• Changing RCF's index page, please click on "Forums" to access the forums.

2023 Guardians Spring Training Thread

Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Gson said:
this is correct...

@CDAV45 There are several dozen Bieber trades posted at BTV.. the most by any one poster = Sportscoach that still surpass any 3 other Guardian Fan posters... The latest one is by you know who.. has Sandoval and Rengifo along with their prospect catcher Quero and Ky Bush... which is a good deal...

NOT ALL GOOD DEALS HAPPEN..

W/R to the Outfield situation.. the most likely candidate to lose defensive playing time for the Guardians will be SpongeBob.. imho, it most likely will be due to the emergence of George Valera... Kwan (who added good weight over the winter), Straw (who stepped it up in September/October and had a great spring training, Spongebob who doubled his hits in the last ten days or so of spring training and now appears poised to resume what he did last year.. & Brennan who is perhaps the most well rounded outfielder of the group makes these players a solid quartet of OF'ers.. There are many worse situations..

...none as bad as our catching situation, btw & imho...
Click to expand...

I am still surprised we haven't seen any moves yet to finalize the roster...

I feel like they are trying to make a trade, but for who, I have no clue. If no trade is really made, Viloria and Gallagher are likely added to the 40 man...

Morris and TMac both to the 60 day IL to keep everyone? Hentges is going to at least the 15 day IL... I don't like how that will give us what 16 healthy pitchers on the 40 man? Bilous, Pilkington and Cantillo are the only ones left...

I personally feel like adding two more catchers, we gotta make room/set up a trade to get another spot for a pitcher...
 
sportscoach said:
I am still surprised we haven't seen any moves yet to finalize the roster...

I feel like they are trying to make a trade, but for who, I have no clue. If no trade is really made, Viloria and Gallagher are likely added to the 40 man...

Morris and TMac both to the 60 day IL to keep everyone? Hentges is going to at least the 15 day IL... I don't like how that will give us what 16 healthy pitchers on the 40 man? Bilous, Pilkington and Cantillo are the only ones left...

I personally feel like adding two more catchers, we gotta make room/set up a trade to get another spot for a pitcher...
Click to expand...
I'm still a fan of trying to get Oliver Ortega. Minny sent him to minor league camp after he looked good again this spring. Would have preferred to make a minor deal with the Angels before they cut him loose. I really think he is another DLS waiting to happen if Cleveland's pitching brass could get their hands on him. I'd rather have him in the pen than Curry, but that's just my preference.

Edited just to say that when Hentges comes back and rounds back into form that he and Herrin could make a fantastic pair of LHRP. I mean it could go south with those 2 if they don't demonstrate good control, but there's little reason to think they won't and there stuff is filthy.
 
sportscoach said:
I am still surprised we haven't seen any moves yet to finalize the roster...

I feel like they are trying to make a trade, but for who, I have no clue. If no trade is really made, Viloria and Gallagher are likely added to the 40 man...

Morris and TMac both to the 60 day IL to keep everyone? Hentges is going to at least the 15 day IL... I don't like how that will give us what 16 healthy pitchers on the 40 man? Bilous, Pilkington and Cantillo are the only ones left...

I personally feel like adding two more catchers, we gotta make room/set up a trade to get another spot for a pitcher...
Click to expand...
this is ALWAYS true... all that other stuff is superfluous... :bleh::bleh:

The developing story for the pitching could/should see Cantillo get, perhaps, his one and only chance to prove he has the stuff to compete for a spot with the brightest lights on for Cleveland.. The only question is: where?.. as the second / bulk lefty out of the pen.. as an opener with ____________________ (batt, pilk, Morris, others)... who's to say..

It's probably not going to take much to have Viloria put on waivers to make a spot.. after the first three times through the pitching rotation....
 
sportscoach said:
I am still surprised we haven't seen any moves yet to finalize the roster...

I feel like they are trying to make a trade, but for who, I have no clue. If no trade is really made, Viloria and Gallagher are likely added to the 40 man...

Morris and TMac both to the 60 day IL to keep everyone? Hentges is going to at least the 15 day IL... I don't like how that will give us what 16 healthy pitchers on the 40 man? Bilous, Pilkington and Cantillo are the only ones left...

I personally feel like adding two more catchers, we gotta make room/set up a trade to get another spot for a pitcher...
Click to expand...
I think there are 7 guys that can be removed from the 40 man or traded to make room. They are:
1. Bilous
2. Pilkington if he's fallen on the SP depth chart.
3. Lavastida
4. Brito
5. Freeman I'd prefer to see dealt because he has good value yet.
6. Tena
7. Palacios needs to be dealt as well IMO.

-I don't think anyone claims Brito or Tena if they are removed from the 40 man.
-Pilkington would probably get claimed.
-Freeman and Palacios have to be attractive to a team or 3 out there. They're good hitters and Freeman is a good 2B.
-Lavastida would be a gamble and I don't have a feel if he would get claimed or not.
-I have no idea why Bilous is even on the 40 man anyway.
 
IMO Kwan will get BETTER.

Lets just ignore for a bit that Kwan won the GG as a rookie, and just talk hitting.

