00:00.031 --> 00:23.342
[SPEAKER_01]: Hey everybody, J.J. Cooper Carlos Closso, another of the baseball America, Prospect podcast, Deep Dives, today, it's everything about the Cleveland Guardians, an organization that continues to stay basically competitive, playoff contender seemingly year after year, even though we're going to talk about a player who was the number one pick in the draft, not that long ago.
00:23.502 --> 00:29.650
[SPEAKER_01]: It's an interesting combo that they managed to win the lottery and then be right back
00:30.288 --> 00:32.952
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a lot of, that's a deep system too.
00:32.992 --> 00:34.955
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to be talking about that here as well.
00:35.656 --> 00:36.877
[SPEAKER_01]: And we're just going to jump right in.
00:36.957 --> 00:37.979
[SPEAKER_01]: Great to see you, Carlos.
00:38.620 --> 00:44.047
[SPEAKER_01]: When you look at this Guardian system, it feels like we talked about the depth here.
00:44.087 --> 00:50.276
[SPEAKER_01]: But it also does feel like that there is that we saw Chase still a lot of make his big league debut in the most season.
00:50.576 --> 00:50.997
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
00:51.702 --> 00:56.686
[SPEAKER_01]: This is an organization that has some guys who should be able to help this year a little bit.
00:56.706 --> 01:13.201
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, or in one way or another, whether that's in coming up to the Big League Club or potentially being packaged in trades, I feel like that this is an organization that's kind of had to do that pretty regularly here because they've had kind of these runs where it's like, okay, you got to pick a short stop out of this group.
01:13.221 --> 01:17.044
[SPEAKER_01]: You got to pick a middle infield, you got to pick an outfit or a pitcher.
01:17.225 --> 01:19.887
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, where do you see kind of the overall state of the system?
01:20.373 --> 01:23.198
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think it's one of the better systems in the game.
01:23.218 --> 01:24.842
[SPEAKER_00]: It's very well rounded.
01:24.862 --> 01:28.308
[SPEAKER_00]: It is not super slanted towards hitters or pictures.
01:28.388 --> 01:29.711
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a good collection of both.
01:30.613 --> 01:38.668
[SPEAKER_00]: There is a great combination of near proximity players who you would expect to help the team out as soon as 26 a few of their guys.
01:38.648 --> 01:40.571
[SPEAKER_00]: have already helped out the big league team.
01:40.772 --> 01:44.639
[SPEAKER_00]: You mentioned Chase DeLater debuting in the postseason, which was just cool to see in general.
01:45.059 --> 01:51.431
[SPEAKER_00]: Parker Messick was super key into helping get the guardians into the postseason at all with how he pitched down the stretch.
01:51.491 --> 01:52.893
[SPEAKER_00]: So he's right there and ready to go.
01:52.914 --> 01:58.243
[SPEAKER_00]: I think you also see a greater diversity of offensive profiles.
01:58.223 --> 02:06.656
[SPEAKER_00]: In this system, then you have in the past for years, I feel like you could basically chalk up every left-handed hitting contact oriented, sloppy, offensive player.
02:07.577 --> 02:14.848
[SPEAKER_00]: And you look at the Guardians lineup, and it feels like for years they've been trying to just get more power into that lineup and avoid being this like,
02:14.828 --> 02:15.889
[SPEAKER_00]: station to station.
02:15.909 --> 02:20.674
[SPEAKER_00]: You need to string together a couple of hits before you can score run, sort of team.
02:21.675 --> 02:23.837
[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like there is this blend of offence.
02:24.077 --> 02:29.683
[SPEAKER_00]: You've got power hitters like Ralphie Velazquez and huge, drop power and Jason Lavelette who they just drafted.
02:29.723 --> 02:38.792
[SPEAKER_00]: You've got the more contact oriented, really advanced pure hitter types like Travis Pazana at the top of the system, Angel HaNal Cooper Ingol.
