Guardians Have Roster Flexibility For Sure

There was baseball news this week as teams had to set their 40-man rosters to protect minor leaguers from the Rule 5 Draft at the winter meetings and the deadline to decline to offer players contracts for the 2026 season also took place.

The Cleveland Guardians allowed three players to become free agents on Friday, and all three, OF Will Brennan, and relief pitchers Sam Hentges and Nic Enright are coming off injuries.

Brennan missed most of last season due to Tommy John surgery, getting just 11 at bats with the big-league club, and Enright had the same procedure towards the end of the season. Hentges had a shoulder problem.

Our guess is the front office will try to keep all three with Brennan and Hentges being offered minor league deals with invitations to spring training. Enright likely won’t pitch at all in ’26.

Cleveland also added pitchers Yorman Gomez and Austin Peterson as well as shortstop Angel Genao and OF Khalil Watson to the 40-man roster. Genao, a switch-hitter, is regarded as a top 100 prospect.

However, reviewing the current roster, there are some very easy decisions for Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff to make if they make a trade bringing back more players than they dealt or if they sign a free agent.

It kind of says a lot about the talent level of the big-league team that there are so many players that can easily be identified.

Matt Festa was signed for next season, and his best talent is probably his rubber arm. He made 63 appearances after being acquired from Texas at the end of April, but he also had a 4.12 ERA.

David Fry was a no-brainer to bring back as he battled through after having elbow surgery after the 2024 season. He probably was put on the major league roster too soon, as he hit .140 in his first 43 at bats (445 OPS), and had just one homer. After that, the average still wasn’t good (.184), but he had 7 dingers.

Nolan Jones was also signed for ’26, despite hitting .211 with a 600 OPS. It is looking more and more like Jones’ 2024 campaign (20 HR, 931 OPS) is the outlier. Since then, he is hitting .218 with just eight homers. We just aren’t sure what the attraction is from the Cleveland front office.

In addition to Jones and Festa, the Guardians still have players like Jhonkensy Noel (643 career OPS), Johnathan Rodriguez, Zak Kent, and even Daniel Schneemann still protected.

The latter is versatile, but will also be 29 next season, and in two years with the Guardians, has batted just .210 with a 648 OPS. You have to think you can get a player like that from the minor leagues or from another organization.

With players like Chase DeLauter, George Valera, and even Juan Brito knocking on the door, you have to wonder what the future is for all of the players we mentioned. The Guardians didn’t have to protect Travis Bazzana yet, which probably saved some of these players, but that may just be temporary.

The point is heading into the Hot Stove season, the Guardians have a lot of flexibility. The question is, will they use it?

Four Guys Who Need To Show For Guardians

Spring training numbers don’t matter if you are Jose Ramirez or Steven Kwan, or even someone like Lane Thomas, whose spot on the roster is assured.

But when you are trying to establish yourself as a Major League player, you probably need to put up some numbers to get big league at-bats when the season kicks off next week.

The Guardians have several players who are in that boat, they haven’t really proven anything at the big-league level, and some of those guys are struggling in Arizona.

Other guys have done well in exhibition play, but how they have performed thus far in the majors have a casting a jaundiced eye.

We have really like Tyler Freeman since he made his major league debut. His minor league pedigree says he should be a solid bat. His AAA numbers are .399/.403/802. Overall in the minors he has a .384 on base percentage.

But he’s had 637 plate appearances with Cleveland and has a .223 batting average with a .304 on base and 632 OPS. He’s been solid this spring going 10 for 32 with two homers and four walks.

How much does the brass trust him?

Then you have someone the front office is giving one last shot to, Gabriel Arias, who is out of options. Arias’ minor league numbers aren’t as impressive as Freeman’s (.337/.456/793 at AAA), but he has the metric the new age folks love–exit velocity. He hits the ball hard. When he hits it.

And that is Arias’ problem. His strikeout rate is 32.3%. The league average is 22.6%.

