Guardians offseason to-do list

00:00:08
Speaker 1: Season to front end.

00:00:09
Speaker 2: By the way, it's very nice Schooble's not.

00:00:12
Speaker 1: Going to the Guardians, just saying that. Well, let's set out.

00:00:15
Speaker 3: Let's let's one point here, run point for Zach first off, writing for The Athletic, covering the Guardians for a while. Selby's podcast also fantastic listen. But let's do a good ten minutes right here with Zach and layout the off season to do list top three for Cleveland in your mind and thanks for joining us again.

00:00:33
Speaker 2: Man, how you doing?

00:00:34
Speaker 4: Yeah, what's up guys? That list that you guys just showed with Tucker Alonsos, that's wrong segment here to the Guardians release. It's look, they're in a weird spot right. They went to the Alcs and they won the division again. They have nobody signed. They have five guys guaranteed contracts for next year, really four plus they're chipping in on Miles Straw's contract with the Blue Jays, so tons of flexibility. But also it's Cleveland. They don't spend money, so they have glaring holes. If you listed the top ten things they need, not even just the top three, like nine of them would be help for the lineup. So the outfield the bullpen. Those are the two primary targets. I think if you need a third, I would say the outfield. Again, it was the thirtieth ranked outfield offensively in baseball. And that's with Stephen Kwan on the roster, and he's going to be a popular name in trade talks all winter too. So it's it's pretty obvious. They made the playoffs. They did so with one of the worst offenses a playoff team has ever fielded. They got to improve that.

00:01:44
Speaker 1: So it's the same thing we've talked about with Cleveland forever no yah for the last five years. Well no, I mean they had and their offenses were pretty decent when I was there, and you know the two thousand and seven ish range, you know, when they had those teams in the early two thousand the lot offense in nineties, But lately it's been pitching, pitching, pitching, So is there are they gonna go bargain shopping again and try to piece this thing together because at some point all the pieces and I know Lane Thomas getting hurt was a big deal for him, But gosh, when are they gonna go out and they have I mean, they do have money.

00:02:16
Speaker 2: It's not like.

00:02:16
Speaker 1: They're on the you know, the side of the street, you know, panhandling. But they have money. So are they actually gonna go out and make some moves where they just gonna continue to rely on this farm system?

00:02:27
Speaker 2: Let's put out so many players.

00:02:29
Speaker 4: Yeah, so here's why they're in a weird spot. They have you know, Jose Ramirez is gonna make twenty one million. Then you've got Tanner Byby at like four and change, Austin Hedges at four, Trevor Stefin at three and a half. They're paying two point seventy five million for Miles Straw. That's it. That's thirty five million right there. You know, if you keep Kwan, you'll pay him eight to nine million in arbitration. There's a few other arb guys who are making like a million, a million and a half. So we're talking even when you fill out the rest of the roster fifty five million. So so yeah, even if you're trotting out a similar payroll to what they have in recent years, ninety to one hundred million, which is also what it was in like the year two thousand, which tells you a lot about the state of things. But you've got forty million to spend. So the question is, like, I think high on the priority list is a right handed outfielder who can hit lefties. So go get yourself an Austin Hayes or a Rob Refsnyder or a Randall Kritchick, someone like that. But what they don't want to do, and they've done this, they've made this mistake a lot, where they signed Eddie Rosario or Domingo Santana or Hanley Ramirez one year when he was washed up. They don't what would not make sense, and what they don't want to do is sign a veteran retread who's trying to get one last good year and give him ten to twelve million, and that blocks someone like Chase the latter, or who we saw at the very end of the season, George Valera rookie up and was pretty good in September and October. They want those guys to play. I think they want to make sure that they're not banking on those guys starting one hundred and fifty games. So they need to get someone who can play every day, someone who's proven, someone who's not thirty six years old and trying to hang on. So that's why it's a good thing maybe that they have some financial flexibility, because I don't think you can be shopping for that outfielder who's gonna make one for nine and then that might be their career. They've done that a lot in the recent past, so it's got to be someone who's a little more legit. But we also know that this team's not gonna spend a ton of money. You know, you're not gonna hand out someone who's making five for one hundred. So it's they're at a weird spot and I think they're gonna have to let the free agency play out and someone kind of fall in their lap. Honestly, the way Pete Alonso lasted on the market last winter.

