Tanner Bibee’s frustration boils over during another miserable showing by Cleveland Guardians
Aug 25, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Tanner Bibee, left, walks off the mound beside manager Stephen Vogt during a pitching change in the seventh inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images
By Zack Meisel
Aug. 25, 2025Updated Aug. 26, 2025 12:25 am EDT

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CLEVELAND — After the scoreboard confusion and errant throw, after the first of two home runs by the former Cleveland prospect, after the starting pitcher struggling through his worst season shouted at teammates in the dugout, after his manager barked at him for that pep rally, after the home run by another former Cleveland prospect, after a couple of hits by a dude named Bob and during another lifeless showing by the Guardians’ offense — it rained.

For 38 minutes, it rained.

It was 38 minutes of sweet salvation for every fan or masochist in attendance who — like the dorky dad who says “we needed this” when the grass gets a break from a summer drought — probably thanked Mother Nature for interrupting the atrocity they were witnessing. During the rain delay, they got to rewatch broadcaster Tom Hamilton’s Hall of Fame speech on the scoreboard, a mid-game palate cleanser.

The Guardians have bookended a monthlong stretch in which they were the American League’s hottest team with an 0-10 stretch and now a 1-9 stretch. If their 10th consecutive loss, a gut-punch, extra-inning defeat on July 6, wasn’t rock bottom, then perhaps this is.

The Guardians sure hope it is.

Frustration boiled over in the home dugout after a sloppy fourth inning, in which an incorrect scoreboard display of the count resulted in a Junior Caminero stolen base, and a wayward throw to third later allowed Caminero to score on a walk. It was a comedy of errors, but without any laughter, just anger, as a seething Tanner Bibee returned to the dugout and voiced his dissatisfaction. The pitcher and his manager, Stephen Vogt, contended it was a rallying cry for his teammates.

“He came in trying to pump the boys up,” Vogt said.

The ever-stoic skipper, however, stormed after Bibee and shouted back at him.

“I told him, ‘Not now. Take it downstairs,’” Vogt said.

“He’s completely right,” Bibee agreed.

The two hashed out their perspectives after the game.

“Emotions are high right now,” Vogt said. “Emotions are high with everybody. Tanner is one of the most competitive, fiery people I’ve ever been around.”

It was an appropriate night for an airing of grievances.

As the Guardians slip further and further out of the wild-card picture, Monday night offered a series of reminders of everything that has gone awry, starting with Caminero, who seems destined to haunt Cleveland’s front office for years.

The Rays traded for the Cleveland prospect in November 2021. They first asked for someone else in exchange for pitcher Tobias Myers. The Guardians balked. The Rays asked for another player. The Guardians balked. The Rays asked for Caminero. The Guardians said yes.

Caminero’s 38th homer of the season traveled 412 feet at an exit velocity of 108.6 mph and disappeared into the shrubbery beyond the center-field wall. The pop off the bat, given the sparse crowd, presumably could be heard from the bottom of Lake Erie. Once play resumed after the rain delay, Caminero greeted Tim Herrin with a homer to the left-field bleachers, his 39th.

Cleveland’s executives have admitted that trade was a profound mistake. They’ve jokingly asked Rays executives if they want a redo. They laugh to hide the pain. One evaluator quipped that Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh defeated no one in the Home Run Derby final. (He beat Caminero.)

Myers, by the way, pitched poorly at Triple-A Columbus for a few months in 2022 before being cut loose. He bounced to the San Francisco Giants and Chicago White Sox later that season and wound up having a nice year for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2024, to twist the knife a bit deeper.

Teams make bad trades. It happens. The Guardians, on balance, have been on the right end of lopsided deals far more than they have been the team staring up at the ceiling at night, wondering where their process failed them. They signed Caminero, he played well in the Dominican Summer League, and then they moved him, a teenager with a limited track record and a blank canvas for the future.

The Guardians haven’t had a player hit 40 homers in a season since Travis Hafner in 2006. Caminero might get there this week, and he turned 22 on July 5. He’s precisely what this lackluster lineup needs. That one stings.

His first blast was the 24th homer Bibee has surrendered this season. Yandy Díaz’s homer in the seventh was the 25th, three more than Bibee allowed last season. You may remember Díaz as the prospect sent to the Rays in a deal that swapped Edwin Encarnación and Carlos Santana and landed Jake Bauers in Cleveland.