He hasn’t been strong in the spring training games either, going 8 for 35 with nine whiffs and a 707 OPS. However, most people feel he will open the season at second base.

Will Brennan is another player that needs to start showing something. Brennan came up during the stretch drive in 2022 going 15 for 42 with a HR. That followed a minor league season in which he hit .314 with an 850 OPS. That got people excited.

In the two years since, he’s had over 800 big league at-bats and put up numbers of .308/.377/685. That’s a below average OPS. He’s been solid during the spring, going 9 for 34 with a couple of homers and an 806 OPS.

What would we like to see from Brennan? More patience. He seems to swing at the first pitch a lot and if you don’t have a lot of pop you need to be able to draw walks. Singles’ hitters who don’t walk are very replaceable.

Bo Naylor doesn’t have to worry about making the team, he’ll be the primary catcher, but it remains to be seen what kind of hitter he will be in the bigs. In the second half of ’23, Naylor hit .252 with 10 home runs and an 893 OPS.

His strikeout to walk ratio was 35:25.

Last season, he hit .201 and that ratio was 122:29. Which hitter is he going to be? This spring he has gone 8 for 37 and has drawn three walks with seven punchouts.

For a team that seems to have offensive questions, it would be great if Naylor is a viable hitter. And it would be great for Naylor because 2023 draftee Cooper Ingle will start the year at Akron and is showing signs he can swing the bat.

These guys are on the spot both now and for the first month or two of the season. Can any of them emerge for the Guardians

Looking At Guardians’ Battles With Just Over Two Weeks Left

When spring training started for the Cleveland Guardians, there were a few position battles to watch, and the makeup of the starting rotation was unstable. With the exhibition slate about half over and the regular season starting in a little over two weeks, here is an update.

Second base. We think the front office was hoping rookie Juan Brito would take the spot, although others figured Gabriel Arias would get a good shot since he is out of options.

Brito has struggled to date, going 2 for 21 with seven strikeouts, but two homers. More than likely, we will go back to AAA to start the year. Most insiders think Arias will be the opening day starter, but he hasn’t set the world on fire, going 6 for 24 with just one walk.

Perhaps the guy who should get the gig is Tyler Freeman (8 for 19 with 3 doubles and a home run). We like Freeman, who has always hit in the minors, and last year played mostly in centerfield, and we will get to that later.

Our opinion? We think we know what Arias is. He has some pop in his bat but doesn’t make enough contact. Sometimes, the front office ignores evidence.

Rightfield/Outfield. Steven Kwan is the leftfielder. Now it gets complicated. Lane Thomas will be somewhere in the outfield on an everyday basis. The Guardians were no doubt hoping Chase DeLauter could be a factor, but injuries got in the way again.

Going into camp, the hope was rightfield would be a platoon of Will Brennan and Jhonkensy Noel. We aren’t a fan of the former because singles hitters who don’t walk are kind of useless.

And our concern about Noel is the swing and miss in his game, and he has fanned 10 times in 26 plate appearances this spring.

If Arias wins the 2B job, does Freeman become involved here as the platoon partner for Brennan? We think Freeman is a hitter (Bo Naylor is another) who didn’t mesh with Chris Valaika last season, and perhaps he is getting back to his natural swing/approach at the plate.

A long shot would be Johnathan Rodriguez, who had a cup of coffee with the big club last year. He is just 3 for 15 and a home run, but has walked seven times.

Starting rotation. Coming into camp, Tanner Bibee and newcomer Luis Ortiz were the only locks. Through three appearances in Arizona, Gavin Williams looks like he did as a rookie and seems to have sewn up a spot. Williams has fanned 16 in eight innings, allowing just five hits and a single run.

Ben Lively has had three solid starts and would seem to be the fourth starter. The hope was Triston McKenzie would claim the fifth spot but walked five batters in an outing and gave up seven hits in 3.2 innings yesterday. His WHIP is 2.21.