02:38.932 --> 02:42.116
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think there's just a great variety of profile.
02:42.536 --> 02:44.498
[SPEAKER_00]: There's
02:45.153 --> 02:51.540
[SPEAKER_00]: It's very rare that you finish the 30 and you think, man, like, they're all these guys that couldn't fit on, but I wanted to.
02:51.580 --> 02:54.283
[SPEAKER_00]: That was the case for me when I was writing up this Guardian's List.
02:55.344 --> 03:02.651
[SPEAKER_01]: You hit on one thing that I've loved right about last year, which is just finding how much more left-handed hitting and switch hitting.
03:03.452 --> 03:07.537
[SPEAKER_01]: The Guardians have no seemingly interest in right-handed hitters.
03:07.857 --> 03:10.840
[SPEAKER_01]: Gabriel Ares is the only right-handed hitter
03:10.820 --> 03:26.247
[SPEAKER_01]: projected to be in their everyday lineup and then when you just go start going down the list of guys who are coming up, most of them also bat left handers which hit, they do have like an Austin head, you know, Austin hedges and Jonathan Rodriguez could be on their pinches right hand at bats, but
03:26.227 --> 03:28.670
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's just say that Austin Hedges is not on the bat.
03:28.710 --> 03:32.914
[SPEAKER_01]: He's not on your bench because of his ability to bat right-handed.
03:32.954 --> 03:34.797
[SPEAKER_01]: It's much more about the defense and all that.
03:35.437 --> 03:42.465
[SPEAKER_01]: Speaking of the number one prospect is Travis Bazana, who does bat left-handed, which again fits very much in the Guardian's profile here.
03:43.646 --> 03:55.980
[SPEAKER_01]: I would say with Bazana, clearly there are number one prospect, the guy that we was basically considered one of the top prospects, obviously, in the draft, just now a year and a half ago.
03:56.888 --> 03:58.630
[SPEAKER_01]: coming off of that season he had.
03:59.451 --> 04:03.435
[SPEAKER_01]: I feel like that it was not a particularly like a surface level stats.
04:03.455 --> 04:06.058
[SPEAKER_01]: It was not a particularly impressive season.
04:06.879 --> 04:13.486
[SPEAKER_01]: But then when you look at it kind of like there it also if you look at it though and you look at kind of the underlying analytical data and all.
04:13.506 --> 04:16.690
[SPEAKER_01]: There's nothing that really jumps out of it that's really scary either.
04:16.770 --> 04:20.854
[SPEAKER_01]: Like you could maybe want to see a little bit more out of it.
04:20.834 --> 04:26.202
[SPEAKER_01]: But it also wasn't something was like, Oh, well, this is a clear glaring flaw that he's now going to have to fix.
04:26.342 --> 04:28.125
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you kind of perceive it?
04:28.145 --> 04:29.387
[SPEAKER_00]: I view it very similar to that.
04:30.068 --> 04:34.355
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, he did not have this sort of season that JJ weatherhold had who is in his draft class.
04:34.375 --> 04:40.784
[SPEAKER_00]: He hasn't had this sort of performance that we've seen from Nick Kurtz who is another member of that just highly regarded college hitting class at the top.
04:40.804 --> 04:43.749
[SPEAKER_00]: But he also dealt with injury that limited him this year.
04:43.869 --> 04:46.453
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's definitely a factor.
04:46.433 --> 04:53.665
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think there were some mechanical things that he had to clean up coming back from that injury that we saw him really address and solve for at the end of the year.
04:53.685 --> 05:03.562
[SPEAKER_00]: And as you said, if you look at the underlying sort of bad of ball data that we have, he's the same hitter, I expect him to be and think he'll be moving forward.
05:03.623 --> 05:06.227
[SPEAKER_00]: Like the contact skills have not gone anywhere.
05:06.287 --> 05:10.534
[SPEAKER_00]: He's still impacting the baseball to solid clip, especially in the second half of this season.
