Why the Guardians will win over 100 games this year

[CDAV45]

OGonz cannot play 1B... He isn't very good at fielding grounders lol I would put good money, I could still play a better 1B than he could..

I feel the same way too, but I didn't want to kill the conversation and we don't know OGon is not capable for sure. Hell, I've never seen it mentioned until now so I never considered it. I remember we had that discussion around Reyes though and that didn't work out.

 

[sportscoach]

I feel the same way too, but I didn't want to kill the conversation and we don't know OGon is not capable for sure. Hell, I've never seen it mentioned until now so I never considered it. I remember we had that discussion around Reyes though and that didn't work out.

If you watch how he fields grounders, he really doesn't have very good bend in his body... I doubt he could play any INF position... If he could have played 1B, I bet he would have gotten some innings there like Benson did...

 

[CDAV45]

If you watch how he fields grounders, he really doesn't have very good bend in his body... I doubt he could play any INF position... If he could have played 1B, I bet he would have gotten some innings there like Benson did...

I don't disagree with what you're saying. I don't even have the desire to attempt to convert him. He's an OFer and not a very good one honestly.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

So how do they go about getting any of Morris, Pilkington, Battenfield, Gaddis, Curry, Bibee, Williams, Allen, Cantillo or Espino an opportunity should they continue to earn it? Who or what gives and when? I mean that's more arms than they can even stash in Columbus. Let's say Espino and Cantillo start in Akron due to the lack of IP last season. That's still 8 SP prospects in Columbus.

I'm not a Gaddis fan. I know he only got seven innings in Cleveland last year but he was awful. Small sample, I know, but he'll be 25 in April. Gaddis and Battenfield are ranked as our 37th and 40th best prospects by Fangraphs. There are 13 starting pitchers ranked higher than these guys. I'm not worried if they have to start the season at AA.

That leaves Morris, Pilkington, Williams, Bibee, and Allen at Columbus and Castillo, Espino, Battenfield, Curry, and Gaddis at Akron. I would actually trade Plesac for a prospect, promote Morris, and move Castillo up to Columbus to start the season.

Curry will be 25 this summer and had a 4.38 ERA in Columbus last year in 53 innings. He's a 6'0" right-handed starter and not many of those have successful major league careers. Battenfield is 25 already and struck out 109 in 153 innings at Columbus. In a season where Curry, Gaddis, and Pilkington got called up for spot starts Battenfield did not. I'm not high on Battenfield, Curry, or Gaddis.

 

[CDAV45]

I'm not a Gaddis fan. I know he only got seven innings in Cleveland last year but he was awful. Small sample, I know, but he'll be 25 in April. Gaddis and Battenfield are ranked as our 37th and 40th best prospects by Fangraphs. There are 13 starting pitchers ranked higher than these guys. I'm not worried if they have to start the season at AA.

That leaves Morris, Pilkington, Williams, Bibee, and Allen at Columbus and Castillo, Espino, Battenfield, Curry, and Gaddis at Akron. I would actually trade Plesac for a prospect, promote Morris, and move Castillo up to Columbus to start the season.

Curry will be 25 this summer and had a 4.38 ERA in Columbus last year in 53 innings. He's a 6'0" right-handed starter and not many of those have successful major league careers. Battenfield is 25 already and struck out 109 in 153 innings at Columbus. In a season where Curry, Gaddis, and Pilkington got called up for spot starts Battenfield did not. I'm not high on Battenfield, Curry, or Gaddis.

I seriously doubt they push Battenfield to Akron. Let’s wait and see what they do with him and how he does with a fresh start and his new mechanics established. You’re using a small sample with impendinding circumstances with regards to him. Prior to the change his K9 rate was over 12 I believe.

Gaddis has talent but it’s been unrefined to this point. He’s in the right organization. Big, durable dude.