Who gets that spot? Joey Cantillo has been starting but has walked six hitters in six innings. On the other hand, Logan Allen has been strong, giving up just one run in 10.2 innings, striking out 10 and more importantly walking only two and only allowing one home run.

Rookie Doug Nikhazy is the sleeper, although we would expect him to open at Columbus. The southpaw has pitched seven innings allowing just one hit thus far. However, Allen has faced the more experienced hitters thus far.

The lack of minor league options though probably puts McKenzie on the roster anyway. Perhaps he’s used as a mop up option until he can find the strike zone.

The Guardians always seem to paint themselves in a corner with these players who have no options left. We would like to see them trust their judgment a little earlier in the process.

Guards Biggest Needs: Starting Pitching (Duh) And???

The Major League Baseball trading deadline is Tuesday afternoon and there is a lot of speculation on what the Cleveland Guardians will do before then.

Of course, there are the callous fans who think they will do nothing, it will be status quo for the front office, after all, the Guardians have the best record in the American League and one of the best records in baseball with the current group of players.

But we know the other competitors for post-season spots will make moves to get better, so president Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff have to seek to make the roster better in order to “keep up with the Joneses”.

In terms of WAR (wins over the replacement), the Guardians chief need is no surprise, it’s starting pitching. A few years ago, Cleveland had a rotation of Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, Mike Clevinger, and Shane Bieber, and with that, you knew they had a chance to win every night.

Those guys were that good.

These days, you can only have confidence when Tanner Bibee and the surprising Ben Lively take the hill. Gavin Williams is still working his way back from an elbow issue, and his last few starts have been hit or miss. Hopefully, that improves going forward.

Carlos Carrasco was a nice story coming out of spring training, but he’s allowed 106 hits in 95 innings and has an ERA of 5.68. Pitching five innings and giving up three runs is not a good outing.

And the fifth spot is a revolving door right now.

We hear a lot of talk about upgrading at SS, and surprisingly, the other positions where the Guardians are getting the worst production are catcher and right field, not shortstop.

We doubt catcher is considered an area of need by the organization and we agree with that. Now that David Fry’s elbow is allowing him to play the position, we think the Guardians are satisfied with him, Bo Naylor and Austin Hedges, although with Fry back, the latter’s at bats can be few and farther between.

Perhaps that’s where Angel Martinez and Jhonkensy Noel should be getting their at bats? Will Brennan has received the bulk of the playing time there, but he provides neither power (.379 slugging percentage) or the ability to get on base (.291 on base percentage) walking just 16 times in 247 plate appearances.

That’s a bad combination particularly for someone who plays a corner outfield spot.

We agree that it would be nice if Brayan Rocchio hit more. But he is the best defensive shortstop option on the squad, and we have always said you need seven solid bats in your lineup to have a good offense.

Anyone else the team plays at short now that Gabriel Arias was sent down seems to have issues with the glove. And if your pitching staff, particularly the starters, are struggling, you have to put solid defenders behind them.

Actually, the best way the offense can be helped would be for their best hitters to start producing again. If Steven Kwan, Jose Ramirez, and Josh Naylor started swinging the bats again at their career norms, that would go a long way in straightening out the offense.

Guardians Hit Their First Rough Patch Of The Season

The Cleveland Guardians have hit their first rough patch of the season. Even though they won the series at Progressive Field against the lowly White Sox, starting with the last game of the Baltimore series, they have lost six of their last ten games.

They still have a six-game lead in the AL Central over Minnesota, but it would be nice to regain some momentum heading into the All-Star break, and the Guards look like a team that could really use the four days off.

Under Steven Vogt, the Guardians have been a team all year that has mixed and matched in terms of the starting lineup, looking for the best way to beat that day’s starting pitcher.

And it worked, as Cleveland was baseball’s surprise team.

However, the organization seems to be still in tryout camp mode, shuffling players from Columbus to Cleveland, appearing to search for players like a team floundering in the standings does.