05:10.594 --> 05:11.496
[SPEAKER_00]: I think you saw him.
05:11.476 --> 05:14.641
[SPEAKER_00]: turning on the ball on getting in the air with more frequency.
05:15.403 --> 05:20.591
[SPEAKER_00]: So my overall assumptions about who Travis Bazana is as a player.
05:20.652 --> 05:21.894
[SPEAKER_00]: They haven't gone anywhere.
05:21.914 --> 05:23.577
[SPEAKER_00]: It's mostly a case of okay.
05:23.617 --> 05:28.886
[SPEAKER_00]: Now we want to get him a fully healthy season and actually go see him perform like we think we can't.
05:29.086 --> 05:30.328
[SPEAKER_00]: We think he can.
05:30.308 --> 05:37.075
[SPEAKER_00]: Excuse me, but I think he's still one of the better hitting prospects in baseball and a guy that I would expect to move quickly.
05:37.135 --> 05:46.205
[SPEAKER_00]: If he had a big role on the Guardians team this year, it wouldn't shock me although the Guardians don't tend to be one of the more aggressive teams and promoting their players.
05:46.225 --> 05:50.609
[SPEAKER_00]: So I am kind of curious, like how much seasoning are they going to live in the minor leagues?
05:51.010 --> 05:56.856
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I think if they want to move them quickly and if he's healthy, it wouldn't shock me at all if he's ready for just consistent big league time.
05:58.405 --> 06:14.710
[SPEAKER_01]: What did you come out of the season, what did you get reports defensively like how does he look at second does that look like that's you know probably the best fit for him long term or how do you kind of see him kind of shaking out defensively and I partly bring that up just because yeah this is the guardians.
06:14.690 --> 06:17.594
[SPEAKER_01]: you could be a solid defense of second base spin.
06:17.614 --> 06:23.122
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, hey, maybe we move you somewhere else, because we only got about 11 of these guys that feels like, you know, bouncing around.
06:23.182 --> 06:23.463
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
06:24.044 --> 06:27.168
[SPEAKER_00]: I think there is still a hole for them at second base.
06:27.188 --> 06:34.078
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, the fact that the one breedow maybe had a chance last year and didn't really grab that job just made a little bit more likely that it kind of is.
06:34.659 --> 06:39.246
[SPEAKER_00]: Travis was on his job to take and I think there is some logic in some sense to
06:39.226 --> 06:41.870
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, Travis Bazana was the the number one overall pick.
06:41.890 --> 06:45.136
[SPEAKER_00]: He's very very clearly a valuable player on the team.
06:45.416 --> 06:49.823
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe the path of least resistance for Bazana is just putting him at second base and letting him play there.
06:49.864 --> 06:54.331
[SPEAKER_00]: And if he's a fringy defender, he's probably going to hit enough to make up for that.
06:54.772 --> 06:55.994
[SPEAKER_00]: Just get his bat and the lineup.
06:56.034 --> 06:57.436
[SPEAKER_00]: You need some more firepower and the lineup.
06:57.476 --> 06:57.937
[SPEAKER_00]: Put him there.
06:57.957 --> 07:00.441
[SPEAKER_00]: That's where you can play.
07:00.421 --> 07:01.622
[SPEAKER_00]: and you don't think about it too much.
07:01.682 --> 07:06.027
[SPEAKER_00]: But I also just know that Travis Pazona is a great runner and he's a great athlete.
07:06.047 --> 07:12.714
[SPEAKER_00]: And if the team wanted to experiment with him playing another position like center field, that would be intriguing to me.
07:12.814 --> 07:29.112
[SPEAKER_00]: Now I haven't heard their definitely going to do that or anything and I would be a little bit surprised because I do think there are a lot of outfielders that are vying for playing time and spots and depending on where chased a lot of is playing if he's on the field, if he's playing center field, like that's interesting to me as well.
