Cleveland Guardians Name To Become Official On Friday
The Cleveland Indians will officially become the Guardians starting on Friday, November 19, according to a press release from the team. Per the announcement, the team store at Progressive Field will open that morning with all the gear featuring the new moniker and logo. The change will also be reflected in the digital realm, as their website and social media handles will also be altered to usher in the new era for the franchise.
The club announced in July of 2020 that a name change was under consideration. Then the franchise finally announced in December of 2020 that a name change was forthcoming. In July of this year, it was revealed that the Indians would become the Cleveland Guardians after the 2021 campaign. The club had been known as the Indians for more than 100 years.
This follows similar name changes for other sports teams, both amateur and professional. Many high school and college teams throughout North America have pivoted away from similar iconography in recent years, which was followed by decisions from pro sports franchises such as the NFL franchise now known as the Washington Football Team.
Nationals Claim Francisco Perez Off Waivers From Guardians
The Nationals announced they successfully claimed left-handed pitcher Francisco Perez off waivers from the Guardians. The Nats also announced their decision to outright right-handed pitcher Kyle McGowin to Triple-A.
Cleveland selected Perez to make his big league debut in early August. He ultimately got into four games, tossing 6 2/3 frames of relief and allowing three runs. During his brief MLB time, Perez relied mostly on a fastball that averaged just under 93 MPH and a low-80s slider.
That’s not the most overpowering raw stuff, but the 24-year-old posted dominant numbers between the Guardians’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates this past season. Over 53 combined innings at the minors’ top two levels, he worked to a 1.87 ERA, punching out an incredible 38.1% of opposing hitters in the process. Perez also still has a pair of minor league option years remaining, so the Nats can shuttle him between the majors and minors for the next couple seasons if he sticks on their 40-man roster.
McGowin’s tenure with the Nats could come to a close after today’s outright. The 29-year-old has appeared in the bigs in each of the past four seasons, with his 30 frames of 4.20 ERA/3.87 SIERA ball in 2021 his most extensive action. McGowan will have the right to elect minor league free agency.
Nick Wittgren, Cam Hill Elect Free Agency
Guardians right-handers Nick Wittgren and Cam Hill have each cleared outright waivers, tweets Mandy Bell of MLB.com. Both pitchers have elected minor league free agency.
Wittgren was arbitration-eligible for the final time this winter and projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $2.8MM. Cleveland determined not to make that kind of commitment after the veteran posted a career-high 5.05 ERA over 62 1/3 frames of relief in 2021. The 30-year-old posted solid strikeout and walk numbers (23.6% and 6.6%, respectively) but was plagued by the longball. Wittgren served up 1.88 HR/9 this past season, his third straight year allowing dingers at a higher-than-average rate.
Issues with homers notwithstanding, it stands to reason Wittgren will find some interest on the open market. He’s been a reliable bullpen workhorse, working 40+ frames in four of his five MLB seasons (excluding last year’s truncated schedule). Wittgren also has four seasons of a sub-3.50 ERA on his resume, and he’s only one season removed from punching out a very strong 28.6% of opposing hitters.
Hill was not arbitration-eligible, but the Guardians elected to take him off the 40-man roster. The 27-year-old debuted with 18 1/3 frames of 4.91 ERA ball in 2020, but he missed the first three-plus months of the 2021 season due to injury and ultimately spent the rest of the year with Triple-A Columbus. Over 24 2/3 frames with the Clippers, he managed just an 8.03 ERA with poor peripherals.
Guardians Exercise Option On Jose Ramirez, Decline Option On Roberto Perez
The Guardians announced Friday that they’ve exercised their 2022 club option on third baseman Jose Ramirez and declined a club option on catcher Roberto Perez, making him a free agent for the first time in his career. Cleveland also confirmed the previously reported hiring of Chris Valaika as the team’s new hitting coach.
