With early news, I"ll get an early start while Stephen Vogt is winning me over with his introductory press conference right now. Aside from simply the strategic views, he got a little glassy-eyed talking about what Opening Day will be like in Oakland, where he spent the majority of his career and being from California will have a lot of friends and family in the stands. He also talked about his wife being a special ed teacher and the work they do for kids with autism.
Vogt was hired on Monday to become Cleveland's first new manager in 11 years. At 39, he's the second youngest manager in the game. This was really the first managerial search Cleveland has had since the 2009/2010 off-season. When Terry Francona told them he was interested in the job following the firing of Manny Acta, their search ended there and Francona went on to become the winningest manager in Cleveland history. Even when Acta was hired, he was a hot commodity at the time and I don't recall Cleveland casting a wide net like they did this time around.
Today they also hired former Giants bullpen and catching coach Craig Albernaz to be their new field coordinator. Albernaz had also been a candidate for the managerial job and knows Vogt from their time together in the Rays minor league system. He joins a staff that already includes a third former catcher and long-time Cleveland staple Sandy Alomar and pitching coach Carl Willis who has filled that role in Cleveland during two different stints that total 13 years.
Cleveland has already presumably addressed the catching situation for 2024 by selecting Christian Bethancourt off waivers from the Rays and promptly releasing Cam Gallagher who inexplicably survived the entire 2023 season in Cleveland without doing anything well. Bethancourt gives the Guards a legitimate backup to Bo Naylor, who put up an OPS+ of 124 in the second half and has the defensive tools and athleticism to really benefit from the tutelage of Albernaz, Vogt and Alomar.
The Guardians have a full 40-man roster at the moment, but there should be a couple of transactions before Tuesday when they need to protect any prospects from the Rule 5 draft. There are currently three players on their top 25 prospect list who would be Rule 5 eligible: starting pitchers Daniel Espino (#3) and Tanner Burns (19) and infielder Dayan Frias (25). I expect both pitchers to be protected. Espino isn't currently healthy (shoulder surgery) which has been true more often than not during his career, but he still has too much upside to leave dangling. Current roster fodder includes veteran vagabond reliever Michael Kelly and first baseman Alfonso Rivas who was picked up off waivers last week for some unknown reason. Considering Rivas adds nothing they don't already have covered with Josh Naylor and Kyle Manzardo, I assume the idea is to try to sneak him through waivers in a few days so he can fill out the roster in Columbus next year. I don't know that Frias needs protecting since he's in Hi-A, hasn't exactly set the world on fire and has about a half-dozen infield prospects ahead of him in the system.
The biggest challenge for Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff this winter is going to be adding an actual major league bat to the outfield. Repeating the slap-hitting outfield of Kwan-Straw-Brennan would be unacceptable. Kwan has the on-base skills and the Gold Gloves that keep him in the starting lineup. Straw has proven he's never going to hit and he doesn't utilize his speed even when he does reach base. Unless he can repeat his phenomenal defensive showing of 2022, he's not someone who should play ever day, and unless Will Brennan suddenly starts drawing walks, he should be nothing more than the strong side of a platoon with Straw. Oscar Gonzalez and Gabriel Arias haven't done anything to earn a starting role (Arias has shown he should never face a left-hander) and top outfield prospect George Valera battled injuries again that set him back and eliminated a potential taste of major league baseball in 2023. The team recently added Johnathan Rodriguez to the 40-man roster, who has a background similar to Gonzalez. He does have more pedigree than Sponge Bob as a former 3rd round pick and the #24 prospect in the system, as opposed to Gonzalez who wasn't even a top 50 prospect and was exposed to the Rule 5 draft before reaching Cleveland. However, they are similar in that they're both big right-handers who were never projected for a starting job in Cleveland's outfield, but tapped into their power after reaching AA and hit their way on to the radar. The Guardians cannot expect to return to contention though with this gaggle of misfit toys as the plan for 2024.
Two kids who could force their way into these plans by the end of 2024 are their Arizona "Fall-Stars" Kyle Manzardo and Chase DeLauter. Manzardo, a top 100 prospect in the game, was acquired from Tampa for Aaron Civale, which then facilitated the trading of Josh Bell to clear room for another 1B/DH in 2024. Manzardo projects to spend most of his time at DH. Naylor made major strides as a first baseman this year and Manzardo is below average at the position with an arm that probably excludes him from ever playing the outfield. DeLauter was Cleveland's 1st round pick in 2022 and is a capable center fielder. Like Manzardo, his hit tool is his best but both are adding power to their games. DeLauter is currently a doubles machine who will open 2024 in AA. His size (6'4", 235 lb) probably means he'll end a corner outfielder, but a potentially plus one on defense with a bat that can play anywhere. He's my top reason to get to Akron games early next year before he gets promoted.
Despite the offensive struggles, the rest of the AL Central can probably start focusing on rebuilds if Cleveland can simply get a full season out of a rotation of Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams and Logan Allen. I have no doubt Bieber would have been traded this off-season if not for the elbow injury that only allowed him to make two starts in the second half. At least they came at the end of the year and he's presumed healthy now, but his trade value has no doubt tanked and deciding what to do with him during the 2024 season is going to be difficult both strategically and as a potential public relations disaster. Trade him while his value is supressed? Trade him while the team is in playoff contention? Keep him and get nothing in return but QO compensation? Keep him and watch his performance deteriorate?
The infield roster jam of Gabriel Arias, Tyler Freeman, Brayan Rocchio and Jose Tena is going to necessitate a trade or two over the winter whether they go big or simply trade today's roster issues for tomorrow's as they did last year in swapping Nolan Jones for Juan Brito (the latter of whom will be part of that infield glut by the end of 2024, along with Angel Martinez)... so I expect a busier hot stove league this year than last.