The roster changes aren’t based on a rash of injuries either. The only Cleveland player currently on the injured list is Will Brennan. Since Steven Kwan went on the IL with his hamstring injury, we have seen Kyle Manzardo, Johnathan Rodriguez, Daniel Schneemann, Jhonkensy Noel, Jose Tena, and Angel Martinez getting at bats at the big-league level, all with varying success.

From here, it looks like what we feel is a weakness in the organization, the inability to make decisions on players.

Vogt uses these players at these positions on an everyday basis: 1B Josh Naylor, 2B Andres Gimenez, 3B Jose Ramirez, LF Steven Kwan. With David Fry’s injured elbow, he has become the DH most days, with Bo Naylor and Austin Hedges behind the plate.

Brayan Rocchio is the shortstop most of the time, but we have seen Schneemann there, as well as the organization’s hope, Gabriel Arias, despite Rocchio’s defensive prowess at the games most important defensive spot.

Tyler Freeman did a solid job defensively in centerfield most of the year and it was revealed yesterday he is battling a wrist problem, and while he hasn’t hit like we thought, he’s held his own. His 653 OPS is better than Rocchio’s and comparable to Gimenez.

We get the front office is probably trying to take a look at as many players as they can before the trading deadline at the end of the month, but when the team is in a bit of a downturn, that should be secondary.

As for Arias, at what point is the organization going to realize he just isn’t a good hitter right now? He went 6 for 11 vs. the Orioles, part of a stretch where he went 8 for 19. Since then? 0 for 12 with six strikeouts.

The bullpen is also starting to leak some oil, with the lack of innings from the starting rotation perhaps starting to take its toll, especially with some of the younger arms.

Veteran Scott Barlow has emerged as the most reliable arm out of the ‘pen of late, allowing just two earned runs since June 1st. Cleveland still has four of the top 11 pitchers in the American League in terms of appearances, and that’s concerning.

Don’t get us wrong, every team in the major leagues goes through slumps or downturns, and the Guards are no exception. Again, we are sure Vogt, and the front office are hoping the club rights itself before the Mid-Summer Classic in Texas next week.

And they need to address the starting pitching…

Maybe Being Slightly Better At Some Spots Will Work For Guards

We have been critical of the inactivity this winter by the Cleveland Guardians. The Guards fell from a division winner in 2022 to last year’s 76-86 record, and really haven’t made any moves to get better.

However, we remembered that when the team gets to the trade deadline, we always remind people that it’s not always a blockbuster move that is needed, sometimes an incremental move works just fine.

So, in that spirit we have cut the front office a bit of slack. We still think going after one or two veterans to have around as a backup plan would have been a smarter play, and of course, we will remind folks of that if what they are doing doesn’t work out.

And that’s not a second guess.

New manager Steven Vogt has talked a few times about newcomer Estevan Florial taking over in centerfield and we have pointed out Florial’s struggles in making contact and his fall from ranking as a top 100 prospect.

Then we remembered he would be replacing Myles Straw at the spot. Last year, Straw was the third worst hitter in the American League with his 597 OPS. The only players who were worse were Javier Baez and Tim Anderson.

If Florial can have a 650 OPS this season (league average is 728), the Guardians’ offense will be better than last year. Heck, overall, Cleveland centerfielders had a 626 OPS, the worst on the team.

The second worst spot was rightfield, where the players manning the spot combined for a 629 OPS. The favorites to play there in 2024 are Will Brennan and Ramon Laureano in a platoon role.

Brennan had a 695 OPS vs. right-handed pitching in ’23, while Laureano had a 794 OPS against southpaws. And remember, the latter didn’t join the team until August last season.

If they repeat those numbers, the offensive production out of that position will be improved.

And the third worst spot should be better because it is the catching position and Bo Naylor should get the bulk of the playing time there. Barring the dreaded sophomore slump, that is.

Naylor put up an 809 OPS, belting 11 home runs in the 67 games he played last season. And he’s patient at the plate, drawing 30 walks. That’s nothing new, he had a .348 on base percentage in his minor league career.