 

[sportscoach]

I seriously doubt they push Battenfield to Akron. Let’s wait and see what they do with him and how he does with a fresh start and his new mechanics established. You’re using a small sample with impendinding circumstances with regards to him. Prior to the change his K9 rate was over 12 I believe.

Gaddis has talent but it’s been unrefined to this point. He’s in the right organization. Big, durable dude.

Battenfield and Gaddis start in AAA...

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Battenfield and Gaddis start in AAA...

Because they will both be 25 years old this season? I would prioritize younger pitchers who have better stuff and higher upsides. They should be placed at the level they are ready to compete at and the older guys like Battenfield, Gaddis, and Curry with lower upsides should be slotted in wherever they can go after the guys with big upsides have been properly placed.

But I have no idea whether that is how the player development people look at it.

 

[sportscoach]

Because they will both be 25 years old this season? I would prioritize younger pitchers who have better stuff and higher upsides. They should be placed at the level they are ready to compete at and the older guys like Battenfield, Gaddis, and Curry with lower upsides should be slotted in wherever they can go after the guys with big upsides have been properly placed.

But I have no idea whether that is how the player development people look at it.

They rarely ever move a player down a level. Both started at AA last season and ended at AAA. Cleveland is going to start them at AAA... It's their turn to show they belong on the 40 man and that they deserve their spot. They aren't going to move them back to AA, because of their age and 22... If they end up back at AA, it's either to work/fix a new pitch or they went off the 40 man roster. Both guys are at AAA and it's their spot to lose.

 

[Tondo]

Does anyone know if MiLB keeps their 6 games vs one opponent schedule week with Mondays off? If so, teams will probably continue their 6 men rotations, with one or two piggybacks, you could easily keep 8 SP prospects on one team. Als helps control innings.

With Irvin fetching so little in return, I doubt Plesac is worth dealing at this point. Keep him, give him a spot and let it play out from there. Injuries will come, prospects will disappoint (boy was Tobias Myers a lesson learned), so you need to be 8 to 10 quality SP deep.

 

[petes999]

Does anyone know if MiLB keeps their 6 games vs one opponent schedule week with Mondays off? If so, teams will probably continue their 6 men rotations, with one or two piggybacks, you could easily keep 8 SP prospects on one team. Als helps control innings.

With Irvin fetching so little in return, I doubt Plesac is worth dealing at this point. Keep him, give him a spot and let it play out from there. Injuries will come, prospects will disappoint (boy was Tobias Myers a lesson learned), so you need to be 8 to 10 quality SP deep.

Yes ... Think MLB sees it now as a way to save money from all traveling with 3-4 game series. AAA starts on March 31 so almost 2 months to go....

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[Tondo]

Well then, the boring AAA locks are:

Curry, Pilkington, Gaddis, L. Allen, Battenfield and Toussaint

2 or 3 of them could be used as piggybacks so that a couple of Cantillo, Bibee, G. Williams, Burns get to Columbus too, but there's not exactly a logjam in AA, so I don't see much harm if 2-3 of them open in Akron, where Espino, R. Carver, Nikhazy and Mace seem to be the only locks, maybe they push up Leftwich because of age (and ability/performance). Davenport another possibility.

That's 16 SP for the upper levels, so 8/level is absolutely doable, especially with Espino/Cantillo on innings limit. And chances are that at least a couple of those 20+ SP between Cleveland and Akron will have an injury delay to their season.

 

[Gson]

Does anyone know if MiLB keeps their 6 games vs one opponent schedule week with Mondays off? If so, teams will probably continue their 6 men rotations, with one or two piggybacks, you could easily keep 8 SP prospects on one team. Als helps control innings.

With Irvin fetching so little in return, I doubt Plesac is worth dealing at this point. Keep him, give him a spot and let it play out from there. Injuries will come, prospects will disappoint (boy was Tobias Myers a lesson learned), so you need to be 8 to 10 quality SP deep.

It's very possible that one of Cantillo or Morris have a lights out spring, pushing Plesac to a bulk reliever/bull pen guy.. it may end up being the best move of his career..

