Any podcast yall are listened to in the offseason to get some news (other than locked in guardians)?

Stats for MLB.TV season. Consider this number with the 45+ games we’ve been to this year and I think we’ve watched every guards game. Go Guards!

Thank you to everyone who has helped! We found “My First Bowman Auto” card!

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I'm Rafe, I was curious if anyone pulled my Bowman First Auto yet? I figured the person would have contacted me yet, but didn't know if anyone happened to see mine or anyone else's get pulled? Lmk! P.S. also if you pull any rare autos of mine comment back to me!!!

BASICS:

Born: September 5, 1997

Jersey Number: 38

Bats: Left

Throws: Left

Position: LF

Drafted: 2018 by the Guardians, Round 5, Pick 163

MLB Debut: April 7, 2022

Teams: Guardians (2018-present)

Twitter/Instagram: @skwanzaa

2024 STATS:

Games: 122

Batting Average: 0.292

OBP: 0.368

SLG: 0.425

OPS: 0.793

Runs: 83

Hits: 140

Doubles: 16

Triples: 3

Home Runs: 14

RBIs: 44

Stolen Bases: 12

CAREER STATS:

Games: 427

Batting Average: 0.285

OBP: 0.359

SLG: 0.396

OPS: 0.755

Runs: 265

Hits: 479

Doubles: 77

Triples: 17

Home Runs: 25

RBIs: 150

Stolen Bases: 13

2024 AWARDS:

All Star

Gold Glove

CAREER AWARDS:

Gold Glove - 2022, 2023

Play of the Week - 6/19/22, 8/28/22

AL Rookie of the Month - April and September 2022

AL Player of the Week - 9/25/22

THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW:

He recently got engaged.

He played baseball at Oregon State with Adley Rutschman.

He is a Warriors fan, so I guess everyone has flaws.

He likes playing chess.

His favorite movie is Benchwarmers.

He admires Buster Posey and Ichiro Suzuki.

2024 HIGHLIGHTS:

He got three hits in Game 5 of the ALDS

He made a catch with 40% probability

He got four hits in one game

His hitting in the first half of the season was amazing

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:

His first play of the week

His second play of the week

WHY I LOVE HIM:

He's a good player and seems like such a great guy. It's crazy that he was a rookie just two years ago and now he seems to be one of the leaders on the team.

PAST PLAYERS:

11/11: José Ramírez 11/18: Tanner Bibee 11/25: Josh Naylor 12/2: Shane Bieber

I know he didn't show up in the postseason but he was probably the Guards 2nd best player all year

https://x.com/ESPNCleveland/status/1867935712105857090?t=9LRt2q32J-xb31gMCrtHiQ&s=34

Edit: It is a screenshot from IG that was posted on ESPN Cleveland's Twitter (X) account. It IS Jose's real IG account.

Was trading our 2B for a middle of the order SP the only thing we are gonna do? I mean shit, there are rumors out there for nearly player that would help this team, even guys who aren’t big time stars, and we aren’t even so much as mentioned to a SINGLE DAMN ONE OF THEM.

I should be used to by now, but I mean goddamn man. Just no attempts, I get we are cheap, but not even trade rumors. This franchise really does not give a fuck about us or winning. This was a great opportunity for us to try and get better and make a run for the next few years while we still have Jose and the AL is week and we aren’t doing a single fucking thing about it. So frustrating, depressing, and disappointing.

EDIT: I think a lot of people missed my point. I don’t entirely hate the trades we made but I’m disappointed that it seems to be quite literally the only thing we are going to do and it’s not enough.

Trying to plan my tv budget for 2025. I currently get live TV on with Fubo but am considering switching to over the air for most of my TV.

I’ll subscribe to FanDuel for the $20 a month to get the Cavs.

Curious is the guardians/MLB will have a similar deal for baseball.

Anyone have a link to a gif or (even better) video of Josh reacting in the background to Lane vs. Skubal?

With each trade of a fan-favorite player, you can always count on the same recycled comments to hit social media posts.

"The Dolans are the worst owners in baseball!" "They never want to pay players when they hit free agency!" "They're always looking to save money instead of trying to improve the team!"

