The Guardians are set to turn shortstop to a young infielder who hasn’t established himself at the MLB level. Last year’s Opening Day starter, Amed Rosario, was shipped off at the deadline. While he’s available in free agency, Cleveland isn’t likely to bring him back. They should have a competition between at least two fairly well-regarded young infielders in camp and during the early part of the upcoming season.
Let’s take a look at the possibilities:
Among returnees, no one played shortstop more frequently last season. He worked as the primary starter after Rosario was traded. Arias picked up 46 starts and logged 402 innings at the position overall. Defensive Runs Saved graded him as a neutral defender, while Statcast felt he was slightly better than average. Arias had a strong reputation as a defender during his time as a prospect, showcasing plus arm strength with the hands and lateral agility to stick at the position.
Arias would be a clear defensive upgrade on Rosario. The question is how much of an offensive impact he’d make. He hit just .210/.275/.352 over 345 plate appearances last season. MLB pitching exploited longstanding questions about his strike zone feel. Arias struck out nearly a third of the time. He chased pitches off the plate with regularity and swung through 19.5% of the offerings he saw. Of the 293 hitters who logged at least 300 plate appearances, only four swung and missed more frequently.
Despite the middling offensive output, Arias enters camp as the presumptive favorite. In a reader mailbag this week, MLB.com’s Mandy Bell suggested the Guardians were likely to give him the first opportunity to seize the job. Arias’ 2023 season was cut short by a non-displaced fracture in his right wrist when he was hit by a pitch in the final week of September. There’s no indication that he won’t be fully healthy for his age-24 season. Arias still has a minor league option, so the Guardians can send him to Triple-A, but it’d be a surprise if he isn’t on the Opening Day roster.
Rocchio, a switch-hitter, has been on the prospect radar for some time. Baseball America has included him among their Top 100 minor league talents four years running. Having recently turned 23, he seems likely to exhaust his rookie eligibility this year.
Cleveland gave Rocchio a brief MLB look last season. He was first promoted in April and bounced on and off the club on five separate occasions. Rocchio didn’t much make of an impact in his first 86 plate appearances. He didn’t hit a home run and limped to a .247/.279/.321 batting line. It wasn’t the most impressive showing, but it’s also probably not worth making a judgment off a limited sample spread across scattered views at big league pitching.
In 537 plate appearances for Triple-A Columbus, Rocchio turned in a solid .280/.367/.421 showing. He walked nearly as often as he struck out. Rocchio took free passes at an 11.2% clip while punching out just 12.3% of the time. The Guardians prioritize bat-to-ball skills, perhaps more than any other team. It’s fair to question how much power upside he possesses in a slight frame — he hit just seven homers in Triple-A — but he’s more of a prototypical Cleveland hitter than Arias is.
Baseball America remains bullish on his chances of carving out a productive career. He ranked as the #2 prospect in the Cleveland system and in the back half of their overall Top 100 this offseason. The outlet credits his advanced feel for hitting from both sides of the plate and gap power. He’s regarded as a solid defender with excellent baseball instincts. Rocchio has one option remaining.
Freeman also falls into the archetypal “Guardians hitter” mold. He makes a ton of contact with minimal power. The right-handed hitter appeared in 64 big league contests last season, posting a modest .242/.295/.366 batting line. He was far better in a 24-game look in Triple-A, where he hit .319/.457/.462 with almost as many walks (12.9%) as strikeouts (13.8%).
While he has a broadly similar offensive profile to Rocchio, he’s not as highly-regarded defensively. The Guardians used him more frequently at third base than shortstop last season, but he doesn’t have a path to consistent playing time at the hot corner unless José Ramírez suffers an injury. Freeman turns 25 in May and is entering his final option year, so this could be something of a make-or-break year for him to establish himself as a long-term piece in Cleveland.
It’d be a surprise if Tena’s in the mix for everyday shortstop work, at least early in the year. The left-handed hitter could play a multi-positional role off the bench and rotate through the position at times. Tena was called to the big leagues for the first time in early August. He only received 34 MLB plate appearances and struggled in that minuscule sample (.226/.294/.290). The 22-year-old (23 in March) spent most of last season at Double-A Akron. He posted a .260/.353/.370 line over 362 trips to the plate. Tena walked at a strong 11.3% clip but struck out in an alarming 28.7% of his plate appearances. He still has an option remaining and will probably start the year in Columbus.