Ramirez’s $12MM option was among the easiest option calls any team will ever have to make. His contract also contains a $14MM club option for the 2023 season. Perez, meanwhile, will receive a $450K buyout in lieu of a $7MM option and explore the open market.
There was never a shred of doubt that Ramirez’s option would be picked up. The 29-year-old has cemented himself as one of the game’s elite players and lived up to that billing once again in 2021, slashing .266/.355/.538 with 36 home runs, 32 doubles, five triples, 27 stolen bases and elite defense at the hot corner.
With just two years remaining on his contract, Ramirez will surely be the subject of offseason trade inquiries, but Cleveland needn’t feel obligated to move him unless an absolutely mammoth trade offer is made. Ramirez’s contract is the only one on the books for the team in 2022, and with a modest arbitration class there’s no real financial concerns for Cleveland, even if the hope is to again operate on a relatively stripped-down payroll. Suffice it to say, president of baseball ops Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff will have plenty of leverage if (when) clubs do come calling about Ramirez.
For all the speculation about a potential Ramirez trade, however, it’s important to note that there’s no reason Cleveland can’t seek to contend in 2022. Ramirez will return alongside a core that features Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale, Triston McKenzie and 2020 breakout arm Cal Quantrill. The lineup is rife with question marks, but Amed Rosario hit well in his first season with the club and there are several top-end prospects on the cusp of big league readiness. For the first year under a rebranded moniker, it’s only sensible that the Guardians would look to put out a more compelling product.
As for Perez, he’s been unable to replicate his breakout 2019 showing at the plate — a season that saw him swat 24 home runs and post a .239/.321/.452 batting line. Paired with his excellent defense, that offensive output made Perez one of baseball’s best all-around catchers in 2019. Since then, he’s dealt with a pair of shoulder injuries and a fractured finger. It’s quite obviously possible that the arm/hand injuries have combined to sap Perez’s production, but with a more affordable and comparably strong defender available in the form of Austin Hedges, Cleveland unsurprisingly chose to move on.
Guardians Expected To Hire Chris Valaika As Hitting Coach
The Guardians are expected to hire Chris Valaika as their new hitting coach, reports the MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Valaika had been serving as the assistant hitting coach for the Cubs.
A former infielder, Valaika appeared in the big leagues with the Reds, Marlins and Cubs from 2010-14. (His younger brother Pat Valaika still plays in the majors and spent the 2020-21 seasons with the Orioles). Chris Valaika wrapped up his playing career after 2015 and moved into an administrative role with the Cubs not long after. He spent a few seasons as the team’s minor league hitting coordinator before becoming Chicago’s assistant hitting coach over the 2020-21 offseason.
After just one season on a big league staff, Valaika looks set to land the Guardians’ hitting coach position. Should a deal ultimately come to fruition, he’d replace Ty Van Burkleo, who served as Cleveland hitting coach from 2013-21 but was let go last month.
AL Central Notes: Ramirez, Royals, White Sox, Lewis
“There has been no movement to date” on a contract extension between Jose Ramirez and the Guardians, Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. Ramirez is controlled via club option for both the 2022 and 2023 seasons, and the Guardians are sure to be exercising the 2022 option (worth $11MM) on the star third baseman in a matter of days. While extension talks usually take place later in the offseason, Ramirez’s long-term future has been a topic of conversation, considering how Cleveland’s penchant for trading star players before they become too expensive for the team’s limited payroll.
Previous negotiations between the player and the team didn’t go anywhere last spring, though Ramirez has said on multiple occasions that he would like to remain in Cleveland. Since the Guardians technically don’t have any salary committed for the 2022 season and beyond, there would appear to be payroll space to afford a Ramirez extension, even if a salary that would likely fall in the $25-$30MM average annual value range would take up a big chunk of the budget. As to whether or not Ramirez could be a trade candidate this winter, the Guardians have tended to deal players when they’ve been a bit closer to free agency than two years, plus Cleveland does plan to contend next year.