Díaz blossomed in Tampa. In his worst season, per OPS+, he has been 15 percent better than league average. In 2023, when he finished sixth in MVP voting and was an All-Star and Silver Slugger winner, he was 59 percent better than league average.

As for Bibee, it’s been a nightmarish season, with a 4.73 ERA and a fastball that continues to get walloped. On Monday, he said, he was not “good mentally” when it came to “letting stuff roll off my shoulders.”

“It’s been rough,” Bibee said. “We’re almost in September.”

His home run rate has nearly doubled, relative to his rookie season, in which he never endured a rough patch. Last year, after a sluggish start, he emerged as the Guardians’ ace with Shane Bieber sidelined. This season, however, he never found his footing.

Neither has Cleveland’s feeble offense. The lineup hasn’t scored a run since Friday night. The Guardians have been outscored 24-0 in their last three games. When Gabriel Arias slapped a single to center to start the eighth — the second of Cleveland’s two hits in the game — the fans offered a Bronx cheer.

Ian Seymour, a 26-year-old lefty making his first major-league start, shut the Guardians down Monday with an array of changeups and 92 mph heaters. He wasn’t the only Seymour to torture the Guardians. Bob Seymour — the first Bob in the big leagues since reliever Bob Howry in 2010 — recorded a pair of hits in his eighth career game.

All in all, it was a wretched night for a team sputtering through another dismal stretch in a season threatening to embark on an irrelevant final month. Other than that, Mr. Vogt, how was the play?

“We are frustrated,” Vogt said. “Everyone’s frustrated. We need to hit. We need to score more runs. We need to get things going on offense. We’re all aware of it. We’re all working through it.”

Here's a strategy to turn this things around today:
Return Gabriel Arias to the 6th hole in the lineup and see if he can get a single again surrounded by his many strikeouts
Find a spot in the outfield again for Nolan Jones, a much bigger prospect than Caminero who may be just ready to come into his own
Let Bo Naylor demonstrate both his solid offensive and defensive credentials, another No. 1 draft choice who's made it big.
Angel Martinez can patrol center, or right, or second, but make sure to have his bat in the lineup, preferably hitting second.

In fact, why do anything different? If it's broke, why fix it?

Guardians place first baseman Carlos Santana on outright waivers: Sources
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 12: Carlos Santana #41 of the Cleveland Guardians hits an RBI-single during the first inning against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on July 12, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images)
By Zack Meisel and Ken Rosenthal
Aug. 26, 2025Updated 4:27 pm EDT
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CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Guardians have placed veteran first baseman Carlos Santana on outright waivers, multiple sources told The Athletic, perhaps signaling an approaching conclusion to the 39-year-old’s third stint with the organization.

Santana, who debuted with the franchise in 2010, has posted a .225/.316/.333 slash line in his 16th major-league season. He has lost playing time in recent weeks to Kyle Manzardo and C.J. Kayfus, a pair of young, well-regarded first basemen. Manzardo has cemented himself as the club’s cleanup hitter, while Kayfus, widely considered a Top 100 prospect this year, has been earning regular at-bats this month, either at first, right field or designated hitter.

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Teams have 48 hours to submit a claim on a player who was placed on outright waivers, with priority determined by record, starting with the worst. Any team that wins a claim would be responsible for the remaining salary owed to Santana, which would be a little more than $2 million. If no one claims Santana, the Guardians could simply keep him on the roster or cut ties with him to create an opening for another hitter in Triple A.

The Guardians signed Santana to a one-year, $12 million deal in December after they traded Josh Naylor to the Arizona Diamondbacks for pitcher Slade Cecconi and a competitive balance draft pick. Santana’s bat has lost much of its thump, however, as he has produced only 21 extra-base hits in 455 plate appearances. Of the 154 players with enough trips to the plate to qualify for the batting title, Santana ranks 150th in slugging percentage.

He still walks at a healthy clip and plays exemplary defense at first base — he won his first Gold Glove Award at the position last year — but his lack of muscle in the batter’s box ultimately convinced Cleveland’s decision-makers to go in another direction.