We have no question that he can boost the production from that position, after all, the Guards unbelievably gave 149 at bats to Cam Gallagher last season, who put up a woeful 322 OPS.

Baseballprospectus.com listed Steven Kwan and Andres Gimenez as the most likely players to have improved numbers at the plate this season. And we agree they will probably be better in 2024.

With the Central Division being what it is, perhaps those things, coupled with the usual solid pitching, can vault the Guardians back to the top of the division standings.

We still would rather have invested some money (we know, we know) into getting a decent hitter or two to improve the roster instead of trying to project how a 20-year-old who has never played higher than AA can make an impact. The front office is back to their Dusty Springfield approach.

For younger people, she was a singer who had a big hit called “Wishin’ and Hopin'”.

Maybe we just have a case of Spring Training Fever. After all, exhibition play started yesterday.

What Is Plan B To Help Guardians Score Runs?

The first clue came at Guardians’ Fest when owner Paul Dolan said the reason for not signing any free agent outfielders is they wanted to give the young players in the farm system a chance.

Then in the past few days, manager Steven Vogt and president Chris Antonetti mentioned the same thing.

To us, this is a pretty risky plan especially if the organization has designs on making the playoffs. Remember, this shouldn’t be a “rebuild”, they won the division title just two years ago with the youngest roster in the sport.

It is universally known that the Guardians have a problem scoring runs, ranking 12th in the American League a year ago. We believe to have a solid major league lineup, a team needs to have six, maybe even seven solid bats in the batting order.

In our opinion, right now, the Guards have four: Jose Ramirez of course, Josh Naylor, Steven Kwan, and Andres Gimenez. Bo Naylor showed promise a year ago, but he has less than 250 big league at bats, and can’t be counted as of yet.

And we are pressing the definition of “solid” with Kwan (710 OPS) and Gimenez (712 OPS), each would be the 6th or 7th best hitters on very good hitting teams.

The front office could have signed a veteran free agent to a one-year contract (there are no such things as bad one-year deals) to add a proven stick to the order. Players like J.D. Martinez (career 874 OPS) and Tommy Pham (786 OPS) are still on the market.

Cleveland acquired Estevan Florial from New York over the winter and he had a big year in AAA last season and was a former top 100 prospect. George Valera has also been on this list, but he’s never been in the big leagues and has battled injuries the last two seasons.

Otherwise, the candidates the team is depending aren’t on the list of the top prospects in the game, nor are they on the Guardians’ top 10 list, at least among the outfielders.

So, our question is this: What is Plan B if none of the young players the brass is talking about come through in 2024?

In 2022, Will Brennan slashed 371/479/850 in the minor leagues, at both the AA and AAA levels. Last year, in the big leagues, Brennan had a 655 OPS, with both the on base and pop he showed in the minors in ’22 having disappeared.

This isn’t to say Brennan is a bust, for right now, we simply will call it growing pains, but the fact remains he didn’t provide much offense for the Guardians last season.

In three seasons at AAA, Florial has slashed 358/490/848, similar numbers to Brennan. And although he has only 134 plate appearances in the big leagues, he has a 609 OPS, striking out 41 times.

Another hopeful is Johnathan Rodriguez, who in 47 games at Columbus last season was outstanding 376/560/936. With 476 plate appearances in AA, his numbers are 334/497/831. Solid, but not overwhelming.

Jhonkensy Noel, a minor league slugger, is also in the mix, but in a full season at Columbus last year put up these numbers: 303/420/723.

Kyle Manzardo is a Guardians’ top 10 prospect, and it seems like the organization wants him to start in AAA. Perhaps, it’s because he’s not already on the 40-man roster. In AAA last season, he had an 802 OPS.

And no, we don’t consider a player with a 676 OPS a year ago to be a solid bat. We are talking about Ramon Laureano, claimed on waivers from Oakland last season in August. His last season with an OPS over 750 was 2021.