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Cleveland also has a pair of upper minors middle infield prospects on the 40-man roster. Juan Brito, whom they acquired from Colorado in last year’s Nolan Jones trade, briefly reached Triple-A after posting an impressive .276/.373/.444 slash over 87 Double-A contests. Switch-hitting Angel Martínez combined for a .251/.321/.394 line between the top two minor league levels as a 21-year-old.
Brito and Martínez are probably each better suited for second base. It’s unlikely either breaks camp with Cleveland, but they’re both in close enough proximity to potentially factor into the middle infield competition during the ’24 season. If either plays his way to the second base job, the Guardians could consider sliding Andrés Giménez back to shortstop. Giménez played exclusively at the keystone last year but posted solid defensive metrics in his early-career work on the left side of the diamond.
1. Tigers
2. Twins
3. Indians
2024 standings. book it
Calling them the Indians is a micro aggression. I expect better from you Liberalsteve
Maybe there’s hope for him yet!
Aggression, lololol.
@ os1995
I live in Toronto
I still call the baseball stadium “the skydome”
is that micro aggression also?
the cleveland team shall always be the Indians to me regardless of name changes or hurt feelings
@Tuna, I was making a joke on the irony of a liberal calling the team Indians when liberals called for the name change in the first place. I’m with you on the Indinians being the better name. Did people think I was using the term micro aggression non-ironically?
Same, I am an Indians fan. Go Tribe!
@os1995 … my bad, and my apologies if offended
Soooooo many snowflakes on here , and for a sports related site.
@os1995
I thought it was pretty clear you were just making joke based on the OPs name. Apparently not everyone did though lol
But will any of them be .500 at the end of the year?
Do the guardians have a platoon RHH OF to trade the jays for Espinal. That way they have a fall back option with 3 yrs mlb experience. Jays just need a RHH LHP smashing OF with 2yrs control for Espinal. Im sure the deal is out there somewhere. Espy is at his floor a platoon SS INF back up so its a fair trade with some team out there
They do – Laureano. Plus defense and always a good hitter against lefties even after 2 post-PED down seasons.
The Guardians might have the best pitching staff by a slight bit, but the Twins and Tigers are looking like the more well rounded teams heading into next season. Detroit has a lot of good young talent on the way, so they are definitely trending upwards. Their pitching staff is underrated, if everyone can finally healthy.
I have no clue? About what? That the Guardians have no offense? And that their rotation has plenty of question marks? It’s not at all unreasonable to rate the Tigers and Twins as at least as good, if not better, than them heading into next season.
Like last year? homer
Offense garbage and bullpen average.And division a little better
They still need a right-handed corner OF or DH who produces runs. They’ve made no obvious effort to fill that need which means they won’t. Simple problem to solve, but where there’s no will, there’s no way.
Pitching depth is the Guards problem. Imagine if they didn’t have those 3 rookies last year to bail them out. Injuries would really hurt. They don’t have 3 more of them ready to go.
That pitching isn’t as deep as it was this time last year and there’s still a good chance Bieber is moved before opening day. I wouldn’t put down money for playoff tickets just yet
Rotation: Bieber, McKenzie, Bibee, Williams, Allen. Depth: Gaddis, Curry, Lively, Carrasco, Cantillo, Espino. With any injury luck, this pitching staff will be plenty deeper than last year.
Jram
Most of those guys are just guys. Espino is the wildcard that could be elite though. They could be great if the young guys continue to improve. But those 3 are going to blow past their innings ceilings this year. Sorry to say it but I just don’t think McKenzie’s frame will keep him injury free.
The problem is the CLE needs excellent pitching because it’s going to be tough to put a lot of runs on the board with that many holes in the lineup. Small margin of error.
Pitching loses 1-0
La
“book it”
Tell me you don’t know much about baseball without telling me
The Orioles traded from their positional surplus by trading Joey Ortiz to get Corbin Burnes when the team is close to a championship.
The Guardians now have Rocchio, Arias, Freeman, Juan Brito, Angel Martinez all as middle infield prospects who look like everyday players, yet they’ve refused to make a trade to address their positions of need.
