James Karinchak Granted Free Agency After Outright From Guardians
The Guardians announced some roster moves this afternoon, including the news that right-hander James Karinchak was reinstated from the 60-day injured list and then outrighted off the club’s 40-man roster. Karinchak was granted free agency, so the 29-year-old righty will now hit the open market.
The hard-throwing Karinchak burst onto the scene with a sixth-place finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2020, posting a 2.67 ERA over 27 innings while striking out an exceptional 48.6% of all batters faced. A 14.7% walk rate was attached to all those missed bats, however, which ended up being a constant over Karinchak’s time in the majors. Over parts of five seasons with Cleveland, Karinchak had a 36.3K% and 14.1% walk rate in 165 2/3 innings, with a 3.10 ERA.
While the bottom-line results were still okay, Karinchak’s performance diminished after the league’s crackdown on illegal substances in 2021, and continued control problems and injuries made him something of an afterthought for the Guardians. A teres major muscle strain cost him a big chunk of the 2022 season, he was shuttled back and forth from Triple-A multiple times in 2023, and he was limited to just 6 2/3 Triple-A innings in 2024 due to a shoulder injury suffered during Spring Training.
Karinchak was projected to earn $1.9MM in the arbitration process, so today’s transaction is essentially just an early non-tender. Karinchak is still arb-controlled through 2026 and he has one minor league option year remaining, so any interested teams could stash him in Triple-A to see if he can stay healthy or harness his control. The obvious strikeout potential will surely land Karinchak a minors deal somewhere, and a change of scenery could help him get his career back on track.
David Fry To Miss Start Of 2025 Season Due To Elbow Surgery, Will Be Limited To DH Duty
Guardians utilityman David Fry was known to be receiving consultation from Dr. Keith Meister about a lingering right elbow injury, and MLB.com’s Mandy Bell (X link) reports that Fry had to undergo a surgery to correct the issue. As outlined by the Guardians (via X), Fry underwent a hybrid/internal brace and tendon reconstruction surgery to address a flexor strain and a “chronically insufficient” UCL.
Fry will need 12 months to return to action as a fielder, so he’ll be limited to DH duty for the entirety of the 2025 season. Even in that case, Fry will need 6-8 months just to return as a designated hitter, so he’ll be sidelined for at least the start of next season.
It’s a tough turn of events for both Fry and the Guardians, as his defensive versatility made him a uniquely valuable asset on Cleveland’s roster. Ostensibly a backup catcher, Fry has bounced all over the diamond during his two MLB seasons, banking almost as many innings at first base and as a corner outfielder (129 innings in left, 67 in right) as he has behind the plate, and Fry has also made a handful of appearances at third base.
This usage was curtailed midway through the 2024 season as Fry’s elbow issue began to surface. After June 23, he made only one appearance at catcher and 10 appearances at first base, otherwise playing only as a DH and pinch-hitter. There was a clear impact on Fry’s production, as he had a scorching-hot 1.046 OPS over his first 159 plate appearances of the season, and a far more modest .649 OPS over his final 233 trips to the plate.
The overall result was still a .263/.356/.448 slash line and 14 homers in 392 PA, and Fry’s 129 wRC+ ranked third on the team behind Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan. Fry kept it going in the playoffs, hitting .286/.333/.536 with two homers over 31 October plate appearances, highlighted by his 10th-inning walkoff homer in Game 3 of the ALCS.
Cleveland was expected to pursue hitting help this winter anyway, so losing one of their top bats to a brace surgery further sets back the Guardians’ quest for offense. In the best-case scenario, Fry will be able to return to Cleveland’s lineup in early April, and he’ll assume at least a share of the regular DH role. The right-handed hitting Fry was a lot more productive against lefties than righties this season, so a left-handed bat like Kyle Manzardo might be in line to get the lion’s share of the DH at-bats anyway once Fry eventually returns.
