Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Cleveland Guardians | Profile & Projection | 628

Episode Date: March 14, 2023

The upstart Cleveland Guardians surprised us all last year when they won the AL Central! After signing Josh Bell, will Cleveland have enough pop to repeat as division champs?Use code JOMBOYPRESEASON for 15% off your next purchase at SeatGeek* https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/JOMBOYPRESEASON*max discount $50, expires 3/31/2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We're going rolling. We're not so in. Guards. Hello and welcome back to talking baseball. Team profile and projections. And your number 11 ranked team? The Cleveland Guard Dogs. The Guardians,

they had a new mascot last year, new team name, I guess. And they did some moves. This awesome. off season, some sneaky guardian moves. Josh Bell, a little two-year deal, play some first base. That was a hole for them. They addressed it.

Bang. Mike Zanino, behind the dish. We didn't see a lot from him last year. He was injured the year before that. He had a bunch of homers and some interesting minor league invite, guys. You could see a Tuki Tucson. Roman Quinn hit a couple spring training homers so far this year. Who they lost, well, hey.

They lost Austin Hedges and Luke Maley, so they're kind of catching duo from last year, but I mentioned they brought in Zanino, so you're okay there. Owen Miller, that was a surprise. They trade him to the Brewers. That felt like kind of one of the next Guardian guys, but I mean, a Miller in Milwaukee. That'll work. And some other guys who were kind of prospects for them, Will Benson. We met him.

He's nice. Nolan Jones. Brian Shaw, he's out of town. He's pitched a lot of innings for the Guardians in the past couple years. Trevor Plouffe, it was a lineup that snuck up on us a little bit last year because a lot of kids, but the kids can play. What's the lineup look like now? As we get towards the top of our list here,

I'm assuming we're going to get more of these lineups that are filled out. And that's kind of what we have here with the Guardians from last year. They're kind of returning everyone, save the guys you mentioned that are in. But this lineup is ready to go. Stephen Kwan, we all love him, watching him play ball. He'll be leading off Ahmed Rosario. We know Jose Ramirez is going to be there, that new edition, Josh Bell behind him. That's going to be beautiful.

Andre Semenez, one of last year's breakout stars. Josh Naylor will be mixing a match in there at first base, DH. Oscar Gonzalez, he of the SpongeBob walkout song, hits Absolute tanks, will be there. Mike Zunina and Miles Straw on the bench. Some really nice names here, too, Gabriel Arias, Arias. We got to figure that one out for me. Will Brennan, Tyler Freeman, and Cam Gallagher might be mixing it back there with the catching duties. So I like the lineup.

I like the starting pitching two Bs. Why don't you take us on a rundown of that rotation? Especially those first five, their names we are familiar with. Shane Bieber kicks it off, former Cy Young Guy. And one of our guy guys, Tristan McKenzie, I played a lot of Mario Kart with that guy. Cal Quantrell, Aaron Savali, Zach Plesack, and Connor Pilkington, great name, Connor with a K. He's listed as their sixth starter right now. And in their bullpen, some more names you know,

Emmanuel Class A, one of the elite young closers, James Karen checks, Trevor Stephan, Cody Morris, Sam Henthes, Enniel Delos, Santos, Eli Morgan, we've seen him a lot. So they got some arms. Man, this is an organization that a lot of the talking baseball regulars heard in my voice I struggled with last year because it felt like there were pieces,

and I was looking at this team with one of the lowest payrolls in the game and a proud team. I mean, you know, they used to sell out the Jake. Do they still have the record for most consecutive sellouts in baseball? I might have to look that up. But this is a strong sports city. It's a good baseball town. And it felt like they needed to invest just a little more into this team.

And in a way, they have. Remember they locked up Jose Ramirez to that extension a couple years ago, seven for 122? How good does that look now compared to the... some of the contracts were seeing rolled out. Josh Bell, they addressed a need. First base, D.H. They were looking for that.

