civ - kind of like when they hid Bieber on the back fields from Tito.

I’ll check the medical staff

There's a reference to DeLauter in Hoynes today. I'll get the quote. They say they don't want on the field until he's totally fit, Which implies he, as usual, isnt'.

Waiting is the hardest part
Last spring Chase DeLauter was hotter than the Arizona sun. So far this spring he can’t get on the field.
The Guardians didn’t invite DeLauter to big-league camp in 2024. He came over from their depth camp and proceeded to hit .520 (13 for 25) with four homers and 10 RBI in 13 games.

This year DeLauter was invited to big-league camp, but hasn’t appeared in the first four Cactus League games.
“We want to make sure he’s 100 percent healthy,” said Vogt.
DeLauter has been hounded by foot and hamstring injuries since being the Guardians' No. 1 pick in 2022.

“Hopefully sometime in the next week Chase will be in games, but we’re going to be deliberate with that,” said Chris Antonetti, president of baseball operations. “We’ll take our cues from Chase and the medical team on that.” The Guardians are playing the long game with DeLauter.

“With Chase we’re not solving for any artificial timeline of opening day,” said Antonetti. “We are trying to build a foundation so he can have a healthy and productive season.

AL Central Notes: Guardians, Taylor, Jenkins

By Mark Polishuk | March 1, 2025 at 3:35pm CDT

The Guardians’ estimated $100.4MM payroll is lower than the $104.2MM they spent in 2024, as per RosterResource’s calculations, and Cleveland also moved a lot of long-term money off the books by trading Andres Gimenez and Myles Straw to the Blue Jays in separate deals. Despite what might seemingly be a bit of extra money available for the Guards to spend before Opening Day, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer thinks the team won’t dip into free agency for any late additions, and is more likely to re-invest those savings towards possible extensions for current players on the roster.

Early-career extensions have long been a key plank of Cleveland’s team-building strategy, dating back to John Hart’s tenure as general manager in the 1990’s. On the current team, Jose Ramirez, Emmanuel Clase, and Trevor Stephan are all playing on multi-year extensions, and there are plenty of interesting talents the Guardians might look to lock up for the future. Steven Kwan is in his first of three years of arbitration eligibility, and Tanner Bibee stands out as the top extension candidate among the Guards’ long list of pre-arb players. It takes two to tango, of course, so there would have to be an equal desire on the part of any interested players in working out an extension that is acceptable to both sides.
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Been surprised by the lack of articles expressing concern about the thinning out of the bullpen.

Trading Morgan and Sandlin seemed safe with Walters and Sabrowski ready for full seasons after their impressive 2024 debuts. Losing Avila was acceptable once they added Junis for about 5 times the cost.

But in recent weeks:
Sabrowski is injured and hasn't pitched in a game
Walters pitched 1 inning, ineffectively, and hasn't returned
Junis has not pitched
Added depth on the 40 man roster from Aleman and Enright, both of whom missed considerable time with injuries last season, has been hollowed out with both of them hurt again.

Maybe we'll be lucky and Brian Shaw doesn't make the Reds' staff and Tito leaves him available for the Guardians to re-re-re-resign

Morgan and Sandlin are average pitchers at best. No loss. Overpaid. Avila was designated for assignment how many times last year ?

Not major losses, especially the way Sandlin was regressing.
What we're lacking is depth.

I was wrong about Cecconi: he is not out of options. Great, we won't need to keep him; but it would be nice if the return for Josh Naylor turns out to be of some value

McKenzie is out of options, so he's in the bullpen if he doesn't earn a rotation spot.

Junis I read in the PD was sidelined with "illness" and is getting back into game shape.

With Sabrowski out, it looks like Nizhazy has a serious shot at the Polish lefty role in the pen.
that makes 7 relievers. McKenzie would be the final with Walters in AAA.

We're at the half way point now so what are the prospects looking like at this point.

