Rule 5 preview lists the best candidates to be drafted:

And one of our guys is on this list and no one has ever heard of him before

Manuel Alvarez, RHP Guardians

Alvarez is one of the more divisive players available among front office people we contacted immediately following the deadline. While one source awarded Alvarez the superlative of “The best data fastball in the minors,” another analyst with an AL club cast doubt on his selectability stating, “it’s hard for me to see him go, the control is so bad, hard to carry a guy like that.” Therein lies the rub with Alvarez. On the one hand his high octane two-pitch mix consisting of a four-seam fastball that sat 98 mph this season with plus analytical markers and hard sweepy slider look tailor-made for a major league bullpen. On the other hand he walked 44 batters across 43 innings and his ERA was above seven. While there are certainly elements to like from a raw stuff perspective, it’s hard to see poor command cutting it for a full season on the active roster.

former Cleveland minor leaguer who had a breakout season this year is among the BA 15 Rule 5 pickables

Samad Taylor, INF/OF Blue Jays

Exciting is the best way to describe Taylor’s game on the field. Blessed with twitch and easy athleticism, Taylor not only is a plus runner and basestealer, he displays impressive bat speed at the plate, leading to bigger impact hitting than his diminutive frame may suggest at first glance. While he can be hyper-aggressive early in counts, he shows the ability to settle into his two-strike approach and battle pitches off the edges. He has above-average on-base abilities (11.2% walk rate in 2021) that allow him to overcome below-average bat-to-ball skills. Some of this is a product of a lofty swing that can lead him to whiff on good pitches to drive. Despite this, Taylor gets the most out of his physicality and swing, displaying good power numbers (.209 Isolated slugging) and a knack for hard flyball contact (46.4% flyball rate in 2021). He has versatility in the field, a characteristic that's desirable to teams in the Rule 5, having logged time at second base (his natural position), shortstop, third base, center field and left field. While the versatility is good, he lacks a true defensive home. Another potential negative, as one evaluator noted, is his strong side platoon splits, making him unlikely to see much work versus lefthanders. Despite the potential limitations, Taylor has the offensive upside, defensive versatility, and baserunning acumen to fit as a sparkplug utility type.

and former Cleveland minor leaguer also with a breakout 2021

Ruben Cardenas, OF, Rays

The Rays couldn’t protect everyone, and Cardenas is one of the most interesting of the prospects they left available. He has developed more and more ability to get to his power—he hit 25 home runs in 2021 between High-A Bowling Green and Double-A Montgomery. He’s a little too aggressive at the plate, but has enough bat-to-ball skills to potentially make it work. Cardenas isn’t a true center fielder, but he’s played out there enough to be a fill-in and he’s fine in both corners.

I'd be happy to send Zimmer packing and bring Ruben back

And naturally Oscar is on the list again this year

Oscar Gonzalez, OF, Guardians

What can we say about Gonzalez that we didn’t say in our 2019 Rule 5 preview or our 2020 Rule 5 preview? This is Gonzalez’s third year of being available in the Rule 5 draft, but this is easily the year he has the strongest case to be picked. His impressive tools actually turned into production in 2021—he hit 31 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A. Gonzalez doesn’t draw walks and can be viewed as high risk but high reward. There’s a decent possibility his swing-hard, swing-a-lot approach may not work, but if it does, he has the kind of power that could see him become a useful everyday player, something that is hard to find in the Rule 5 draft.

SCOTT MOSS
SP, PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Phillies claimed LHP Scott Moss off waivers from the Guardians.
Moss was jettisoned from the Guardians' 40-man roster last week and quickly gobbled up by the Phillies. The 27-year-old left-hander posted an underwhelming 7.08 ERA, 1.72 WHIP and 29/15 K/BB ratio across 20 1/3 innings at Triple-A Columbus last season.