Of course, quite a bit might be in flux with the Guardians’ first base/DH situation this winter, as Josh Naylor is widely seen as a trade candidate as he enters his last year of team control. If Naylor was dealt and Fry needs more recovery time, it leaves Manzardo and Jhonkensy Noel as an inexperienced pair of first-choice candidates for first base and DH duty, which might make Cleveland a little more apt to hang onto Naylor.
On the catching side, Bo Naylor will continue to receive the bulk of starts behind the plate, and nobody would be surprised if defensive specialist Austin Hedges is re-signed to again serve as the backup. Fry will be missed in the outfield as well, though it was expected that the Guardians would look to bolster the outfield mix anyway with a new addition.
Guardians Outright Myles Straw
The Guardians sent outfielder Myles Straw outright to Triple-A Columbus, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Cleveland successfully ran him through waivers once the offseason got underway, removing him from the 40-man roster.
Straw was a lock to go unclaimed because of his contract. A team would’ve needed to assume the remaining $14.75MM in guaranteed money. Straw has cleared waivers twice this year. Cleveland outrighted him just before Opening Day. He spent almost the entire season in Triple-A. The Guards reselected his contract in mid-September but presumably always planned to take him back off the roster at year’s end.
Cleveland inked Straw to that deal early in the 2022 season. He’d posted a solid year in ’21, hitting .271/.349/.348 while stealing 30 bases and playing plus defense in center field. The Guardians reasoned that his speed and glove gave him a solid floor despite minimal power. His bat completely cratered over the next two seasons. Straw combined for only one home run with a .229/.296/.284 line from 2022-23. He didn’t hit in Triple-A this year, either, running a .240/.321/.329 mark against upper minors pitching.
As a player with less than five years of major league service, Straw would forfeit his contract to test free agency. He’s obviously not going to do that, so the Guards can keep him in Triple-A as a depth option. He only made seven MLB appearances this year, collecting one hit in four at-bats. He stole two bases in as many attempts.
Craig Albernaz Withdraws From Marlins’ Managerial Search; Clayton McCullough Still Under Consideration
Guardians bench coach Craig Albernaz has withdrawn his name from the Marlins’ managerial search, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Both the Marlins and White Sox liked Albernaz enough to consider him a finalist in their searches, but Passan suggests Albernaz took his name out of the bidding in Chicago as well prior to the team’s hiring of Will Venable. In a separate report, Passan adds that Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough is still in the mix for Miami’s vacancy. MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola first linked Miami and McCullough about three weeks ago.
Albernaz, 42, was a minor league catcher in the Rays and Tigers systems from 2006-14. He spent four years as the Giants’ bullpen and catching coach and overlapped with then-manager (and now Marlins assistant GM) Gabe Kapler’s time in San Francisco’s dugout. The Guards hired him away from the Giants last offseason — but not after first interviewing him for their own managerial vacancy (which eventually went to Stephen Vogt). Albernaz was originally hired as the Guardians’ field coordinator, but just 16 days later he was listed as the team’s bench coach when they finalized their entire staff under the newly hired Vogt.
McCullough, 44, played four years in the minors before shifting to a minor league coaching track. He managed for seven seasons in the Blue Jays’ system and has been with the Dodgers since 2015. Los Angeles originally hired McCullough as their minor league field coordinator, and he’s been Dave Roberts’ first base coach since the 2021 season.
For the past few years, McCullough has been widely viewed as a future manager. He’s interviewed not only with the Marlins but also the White Sox, Brewers, Guardians, Mets and Royals — emerging as a finalist alongside Matt Quatraro for the Kansas City gig. De Nicola tweets that Dodgers star Mookie Betts has called McCullough “the best coach I’ve ever had.” Like Albernaz, McCullough has worked with Kapler in the past, as the two overlapped during their time in the Dodgers’ minor league coaching ranks.