On the bright side, the starting rotation looks better than it did heading into 2024.
Gavin Williams looks good. As evidenced so far this spring, looks like a lock at #2 behind Bibee.
Luis Ortiz probably needs more time warming up before entering the games.
He's getting pounded at the start, but looked solid after re-entry
Nice battle taking place for #4 and #5
There's a reason for optimism surrounding Bieber. A possible return in May?!?! That would be awesome!
Bibee, Williams, and Bieber at the top looks good to me
Starting rotation looks to be in good shape

I don't know how we managed to improve the bullpen, but it happened.

I have my doubts concerning the offense.
It's been minor leaguers putting up a majority of the offense this spring.
The pitching has to stay sharp and carry most of the load again this year.
It would be nice to see better offensive efficiency this year.
No problems with Ramirez, Kwan, or Lane.
Hopefully Rocchio is not a mirage and can build off of his playoff performance and spring start.
If Santana struggles offensively and does not meet his 2024 standards, problem 1.
Manzardo will have to be the safety net if Santana falters?
Brito and the cast of characters trying to nail down the second base job is problem 2
At the moment, Tyler Freeman looks like the best offensive guy to nail down a second base job.
Naylor/Hedges - If Naylor does not perform as expected, problem 3
Who will emerge as the 3rd and 4th men in the outfield?
Johnathan Rodriguez could be one. Who would be the other?!.
Johnathan Rodriguez was named 2024 IL Most Valuable Player.

Defensively, we're in good shape at 1st, 3rd, ss, c, and lf.
Lane Thomas has to start in center. period.
That leaves 2nd and rf.
I'd like to see Johnathan rodriguez get the opportunity to start in rf that Noel got last year.
Same amount of playing time, same number of at bats.
He's an average fielder but his arm strength is a double-plus weapon and the best outfield throwing arm in Cleveland's system.
These are attributes you would like to see from a right fielder. As mentioned above, MVP in the IL last year.
Tyler Freeman / Daniel Schneeman - second base remains his most likely future position.
Where Freeman ends up defensively, his bat will be his carrying tool and profiles just fine at second base.
Echo Daniel Schneemann

Not much emphasis placed on right fielders this spring. We had Noel, Rodriguez, Brennan and a bunch of minor leaguers.

Best of the Rest: Martinez, Schneemann, Noel, Brennan

Prediction:
Guardians win the division barring serious injuries, in a close one.
I don't think more the 5 games will separate Cle, KC, Det, and Minn.
The margins could change if the Guardians can mount any kind of consistency on offense.

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Joe Z did you see Noel play right field in the playoffs ? Did you see his arm ? Stop talking like Rodriquez is the only guy to play defense. J Rodriquez was the IL player of the year because Noel was playing in MLB. Rodriquez had a chance last year and unfortunately it did not work out.

They are very similar players; Noel did fine in his first trial albeit a big dropoff in September. JRod did not. Lots of players don't succeed until their 2nd or 3rd shot in the majors. I expected Rodriguez to have a good shot to fill in for Fry as a RH DH at the start of the season.

Joe Z did you see Noel play right field in the playoffs ? Did you see his arm ? Stop talking like Rodriquez is the only guy to play defense. J Rodriquez was the IL player of the year because Noel was playing in MLB. Rodriquez had a chance last year and unfortunately it did not work out.

Yes I did, I also saw where Noel was 2-for-21 in the postseason (. 095),

Noel had a 31.8% strikeout rate significantly above the league average. He's got poor pitch selection and chases pitches outside the strike zone contributing to his strike out rates,

I'll admit that Noel has a pretty good arm. I'd love to see Noel go up against Rodriguez.

All I'm saying is Rodriquez deserves more than a small sample size taste of major league at bats.

Rodriguez had 40 at bats compared to 200 for Noel. Hardly enough at bats to prove himself.

Noel didn't exactly have anything to write home about in those 200 at bats.

Hey! I'm a Guardian fan. I want a shot at the world series again this year. If Noel is the man, that's great.


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I concur with Joe: both are flawed players with similar strengths and weaknesses.