RELATED: Cleveland Guardians
SOURCE: Cleveland Guardians on Twitter
Nov 24, 2021, 4:50 PM ET

KYLE NELSON
RP, ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

Diamondbacks claimed LHP Kyle Nelson off waivers from the Guardians.
Nelson was removed from the Guardians' 40-man roster last week and will get an opportunity to compete for a spot in the rebuilding Diamondbacks' bullpen next spring. The 25-year-old left-hander posted a lackluster 9.31 ERA, 1.86 WHIP and 8/8 K/BB ratio across 9 2/3 innings at the major-league level last year.

RELATED: Cleveland Guardians
SOURCE: Cleveland Guardians on Twitter
Nov 24, 2021, 4:47 PM ET
Cleveland
ALEX YOUNG
SP, CLEVELAND GUARDIANS

Guardians sent LHP Alex Young outright to Triple-A Columbus.
Young was removed from the Guardians' 40-man roster to make room for the organization to protect several highly-regarded prospects from next month's Rule 5 Draft. The 28-year-old southpaw posted a bloated 6.58 ERA, 1.77 WHIP and 43/27 K/BB ratio across 52 innings (40 appearances, two starts) between the Guardians and Diamondbacks last season.

SOURCE: Cleveland Guardians on Twitter
Nov 24, 2021, 4:43 PM ET
Cleveland
DANIEL JOHNSON
OF, CLEVELAND GUARDIANS

Guardians sent OF Daniel Johnson outright to Triple-A Columbus.
Johnson was booted from the Guardians' 40-man roster last week, but will remain with the organization as additional outfield depth. The 26-year-old outfielder struggled at the big-league level last season, batting .221/.258/.377 with four home runs and one stolen base across 81 plate appearances.

SOURCE: Cleveland Guardians on Twitter
Nov 24, 2021, 4:42 PM ET
Cleveland


JUSTIN GARZA
RP, CLEVELAND GUARDIANS
Guardians sent RHP Justin Garza outright to Triple-A Columbus.
Garza has been removed from the Guardians' 40-man roster, but will remain with the organization as additional pitching depth. The 27-year-old right-hander posted a serviceable 4.71 ERA, 1.57 WHIP and 29/18 K/BB ratio across 28 2/3 innings at the major-league level last season.

So of the 7 we dumped, 4 were picked up:
JC Mejia traded for cash; I think he's the most projectible of the group; way over his head this year but has talent
Harold Ramirez traded for cash: he can hit some, cannot field; Cubs got him which will be tough fit unless NL adopts DH
Nelson was an overachieving minor leaguer who stopped over achieving
Moss was a promising talent who had a terrible year and isn't that young any more; still could develop

And no one wanted:
Alex Young who has had several big leagues shots by now with virtually no success
Justin Garza who is an underwhelming talent who could fit into a bullpen again
Daniel Johnson who is obviously much less regarded by everyone baseball than by a few Cleveland fans and by Daniel himself.

Seems like any LHP will get a look somewhere.

seagull wrote:Seems like any LHP will get a look somewhere.

Always been true. Keep in mind though now they have to pitch to 3 batters so they have to be a level better then they used to be and be able to get some righties out too.

Guardians minor leaguer raising money to build community well in his native Dominican Republic


By Maria Torres Nov 26, 2021 5
Elvis Jerez walked into a classroom at the Cleveland Guardians’ spring training facility in Arizona last month, prepared to make a pitch away from the mound.

For a long time, the 6-foot-4 right-handed reliever from the Dominican Republic had been mulling over an idea that would make daily life easier in his hometown. He desperately wanted to put it in motion.

Las Canas, a low-income community not far from where Jerez lives, has struggled with water shortages for years, like many rural areas in his native country. The community’s well only provides drinking water to local households every three to four days for periods of less than an hour at unscheduled times. People that happen to be home spend the duration filling pails, jugs and pans, but the stream of water is usually so weak and the schedule so inconsistent that some are left without. Occasionally, the pump won’t operate for a week. And supplementing supply with bottled water usually isn’t financially feasible.

Jerez lives in town with regular access to potable water, but he has family members and friends who live in the Las Canas neighborhood. He knows it is not uncommon for residents to forego bathing, even when humidity and temperatures are high. He knows there are health risks associated with having limited access to water.