It’s not clear at this juncture who, beyond McCullough, is still under consideration. Albernaz and Venable were reported to be among the team’s finalists earlier this week. Venable, of course, has since been hired by the White Sox while Albernaz has taken his name out of the running. Other known candidates for Miami’s managerial search included Tigers bench coach George Lombard and Luis Urueta, who served as the bench coach under Skip Schumaker prior to his recent departure from the organization.
Offseason Outlook: Cleveland Guardians
Despite a quiet offseason, the Guardians returned to contention in 2024. They won 92 games and the AL Central crown before falling to the Yankees in the ALCS. As November approaches, two related questions loom large for this team: Will the surprising success of their rivals in Detroit and Kansas City convince the Guardians to do more this winter to defend their division title? Or will the potential loss of local media revenue lead to another slow offseason?
Guaranteed Contracts
- José Ramírez, 3B: $88MM through 2028
- Andrés Giménez, 2B: $96.86MM through 2029 ($23MM club option for 2030 with $2.5MM buyout)
- Myles Straw, CF: $13.8MM through 2026 ($8MM club option for 2027 with $1.75MM buyout and $8.5MM club option for ‘28 with a $500K buyout)
- Emmanuel Clase, RHP: $11.3MM through 2026 ($10MM club options for 2027 and ‘28 with $2MM buyout for ‘27 and $1MM buyout for ‘28)
- Trevor Stephan, RHP: $5.8MM through 2026 ($7.25MM club option for 2027 with $1.25MM buyout and $7.5 club option for ‘28 with no buyout)
Additional Financial Commitments
- Jean Segura, INF: $2MM buyout owed on $10MM club option for 2025
Total 2025 commitments: $45.17MM
Total future commitments: $225.26MM
Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; salary projections via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
- Josh Naylor (5.127): $12MM
- Lane Thomas (5.014): $8.3MM
- James Karinchak (4.099): $1.9MM
- Triston McKenzie (4.002): $2.4MM
- Sam Hentges (3.157): $1.4MM
- Nick Sandlin (3.157): $1.6MM
- Eli Morgan (3.091): $1MM
- Steven Kwan (3.000): $4.3MM
- Ben Lively (2.133): $3.2MM
Non-tender candidates: Karinchak, McKenzie, Hentges
Free Agents
The top teams are often the most well-rounded, but the 2024 Guardians were defined by their strengths and weaknesses. Their bullpen was the best in baseball, but their starters were unreliable for most of the year. Meanwhile, their offense was excellent against left-handed pitching but struggled to score against righties. They were also one of the better defensive teams in the league by almost every metric, but their baserunning numbers were surprisingly mediocre. First and foremost, the Guardians need to focus on their scoring, and not run prevention, this winter. That said, they could badly use a couple more reliable options for the rotation.
All-Stars José Ramírez and Steven Kwan led the offense in 2024, and they’ll be back at the top of the order again next year. Even the notoriously stingy and trade-happy Guardians wouldn’t possibly part with their star third baseman, who continues to look like an absolute bargain on the seven-year, $141MM extension he signed in 2022. As for Kwan, the left fielder is a strong extension candidate himself after another terrific season.
Additional veterans in the lineup include the slugging Josh Naylor at first base, defensive stalwart Andrés Giménez at second, and trade deadline acquisition Lane Thomas in center field. Youngsters Kyle Manzardo (DH), Bo Naylor (C), and Brayan Rocchio (SS) should have spots in next year’s starting nine as well. All three had up-and-down seasons, but considering their recent top prospect status, there’s little reason to think they won’t get to continue their development with the big league club in 2025. Indeed, the best way for Cleveland to improve its offense next year will be to get more production out of Manzardo, Bo Naylor, and Rocchio.
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White Sox Managerial Search Reportedly Down To Three Finalists
The White Sox are on the hunt for a new manager and might be getting closer to a decision. Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today on X, the three finalists for the job are Rangers associate manager Will Venable, Guardians bench coach Craig Albernaz and former Angels manager Phil Nevin.
