2023 Guardians Offseason Thread!

[sportscoach]

Well we had a disappointing loss...

Though we also have a ton to build on!

Only Hedges is a free agent, and so is Shaw. Anthony Gose is out for 23, so he will be officially off the roster soon... With maybe 4ish guys who may need added to the 40 man roster.

90 win team, bringing back everyone... Still going to be the youngest team in baseball, with the growth potential of the roster, this will be a fun team to beat

What's everyone's off season needs?

Edit: Let's keep this of the news/targets, but let's put the full thought out ideas in the GM thread.

(Like hey I want to get Miguel Vargas type of player from the Dodgers, then in the GM thread explain the fantasy on how we exactly go about it, since not everyone wants to read pages on end of fantasy deals lol).

23 Offseason GM Thread

Well, we had a great season... So this is were you can post your trade ideas and fantasy ideas! We all know I'll be posting some stuff and @CDAV45 @Gson help me kick this off! Edit: I thought links here would be smart... https://www.baseballtradevalues.com/ (if you want to create your own...

realcavsfans.com

 

[BimboColesHair]

High chance it is another off-season of limited external moves.

Wouldn't surprise me to see them, more or less, go into 2023 with the same position player grouping, just subbing Arias into Miller's role and Brennan up from day 1 depending on what the verdict is with Amed.

Amed dictates so much of the off-season plan. If he is moved, a RHH 1B not named Owen Miller goes to the top of the want list because that takes Arias out of the Owen Miller role and potentially at SS or 2B. If he isn't moved, I don't think anything changes outside of the bench makeup. Arias and Freeman instead of Miller and Clement.

They aren't going to splash a C. Hedges is a FA and I think Maile will be DFA'd to make room to protect a rule 5 guy, but 1 of those 2 will be brought back to pair with Naylor later in the offseason. The bending over backwards to get little Naylor on the postseason roster should tell you what their expectations are for him next season and how they feel about him moving forward.

I actually think there is a chance they make a trade or small FA signing for a stop gap SP controlled for 1 or 2 seasons. With Plesac set to hit arbitration I think there is a high chance he is moved and they already tried to add Mahle at the deadline. Bring someone experienced in to compete with Morris, Curry, Gaddis, and Pilkington.

As for LH reliever, there is a good chance they have to protect one from the Rule 5 in Andrew Misiaszek. Has nasty stuff, very similar attack path as Sandlin just from the LH side. Like Sandlin, very high K rates, but some BB concerns. But with the 1 inning/end of inning rule the LH reliever has lost some importance to teams, and I'd honestly rather have him as your low leverage LH reliever out of the bullpen than a small FA signing. Spend that money elsewhere.

All-in-all, high likelihood it's going to be another offseason banking on a younger team getting better as opposed to adding impact pieces.

Just to reiterate this in here since people will ask.

 

[KilgoreTrout]

-Replace Straw in the lineup
-Replace Hedges in the lineup
-Find a platoon for Naylor

The 3 moves that needs to happen.

A platoon at first could potentially have 40-45 HRs if you get the right guy.

So:

C - Bo
1st - Josh/platoon
2nd - Gimenez
SS - Arias
3rd - Hosey
LF - Brennan/Rosario/TBD
CF - Kwan
RF - SpongeBob
DH - Kennedy

4th OF - Straw
5th IF - ?
?

 

[sportscoach]

My list...

Figure out the catching situation... We have Maile, Naylor and Lavastida. Do we want to retain Hedges in some capacity? Do we want to get more depth in the position?

I really believe we need to add some power to the lineup, preferably from the right side. The question is who can we get?

I believe we need another LHRP with some experience in high leverage situations. It's not a necessity though, just my wishlist...

Outside of that, I really don't see very many holes. If we can find someone to protect JRam and take the pressure off of him, I think that's really the only hole we have...

 

[Real Deal]

Welp, expectations low. Adding from within. Nothing groundbreaking. Maybe next winter Chernoff goes full Koby Altman.

They'll roll with the Josh Naylor full time shit-show vs lefties.