Could things fall into place and Brennan bounces back, Bo Naylor continues to hit like he did in the second half last season, and Brayan Rocchio hits like he has in winter ball? Of course, and if that happens, the offensive woes could be solved.

We like having a backup plan, though. Of course, that costs money. Hence the problem for the front office.

Offense Has To Improve For Guards In ’24

The Cleveland Guardians used the end of August to add to their pitching staff, but didn’t do anything to improve their hitting.

They should get Josh Naylor back any day now (perhaps today!) and without question Kole Calhoun and Ramon Laureano have added something to the ability to score runs.

Calhoun has had a number of big hits, including a big double in last Sunday’s win over Toronto and the huge three run homer in the series finale in Minnesota.

The grizzled veteran has 16 RBIs in the 21 games he has been in a Cleveland uniform. By contrast, Oscar Gonzalez has played in 51 games this season, driving in 11. And Laureano had a nice series up north, hitting a pair of long balls.

He has a 688 OPS in the 20 contests he has played here, comparing that to Will Brennan (648) or Myles Straw (604).

This is exactly what we meant when we said the front office should have added some talent at the end of July, even if it meant the team only got better incrementally. It doesn’t always have to be a big splash.

Heading to 2024, the offense needs to get better, a lot better. Bill James says a hitter who has a .350 on base percentage and a .450 slugging percentage is a very good offensive player, demonstrating the ability to get on base and drive the ball.

Right now, Cleveland has one of these players, and of course it is Jose Ramirez, who has a .351 OBP and a .481 slugging average. Josh Naylor is close, getting on base at a .346 clip and slugging at .500.

No other Guardian with 100 at bats can claim to be over those thresholds individually, let alone together. The next best player at getting on base is Steven Kwan at .337, and the next best slugger is Bo Naylor at .430.

By contrast, the Texas Rangers, who lead the AL in runs scored have just two hitters (Corey Seager and Mitch Garver) who are over both the .350/.450 guideline. But they have four players who get on base over 35% of the time and Marcus Semien is sitting at .346.

FYI, they are very close to having four of these guys, because along with Semien, Nathaniel Lowe is slashing 374/447/821.

They also have six players who are slugging over .450.

Houston is third in runs scored, and they have five hitters who get on base at a 35% clip and five hitters who slug .450.

Tampa is second in the league in runs scored, and they have three players with an on base percentage over .350 and they have six players who have a slugging average over .450.

So, the challenge for the Guardians’ front office is to find more players who can get on base, we would say at least two of them, and find two or three players who can drive the ball.

Bo Naylor might fill one of those roles.

Of the teams that strike out the least in the AL, the Guardians have by far the least amount of homers with 103. The next lowest total of teams in the top five in contact? The Baltimore Orioles with 156!

Of that top five, Cleveland has also drawn the least amount of walks with 382. Boston is the next lowest at 413.

Making contact while hitting home runs can be done, the Guardians either have to find them or develop them. But having players who make contact, but don’t get on base and don’t get a lot of home runs doesn’t work.

It’s a big challenge for the Guardians’ front office this winter.

Guards Make Contact, But Need To Know Strike Zone

The Cleveland Guardians have been known over the past two seasons as a team that emphasizes contact, putting the ball in play.

It’s a sound theory. Teams that do not strikeout much tend to be good offensive clubs. After the Guardians, the team in the American League with the least whiffs are Houston (4th in the AL in runs/game), Boston (5th), Toronto (8th), and New York (10th).

The Twins lead the league in striking out, and they are 9th, while Seattle is next and they rank 7th.

We have made note since the season started that making contact is not the same as having plate discipline. The league leader in walks in the AL is Texas, and they lead the league in runs scored.

The next three teams in drawing walks are the Twins, Astros, and Angels (6th in runs).

The Guardians do make a lot of contact, but they are a very young team and very few of them now how to work counts and take advantage of the fact that they can make contact.

Jose Ramirez, who does chase a bit because he understands he is the main man in the batting order, still walks more than he strikes out, with 53 walks and 51 whiffs. And Steven Kwan also is very close to having as many walks as strikeouts (49 BB, 57 Ks).