“It’s really difficult,” he said in Spanish when reached on the phone a couple of weeks ago. “And they can suffer from that.”

A second well for Las Canas would mitigate shortages. Jerez wants to build it this offseason.

But he can’t do it alone. Jerez, 21, hails from a humble family. He makes little money as a minor leaguer and doesn’t have much when it comes to savings.

So he asked Ilana Mishkin, Cleveland’s player development coordinator, and Jennifer Wolf, the team’s life skills coordinator, for help. He was willing to kick in up to $1,000 to get the fundraiser going, but he needed to find a way to collect as much of the remaining 70 percent of the budget as he could.

The group turned to GoFundMe, the online crowdfunding platform, and started a fundraiser.

“(He says) it breaks his heart when he sees those who don’t have things like water and other basic necessities in life,” Mishkin said. “He’s a really kind young man who just has a really strong desire to help those around him.”

A successful GoFundMe campaign would keep Jerez’s personal account from taking a big hit. But he is prepared to pay the difference if the $3,000 goal isn’t reached.

Jerez liked helping his community even before he signed as an 18-year-old international free agent with the Guardians in 2019 and received a small percentage of his modest $25,000 bonus. Jose Ramon Adames Rosario, a longtime neighbor, remembers 14-year-old Jerez imploring Adames to help him install sprinklers on someone else’s farmland. “They don’t know how to do it” was part of young Jerez’s pitch to Adames, who is a plumber roughly twice Jerez’s age.

“He has always been a good humanitarian,” Adames said. “He always wants to do his part to help the community and those who need it most.”

After Jerez signed, he purchased livestock for the plot of land his family keeps in the countryside and started raising the animals for sale. With a portion of what he makes from that endeavor, he pays a cousin and someone else to work. He helps his mother, a teacher, keep their home running smoothly. In the past, he has helped neighbors with small grocery runs when they were low on cash.

Jerez inherited the trait from his parents. His father was beloved in their hometown of Fantino, a municipality in the Sánchez Ramírez province of central Dominican Republic, before he died of a heart attack when Jerez was 13. He raised and sold livestock on family lands in the countryside. He also worked as a chauffeur and didn’t hesitate to drive people to hospitals in his time off, even in the middle of the night.

“Someone who comes from a low (socioeconomic) class usually is a very humble person, who offers themself up to be of service to others,” Jerez said. “My family is like that on both sides.”

The Las Canas project is Jerez’s biggest undertaking yet. Someone has to come in with machinery to dig a spot for the well to be placed. Adames will have to install the well and corresponding pumps. The project was estimated to cost roughly $3,150.

But residents won’t foot any of the bill. Once it is up and running, they will only be responsible for paying utility fees to operate it.

“With the little he makes, he tries to help and has (already) helped some people,” Adames said. “Imagine it. He thinks that way now. God willing, it won’t change. Then he’ll be better off in the major leagues and will be able to do some of the projects that he’s mentioned to me.”

Jerez has logged only 63 1/3 innings in official games since the start of 2019. He has participated in Cleveland’s instructional league multiple times but he has lots of ground to cover before he is within reach of his major-league dream.

Jerez is not under the illusion he’ll make it quickly. He also knows that making a major-league debut isn’t the same as becoming an established MLB player. But he believes his work ethic will get him there.

His talent, too. As he has filled out his frame to some 180 pounds, he has added power to his arsenal. His fastball already had decent ride to it; now it pops into a catcher’s glove at an average of 94 mph, 5 mph harder than it did in 2019. Joel Mangrum, a Guardians pitching coordinator, pointed out Jerez’s downer curveball as a nice weapon and mentioned that Jerez is beginning to incorporate a changeup. The three pitches would be a nice mix for a major-league reliever.