More from around the AL Central…
- The Royals‘ offseason pitching aim is to “continue to be very disciplined with our young players and work to build a really really strong and powerful and elite championship-caliber bullpen,” president of baseball operations Dayton Moore told The Athletic’s Alec Lewis and other reporters. In a sense, it’s the same strategy that led to Kansas City’s 2015 World Series championship team, but for the 2022 club in particular, a quality relief corps will take some pressure of a young and inexperienced rotation and is still largely getting used to facing big league competition. Moore admitted that the team’s limited payroll makes it “really difficult for us to sign a starting pitcher” of “top-of-the-rotation” caliber, but one tactic could be to pursue long relievers or spot starters to reinforce the younger rotation members. “I think you have to look (at) guys who could give us eight to 10 starts at some point in time,” Moore said.
- The Royals announced that first base coach Rusty Kuntz will move from the coaching ranks to a front office role as a special assistant to the president and GM for quality control. Kuntz has been with the K.C. organization since the 2008 season, working mostly as a first base coach but also spending a few reasons in other front office capacities. Moore said Kuntz may not be the only coaching change but most of the staff will return in 2022.
- The White Sox aren’t planning to make any coaching changes, manager Tony La Russa told Daryl Van Schouwen of The Chicago Sun-Times. “And that’s good, that kind of stability,” La Russa said. “We had a good thing going. It wasn’t accidental that those guys played their [butts] off and part of it was the staff.” The Sox already had a fair amount of coaching turnover last winter, with bench coach Miguel Cairo, pitching coach Ethan Katz, assistant hitting coach Howie Clark, and analytics coordinator Shelley Duncan all joining the staff for the first time.
- Twins star prospect Royce Lewis missed all of 2021 recovering from a torn ACL, but the youngster told The Athletic’s Dan Hayes that he is making good progress in his recovery. The highlight was a pair of Instructional League camp games in October, since represented Lewis’ first proper on-field action since the 2019 Arizona Fall League. Lewis has been medically cleared to play, but he said that he will continue to focus on his running this winter, as he feels he is running at only 60 to 70 percent of his full ability.
Option Notes: Perez, Vazquez, Chafin
Catcher Roberto Perez‘s $7MM option for the 2022 season isn’t likely to be exercised by the Guardians, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes in his latest mailbag column. Set to turn 33 in December, Perez has long rated as one of the game’s premium defenders behind the dish and looked to have turned a corner at the plate in 2019, when he hit .239/.321/.452 with a career-high 24 home runs. However, he’s limped to a .155/.253/.277 slash with eight homers in 276 trips to the plate since. Perez has missed significant time over the past two seasons due to a pair of shoulder injuries and, earlier this year, a fractured ring finger. It’s certainly plausible that the shoulder and hand injuries contributed to his decline at the plate, but a budget-conscious Cleveland club doesn’t seem likely to bet $7MM on a rebound — particularly when the buyout is a relatively light $450K. Cleveland has a more affordable, similarly defensive-minded backstop already on the roster in arbitration-eligible Austin Hedges. He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn a $3.8MM salary next season.
Some more notes on various contract options around the league…
- The Red Sox hold a $7MM club option on catcher Christian Vazquez, but the price to retain their backstop was nearly a bit steeper. MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo points out that Vazquez’s contract called for that option to rise to $8MM upon reaching 502 plate appearances, but he fell just four trips to the plate shy of that mark. Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom spoke highly of Vazquez in his end-of-season press conference, telling reporters: “It’s a hard position to check all the boxes and you don’t take for granted when you have someone who has shown that he can do it.” The 31-year-old Vazquez hit .258/.308/.352 with plus defense behind the dish this season, and based on Bloom’s comments imply there’s a good chance he’ll be back in the fold next season as well.