Two years ago, at a similar spot on the baseball calendar, the Guardians claimed a trio of pitchers off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels — Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López and Matt Moore — in a last-ditch effort to make a run at the AL Central title. It didn’t work.

Cleveland originally traded Casey Blake to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Santana and pitcher Jon Meloan in 2008. Santana left in free agency after the 2017 season, but returned a year later in a trade. Santana ranks second in franchise history in walks and fifth in home runs.

Guardians Place Carlos Santana On Outright Waivers
By Steve Adams | August 26, 2025 at 3:29pm CDT

The Guardians have placed veteran first baseman Carlos Santana on outright waivers, Ken Rosenthal and Zack Meisel of The Athletic report. The 39-year-old switch-hitter is playing on a one-year, $12MM contract and still has about $2.13MM of that sum yet to be paid out.

Any team that claims Santana would need to take on the entirety of that remaining sum. Santana has not been designated for assignment, meaning he can continue to play while he is on waivers. If he goes unclaimed, the Guardians do not need to assign him to a minor league affiliate or remove him from the 40-man roster (though they could choose to do so). If he is claimed, the waivers are irrevocable, and Santana will head to the claiming club. In 455 plate appearances this season, Santana is hitting .225/.316/.333 with his typical brand of elite defense at first base.

n his new story for The Athletic (subscription required),Jim Bowden picked a postseason X-factor for each team with a realistic chance to make the postseason, where he had a lot of nice things to say about Schneemann.

“Schneemann has been a key cog for the Guardians, playing 60 games at second base, 15 at third base, 11 in center field, nine at shortstop, seven in right field and three in left field. He’s made only two errors all season, both at second base. Overall, he ranks in the 92nd percentile in outs above average and in the 84th percentile in fielding run value. Offensively, he’s provided some pop with 15 doubles and 10 homers in 335 plate appearances, along with eight stolen bases (80th percentile in baserunning run value). He provides value all over the field and on the bases,” Bowden wrote.

OK, they can keep him. Maybe Angel Martinez as a utility player, too, but not a CF.

Guardians Release Carlos Santana
By Steve Adams | August 28, 2025 at 1:00pm CDT

The Guardians have released first baseman Carlos Santana, per a team announcement. He’d been placed on outright waivers earlier in the week and clearly went unclaimed. Infielder Daniel Schneemann has been reinstated from the paternity list and will take Santana’s spot on the active roster. Santana is now a free agent and can sign with any team for the prorated league minimum for the remainder of the season. So long as he signs prior to Sept. 1, he would be postseason-eligible with a new team.

Santana’s third stint in Cleveland will conclude with a lackluster .225/.316/.333 batting line and 11 home runs in 455 plate appearances. The 39-year-old remains an elite defender at first base, but his bat has wilted from both sides of the plate. The veteran switch-hitter is slashing just .220/.311/.325 against right-handed pitching and .235/.328/.353 versus lefties. That said, Santana was a thunderous force against left-handed pitching as recently as last season, when he raked at a .286/.356/.578 pace in 163 chances from the right-handed batter’s box.

Through the trade deadline, Santana’s bat was at least within arm’s reach of league average, but virtually all of his production this year came in a torrid month of May. He’s been below average at the plate in every other month and has cratered in August, hitting .186/.271/.233 through 48 plate appearances.

His recent poor play, coupled with the presence of young Kyle Manzardo and the recent promotion of top prospect C.J. Kayfus, left Santana without a clear role on a Guardians club that has fallen out of postseason contention. Cleveland will take the final month of the season to get regular reps for the 25-year-old Manzardo and the 23-year-old Kayfus. They’d surely hoped that another club would claim Santana and take on the remainder of his $12MM salary, but that was always a long shot. The Guards will remain on the hook for what’s left of that sum (minus the prorated minimum for any time he spends on another club’s major league roster).

Was hoping that the replacement would be Valera, to take the spot on the 40 man roster; or Halpin who's already on the 40 man. They probably didn't want to demote Wilson the day after his career game.