As noted by Nightengale, this could make for an interesting standoff. The Sox are one of two clubs on the hunt for a new manager, with the other being the Marlins. It was reported yesterday by Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald that Venable and Albernaz are the two finalists for the Marlins gig, so there’s plenty of overlap in the two searches.
Nevin, 53, appears to be the one name on the radar of the Sox but not the Marlins. Jon Heyman of The New York Post listed him as a candidate a few weeks ago and it seems Nevin is still in the running. He’s also the only one in the group with previous managerial experience. He was working as the Angels third base coach in 2022 when manager Joe Maddon was fired. The club gave Nevin the gig on an interim basis and eventually re-signed him for the 2023 campaign but didn’t extend his contract after that.
The club went 119-149 during his time there, but that might not say much about his abilities as a skipper. The club also posted poor results before he had the job and after he left, meaning the poor record is likely more a reflection of roster construction as opposed to a lack of dugout leadership.
After parting ways with the Angels, Nevin interviewed for the managerial vacancy in San Diego but that job went to Mike Shildt and Nevin didn’t land a gig elsewhere for the 2024 season. Prior to joining the Angels, he spent about a decade in the majors as a player before pivoting into coaching. He worked in indy ball and then in the minors with the Tigers and Diamondbacks. He then had major league coaching jobs with the Giants and Yankees before landing with the Angels.
Venable is also a former player with plenty of coaching experience. He was a base coach with the Cubs for the 2018-2020 seasons before becoming the bench coach with the Red Sox. He’s spent the past two years as associate manager for the Rangers under skipper Bruce Bochy.
He was listed as a candidate for managerial gigs last winter with the Guardians and Mets but reportedly declined to be interviewed as he was happy with the Rangers. Now it appears that he’s giving more consideration to a change. Heyman reported yesterday that Venable was in Miami to interview for that gig and a move to the South Side of Chicago seems to be feasible as well.
Albernaz never cracked the majors as a player, spending almost a decade in the minors from 2006 through 2014. After that, he started his coaching career in the minor league system of the Rays. Prior to the 2020 season, he was added to the major league staff of the Giants as bullpen and catching coach. A year ago, the Guardians hired him to be their bench coach, working under new manager Stephen Vogt.
It’s been speculated by some that Albernaz is the favorite for the Miami job, given his history with Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix. When Albernaz was coaching for the Rays in the minors, Bendix was working for that club, eventually becoming general manager in December of 2021.
Pedro Grifol was fired as White Sox manager during the most recent season and replaced by Grady Sizemore on an interim basis. Sizemore had been identified as a candidate to take the job more permanently but Nightengale’s report suggests he’s behind this trio of Venable, Albernaz and Nevin.
Plenty of other names have been connected to the job but many have reportedly been eliminated from the running, including former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, Cardinals bench coach Daniel Descalso, Tigers bench coach George Lombard, Rangers bench coach and offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker, Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough and Padres special assistant A.J. Ellis.
Teams are generally discouraged from announcing big news on days when a playoff game is taking place. Even if the White Sox make a final decision soon, it may not be publicly reported until the World Series is done or gets to Thursday’s off-day.
Will Venable, Craig Albernaz Reportedly Finalists For Marlins Manager
Rangers associate manager Will Venable and Guardians bench coach Craig Albernaz are finalists for the Marlins’ managerial vacancy, report Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald. It seems the search will come down to one of those two. Mish notes in a separate post (on X) that he’s “not aware” of other finalists, though he leaves the door slightly open for the possibility of a mystery candidate emerging.
If it is indeed down to Venable and Albernaz, they’ll settle on Skip Schumaker’s replacement shortly. (An announcement may not come in the next few days, as MLB discourages teams from releasing significant news on days with a postseason game.) The Herald reports that both Albernaz and Venable are flying to Miami for in-person meetings with owner Bruce Sherman after conducting Zoom interviews for the first round. Jon Heyman of the New York Post tweets that Venable’s latest interview is occurring today.