At least Bo will be some kind of improvement. Hedges lost his arm or something.

 

[BimboColesHair]

While the game isn’t going on.

Love what Amed has done in a Cleveland uniform. Has become a much more efficient player and the boost in quality of coaching staff has patched up a lot of his holes he showed while he was in NY. He’s developed and taken the next step as a player in Cleveland and should use that to find himself a fairly secure and lucrative contract moving forward.

I do not believe that will be in Cleveland unless it’s for borderline unrealistic team friendly figures.

But he isn’t leaving Cleveland now and there is a chance he just plays through his contract next year as well, and no one is saying he didn’t contribute anything to the 2022 Guardians success as a team.

Cleveland is a team that strategically spends its money. They have to be, because they operate so tightly on their payroll. It is hard to see them locking up a below average SS defensively, average SS offensively for longterm post-arb figures taking that into consideration. Especially when you look at the crop of talent that can play SS either already at the MLB level (Gimenez, Arias) or are in the upper levels of the minors and knocking on the door (Rocchio, Martinez).

A .715 OPS is replaceable. Someone who can field balls hit right at them at SS is replaceable. And it can be replaced by someone making 1/15th of what Rosario might soon be making as a free agent still in his 20s, allowing them to spend elsewhere (Bieber, McKenzie, Gimenez, etc.).

No one is saying Amed is a bad player. No one is saying Amed contributes nothing to the teams success.

It’s just hard to see how it makes sense to sign him longterm considering his production and the talent coming up behind him that can potentially replace him making a fraction of a cost.

Now, a good portion of the board might not like that risk, the risk of potential and the unknown player, but again, a .715 OPS is nothing in the modern MLB. And replacing the worst side-to-side defensive SS in baseball shouldn’t be that hard. And with the shift ban coming into play that becomes more of a concern.

To me there is too much Dee Gordon to Amed’s game. Lot of singles, lot of speed, no power, no on-base skills, high risk of the skill set aging poorly. Those aren’t the kind of guys front offices with a very analytical approach in how they target players and pay players would invest longterm money in. It’s just hard to see the logic in it.

And my opinion on Amed and his situation which I’m sure there will be questions about.

Now see you all down the road, time for an RCF purge.

 

[nime]

Fire the guy that gave Straw an extension.
Kwan and Brennen take over left and center.
Re-sign Rosario
sign Jose Abreu

Pray George Valera is that guy. He is the likely Dolan move instead of signing a bat.

 

[Amherstcavsfan]

They HAVE to find a platoon bat for Naylor, inside or outside of the organization. He's unplayable against LHP, and apparently Tito is just going to continue letting him hit against them, and high in the order. Might have to trade him if Tito continues to play him against LHP.

 

[CDAV45]

Just to reiterate this in here since people will ask.

Honestly, that's what should happen.

 

[LL3]

Honestly, that's what should happen.

Largely agree. What seems lost in the likelihood of continuing to build from within is that some of our young players will indeed improve... and some will regress and perhaps fall by the wayside -- those to be replaced by other young players of high upside. The numbers they put up this season are not locked in for all eternity.

 

[Criznit]

No problem with the obvious internal candidates like Naylor, Arias, Brennan etc. getting an opportunity to become regulars. Also see a bit of redundancy on the 40 man/upper minors.

Trade/acquire - a legit RH bat that plays 1st base or.. A solid #3 starter - not that we "need" one but this would go along way to lengthen the rotation. LHRP - anything from an interesting rookie type to a legit shutdown artist.

Lots of options that is for sure...

 

[bushwick_bill]

Is Tito cuming back? That’s my only concern right now…

 

[KilgoreTrout]

I bat Gimenez second and SpongeBob clean-up.

Pray for the development of more youth, next year: Arias, Bo, Brennan, a power-bat at DH.

 

[Mott the Hoople]

Imagine,,,,,,
If Kwan actually improves in his second season.
If Oscar actually improves in his second season.
If Valera hits the majors next season and we get a guy that can get plenty of extra base hits.

 

[Huber.]

Get Judge and call it an off season.