00:04:56
Speaker 5: All right, Well, with all that extra money, houses bullpen going to get built because the Guardians Indians when I played for him, had a tremendous formula to make the best bullpen pitchers ever. And wait, no they didn't. Now they have the formula.

00:05:13
Speaker 6: They had the best formula to make starting pitchers, and now it's like they're figuring out this bullpen formula. If they need to improve their bullpen, will it just be from internal because I know a lot of guys that are out on the market are gonna cost way more than anybody that's making anything besides Jose Ramirez on the team.

00:05:32
Speaker 4: Yeah, they know they need help. You know, Nick Enright was someone they leaned on last year. He's got a great story what he's overcome and was a huge help for them, and then blew out his elbow. And Andrew Walters they thought was perhaps a future setup man or closer, and then he had injury issues and missed the entire season. So you don't want to just bank on him making seventy appearances. Daniel Espino is a guy who has tantalized with you know, he had one hundred and two mile an hour fast ball and a plus slider, but that was four years ago, and then he had two shoulder surgeries and he just pitched in the Fall League. He could play a part, but again, not someone you can bank on. Obviously. Emmanuel class I don't see him walking through that bullpen door. So you have Kate Smith. It's a good place to start. They need depth. No, they're not going to sign Edwin Diaz or Devin Williams. Even someone like Hellsley would would seem to be a good fit, but you know he will probably price himself out of their range. It's a pretty deep free agent market though. You know, I in trying to piece together the plan for the offseason, what makes sense to me would be the best hitter they acquire they add is probably going to come through trade. That would make the most sense to me, and then use your free agent dollars to sign that platoon outfielder and to add a rap or too, because they need depth. You know, they've They've also leaned on that group a lot. Kate Smith and Hunter Gaddis have made I think more appearances than anybody the last twos if you include the playoffs. So it's you guys know it. Bullpens are completely volatile year after year. So the more depth you can have back there, the better shape you'll be in.

00:07:11
Speaker 1: Right, you brought up class A, So I need to ask the question how much did it hamstring the team? Because there was rumors at him and Kwan we're going to be traded last trade deadline. Obviously cosse A suspended, we don't know if we'll ever see him again, or to you suspended with him? How much did that hurt? I mean, obviously it hurt the organization and the team. But how much did it hurt just in general terms of building this team and possibly moving somebody like Kwan and not having this decision on the books.

00:07:37
Speaker 4: It's weird because it was almost like a two month fantasy or fever dream that they were living out because what got them to the playoffs was the pitching, and yet they lost two key members. Right the bullpen had the best era in baseball once Class A hit the sideline on July twenty eighth. How I still can't wrap my head around that the rotation was what fueled them to the playoffs in September, they went to a six man rotation, the fact that they were able to lean on that sort of depth without Ortiz when they acquired Ortiz last off season because they were concerned about their depth. It didn't really make sense. None of it added up. Where they'll really feel it is moving forward, because now you have to hope for a repeat from those six starters, because you've got other stuff you have to figure out. You know, I don't think that it's possible that they sign a starter or trade for a starter just for depth purposes, But you really need guys like Joey Cantillo and Parker Messick to take another step forward because you're not going to have Ortiz and in the bullpen it's leaning a lot more on Kate Smith and Hunter Gaddis, which is great, but those guys were the insurance for Class A if classe ever faltered, and you don't have that now, so it's just a hit to the depth. You know, they were fielding offers for Class A at the deadline. Obviously they pulled him off the market when they learned about this, but even if they didn't move him then I think he would have been dangled on the trade market this winter. And you know, we saw what Mason Miller got in a trade. So they're kicking themselves a little bit now and they're frustrated just because of the value you lose, and it's it's not just losing the player at that moment, but it's it's what you could have gotten in the future.

00:09:25
Speaker 3: Zach, good stuff as always, thanks for chiming in.

00:09:27
Speaker 1: Yes, you forgot say.

00:09:30
Speaker 3: But hopefully they knock out. Yeah, hopefully they knock out you know, number one and two on the lists. It's you know, they're kind of the same obviously.

00:09:39
Speaker 1: Anyway, it's like we're next year twenty twenty Sex, we're gonna have the same thing as you're like, I'll field, I'll field.

00:09:46
Speaker 3: We have the graphic prepared for when we do this a year from now during the lockout, Zach, thank you man, good talking to you. You gotta guys tick her all right, bet MGM, futures we're starting to look in next year Guardians to win the AL penn plus thirteen hundred.