And they even go out and get Zanino. So before that, we even gave them credit for, like, a pitching school. They were one of the true pitching teams in Major League Baseball along with the Rays and the Dodgers. Like, the Guardians have done well on that side of the ball and grooming players. That as an organization, you have to have a lot of respect for what they've done. The offense and some of those guys really surprised us last year,

Stephen Kwan, the Leaps Jimenez, and Rosario, and Oscar Gonzalez all took. This is a strong squad, Trev. And if you're looking for something to bicker about or to kind of picket here with this team, it's probably a little bit of the power of the offensive side. They have a few guys that can do it, but that's not a lineup that's going to stretch out one through nine.

The thing they got in Spades, though, is this farm system. and a bunch of dudes who are kind of at the cuss, Jake, whether they're in double A or AAA. Right now I'm looking to have six guys in the top 100. All of them are in double A or above, ready to go. That, to me, tells me, if you need to make a move, you can package a few dudes up and make a move. So whoever's going to be available at the trade deadline for them,

if they're who they think they are, and I think they'll be obviously in contention, either for the central or a wild card spot, they're going to be in a tremendous position to add. So I've been saying this lineup is kind of set. They have their guys, but there's always room for added power or if they have to deal with some injuries.

They can either dip into the mind of the depth and replace those dudes or trade for some more major league ready talent. So they're in a very good position in, you know, as we mentioned a lot, a weak AL Central where my twins and the White Sox are their biggest foes and neither of those teams are juggernauts. So this is a team that surprised a lot of people last year,

but that's not going to happen again. I think that if you're looking at most projections, they're the alpha dog in this division, although they're not, I wouldn't put them so far ahead of those other two teams either. In the last... How do I want to phrase this? In the last one, two, three, four, five.

in the last five seasons that Jose Ramirez has played 90% of the games, he's finished top six in the MVP all of those years. He's a guy that, again, you guys hear me, I try not to get too ahead of myself, because you can end up saying it about too many guys, but he's underrated. There's a little bit playing in Cleveland, a little bit this crop of MLB third baseman,

like Aeronado and Machado are some of the best to ever do it, that we overlook how truly good this guy is, and he has anchored that lineup. He signed the extension, and he plays games, man. He's played a lot of games since 2016. It looks like he only missed a little time in 2019, and that's it. He played 129 games this year.

So Jose Ramirez is the anchor on it, and the pieces around the lineup are really fun, man. Steven Kwan. You know, shift or no shift, it seems like that dude is going to be a problem while playing some gold glove defense. Ahmed Rosario, steady Eddie for them, and lock down the shortstop position, which you don't hear that from a lot of guys. Jimenez is going to win gold gloves at second base, and he brings it with a stick to a potential 2020 guy. Their farm system makes them different because, like you said, Trev, there are more guys on the way. I just, I don't see them ever cashing in the chips, you know what I mean?

Like they, they have their formula and they want to stick by it. And I mean, part of me gets it. Also part of me wishes they push some of those chips on the table. I know. That's kind of where Guardians fans always kind of, you know, lie is, are you going to really go out there and get guys? Are you going to just keep relying on the pharmacist and turn out talent? And they've kind of just been doing that,

although Josh Bell is a big answer for some of those power questions. that were asking. He'll probably provide, I don't know, 25 homers this year. He's got a career 8-10 OPS, I believe. That's nice. It's, I think for me, I'm looking at this roster, and at this point when we get these teams that are, you know, these are starting to be the upper echelon

of teams in baseball, playoff teams, if you will, there's not a lot of holes. I mean, we mentioned the power. You could even talk about a little bit rotational depth. Like we know the names, but are they going to stack up to some of these rotations

that we're going to be talking about coming up? They can. They can. But I'm looking at this team, and like I said, there's just not a lot of holes. They're kind of strong

where you need them to be strong. They have, you know, a two-headed monster, at least in the starting pitching, and then they get that back into the bullpen that we really love. We got a bunch of different type of hitters in that lineup.