07:29.682 --> 07:40.871
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, I like the idea that if you said like if the Zona could play center, Juan, the Zona delater, that probably like that could end up being that they're best outfield.
07:40.911 --> 07:42.576
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I could see that scenario.
07:42.596 --> 07:45.042
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, all of a sudden become pretty interesting.
07:45.140 --> 07:46.041
[SPEAKER_00]: that would be interesting.
07:46.542 --> 07:55.394
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think in terms of how we're viewing him as a defender, a second base, I think the best case scenario is he becomes a solid defender, like a reliable if not flashy, sort of defender.
07:55.474 --> 07:57.717
[SPEAKER_00]: His arm is not an issue at second base.
07:57.737 --> 08:05.427
[SPEAKER_00]: He throws from a weird slot, but I've only heard positive things about the development of his throwing arm and the versatility of his arm angles there.
08:06.088 --> 08:10.894
[SPEAKER_00]: So I don't think the profile has changed significantly from what we expected it to be, you're good, offensively.
08:12.140 --> 08:13.121
[SPEAKER_01]: We mentioned Delauder.
08:13.141 --> 08:18.188
[SPEAKER_01]: Delauder was, I don't think that it was really any much consideration of Delauder being number one on this list.
08:18.268 --> 08:34.350
[SPEAKER_01]: I had a pizana, especially let's just acknowledge really what we're hoping for for Chase Delauder more than anything is a season where Chase Delauder shows up to spring training healthy and in the season still healthy because that has been something that has been, it's been just out.
08:34.482 --> 08:44.219
[SPEAKER_01]: I wouldn't say a series, it's been a long running lower-light foot injury issue that has taken multiple years of trying to get that right.
08:44.659 --> 08:52.052
[SPEAKER_01]: And then when he gets on the field, everything looks good, and then you're just crossing your fingers that he's not going to end up on the IL, not that long after.
08:53.365 --> 08:55.471
[SPEAKER_01]: is the lost development time?
08:56.012 --> 08:59.903
[SPEAKER_01]: Is that, do you have a word that that might impact him as he ditched the big leagues here?
09:00.084 --> 09:08.387
[SPEAKER_01]: Or is the bat literally look like it's still polished enough that is made up for the fact that he's really, kind of had to develop and fit some starts.
09:08.367 --> 09:18.601
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I have no questions at all about the bat would chase the lotter that the injuries are questions to me because like, just haven't had any example of him being durable over a full season.
09:18.621 --> 09:20.223
[SPEAKER_00]: So like, is that ever going to be the case for him?
09:20.263 --> 09:24.269
[SPEAKER_00]: Like you said, he's had a lot of lower body injuries, foot injuries that have plagued him.
09:24.289 --> 09:25.350
[SPEAKER_00]: He had core surgery.
09:25.390 --> 09:26.572
[SPEAKER_00]: He had a right risk surgery.
09:26.932 --> 09:28.114
[SPEAKER_00]: So he's just been
09:28.381 --> 09:32.046
[SPEAKER_00]: very injury prone for the entirety of his career prior to getting another Guardian system.
09:32.247 --> 09:39.377
[SPEAKER_00]: He was injured for most of the year, his draft year, which is part of the reason why he even slipped to the Guardians and was available for them to pick him.
09:40.178 --> 09:48.010
[SPEAKER_00]: Where that impacts like how I'm viewing him or thoughts on upside is I think there's probably less of a chance that he's
09:48.108 --> 09:53.014
[SPEAKER_00]: He's going to play center field long term just because that position is more demanding on the body.
09:53.154 --> 09:59.822
[SPEAKER_00]: And so it would make a lot of sense if the Guardian just put him into a corner, maybe quicker than the otherwise would have if he was healthy.
10:00.283 --> 10:05.749
[SPEAKER_00]: At this point, I think the Guardian's just need to find a way to get the Lodders back and the lineup and get him on the field regularly.