Wilson = Vogter

Guardians takeaways: Kyle Manzardo’s power, Naylor family dynamics, the ’95 team and more CLEVELAND, OHIO - AUGUST 30: Kyle Manzardo #9 of the Cleveland Guardians runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the sixth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Progressive Field on August 30, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
By Zack Meisel
Sept. 1, 2025 7:00 am EDT

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BOSTON — On Sept. 1, 2024, Paul Manzardo was with some friends in Chehalis, Wash., watching the Cleveland Guardians and Pittsburgh Pirates square off nearly 2,500 miles to the east.

His son, Kyle, had been recalled from Triple A that day for his second stint in the big leagues. It was his first game in the majors in two and a half months, and in the fourth inning, he slugged his first career home run, a solo shot to right-center off Pittsburgh’s Mitch Keller.

Paul, of course, celebrated. Two innings later, when Kyle approached the plate for his next at-bat, the broadcast showed a replay of that homer. At least, Paul thought it was a replay. Manzardo had socked another Keller heater on the inside part of the plate to nearly the exact same spot in the outfield seats. Only when Paul noticed different body language did he realize, “No, that’s a new home run.”

Manzardo was far more comfortable upon his second promotion to the big leagues. He asserted himself as a key member of Cleveland’s lineup that month and wound up hitting second against righties during the team’s postseason run. He hasn’t looked back.

One year has passed since that emphatic return, and no matter how the final month of this season shakes out, one of the prevailing developmental success stories, for a Guardians team desperate for them, will be Manzardo cementing himself as a middle-of-the-order bat.

Manzardo turned 25 on July 18, which technically makes this his age-24 season (based on a player’s age as of the end of June). He sits at 23 homers and a .774 OPS (league average is .721) in his first full season in the majors. The Guardians are 20-5 all-time when he homers.

Let’s say he hits five more homers before the end of the season, putting him at 28 in all. Here are the Cleveland hitters, age 24 or younger, with 28 homers in a season:

Francisco Lindor (38 in 2018, 33 in 2017)
José Ramírez (29 in 2017)
Grady Sizemore (28 in 2006)
Richie Sexson (31 in 1999)
Manny Ramirez (33 in 1996, 31 in 1995)
Albert Belle (28 in 1991)
Cory Snyder (33 in 1987)
Rocky Colavito (41 in 1958)
Hal Trosky (32 in 1937, 42 in 1936, 35 in 1934)

There’s a lot of muscle on that list.

The next frontier for Manzardo is to improve against lefties and to better his defense at first base. Manzardo receiving daily at-bats the rest of the season, no matter the handedness of the opposing pitcher, should be beneficial, and that’s made possible by the release of Carlos Santana, who caught on with the Chicago Cubs.

Before Sunday’s action, 84.2 percent of Manzardo’s plate appearances this season have come against righties. He has recorded a .248/.331/.472 slash line against them, and a .164/.235/.426 slash line against lefties.

Here are some other thoughts on the Guardians:

• Santana maintained an open dialogue with Cleveland’s coaching staff and front office throughout the year, which shouldn’t be surprising, given his history with the club. So when team president Chris Antonetti said Santana’s release was a “joint decision,” there’s merit to it. It’s not as though Santana was blindsided by how things unfolded.

Santana seems like a lock for the franchise’s Hall of Fame. He played for Manny Acta, Terry Francona and Stephen Vogt, three different eras of Cleveland baseball. In franchise history, he ranks 12th in games played, 12th in runs scored, 14th in hits, 11th in doubles, fifth in home runs, 11th in RBIs and second in walks.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Santana’s evolution was his glove work. He started as an everyday catcher. He had a trial at third base. He made cameos in left field during interleague play and the World Series. And then he turned himself into a Gold Glove Award-winning first baseman. Even as he nears 40 years old, he remains a stout defender at first.

• Bo Naylor said this weekend series against the Seattle Mariners marked the first time he had ever played against his older brother, Josh, aside from live at-bats during spring training. He was hoping he’d have a chance to throw out his brother on the bases, but the opportunity never materialized. Bo said before the series, “I’d be shocked if (Josh) didn’t” attempt to steal on him if in position to do so. “He has that competitive nature.”

Josh has turned into a base-stealing maven this season, with 23 steals in 25 attempts. He swiped one with Austin Hedges behind the plate on Sunday.