We just added a power bat. We know we can run the bases. We know we can play defense. outfield, infield defense. Like, this is a team that I'm kind of like falling for a little bit here as we get more into the nitty gritty of things, Jake. Yeah, I'm trying to think because this is coming off of the race. The rays were the last team we did.

And again, another really strong organization that you believe in what they're doing. But I don't know. This team feels like a step up talent-wise. I think our listeners got this one right If you If you Pulled the general public

Baseball fans It said who's going to have a better record Or just the better team on paper Rays or Guardians I think a lot of teams Would just say the Rays Because we're used to The Rays winning 95 games

And there's them just kind of being there But when we're looking at these rosters now And kind of like seeing what we got Like I know this team is young And they got to like kind of do it again But I'm a looking, Jake, and I'm a liking.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, Bieber McKenzie, you could talk about those two with a lot of one-two punches. The whole rotation being basically 25, 26, or 27. Like, they've got youth, they've got talent, they've got roster flexibility. I mean, everyone in their bullpen has options except Delos Santos. Like, this is a really well-built roster. and I know I was tough on, I guess I was tough on their ownership. I wanted them to spend more, and in a way I guess I should compliment them,

because the guys they have running the ship. At winter meetings, me and Chris Rose went out to dinner, and the Guardian's front office was there, and you want to talk about a kid in a candy shop? Oh, my God, horny Chris Rose. Who's, I guess we're pretty gung-ho, Trevin. I don't know. Just to be honest with the people.

and if you're watching on YouTube, you know, we've changed outfits. That means we're in a recording day, so it's been a minute. What's this team's fear? It's just that the White Sox bounce back and the twins have upgraded? Like, because, you know,

this team didn't lose a lot. This team's fear is there's a little bit of offensive regression. Yeah, young players. You know, with some young players, the book out on some guys. I think that is kind of what they, have to fear. Maybe some of the

rotational depth at the baby level, although four of those six prospects that I mentioned in the top 100 that are all in double A or AAA are pitchers. So like they have that going for them. I would say like I guess youth, if you call that a fear. But I don't think this team is fearing much. I think they love that the fact they're in the AL Central. I think they love the fact that they

did what they did last year, got some playoff experience. and they're going to, you get that taste in your mouth, man, that taste for blood. That's what they want. I had the twins, you know, really making a run for the AL Central, but they're going to have to snatch it from these dudes, and it's going to be tough. Yeah, I guess that's going to be the fun finding out with this team.

Is the Central going to be more competitive this year? Because the White Sox were dreadful. They have to be better than they were. The twins didn't have this, they just didn't have the sauce last year. So if those both happen and the Guardians have, to compete a little more. That'll be interesting to see. I love what you say, man, when you're a young ball player, A, it's hard to be young and good, so we shouldn't take away from the Oscar Gonzalez's or guys like that. But you are right. Like, you take that second lap around the league

and we find out something about you. So it's going to be interesting to see how that team reacts. I mentioned it to you before we started going. I sent it while I was on my honeymoon, Mini Moon. Francona gave his start of the season speech, and he was so panicked and nervous about it. He couldn't sleep, so he made pasta, but he didn't cook the pasta, so he broke his tooth. And then he brought in his speech,

and he spilled his coffee all over the speech. I don't know what you do with that. I just know I love Terry Francona. And there's something beautiful to him being, like, the old, rugged manager. Like, if I want to pull something. someone, it feels like he has the most leverage against any front office in Major League Baseball still, that he could manage it in the old school baseball way if he wants. That being said,

I mean, the Guardians are a very analytically driven organization. But him with the kids, and, you know, Tito is getting a couple years older. And, like, you know, I don't know how much is being revealed, but, like, he's, he knows, like, worn out. Like, he probably should be retired in Arizona or Florida and chilling out, but he loves it. And he knows this team has some juice that I think we're, as far as floors go for what teams can do this year, I really like their floor. It's just what's their ceiling. Because even when they get in the playoffs and not to be shots fired at the AL

Central's, this team lost to the Yankees last year. And, you know, the twins have struggled in recent playoffs. And the Guardians, it's how much of a real threat are you going to be? Like how scary are you going to be at the dance when you have teams like Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, whoever it is, throwing, you know, blank checks at some of these players? I'm interested to see, and part of me also loves it that this feels like an organization that if you're a young player and you do things right, like you're going to get a chance. And that's got to be cool for a young ball player, man.