Moving him there makes the pen more robust.. and/or permits moving someone from that group of a need.. if it arises during the spring..

 

[sportscoach]

Well then, the boring AAA locks are:

Curry, Pilkington, Gaddis, L. Allen, Battenfield and Toussaint

2 or 3 of them could be used as piggybacks so that a couple of Cantillo, Bibee, G. Williams, Burns get to Columbus too, but there's not exactly a logjam in AA, so I don't see much harm if 2-3 of them open in Akron, where Espino, R. Carver, Nikhazy and Mace seem to be the only locks, maybe they push up Leftwich because of age (and ability/performance). Davenport another possibility.

That's 16 SP for the upper levels, so 8/level is absolutely doable, especially with Espino/Cantillo on innings limit. And chances are that at least a couple of those 20+ SP between Cleveland and Akron will have an injury delay to their season.

I have Toussaint as a RP not a SP in 23... We have no room in AAA for another SP... I also have Cantillo and Morris piggybacking/have kiddie gloves on to start 23... They will both be limited in innings early, so those two together makes the most sense...

It's very possible that one of Cantillo or Morris have a lights out spring, pushing Plesac to a bulk reliever/bull pen guy.. it may end up being the best move of his career..

Moving him there makes the pen more robust.. and/or permits moving someone from that group of a need.. if it arises during the spring..

Both of those guys aren't going to be starting in the bigs in April/May for Cleveland... If someone takes Plesac's spot, it's Allen, Battenfield, Pilk or Curry... Not Morris or Cantillo...

If Plesac is traded then Morris or Cantillo can take his spot. My actual guess is Plesac is moved at the trade deadline with one of those 6 taking his spot...

 

[CDAV45]

Because they will both be 25 years old this season? I would prioritize younger pitchers who have better stuff and higher upsides. They should be placed at the level they are ready to compete at and the older guys like Battenfield, Gaddis, and Curry with lower upsides should be slotted in wherever they can go after the guys with big upsides have been properly placed.

But I have no idea whether that is how the player development people look at it.

Who has better "stuff" than Battenfield and Pilkington? After Williams, Bibee, Espino and Hankins you're splitting hairs between Battenfield, Pilkington, Cantillo, Allen and Gaddis. The softest thrower of that bunch is Allen, but he spins the ball well and has a lethal change up. Battenfield has the best FB which topped out at 98 last season and hitters struggle to square the ball up on him. Pilkington and Gaddis both have FB that sit 94-96 and all their pitches move which is why they struggled to locate. Cantillo's FB sits 93-95 and he has good rise and very good offspeed pitches. Sorry, I'm going to need to see some of these guys fail more than they have to label them as lower priority. The low priority guys for me right now is Plesac, Civale, Quantrill and Curry.

Bottom line, it's difficult to have a definitive priority list right now. There's just too many things we need to see if we're doing our due diligence.

 

[CDAV45]

I have Toussaint as a RP not a SP in 23... We have no room in AAA for another SP... I also have Cantillo and Morris piggybacking/have kiddie gloves on to start 23... They will both be limited in innings early, so those two together makes the most sense...



Both of those guys aren't going to be starting in the bigs in April/May for Cleveland... If someone takes Plesac's spot, it's Allen, Battenfield, Pilk or Curry... Not Morris or Cantillo...

If Plesac is traded then Morris or Cantillo can take his spot. My actual guess is Plesac is moved at the trade deadline with one of those 6 taking his spot...

Damn, I forgot about Toussaint. I agree that he is likely going to be looked at as a BP option, but I could be wrong in that assumption.

Morris is going to be in Cleveland, but I'm not sure who he'll share innings with. I expect Espino and Cantillo to piggyback in Akron at the beginning of the season. Hankins will need a partner as well and that might be Burns.

Curry may be the guy that goes back to Akron. He's the youngest and that might have say in the decision.