Venable and Albernaz have been two of the hottest names in this year’s managerial cycle. They’ve both gotten consideration from the White Sox in their search. Venable has interviewed for the Chicago position. It’s not clear if Albernaz has had a formal sit-down with Sox brass or is simply on their list of potential hires.
Neither has major league managerial experience. Venable might have gotten an MLB job by now if he hadn’t taken himself out of consideration in previous offseasons. The former outfielder has a fair amount of experience as the #2 on a coaching staff. He spent two seasons as Alex Cora’s bench coach in Boston and has logged the last two years as an associate manager under Bruce Bochy in Arlington. The 42-year-old, a Princeton product, also logged three years on the Cubs’ staff after ending his playing career in 2016.
Albernaz, 41, did not reach the big leagues as a player. He has less experience than Venable in the coaching ranks as well. He joined the Giants as bullpen and catching coach during the 2019-20 offseason. After four seasons in San Francisco, he made the jump to bench coach for first-year skipper Stephen Vogt in Cleveland.
While Albernaz only has one year in a bench coach role, he’s a known commodity for Miami baseball operations president Peter Bendix and assistant GM Gabe Kapler. Albernaz was a minor league player and coach in the Rays’ organization while Bendix was Tampa Bay’s general manager. His four years with the Giants coincided with Kapler’s managerial tenure.
In other staffing news, MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola reports (on X) that Miami has hired Joe Migliaccio as director of hitting. Migliaccio, who had been with the Yankees as a hitting coordinator, will work in the player development department and oversee the team’s offensive performance at multiple levels. He is not going to be the MLB hitting coach. That role has yet to be filled and will probably wait until the managerial decision. Miami parted ways with Schumaker’s entire staff, including hitting coach John Mabry.
Latest On White Sox Managerial Search
Reports from earlier today removed a couple of names from consideration as the next White Sox manager, though the team’s search continues to be seemingly pretty fluid. Guardians bench coach Craig Albernaz is a new name in the mix according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post (links to X), while interim manager Grady Sizemore is still in the running and Tigers bench coach George Lombard is also no longer a candidate.
Since the White Sox and Marlins are the only teams currently looking for a new skipper, many of the same candidates are appearing in both searches, with Albernaz’s name the latest crossover. Albernaz has already interviewed in Miami and is considered one of the favorites for the position, as he has previous working relationships with both president of baseball operations Peter Bendix and assistant GM Gabe Kapler.
Like the White Sox, however, it isn’t yet entirely clear how close the Marlins might be to making an actual hire, or if any other candidates might still emerge. Lombard and Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough both interviewed with Miami and are apparently still under consideration for that job, even if Chicago is moving in another direction.
Albernaz (who turns 42 later this week) just completed his first season in Cleveland, after working as the Giants’ bullpen/catching coach over the 2019-22 seasons. This makes him a known quantity to White Sox pitching advisor Brian Bannister, who was San Francisco’s director of pitching for the last three of Albernaz’s seasons in the Bay Area. The Giants job marked Albernaz’s first role on a big league coaching staff, as he spent the previous five seasons as a manager, coach, and coordinator in the Rays’ farm system.
The 2024 season was also Sizemore’s first time on a Major League staff, and his first pro coaching job at any level. After Pedro Grifol was fired in August, Sizemore was something of a surprise choice as Chicago’s interim manager, and he led the team to a 13-32 record in the final stretch of what ended up as a singularly disastrous 121-loss season. GM Chris Getz said Sizemore would continue to be a candidate within the team’s search for a full-time bench boss, but Sizemore’s coaching contract runs through the 2025 season, so he might well be back anyway in some capacity if he isn’t retained as manager.