10:06.290 --> 10:12.778
[SPEAKER_00]: If that's rotating through like a corner outfit spot and even DH, I think that could be worth it because his bat is superb.
10:13.078 --> 10:16.242
[SPEAKER_00]: If we didn't have these health questions with Chase the Lodder,
10:16.222 --> 10:19.086
[SPEAKER_00]: I think there's no question he would be the top prospect in the system.
10:19.667 --> 10:24.473
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think we'd be talking about a potentially top 20 top 15 prospect in the game.
10:24.534 --> 10:27.778
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, his performance when he's on the field is exceptional.
10:28.179 --> 10:29.721
[SPEAKER_00]: He hits the ball incredibly hard.
10:30.362 --> 10:32.885
[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't miss hardly at all.
10:32.945 --> 10:34.327
[SPEAKER_00]: He makes the right swing decisions.
10:34.367 --> 10:36.310
[SPEAKER_00]: He's hitting the ball at ideal angles.
10:36.410 --> 10:40.716
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like check, check, check, check for everything you want to see for a hitter.
10:41.036 --> 10:45.823
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just he needs to get on the field and let that performance actually come.
10:45.803 --> 10:49.432
[SPEAKER_00]: the hitting trace dating back to his college years have been absolutely tremendous.
10:50.915 --> 10:57.431
[SPEAKER_01]: When you look at this organization as a whole, it feels like it's kind of taken another step forward from where it was.
10:57.451 --> 11:00.479
[SPEAKER_01]: It was a solid system last year, but does it feel better this year?
11:00.579 --> 11:01.922
[SPEAKER_01]: Or how do you kind of perceive it?
11:03.472 --> 11:06.517
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that it feels very static from a year ago.
11:06.557 --> 11:14.651
[SPEAKER_00]: The death is still really good, but this past year, the Guardians really dealt with a lot of injuries for a lot of their players.
11:14.671 --> 11:22.223
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think you could, if you wanted to ding this Guardians system, you could maybe say that like, if you're one of the lower people on Travis Bazana, because his injured season,
11:22.203 --> 11:24.186
[SPEAKER_00]: scares you, you just haven't seen it as much.
11:24.866 --> 11:34.499
[SPEAKER_00]: I think there were a number of players in this system that I maybe would have expected to rank more confidently in the top 25 on our top 100 a year ago.
11:34.559 --> 11:43.411
[SPEAKER_00]: The step back that Jason Chorio had, we were talking about him as a no-brainer, top 50 prospect, if he hits for a little more power, what's he going to be looking like?
11:43.651 --> 11:45.794
[SPEAKER_00]: He's much further down the list.
11:45.854 --> 11:46.675
[SPEAKER_00]: I think
11:47.228 --> 11:59.833
[SPEAKER_00]: the people who like Travis Bazana for him coming out of the draft probably would have expected to be talking about Travis Bazana right now how we're talking about JJ weatherhold and JJ weatherhold is currently a top five prospect in baseball for us.
11:59.873 --> 12:05.203
[SPEAKER_00]: I think Ralphie the last guess the guy who maybe you just want to see him.
12:05.825 --> 12:10.513
[SPEAKER_00]: better numbers because he is like a first baseman, the threshold for that is really high.
12:10.533 --> 12:16.503
[SPEAKER_00]: And so you add in guys like Wellman, Francesa, who's taking steps backwards, one burrito.
12:16.543 --> 12:23.395
[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe you could say that like we didn't quite hit on all the players that we were really excited about a year from now, but that said,
12:23.611 --> 12:25.293
[SPEAKER_00]: I still quite like a lot of these players.
12:25.333 --> 12:28.036
[SPEAKER_00]: There are a number of players who are no doubt top 100 types.
12:28.416 --> 12:32.100
[SPEAKER_00]: There are a lot of guys that didn't make the top 100 that are just off the list.