Here are players currently on the big-league roster with over 100 at bats who have struck out three times as much as they have walked: Andres Gimenez (84:27), Will Brennan (45:11), Gabriel Arias (72:24), Oscar Gonzalez (26:5).

And that speaks to awareness of the strike zone. Hitters always look at the screen when they get back to the dugout, so they see their at bats instantly.

Two players, Gimenez and Bo Naylor, simply can’t lay off the high fastball. Pitchers know that and until something changes, they will continue to exploit it.

And that’s why strike zone judgment is important. If pitchers know a batter will chase pitches, they will continue to throw that pitch until a hitter demonstrates either they can handle it or lay off it.

We were always taught they if a hitter gets ahead in the count, especially 2-0 or 3-1, they should zone in for a particular pitch in a particular area so they can drive it. We watch many of the Guardians’ hitters and there just doesn’t seem to be a plan.

And our guess is that hitting coach Chris Valaika is telling them when to be selective. He certainly isn’t telling them to make weak contact.

We also see a lot of Guardians swinging at first pitches which is fine if the guy on the mound is trying to get ahead of a hitter. If the pitch is out over the plate, fine. But not to pick on Brennan, but we’ve seen him swing at first pitches that are off the inside corner.

That seems like just swinging at it just to swing, not looking for a particular pitch.

As we said before, the Guardians are a very young team and mastering the strike zone can be gained from experience. But making contact doesn’t make you a good hitting team unless you can be selective as well.

Why do we like walks? They aren’t outs. And that’s a good thing.

Guardians’ Season Sliding Away

After the trade deadline when the Guardians’ front office raised the white flag on the 2023 season, we were asked several questions on social media as to why we disagreed with the decision and why the players seemed angered about it.

As for the players, they don’t look at things the way the front office does, meaning they don’t care about next season. Trading their best and most veteran pitcher at the moment for someone who quite possibly could help in ’24 does nothing for them. Kyle Manzardo isn’t with them, so he is irrelevant.

What they think is they are one hot streak from taking control of the division, which is what the Minnesota Twins are doing right now. And now with the injuries to Josh Naylor and a likely suspension for Jose Ramirez, that winning streak will be very difficult to achieve.

Currently, the management of the team says the right things. They are working toward a post-season berth, they are trying to win every game they can. The second statement is true, because that’s how Terry Francona manages: You try to win the game you are playing today.

But with Naylor out and Josh Bell traded, an already struggling offense has lost two of their four best hitters. Simple math tells you the hitting isn’t going to improve because of that.

There have been some changes already noticeable. We have seen Will Brennan playing centerfield more often with Oscar Gonzalez playing right. The organization seems to be moving away slightly from Myles Straw, who frankly isn’t the same player as the one who came from Houston in 2021.

That player worked counts, drew walks, played great defense, and stole bases. Straw still has a very good glove but doesn’t do any of those other things.

We would also say if the Guardians aren’t going to make the playoffs, we don’t care where they finish, as long as they are doing due diligence for the future. So, if the team isn’t going to be contenders, why is a player like Cam Gallagher still on the roster?

If David Fry can catch, he and Bo Naylor should be catching every game at this point. And Gallagher is taking the spot on someone else who can be looked at.

The front office is doing that in some regards. Xzavion Curry seems to be getting a look at the fifth starter job. Brayan Rocchio has been called up and has been in the lineup each game. The Guardians want to see what Gabriel Arias can do on an everyday basis, and hopefully when Tyler Freeman comes back, he will be afforded the same responsibility.

If they want to carry three catchers to take advantage of David Fry’s versatility, then maybe take another look at Bryan Lavastida, who played here a bit last season. He has a 769 OPS between Columbus and Akron this year.

One other thing about building for the future. Your franchise player will turn 31 before the end of the calendar year, and Ramirez has stated he wants to win a World Series here. The front office needs to keep that in mind.