The list of known candidates still in the running for the White Sox position include Sizemore, Albernaz, former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, former Angels manager Phil Nevin, Rangers associate manager Will Venable, Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehmann, and Cardinals bench coach Daniel Descalso.
Trade Candidate: Josh Naylor
Since Josh Naylor didn’t sign an extension with the Guardians during his pre-arbitration years, it has always seemed like there has been a ticking clock on the first baseman’s time in the Cleve. With the exceptions of Jose Ramirez and Carlos Carrasco agreeing to below-market extensions to stay with the franchise, a look at Cleveland’s extension history over the last 17 years (hat tip to MLBTR’s Contract Tracker) reveals the simple truth that the Guards virtually never sign players to long-term extensions for significant salaries once they get within a year or two of free agency.
Naylor is now entering his final season of team control, and is projected by MLBTR’s Matt Swartz to land a $12MM salary in his last trip through the arbitration process. It’s a nice raise from his $6.5MM salary in 2024, and since arbitration calculations tend to heavily weigh traditional counting stats, Naylor will handsomely cash in from posting a career-best 31 homers and 108 RBI.
A peek at the more advanced metrics is a little more troublesome, as Naylor’s 118 wRC+ (from a .243/.320/.456 slash line in 633 plate appearances) was solid but not quite elite, and a drop from his 127 wRC+ in 2023. That prior season saw Naylor enjoy a .326 BABIP, while the batted-ball luck turned on him this season to the tune of a .246 BABIP. Most of Naylor’s production also came in the first three months of the season, and it could be that the career-high 633 PA led to Naylor wearing down as the year progressed. On the plus side, Naylor remained above-average in most Statcast categories, and he was a far more patient hitter than in years past, with a 9.2% walk rate that is also a career best.
All this being said, even “only” a repeat of his 2024 season should put Naylor (who turns 28 in June) in line for a lucrative free agent deal when he reaches the open market next winter. It also very likely puts him out of Cleveland’s price range over the long term, and quite possibly even for the 2025 campaign.
The Guards had some increased attendance at Progressive Field during the regular season and they got a nice revenue boost from hosting six playoff games, yet the organization will also experience some level of dropoff in their broadcasting dollars. MLB itself will now be handling the local distribution of Guardians games after the Diamond Sports Group backed out of its original contracts with the Guards and 10 other teams, which means that the Guardians will receive some but not all of the broadcast revenue they would’ve received under the terms of their previous deal.
In a world where the Guardians were still getting all of that TV money, odds are Naylor would still have been traded, just because that’s how the Guards have traditionally done business. And of course, it isn’t an absolute guarantee that the first baseman will be on the move this offseason. President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti might not find an offer to his liking, or ownership could approve a slightly higher payroll to make another run with what looks like a winning core. Naylor could then be shopped at the deadline if the Guardians aren’t in contention, or kept through his last remaining season of team control and then very likely let go in free agency. That latter scenario would at least put Cleveland in position to land a draft pick as compensation if Naylor rejected a qualifying offer and signed elsewhere.
Selling high on Naylor this winter might land more than just a draft pick, however. Naylor’s name has already surfaced in past trade rumors, as the Cubs, Mariners, and Pirates all reportedly had talks with the Guardians about Naylor last winter. Chicago’s subsequent acquisition of Michael Busch probably takes them out of the running, yet Seattle and Pittsburgh are both still targeting first base help, and offensive help in general.
While neither the M’s or Pirates are expected to be big spenders in free agency anyway, Naylor stands out as a major backup plan for any team that misses out on Pete Alonso or Christian Walker — the two biggest first basemen on the free agent market. For one year and around $12MM, Naylor isn’t a huge splurge even for smaller-market clubs, or clubs like the Guardians who are facing broadcasting concerns. Broadly looking at teams who have a clear or potential need at first base or DH, any of the Mets, Diamondbacks, Yankees, Astros, Brewers, Blue Jays, Reds, Nationals, Rays, Giants, or Padres (Naylor’s former team) could join the Pirates and Mariners as potential suitors. The Tigers or Royals could also technically fit on this list but Cleveland is less likely to move Naylor to a division rival.