Instead, last offseason they traded their outfield prospects, despite historically being awful at developing outfielders. And now they plan on starting Myles Straw AGAIN and DFA claim Ramon Laureano.
Myles straw was told at the end of the year the following. You better get your s… together offense wise or you’re gone.
Is there a source for that?
Yes guardians roundtable last week. Jim rosehouse and media person pr Bobby b. Front office had exit interviews at end of year.
Problem is it’s hard to trade players who basically make nothing for players you actually have to pay. It’s why Dolan doesn’t make many trades
Trading away Will Benson and Nolan Jones last offseason, and watching them have big breakout seasons on other teams while their own offense struggled, must have been a bitter pill to swallow. I didn’t really like the Civale trade for them either, as I don’t think Manzardo will be a huge upgrade over Josh Naylor, who they could easily afford to sign to an extension if they really wanted to. They haven’t done a good job choosing which players to keep versus who to trade over the past year.
The Orioles have Henderson, Westburg, Urias and Mateo for shortstop. Guardians fans should wait until they find a viable starter before counting their surplus assets.
Guardians playing out the movie major league in real time. Still trying to get to Miami.
What time do you go on stage. You sure lack baseball talent as judging talent. Williams and Bible are two youngest talent wise in major leagues .
uh if anyone is doing the Major League plot it’s the A’s
John Fisher is no Rachel Phelps…
We’d have to see him in a bikini to be sure…
Difference b/n O’s infield prospects and that of the tribe is that the O’s deliver on the field instead of just on paper
You’re right, I can’t think of a single Cleveland infield prospect who has worked out at the big league level
My math may be off slightly, but you will get the drift.
At the time of the 2021 trade that brought Rosario and Gimenez, Cleveland had eleven shortstops 25 yrs old or younger in levels AA and above. The Guardians also had 14 MIF prospects listed on fangraphs in addition to Gimenez.
Three years later, the Guards still have only one of two MIF positions filled, several have been given away, and seemingly no decision is imminent.
They’ll always be the Naps. Landis is a mountain.
Rocchio should be starting shortstop. Keith law has him in top 100 prospects. Don’t know what they see in Aries. Can’t hit left handers.
It’s probably the power his bat holds and his fielding combo. They are known for giving those fringe-hitting guys with dwindling options a chance. It helps bake in development for their more promising prospects to develop more power as they age. It is also said to be squeezing out production from players in trades while also trying to build said player into something tradeable. Either way, Cleveland will give Arias plenty of opportunities to become viable as they wait for Rocchio to mature any power in his swing.
Please take Aledmys off our hands.
The only person who can’t seem to understand that Diaz isn’t a SS anymore is Mark Kotsay…
Diaz isn’t really a baseball player anymore.
Only if you throw in the third Naylor brother so we have all three!
Can Freeman play CF? Hopeful Rocchio will win the job.
Kwan played centerfield in college. The outfielder they got from the Yankees will be the centerfielder opening day.
TA is still available…
They desperately need some pop in that lineup
There were plenty of solid power bats available in free agency. Rhys Hoskins and Mitch Garver would have been solid additions to their lineup. They didn’t want to spend any money, as usual.
DH only players meh
They need Giminez at SS and to go get an offensive player for 2b
I agree that Gimenez should be the SS, but who is out there that can provide some punch from 2B? Maybe they can offer a quality pitcher to STL for Gorman or Donovan. I suppose India is gettable, but again, they would need to be willing to part with a quality starter. Perhaps Brandon Lowe from Tampa Bay.
I am a big fan of Juan Brito but he’s more of a plate approach guy that probably maxes out around 15 HRs..
Seems like all of their guys fit that mold with Arias being the only possible exception. Ideally they would end up with Rocchio at SS and Gimenez at 2B. That’s a very good defensive duo that fits their prototype for offense.
I am hoping they will extend Naylor and sign/trade for another middle of the order bat. J-Ram is having to carry too much of the load by himself. Perhaps one of Manzardo, DeLauter, or Valera can be that guy soon.