Jerez laid the groundwork for his climb up the organizational ladder last year. He spent many late afternoons working out on a field near his home, chasing sunlight with friends or family members who helped him train. He ran, completed agility drills and played catch with whomever he could find. Eventually, he enlisted someone to catch his bullpen sessions. Adequate resources were hard to come by. In some progress videos Mangrum saw, it seemed Jerez didn’t always throw off typical mounds. Yet Jerez didn’t let himself become sidetracked by the circumstances. He found solutions. When it became apparent gyms wouldn’t open for some time, for instance, he and one of his brothers gathered materials to create a weight bench at their family home. They made a few sets of weights out of cement. Jerez used them after the sun went down.

“It speaks volumes to the type of kid he is and his ability to get better and want to get better,” Mangrum said. “He’s not gonna let anything get in his way.”

The fundraiser for the well has been active for nearly a month. As of Thursday evening, Jerez was about $500 shy of the goal. The last wave of donations had come in seven days earlier.

Jerez has had to exercise patience with this project. It isn’t as though he can easily cover the monetary difference.

In the future, maybe he will.

“A number of weeks ago, he was asked ‘What would you do if you’re in the big leagues?'” Mishkin said. “And he said, ‘The number of people I could help would be tremendous.’ He wants to get there so that he can do great things for his community. I don’t hear that very often.”

Great kid! I hope he makes it big so he can help others. Not sure he's a serious prospect but best of luck to him

age 21 is sort of old for the Arizona summer league but he is hard to hit and he strikes out plenty although only in relief and walks too many

22 innings. 8 hits 44 strikeouts. Oops 18 walks
2 games in Lynchburg 3 1/3 innings 1 hit 3 walks 6 strikeouts

Guardians Prospective
@indiansPro
#Guardians Winter League action 11/28/21

Colombian:
Angel Contreras 0-3 BB

Dominican:
Oscar Gonzalez 1-5
Anthony Gose 0.1(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 0BB 0SO

Puerto Rican:
Joab Gonzalez 0-3
Angel Lopez 0-1

Guardians Prospective
@indiansPro
#Guardians 20yr old (1B) prospect Joe Naranjo getting some off-season cage work in. Naranjo was the youngest player to start the season at (High A) w/ Lake County in 2021. Could repeat (High A) level in 2022 or be pushed to Akron. Still high on his bat.


https://twitter.com/i/status/1465165126886117376

Not so high on his bat; hit 235/324/324. A short squatty first baseman 5-8 198. 3rd round pick so he must have looked good in high school
Finished no.41 out of 47 qualifiers in OPS in the f.k.a. Carolina League

first year in Arizona he wasn't much better 265/345/333

Got $770,000 signing bonus

The following pre-draft writeup says he's 6 foot; the comparison to Jake Bauer is perhaps less inspiring when originally written.

Long regarded as the best pure hitter from Southern California in his class, Naranjo showed power with a long home run at Globe Life Park during the States Play series last summer and gained increased attention. He followed up with a strong senior season that included a home run in front of numerous evaluators at the Boras Classic. Naranjo draws comparisons to Dominic Smith and Jake Bauers as a 6-foot tall first baseman with excellent feel to hit and questions about his power. Naranjo takes an advanced approach to the plate and has superb bat-to-ball skills. He squares up both velocity and secondary stuff and projects to hit for a high average, with some scouts projecting him as to be a potential plus hitter. Naranjo’s power is average, which makes him a tough profile at first base. He is a plus defender at first base with smooth glovework, and he’s playable in right field. Naranjo gets a bump from Bauers’ and Smith’s success and is in day two draft consideration for some teams. He is committed to Cal State Fullerton.

LIDOM
Estrellas 6, Toros 4
Oscar Gonzalez (RF, Estrellas): 1-5, K, GIDP – Gonzalez continued his hitting streak but also struck out and grounded into a double play and only has a .595 OPS this winter.

LBPRC
Angel Lopez (RA12, DH): 0-1 – Alvarez was pinch hit for in the fourth inning after just one official plate appearance. Hitting just .185, it’s hard to believe he’s RA12’s DH.

Joab Gonzalez (RA12, PH-DH): 0-3 2K – Lopez’s MLB org mate, Joab Gonzalez, pinch hit for him and went 0-for himself. He still has yet to collect a hit this winter.