could be a bigger asset to a team playing vs. lefties and being a “super utility” type player.

Terry Francona always referred to Rosario and Jose Ramirez setting the tone for the team in terms of playing hard and being aggressive on the basepaths, and that was invaluable to the young Guardians in 2022 and carried over this season.

Now, who moves into the SS role in Cleveland? Gabriel Arias is the best defender, but he hasn’t been able to hit (590 OPS, 52 strikeouts in 162 plate appearances). Brayan Rocchio is probably the future at the spot, and is hitting .295 (804 OPS) at Columbus.

However, we would like to see Tyler Freeman get the first shot there. Freeman would be an upgrade defensively, and in his limited appearances seems to be a better offensive player with a 723 OPS. Rosario’s OPS was 675.

It seems in the organization’s best interest to see what Freeman, a career .312 hitter in the minors (813) can do with everyday playing time.

Syndergaard has been terrible with the Dodgers, compiling a 7.16 ERA this season in 12 starts, allowing a whopping 71 hits and 12 long balls in 55.1 innings. He is currently on the 15 day injured list.

He hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since June 7th when he allowed six runs in three innings at Cincinnati. So, don’t look for him to jump immediately into the Cleveland rotation.

It’s probably a little bit of we will make the deal if you take the balance of Syndergaard’s contract.

What the Guardians do get to do is have the opportunity to diagnose whatever problems he’s been having, perhaps it’s a mechanical issue. Last year, he was 10-10 with a 3.94 ERA in 135 innings between the Angels and Phillies. So, it’s not like he is far removed from being an effective starting pitcher.

Our guess is this isn’t the only move team president Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff will make before Monday.

You also have to wonder if the front office made the move to eliminate the temptation to put him in the lineup on a daily basis.