And just as a disclaimer: I have serious reservations about DeLauter. I’ve never liked his swing. There’s a reason why so few players with awkward mechanics become productive pro players; there’s a right way and a wrong way – mechanically – to play the game. It’s the same concern I have about Benny Montgomery. I hope I’m wrong about them though.
As a “Guards fan, I think it’s going be an interesting year. I like the Tigers right now as our offense is such a question mark. Jose is another year older and probably away from his MVP years. I love our young pitching, though. We got two monumental wild cards in Florial and Deyvison De Los Santos and who knows if they play to be honest. I applaud the “Guards for going out of the box to look at high potential guys but neither are even guaranteed a spot. I do like a couple of out minor league invites in Beede and Manzardo. A guy to keep an eye on is lorenzo cedrola as well.
I think Florial is going to work out really well in “our” system. Excited to see Manzardo and the little mentioned Cedrola.
Arias and Rocchio will likely split time but probably not at the same time. Arias needs to prove he can reach 80% zone-contact and improve outside as well. This should come down to breaking and offspeed pitch recognition improvements and not overswinging at fastballs in zone.
Rocchio needs to prove he can hit the ball at at least average exit velocities. His prior production was well below standard, which puts him at odds to flop. Usually, rookies who can’t produce power fall victim faster than those with above-average maximum velocities. Rocchio had a 103-mph max in 2023.
So what’s the average?
Rocchio needs at least +2mph to average (88-89mph), and his Max needs at least the same (minor max is 107.5). Without this, he would be walking a path similar to how Kwan operates.
Cleveland can win a bad division and that’s about it. This offseason should have been a soft reload for 2025. They have some good young talent on the mound and in the field.
Arias didn’t hit in winter ball either. He looks like a flop. Go with Rocchio this season and let Arias work on his swing and pitch recognition in AAA. I doubt he shows any improvement and will be gone by this time next year.
Giminez is an excellent defensive SS this team needs offense in the worst way. that they aren’t putting a good offensive player at 2b and maximizing Giminez’s value at SS is just bad practice
The other major problem that the lack of decision making from the Guards front office has caused is that time has just about run out for many of the formerly highly thought of youngsters.
These kids are down to one option, meaning any sent down have no more…
Arias
Rocchio
Freeman
Tena
Valera
Noel
Lavastida
Plus De Los Santos and Florial can’t be sent down.
Most of the above won’t be in Cleveland next year, and without options won’t have much, if any, trade value.
At least we’re getting those blue chairs
If they aren’t going to move Gimenez to SS, then Rocchio should get the bulk of the work this year. That, or be willing to spend what little it would take to sign Brandon Crawford or Amed Rosario.
At some point, you got to give your prospects an extended look in the major leagues. Let Arias, Freeman, and Rocchio fight it out in Spring Training. No sense in making the middle infield logjam worse by bringing in a guy like Rosario – who is a bad defender and doesn’t have a consistent bat.
Hard to get excited about the Guards this year when they copy the A’s off-season plan… Rocchio seems most likely to last the longest in this non-battle for SS, but with a new new skipper who can tell? Really a void when it comes to my roto expectations…
That or the Spiders, was always a fan of that name as a franchise. All of these are better than “Guardians” though.
Furniture Makers > Spiders
No to Rosario. Might as well have a statue at shortstop. No range.
vogt has acknowledged the possibility of moving giminez back to SS though vogt is reluctant to move a platinum glove winner to a different position. to me winning a platinum glove at 2B is like being the best sailor in the swiss navy. the usual reason you’re at 2B is because you can’t cut it at SS and you can turn the DP pivot.. i’m old school in believing that you need to be strong up the middle defensively and if giminez is our best defensive SS he should be playing there.
it’s a shame that there’s no way to quantify how a player’s defense influences how a pitcher performs on the mound. even the unflappable kluber reacted to how raburn spiked that throw into the turf. it’s big part of why i’m ok with the amount of playing time straw’s received even though his offense took a serious nose dive. the stats suggest that the lengthening opposing pitch count approach really hurt his game after you look at how often he ended up in 2 strike pitch counts after the contract extension based on how often he took first pitch strikes instead of swinging. kind of the opposite of early chisenhall who was always swinging early in the count until he developed the discipline to lay off those pitches. straw IMO should be given the green light to swing away.