Kwan has an elite foundation as a batter. He may right now have 'only' two elite skills in the batters box, but they are the two skills needed for everything else. They are not the end all, they are the beginning.

But this mantra that infects this board about power taints too much thinking. This guy has more upside, because he has more power.

Kwan has a much better chance to gain the ability to hit the ball with more authority than Brennan has of ever gaining the ability to make better contact.

Which is the true upside?

***************

Kwan is a unicorn. He is so far different at the plate than the vast majority of batters that he sticks out like a sore thumb. You could put any uniform on him, and you would immediately recognize him at the plate as soon as he swung.

Nobody in todays baseball compares to Rod Carew or Rod Carew, and the game is far different. But if anybody can come close, its Kwan.
 
"Kwan has a much better chance to gain the ability to hit the ball with more authority than Brennan has of ever gaining the ability to make better contact."

No.......no he doesn't. He may add a little bit of power, but he doesn't have the potential to add it like the 6' 200lb Brennan. Here's an example. Go count the number of opposite field HR Kwan has hit then go count Brennan's. Contact isn't an issue for either player and one was drafted after the other for that exact reason.

The only mantra infecting anyone on this board is the one that tries to diminish the value of power. If you don't have a good amount of it in your lineup the chances of you making it very far in the postseason is very low.

Edited to say that we don't need it from Kwan. What we need from his is to keep doing what he's doing which is being the best lead off hitter in baseball, running the bases intelligently and playing excellent defense.
 
Last edited:
Benway said:
Catchers the worst I've ever seen, and I lived through the Chris Bando years.

John Ellis still available?
Click to expand...
Lou Marson... But don't worry, we got Mike Redmond to back him up...

So.. Exactly how far away is Mister Carlos Santana?? Queue music.
 
Can not wait until there’s actual games to talk about.

Some of the back and forth regurgitations of the same speculative talking points that have already been stated(usually in 3-4 long paragraphs) 500 times this offseason are crushing my soul.
 
MirORich said:
Can not wait until there’s actual games to talk about.

Some of the back and forth regurgitations of the same speculative talking points that have already been stated(usually in 3-4 long paragraphs) 500 times this offseason are crushing my soul.
Click to expand...
Before the influx of new posters the board would see tumbleweed in the offseason. Yes some of the exchanges make me want to smash my head into a wall, but I like the traffic. Not enough to jump in and get hit by two semi trucks but enough to watch from a safe vantage point.

Hooray for actual baseball. Boo for opening series on the west coast.
 
Gson said:
W/R to the Outfield situation.. the most likely candidate to lose defensive playing time for the Guardians will be SpongeBob.. imho, it most likely will be due to the emergence of George Valera... Kwan (who added good weight over the winter), Straw (who stepped it up in September/October and had a great spring training, Spongebob who doubled his hits in the last ten days or so of spring training and now appears poised to resume what he did last year.. & Brennan who is perhaps the most well rounded outfielder of the group makes these players a solid quartet of OF'ers.. There are many worse situations..

...none as bad as our catching situation, btw & imho...
Click to expand...
It's astonishing how much our outfield situation (which might have been the worst in baseball) has improved over the last 1.5 seasons with the acquisition of Straw and the emergence of Kwan, Oscar, and Brennan. Will's minor league numbers are so similar to Kwan's that I assume he's about the same player.

Kwan at Columbus in 2021 (age 23): .311/.903 in 103 AB's. 3 doubles, 8 SB's.

Brennan at Col in 2022 (age 23): .316/.838 in 393 AB's. 28 doubles, 15 SB's.

So now we have a Gold Glove left fielder (age 24), who hit .298/.772 as a rookie with a WAR of 5.5, a Gold Glove center fielder (age 28), and a right fielder who hit .296/.789 as a rookie with a WAR of 2.1 in 91 games (age 25). The fourth outfielder looks to be another Kwan, or close to it, based on their AAA numbers on the same team at the same age.

And we have a right fielder who is #51 on MLB's prospect list at age 22.
 
CDAV45 said:
I think there are 7 guys that can be removed from the 40 man or traded to make room. They are:
1. Bilous
2. Pilkington if he's fallen on the SP depth chart.
3. Lavastida
4. Brito
5. Freeman I'd prefer to see dealt because he has good value yet.
6. Tena
7. Palacios needs to be dealt as well IMO.

-I don't think anyone claims Brito or Tena if they are removed from the 40 man.
-Pilkington would probably get claimed.
-Freeman and Palacios have to be attractive to a team or 3 out there. They're good hitters and Freeman is a good 2B.
-Lavastida would be a gamble and I don't have a feel if he would get claimed or not.
-I have no idea why Bilous is even on the 40 man anyway.
Click to expand...

Brito should not even be in this conversation.. He isn't near the roster bubble at all. That's not an opinion but a fact...

The roster bubble is Bilous with Palacios and Tena as trade candidates... I doubt they even want to think about moving anyone else unless it upgrades the roster
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Video

Episode 3-14: "Time for Playoff Vengeance on Mickey"

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Spotify

Episode 3:14: " Time for Playoff Vengeance on Mickey."
Top