• It’ll be fascinating to see what sort of contract Josh lands in free agency this winter. He wasn’t thrilled that the Guardians never conveyed interest in a long-term union, and it led to an icier relationship between him and the organization last year. He wasn’t surprised that the Guardians traded him over the winter. He’ll hit free agency as a 28-year-old first baseman who owns a .271/.334/.460 slash line the last four years.

• For those keeping track, the Guardians traded Naylor to the Arizona Diamondbacks in December. They signed Santana to replace him. And now on Sept. 1, Naylor no longer plays for the Diamondbacks and Santana no longer plays for the Guardians.

• It’s jarring to pull up the Guardians’ Baseball-Reference page, which displays head shots of the Top 12 players, in order of bWAR. The guy they just released, Santana, ranks fifth. Nic Enright ranks ninth. Who would have predicted that in March? Ben Lively ranks 11th. Who would have predicted that in early June, when he underwent season-ending elbow surgery? And the guy who ranks 10th is wearing a blue cap with a giant, yellow duck on it.

That’s Parker Messick, and it’s a photo from his time last year with the Double-A Akron RubberDucks. He’ll get a new head shot on there eventually, but he’s only made two big-league starts. And he already ranks 10th on the team in bWAR. Messick is doing precisely what the Guardians have implored Joey Cantillo to do: pepper the strike zone. He’s thrown 67.4 percent of his pitches for strikes, which has allowed him to be efficient, as he’s logged 13 2/3 innings in those two starts. The most impressive number for a rookie who should be shaking with jitters this early in his career: one walk. He’ll have his toughest assignment yet on Monday at Fenway Park.

With Messick in the fold, John Means nearing a return to the roster and Cantillo waiting for more opportunities, it’s possible the Guardians work in a sixth starter here and there in September to give everybody some extra rest.

• How fitting was it to hold the team’s 1995 celebration with Mariners manager Dan Wilson in attendance? Wilson was the catcher for Seattle ace Randy Johnson when Kenny Lofton scored from second on a passed ball to seal Game 6 of the ALCS at the Kingdome, one of the more memorable scenes in club history. Former GM John Hart once referred to it as a moment that is frozen in time. Mike Hargrove, Cleveland’s manager at the time, said the play sent blood rushing to his fingertips as he watched it unfold, stunned, from the dugout.

As Lofton once described: “You always advance with an aggressive turn just in case the guy bobbles it. Sometimes guys kick a ball or something, you never know. But if you’re lolly-gagging just to advance one base — you can never advance that way. Once I looked up and Randy had his back turned and Dan Wilson was moping with his head down, I was like, ‘Oh, shoot.’ I just kept going. It’s just instincts, reaction.”

Play: Video

• These 1995 reunions never feel complete without Albert Belle in attendance. In 2016, I wrote an open letter to Belle (in the style of James Earl Jones’ character from “Field of Dreams,” sort of a corny idea now that I look back on it) insisting to the once-fearsome slugger that Cleveland fans would greet him with an epic ovation if he showed up for his own induction into the team’s Hall of Fame. He didn’t, though. And if he passed on that, it’s hard to envision him ever making a public appearance at the ballpark.

• If the ’95 season being 30 years ago makes you feel old, just wait until next season, which will mark 10 years since the 2016 run. A reunion might be a bit more difficult to piece together. Francisco Lindor and José Ramírez are still playing. Santana and Carlos Carrasco are trying to hold on. Mike Napoli and Collin Cowgill (surely, you recall the Opening Day right fielder) are coaching on Terry Francona’s staff in Cincinnati. Tyler Naquin is pitching at High-A Lake County.

That said, a lot of members of that roster have visited Progressive Field recently, either as alumni ambassadors, as broadcasters or in roles with the league office: Nick Goody, Chris Gimenez, Brandon Guyer, Yan Gomes, Jason Kipnis, Coco Crisp, Cody Allen, Lonnie Chisenhall, Rajai Davis, Dan Otero. Corey Kluber joined the organization in an advisory coaching role.

The better questions are … will anyone be able to find Juan Uribe to invite him? Could Andrew Miller still throw a scoreless eighth? Will Bryan Shaw beg to pitch? Has Ryan Merritt finished his thank-you notes to all the Cleveland fans who cleared out his wedding registry?

story posted above includes video of the scamper from Lofton to score while Wilson strolls back to pick up the ball at the backstop