Because, again, going back to my Yankees a little bit, they've had a couple guys knocking at the door, that you're blocked by veterans or, you know, because they don't have options, you're not going to get a chance. This feels like if you perform, you're going to get your opportunity, and I really like that.

I'm with you on that, although there's so many young guys, there's not a lot of spots available right now. They have all those prospects that are there and something has to happen for them to get their opportunity. Going back to Francona, you are famously all over Peter Seidler and his money. You're investigating that.

I think I'm going to start investigating Terry Francona's story. here because it doesn't make sense. He's a little anxious and then all of a sudden he gets hungry and forgets how long he's been cooking his pasta so he doesn't cook it long enough. Then he spills his coffee accidentally and then all of a sudden he misplaces his scooter. Yeah.

I think we got a late night Trev situation on her hands here? I think that Terry Francona and I might be hanging up together late night if you know what I mean. Yeah. But I do agree with you on the floor of this team, I think it is very high, but I think the ceiling is as high as well. I disagree with you on that aspect of it. I mean, look, they beat the raise last year in the wild card series. They took the Yankees to game five. I mean, this is a team that they take a step forward. We're talking ALCS. I'm saying I want to find out what that ceiling is. I think this is the year, you know, I think

they can be that. I just, I don't know, but looking for a weakness. I feel like a lot of teams you can point and say, you know, even the raise before this, it's, are they going to hit enough? You know, going back to the Red Sox, will they get enough out of their starting pitching? Like, you know, a bullpen, a depth. This team feels like everything is like a B or B plus. Like, it doesn't feel like there's anything they don't do well, except, I guess, hit home runs as a team, which has become a lot of teams' focus point. I'm in. What's the over-under?

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The Over-Under Beams. What do you got? I know what you're on it. You're on it. This is a no-brainer for me, man. I'm... 92 games they won last year. Did they get worse? I think they got better. No. I know the division... The Central didn't really get better. I know the division, you know, there's a little more hope for the White Sox and Twins. I mean, at the start of the season, and we've been doing the weird schedule changes that maybe they won't get, they'll have to play the coast a little more. But I, if I was setting this over under, I think it would be. be like 89 and a half. I had it pegged right around there as well, like 88, 8, 9. I'm taking the over.

I like this team. I think when I talk about teams and what I like about them, they have all the things that I like. So how could I not take the over here? Seems a little fishy that everything's feeling so good in Cleveland. I want to show people one thing before we leave. Right here, this is a Cleveland Guardians slash Indian shoe from. Kipness?

Jason Kipness, who just recently announced his retirement. So I want to get a shout to that guy. He was one of my favorites. We had a lot of good times in Cleveland. Let me tell you something. Cleveland, people say you're said he sucks. I had a lot of awesome times in Cleveland. Put a statue of this guy out there.

Those blocks from the baseball stadium to the football stadium. What is it? What is Kipness like this? You and Kip Daddy. Yeah, you kind of had the little knob block going. What, did Jim? What Jim have on the guard dogs? Well, you know, Jimmy's under on every E.

Demon Central's. With that said, he likes the over. Oh, okay. Then this is, I'm going to bet this one right now. That's a live bet. I mean, you got to show a little more respect to this organization. How's it not like a 90 and a half? Tito, I'll meet you on the moon, buddy.

Rat's Kipness. 26 owners, 136 steals to kids. About 56 E.M.