The Guardians appear to have mostly finalized their Opening Day roster, though president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti noted to reporters (including Mandy Bell of MLB.com) that “there is some chance that we make an external acquisition, and if we do, that will affect the composition of our roster.”
Barring such an acquisition, however, it seems likely that Cleveland will open the season with three catchers on their roster, as both Cam Gallagher and Meibrys Viloria appear set to make the team and back up starting catcher Mike Zunino. With multiple back-up options, the Guardians are hoping that Zunino will have a lighter workload in 2023 after missing the second half of the 2022 season due to surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. That comes at the expense of depth in the infield and outfield, however, as Gabriel Arias figures to be the sole infielder on the bench, with Will Brennan the sole outfielder. On the other hand, that should help both youngsters get additional playing time to aid their development. That’s particularly valuable for Arias, who played just 82 games last year between Triple-A and the majors after missing two months on the injured list last season.
More from around the AL Central…
- Sticking with the Guardians, manager Terry Francona told reporters, including Bell, that right-hander Triston McKenzie was dealing with right arm tightness that led to him being pulled from his start today after just one inning. McKenzie figures to be a key cog at the front of Cleveland’s rotation this year after he posted a 2.96 ERA in 191 1/3 innings of work last season, so long as his current ailment doesn’t prove to be more serious than initially believed. In the event that McKenzie misses time, the club could look to a depth option like Konnor Pilkington or Jason Bilous to fill McKenzie’s spot in the rotation.
- The Opening Day pitching staff in Minnesota came into further focus today, as the Twins optioned Bailey Ober to Triple-A, per The Athletic’s Dan Hayes, following their decision to reassign Jeff Hoffman, per Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Ober figured to be pushed out of the rotation picture in Minnesota following the club’s acquisition of Pablo Lopez from the Marlins earlier this offseason, and will act as depth in Triple-A following an 11-start showing in 2022 where he posted a solid 3.21 ERA (120 ERA+) in 56 innings of work. Hoffman, meanwhile, signed a minor league deal with the Twins last month in order to compete for a long relief role i the Twins bullpen. Instead, right-hander Cole Sands seems poised to fill that role, leaving Hoffman to decide whether or not to make use of his opt-out clause this coming Tuesday.
- Shortly after alerting him that he would not make their Opening Day roster, the White Sox announced that they had released right-hander Bryan Shaw from his minor league deal with the club. The veteran Shaw sports a 3.92 ERA in 714 2/3 innings of work during his career and is now poised to look for another club interested in his services for his age-35 season. Shaw made a strong case for himself this spring, pitching to a 1.08 ERA in 8 1/3 innings during camp.
The annual Minnesota baseball catastrophe is in full swing. At least they’re no longer obligated to Joe Mauer’s sorry ass.
You could have had a valid comment, but then you chose to add the second sentence.
Are you planning to run through every team in the league and insult one of their key players from the past or just the AL central? So far you’ve got Detroit and Minnesota covered. Maybe I missed some of your greatest hits.
Not like he can watch entertaining baseball as a marlins fan. Let him troll
I don’t get the comment. I’m an Angel fan, but I actually grew up in Florida, but never went back after my military service. Where I’m going with this is that I grew up in Orlando where the Twins used to make their spring home at Tinker Field. I grew up going to spring training games watching Kent Hrbek, Puckett, Brunansky, Gaetti and Frankie Sweet Music Viola. Twins 2nd favorite.
I actually love what the Twins are doing this season. I think the loss of Arrauz hurts, but In the end pitching is 90% of the key to having a winning season. The Twins to me have the most complete rotation in the AL Central. They have depth everywhere you look.
Many are picking Cleveland and Chicago, but if I could bet for the winner of the central my money would be on Minnesota.
You can bet on the twins to win the central. If you live in Cali just take the trip to Vegas (it’s a 45 min. flight) and make your bet. I’m guessing you won’t do it, the central will be won by Cleveland most likely
“external acquisition”
Interesting.
Lots of out of options dudes who might be on waivers shortly.
keston hiura?
I doubt Hiura because doesn’t fit their identity on offense. Zunino doesn’t really either but he’s a strong defender behind the plate and they care more about that anyway.
So I don’t think it’ll be Hiura specifically but I think someone else along those lines could be interesting. They basically just need someone intriguing enough to be better than a third catcher but someone who wouldn’t block guys like Arias and Brennan from more at bats.
They don’t want Naylor sitting on the bench when he can play every day in AAA.
Their reasoning for carrying three catchers is so that they can apparently pinch hit for them more often and have someone else to put in, and I don’t love that idea but it still makes sense to not bring Naylor up if he won’t get regular playing time.
I’m not sure where they have a need to make an external acquisition. Bullpen is the only thing I can think of.
Honest question….is the pic above pre-name change or is Cleveland allowed to wear “Indians” stuff on throwback days?
(I’m guessing pre name change)
Ya, that is an old pic. I think all their throwback unis have/will have “Cleveland” on the front rather than “Indians.”
Yeah because history apparently doesn’t matter anymore…
Welcome back to Cleveland, Bryan!
That’s not even a little funny. But, Francona loves him like his own first-born, so it’s not out of the question. Shaw’s only way to Cooperstown is to induct Tito.
No stats to back this up, but I always thought Shaw performed better the more often he pitched. And Tito was the only manager who had a feel for just how often to use him. That said, would anybody be surprised at all if he wound up back in Cleveland?
I don’t follow the Guardians closely, but what happened to Bo Naylor? I thought he was going to contribute to the team this year, even if he didn’t make the Opening Day roster. It seems odd that they were carry 3 catchers, but none are Naylor.
They want him to have more seasoning in AAA. I suspect he’ll get a call at some point.
To Ohio natives: Do people still wear the old Chief Wahoo logo caps around anymore or have they moved on to the C? I’m not here to debate the name change nor its merits. As a kid, I grew up wearing a bunch of other teams’ caps and I always liked the old logo. I also wore the old Pirates and Expos logos as well.
There’s still a pretty good mix of both. It seems like it’s mostly the C or Guardians logo now just because they haven’t really produced new Chief Wahoo stuff for a little while, but I have stuff with each of the logos on them that I’ll wear (and I’m sure most people do too), so I’m more willing to mix it up than only go with one or the other.
No clue why the twins are high on Sands enough to carry him in the bigs right now. I haven’t watched him enough to say he’s not going to be good, but haven’t seen the results on paper.
The Twins have been failing miserably in their attempt to reinvent pitching. The essence of 5S and Lean Six has been around forever as has strategy and analytics. As much as the Twins continue to think that their brilliance is the best path, the proof is in the lack of success.
It’s not that they’re so high on Sands, but that the team needs a man in the pen. The plan is to keep Ober stretched out in AAA for when Maeda fails in the rotation
I don’t understand why the Twins are just slotting Maeda back into the rotation at the expense of Ober? Go with a six man or let Maeda pitch in long relief, he hasn’t thrown in a while and may not be very good.
I watched the CLE/CIN game yesterday, and Francona was being interviewed from the dugout in the 4th or 5th inning. He said they removed McKenzie after the 1st as a precautionary measure after he reported tightness in his triceps. I’m surprised that wasn’t specified in the article.
It’s a pity to see Ober sent to AAA. I think Mahle and Maeda have some rust to work through after coming back from injuries. Would be nice to see what Ober can do now where he is already showing well and can contribute.