00:10:04
Speaker 2: Not touching it, not touching it. I'm not touching.

00:10:06
Speaker 1: It against them, yeah, but still the offense to the Guardians. We love Steven Vode and we love what they've done. But can they compete with the big boys again? I mean the Blue Jays, the Red Sox, the Yankees, the Mariners, the Astros, the Rangers, even the Tigers if they finally decided Christal Village to do it. Can they compete with the rest of the teams in this league? Guy, I don't think they can. They're a nice story and they make runs and they get into the postseason, but they don't have enough depth. They don't have enough offense to just go out and beat the big.

00:10:39
Speaker 3: Boys team regular season team the.

00:10:44
Speaker 2: Way that's built.

00:10:47
Speaker 5: The regular AL Central team regular season al Central team to get enough games against some teams that just don't have that extra during the season. Like we looked at it yesterday for that Astros, and I thought that number should have been a little higher for me to dip into that water. Like if I'm getting into thirteen hundred range, I think the Orioles were at thirteen hundred, the Rangers were at sixteen hundred. Like, if I'm getting sixteen to one money, I'm not putting it on a team that's not gonna do much in the off season for to improve this team. So you're saying the team they had last year is rolling out and win winning the American League. Pennant have a tough time believing that, and they might, and they might. They're talking about Kwan.

00:11:30
Speaker 1: You talked about Kwan maybe being traded, right, that's another problem. Yeah, Like that's one of their best, one of their few offensive true offensive weapons that they had.

00:11:41
Speaker 2: That'll be a tough loss for them.

00:11:42
Speaker 1: That'd be a huge one And for the it goes back to the fans though for me, like everyone wants to blame this and that, but that's like the fans, that's one of their guys. Man like, you can't tell me that they can't afford to sign Stephen Quan.

00:11:54
Speaker 2: They can't. It's just it's a churn process that they like to do.

00:11:57
Speaker 3: That's just part of their Hey, exactly, get up to fifteen hundred dollars paid back in bonus bets if you don't win your first bet, plus one hundred dollars in bonus bets if you deposit before December first for those in Missouri.

00:12:11
Speaker 2: Missouri, welcome to the party.

00:12:13
Speaker 3: Pre registration plus first bet offer acquisition promotion for bet MGM sportsbook includes bonus bets that expired in seven days. In our non withdrawabal first bet offer token will expire seven days after being issued. Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler. By the way, I didn't get to talk about this. I know you guys covered this. Good for the Mariners with the Josh Naylor deal five years, ninety two and a half million bucks. We're going to talk about the Pirates portion of that conversation.

00:12:40
Speaker 2: I can't wait to get office the biggest of shit. Yeah it was, but good for the Mariners.

00:12:45
Speaker 3: Did you guys hear the quote from Jerry Depoto when he said he got there and he was like, Oh, I'm so excited to hitting this park.

00:12:51
Speaker 2: They freaked out. They were like, you are that's cool.

00:12:53
Speaker 3: I mean, we've talked about it, I know, but there were a lot of guys over the last few years who were like, oh, it's death there for and Nailer's like, this is gonna be awesome, and they were like, if this guy's good, we need.

00:13:03
Speaker 2: To keep him.

00:13:03
Speaker 1: No, I loved hitting her.

00:13:04
Speaker 5: I don't know.

00:13:06
Speaker 3: Naylor was so good with them, and I just feel like he's one like the what was the play where he blocked the tried to block the double play, Like, it's.

00:13:16
Speaker 1: Just one of those he didn't try. He did, he did jump, he had.

00:13:20
Speaker 2: Butters as silly as it is.

00:13:22
Speaker 3: I just feel like Naylor is one of those guys that's like, I will take a bullet for this team. And I feel like they needed that and they recognized that they got a little taste. And that's why trades are also important, right, both sides get to see how they like each other, and they did and he ends up signing early.

00:13:37
Speaker 2: So I just wanted to give my two cents.

00:13:39
Speaker 3: I give a ton of credit to Mariners ownership for stepping up on that front almost one hundred million dollars for a free agent. Used to not be crazy in Seattle, but it is these days. So good for them for getting that done. I've been a big Nailor fan for years either. He's underwritten, now properly rated, previously underrated,