- Andrew Chafin‘s one-year, $2.75MM deal with the Cubs was structured to include a $2.25MM salary plus a $500K buyout on a $5.25MM mutual option. The contract, however, also allowed Chafin to pick up a $125K bonus for reaching 50, 55, 60 and 65 games in 2021. Chafin was heavily used both by the Cubs and then by the Athletics following a trade, and he ultimately reached all four of those milestones while wearing an A’s jersey. As such, he’s now sitting on a $5.75MM option for next season. Chafin will have first say of whether to exercise his half of the option and could very well decline in search of a multi-year deal, which would render it a moot point. (He’d get the $500K buyout even if he declines.) If not, the fact that the option is now $500K more expensive makes it even tougher for the cost-conscious A’s pick up their end in what could be an offseason filled with tough financial decisions. Oakland also holds a $4MM club option on fellow southpaw Jake Diekman, which is effectively a net $3.25MM decision for the A’s, given its $750K buyout.
Padres To Hire Ruben Niebla As Pitching Coach
OCTOBER 27: The Friars have finalized an agreement with Niebla, reports Dennis Lin of the Athletic (Twitter link). As expected, he’ll be the club’s pitching coach in 2022.
OCTOBER 24: The Padres “are locking in on” Indians assistant pitching coach Ruben Niebla as their next pitching coach, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets. The hiring isn’t yet official, though Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports (via Twitter) that Niebla “is considered all but a done deal” to change teams.
Ben Fritz had been serving as the Padres’ interim pitching coach since Larry Rothschild was fired in late August. According to Acee, the Padres are hoping Fritz remains with the team — Fritz had been working as the bullpen coach before his in-season promotion. It remains to be seen how the rest of the coaching staff will shake out, as bench coach/third base coach Bobby Dickerson has already left the team to join the Phillies, and there could be a wider coaching shakeup once the new San Diego manager is hired (as presumably that new skipper would get some say in assembling the staff).
Niebla will already be in place, however, as the SoCal native will now be moving closer to home for his first official gig as a Major League pitching coach. Niebla briefly served as Cleveland’s interim pitching coach in 2012, his highest rank in 21 seasons with the organization. Much of that first decade was spent as a minor league coach before Niebla joined the MLB staff as a coaching assistant in 2010, and then following his interim gig in 2012, he worked seven seasons as a minor league pitching coordinator. Niebla has been in his current role on the Major League coaching staff for the last two seasons.
At least one familiar face will already be there in San Diego to welcome Niebla, as former Indians hurler Mike Clevinger is expected to be back next season after missing 2021 due to Tommy John surgery. On paper, San Diego has plenty of solid rotation options in place with Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Chris Paddack, Clevinger, Ryan Weathers, and (around midseason) Adrian Morejon, except injuries and general under-performance ravaged this group last year.
In the bigger picture, the Padres will also surely be looking to pick Niebla’s brain about some of the secrets of Cleveland’s success at drafting and developing pitchers in recent years. While the Padres have had no shortage of promising young pitching prospects, they’ve had issues in converting that potential into success at the big league level. (To wit, all of Musgrove, Darvish, Snell, Paddack, and Clevinger were acquired in trades.)
Coaching Notes: Goodwin, Schumaker, Guardians, Brewers
The Red Sox are parting ways with first base coach Tom Goodwin, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told reporters (including Molly Burkhardt of MLB.com). Goodwin had been in that role for the past four seasons, joining Alex Cora’s staff before the latter’s first year as Boston’s manager. After a fourteen-year major league playing career, Goodwin moved into coaching and minor league managing in the Red Sox’s system. Between two separate stints with the Sox, he spent six seasons as Mets’ first base coach. Goodwin’s departure might be the only change on Cora’s staff, as Bloom told reporters the Red Sox are hoping to bring back the rest of the group in 2022.