Vogt was hired on Monday to become Cleveland's first new manager in 11 years. At 39, he's the second youngest manager in the game. This was really the first managerial search Cleveland has had since the 2009/2010 off-season. When Terry Francona told them he was interested in the job following the firing of Manny Acta, their search ended there and Francona went on to become the winningest manager in Cleveland history. Even when Acta was hired, he was a hot commodity at the time and I don't recall Cleveland casting a wide net like they did this time around.
Today they also hired former Giants bullpen and catching coach Craig Albernaz to be their new field coordinator. Albernaz had also been a candidate for the managerial job and knows Vogt from their time together in the Rays minor league system. He joins a staff that already includes a third former catcher and long-time Cleveland staple Sandy Alomar and pitching coach Carl Willis who has filled that role in Cleveland during two different stints that total 13 years.
Cleveland has already presumably addressed the catching situation for 2024 by selecting Christian Bethancourt off waivers from the Rays and promptly releasing Cam Gallagher who inexplicably survived the entire 2023 season in Cleveland without doing anything well. Bethancourt gives the Guards a legitimate backup to Bo Naylor, who put up an OPS+ of 124 in the second half and has the defensive tools and athleticism to really benefit from the tutelage of Albernaz, Vogt and Alomar.
The Guardians have a full 40-man roster at the moment, but there should be a couple of transactions before Tuesday when they need to protect any prospects from the Rule 5 draft. There are currently three players on their top 25 prospect list who would be Rule 5 eligible: starting pitchers Daniel Espino (#3) and Tanner Burns (19) and infielder Dayan Frias (25). I expect both pitchers to be protected. Espino isn't currently healthy (shoulder surgery) which has been true more often than not during his career, but he still has too much upside to leave dangling. Current roster fodder includes veteran vagabond reliever Michael Kelly and first baseman Alfonso Rivas who was picked up off waivers last week for some unknown reason. Considering Rivas adds nothing they don't already have covered with Josh Naylor and Kyle Manzardo, I assume the idea is to try to sneak him through waivers in a few days so he can fill out the roster in Columbus next year. I don't know that Frias needs protecting since he's in Hi-A, hasn't exactly set the world on fire and has about a half-dozen infield prospects ahead of him in the system.
The biggest challenge for Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff this winter is going to be adding an actual major league bat to the outfield. Repeating the slap-hitting outfield of Kwan-Straw-Brennan would be unacceptable. Kwan has the on-base skills and the Gold Gloves that keep him in the starting lineup. Straw has proven he's never going to hit and he doesn't utilize his speed even when he does reach base. Unless he can repeat his phenomenal defensive showing of 2022, he's not someone who should play ever day, and unless Will Brennan suddenly starts drawing walks, he should be nothing more than the strong side of a platoon with Straw. Oscar Gonzalez and Gabriel Arias haven't done anything to earn a starting role (Arias has shown he should never face a left-hander) and top outfield prospect George Valera battled injuries again that set him back and eliminated a potential taste of major league baseball in 2023. The team recently added Johnathan Rodriguez to the 40-man roster, who has a background similar to Gonzalez. He does have more pedigree than Sponge Bob as a former 3rd round pick and the #24 prospect in the system, as opposed to Gonzalez who wasn't even a top 50 prospect and was exposed to the Rule 5 draft before reaching Cleveland. However, they are similar in that they're both big right-handers who were never projected for a starting job in Cleveland's outfield, but tapped into their power after reaching AA and hit their way on to the radar. The Guardians cannot expect to return to contention though with this gaggle of misfit toys as the plan for 2024.
Two kids who could force their way into these plans by the end of 2024 are their Arizona "Fall-Stars" Kyle Manzardo and Chase DeLauter. Manzardo, a top 100 prospect in the game, was acquired from Tampa for Aaron Civale, which then facilitated the trading of Josh Bell to clear room for another 1B/DH in 2024. Manzardo projects to spend most of his time at DH. Naylor made major strides as a first baseman this year and Manzardo is below average at the position with an arm that probably excludes him from ever playing the outfield. DeLauter was Cleveland's 1st round pick in 2022 and is a capable center fielder. Like Manzardo, his hit tool is his best but both are adding power to their games. DeLauter is currently a doubles machine who will open 2024 in AA. His size (6'4", 235 lb) probably means he'll end a corner outfielder, but a potentially plus one on defense with a bat that can play anywhere. He's my top reason to get to Akron games early next year before he gets promoted.
Despite the offensive struggles, the rest of the AL Central can probably start focusing on rebuilds if Cleveland can simply get a full season out of a rotation of Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams and Logan Allen. I have no doubt Bieber would have been traded this off-season if not for the elbow injury that only allowed him to make two starts in the second half. At least they came at the end of the year and he's presumed healthy now, but his trade value has no doubt tanked and deciding what to do with him during the 2024 season is going to be difficult both strategically and as a potential public relations disaster. Trade him while his value is supressed? Trade him while the team is in playoff contention? Keep him and get nothing in return but QO compensation? Keep him and watch his performance deteriorate?
The infield roster jam of Gabriel Arias, Tyler Freeman, Brayan Rocchio and Jose Tena is going to necessitate a trade or two over the winter whether they go big or simply trade today's roster issues for tomorrow's as they did last year in swapping Nolan Jones for Juan Brito (the latter of whom will be part of that infield glut by the end of 2024, along with Angel Martinez)... so I expect a busier hot stove league this year than last.