I'm sure you're all familiar. You've probably bought in and thrown them out yourself on occasion. I'm guilty myself. After the Gimenez trade this week and seeing yet another wave of this sentiment for arguably a great baseball move, it really got me thinking: how often DOES this actually happen? Is this mindset a fair criticism or is it a bogeyman the fans have built in their minds? How many of the moves have we actually grown to regret with the benefit of hindsight?

I decided to dig deep into all the rosters of every team since the Dolans purchased the team in 2000. 25 years worth of players, in search for every instance where the fans were rightfully outraged, and conversely, every instance where the team's moves were ultimately justified.

The criteria are simple:

1. Has to be a player who accumulated at least a solid resume in Cleveland (I used 10 bWAR as a baseline).
2. Has to be a player who departed Cleveland before age 35. (I feel it's perfectly reasonable to not expect the team to re-sign a guy over 35. This DQ's players like Lofton, Vizquel, Hafner, Santana, etc for reference)

THE BIG REGRETS (20+ career bWAR after leaving):

-Manny Ramirez (39.3) -CC Sabathia (34.3) -Cliff Lee (26.4) -Jim Thome (25.7) -Bartolo Colon (23.5) -Francisco Lindor (21.5, active)

These are the only 6 names that I think fans can truly point to emphatically and say we missed out on greatness. Ramirez and Thome obviously both stand out here. The only ones to truly leave in free agency. Both could've been legends in Cleveland more than they already were. Both were in the first few years of Dolan ownership. Both were offered deals but ultimately left for more money elsewhere. I'm sure we all feel some type of way about them.

The other 4 were all traded for pretty incredible packages. Even Cliff Lee who was "only" traded for Carlos Carrasco, Carrasco (21.4) and Lee (26.4) weren't really that far apart, production wise, in subsequent years. Arguably all 4 of those trades were close to break even or better in value.

THE MODEST DISAPPOINTMENTS (5-20 career bWAR after leaving):

-Jhonny Peralta (15.0) -Victor Martinez (13.7) -Shin-Soo Choo (13.2) -Michael Brantley (10.3) -Asdrubal Cabrera (9.0) -Casey Blake (8.8) -Yan Gomes (6.5) -Trevor Bauer (5.3)

Bet you didn't expect to see Peralta above Victor on this list. I feel there are several names in this section that people will argue hard for, but in reality, I don't think those players were as productive after leaving as we've convinced ourselves they were. Victor was plagued by injuries and mostly relegated to DH status which hurt his overall value. Brantley also had trouble staying healthy and ultimately retired sooner than I think he wanted to. Asdrubal was traded to make way for Lindor, which I don't think people can complain about. Bauer obviously dug his own grave with his actions, culminating with a ball chucked over the CF fence. With hindsight now, almost all these moves were totally justified, and I don't think the value per dollar was there on them if we had re-signed them.

DODGED BULLETS (< 5 career bWAR after leaving):

-Mike Clevinger (4.5) -Corey Kluber (1.6) -Jake Westbrook (1.0) -Jason Kipnis (0.8) -Grady Sizemore (0.1) -Carlos Carrasco (-2.1, includes return trip to CLE)

Scroll back up and look at the trade hauls for some of these guys. Absolutely nuts. We traded Clevinger for WHO? And I still recall the fanbase being pretty upset thar he was dealt. Looking back now, none of these guys warrant a single tear (except for maybe Grady's career just self destructing). Kluber got a no-hitter, bless his heart, but I don't think many of us would trade Clase for that.

TBD: -Andres Gimenez

And we've come full circle. How far up this list will be ultimately climb? Only time will tell.

I included a few extra guys at the bottom for context because I also hear their names mentioned in this context, but I don't think they fit the bill for the theme of this analysis.

If anyone wants to discuss any other names that I may have left off, feel free. If you made it this far reading, I genuinely appreciate it. This was fun to put together.

TL;DR - There have only been SIX players in the 25 years that he Dolans have owned the team that fans should be rightfully upset that we didn't sign long term (and arguably, the 4 of those 6 that were traded were at least net break-even trades).