The latest on a few other coaching situations around the league:
- The Cardinals have been in contact with Padres associate manager Skip Schumaker about potentially joining the organization in some capacity, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Almost immediately after the Cards dismissed Mike Shildt as manager, speculation arose about Schumaker — a former Cardinals utilityman — as a potential successor. St. Louis opted to promote bench coach Oliver Marmol instead, although it’s still possible Schumaker could assume some other position on the Cardinals staff. The 41-year-old remains employed by San Diego, but Padres’ coaches were given permission to explore opportunities elsewhere after the Friars dismissed manager Jayce Tingler.
- The Guardians are on the hunt for a new hitting coach after parting ways with Ty Van Burkleo a few weeks ago. Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com reports that his replacement is expected to come from outside the organization. Searching for a hitting instructor is unfamiliar territory for the Guardians’ front office and manager Terry Francona. Van Burkleo had served in that role for the entirety of Francona’s tenure as Cleveland’s manager, joining the staff leading into the 2013 season.
- Brewers coaching staff advisor Ed Sedar is retiring, the club announced this morning. Sedar was a longtime member of the staff, working as a base coach for the Brew Crew from 2007-20. He transitioned into an advisory role last winter, with former big league outfielder Quintin Berry stepping into the vacant third base coaching role. Sedar spent the better part of three decades in the Milwaukee organization, first joining the club as a minor league coach in 1992.
Cubs Name Carter Hawkins General Manager
Eleven months after Jed Hoyer was promoted from general manager to Cubs president of baseball operations in the wake of Theo Epstein’s decision to step down, the team has settled on a new general manager. The Cubs announced Friday that they’ve hired Indians assistant general manager Carter Hawkins as the 16th general manager in franchise history. Hoyer will still lead the team’s baseball operations department, but Hawkins will work closely alongside him and serve as the No. 2 executive in the team’s baseball operations hierarchy.
“I am thrilled to bring Carter into our organization,” Hoyer said in today’s press release. “He has earned a fantastic reputation as a leader through hard work, open-mindedness, humility and intelligence. I enjoyed getting to know him throughout the interview process, and it quickly became clear that we share the same passion for team building. I look forward to partnering with him to build the next great Cubs team.”
Though Hawkins is only 37 years old, he already has 14 years of experience working in Cleveland’s front office, working his way up the ranks from an internship to being the team’s player development director in 2014, and then a promotion to assistant GM in 2016. He’ll now join a Cubs organization that has made no secret of its desire to upgrade its farm system and player development operations.
To that end, it perhaps isn’t surprising that both Hawkins and Indians VP of player development James Harris were each on Chicago’s reported short list of GM candidates. Rays VP of player development/international scouting Carlos Rodriguez and Twins assistant general manager Jeremy Zoll were the other names known to be on the Cubs’ radar. Hoyer said last winter that the team would wait to fill the GM role, since the circumstances of the pandemic made a proper interview process more difficult at the time.
Hawkins will now step in as Hoyer’s chief lieutenant as the Cubs begin what could be a fascinating offseason. After a fire sale of veterans at the trade deadline, Chicago now has a younger and less expensive roster, though it isn’t yet known if the Cubs plan to use this available future payroll space to make an immediate splash for 2022. Hoyer has stated that the team intends to “spend money intelligently” this winter, but the Cubs will also be “really active in free agency.”
Measured offseason spending is nothing new for Hawkins, as the Indians have a longstanding model of building through trades and homegrown prospects rather than major free agent signings. Of course, the Cubs have a much larger revenue base than Cleveland, and a drastic cut in spending doesn’t (or shouldn’t) seem feasible considering that the Cubs have been regularly approached or surpassed the $200MM payroll mark in recent years. This isn’t to say that the Cubs will immediately zoom back up to the $200MM threshold this offseason, but the plan seems to be for Hoyer, Hawkins and company to remodel the team’s minor league pipeline to the point that Chicago will have a steady run of young talent ready to augment whatever higher-priced veterans are on hand.
Britt Ghiroli, Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic first broke the news that the Cubs planned to hire Hawkins and were finalizing a contract.