Since the Guardians have a lot of uncertainty in their starting rotation next year, teams that have pitching to offer might have a leg up in trade talks. The Guards’ usual tactic of pursuing at least one prospect and at least one immediate MLB-ready player in trades could be limited by the fact that Naylor is only controlled for one season, since Naylor doesn’t have the ceiling that, say, Francisco Lindor did when Cleveland dealt the star shortstop to the Mets during the 2020-21 offseason.
There’s also the matter of how the Guardians will replace Naylor in their lineup. Cleveland’s acquisition of prospect Kyle Manzardo from the Rays in 2023 was seen as a potential lead-in for Naylor’s departure, and Manzardo hit .234/.282/.421 (for a 98 wRC+) over his first 156 Major League PA this season. The Guards might be confident enough in a combination of Manzardo, Jhonkensy Noel, and super-utilityman David Fry to take over first base in the event that Naylor is traded, or a lower-cost veteran could be acquired to provide more depth. It can easily be argued that a Guardians team even with Naylor back is still in need of more offense, so trading Naylor could put Cleveland in need of finding an even bigger bat for the outfield.
The trade-and-replace routine has become familiar over the years in Cleveland, and the fanbase might grit their teeth at the idea of dealing away another prominent player for payroll-related reasons. Moving Naylor in particular has a unique layer of potential awkwardness since his brother Bo will presumably remain on Cleveland’s roster, thus breaking up the fun idea of a family connection at the heart of the lineup.
Still, the Guardians’ tactic of trading players rather than just letting them walk in free agency has allowed the club to continually reload both the farm system and the active roster. Antonetti doesn’t have a spotless track record with his deals, yet Antonetti’s high batting average on the trade market has helped the Guards post winning records in 10 of the last 12 seasons, with seven postseason trips in that span. Finding the right match on a Naylor trade this winter might result in Cleveland getting back to the playoffs next fall.
Reds Hire Chris Valaika As Hitting Coach
The Reds announced today that Chris Valaika has been hired as director of hitting and major league hitting coach. He had previously been with the Guardians as that club’s hitting coach but will now move to the other side of Ohio.
Valaika, 39, was originally a third-round draft pick of the Reds back in 2006. He played in the majors from 2010 to 2014, for the Reds, Marlins and Cubs, and then pivoted to coaching after his playing days. He started in the minor league system of the Cubs, eventually working his way up to the major league staff with that club. He was hired by the Guardians going into 2022, working under then-manager Terry Francona.
Francona stepped away after 2023 to focus on his health, with Stephen Vogt taking over as Cleveland’s skipper. Francona is ready to return to a managerial role, as it was reported earlier this month than he’ll be leading the Reds starting with the 2025 season, replacing David Bell.
A few days after Francona’s hiring became public, it was reported that Cincinnati was moving on from hitting coach Joel McKeithan as well as assistant hitting coaches Terry Bradshaw and Tim LaMonte. One of those positions has now been filled with a familiar face for Francona.
In 2022, the Guardians hit .254/.316/.383 for a wRC+ of 100. That indicates they were exactly league average, though their 18.2% strikeout rate was the lowest in the majors by a notable margin, with the Astros second at 19.5%. The Cleveland offense dipped a bit in 2023, with a .250/.313/.381 line and 91 wRC+, but again with the best strikeout rate in the league. Here in 2024, they dropped to fifth-lowest in terms of strikeout rate but added some more power, getting to a .238/.307/.395 line and 100 wRC+ as they pushed as far as the ALCS.
It’s always difficult to separate the contributions of a coach from the performances of the players on the team, but Francona presumably had a good relationship with Valaika during their two years together, as he has now plucked him away and brought him to Cincinnati.