12:32.941 --> 12:38.186
[SPEAKER_00]: And there are players that I couldn't get into the top 10 that I really wanted to get inside that.
12:38.206 --> 12:39.487
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think it's incredibly deep.
12:40.328 --> 12:44.453
[SPEAKER_00]: And for me, the only real questions I have with the Guardian System, just health.
12:44.473 --> 12:46.575
[SPEAKER_00]: There are so many players that just had bad health years.
12:46.735 --> 12:49.618
[SPEAKER_00]: If they can all stay healthy, there's plenty of talent here.
12:50.493 --> 13:17.614
[SPEAKER_01]: it's funny when you say that like as far as guys who there are so many guys on this list outside of their top group that top hundred group like obviously Jay Slavy let we want to see you know he has he had a very poor season last year which is right clear but that said to get them where they got him he was a guy who yeah even if you say okay in hindsight maybe number one would have been a little rich for him even if he had had a good year
13:18.269 --> 13:23.354
[SPEAKER_01]: he was a clear top five prospect coming into the class even at the worst case scenario.
13:23.795 --> 13:32.664
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, entering the year he was in the number one spot on our draft board number one player in the country, just freakish set of athleticism power speed for his size.
13:32.684 --> 13:42.854
[SPEAKER_00]: There are some chased a lotter shades here just with the the pure athlete and the way that the guardians were able to acquire him because he had an injured season in a down year.
13:43.435 --> 13:45.677
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a chased a lotter
13:45.657 --> 13:47.180
[SPEAKER_00]: far more advanced than Jesus.
13:47.701 --> 13:49.304
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's the big question with Jay's.
13:49.384 --> 13:59.624
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm also fascinated by the J. Slavy Let's selection because in some ways, the Guardian's draft in 2025 kind of reset my expectations for what this org is doing.
13:59.664 --> 14:00.766
[SPEAKER_00]: We talked about this.
14:00.786 --> 14:07.699
[SPEAKER_01]: It's hit first develop power has always been seemingly the approach and Jay Slavy is the opposite of his the opposite of the developer.
14:07.679 --> 14:12.103
[SPEAKER_00]: And then they double down later when they took Nolan Schubert later on the draft to is a very similar profile.
14:12.143 --> 14:12.804
[SPEAKER_00]: It's all power.
14:12.844 --> 14:15.066
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a lot of walks, but they're real contact questions.
14:15.086 --> 14:20.772
[SPEAKER_00]: So whether the Guardians now think that they can do the inverse of that or whether it's just hey, we need more power.
14:21.212 --> 14:22.233
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is how we're going to get it.
14:23.875 --> 14:28.259
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll be very curious to see if that changes the hitters they target moving forward.
14:29.300 --> 14:32.944
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, Jason and X factor here, because if he comes out,
14:32.924 --> 14:42.141
[SPEAKER_00]: and he's just looking fully healthy and he's not having any issues translating that power to wood bats into professional pitching like his upside is tremendous.
14:42.161 --> 14:45.467
[SPEAKER_00]: He could easily jump onto the top 100 with great production.
14:45.487 --> 14:51.378
[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like you could say that about, I don't know, six other players in this Guardians list who are not on our 100 right now.
14:51.478 --> 14:56.147
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, Joey Oki is on your top 10 and I could see like a scenario or Joey Oki pops.
14:56.127 --> 15:03.471
[SPEAKER_00]: Joey Oki feels like he is everyone's favorite pick-to-click guy on our staff at this point because
15:03.687 --> 15:05.049
[SPEAKER_00]: He's a tremendous athlete.
15:05.549 --> 15:09.434
[SPEAKER_00]: The fastball traits and characteristics are exceptional.
15:09.514 --> 15:14.420
[SPEAKER_00]: He releases the ball from a below average release height, which is a good thing with how this pitch plays.
15:14.440 --> 15:17.543
[SPEAKER_00]: He gets a ton of arm side run on the pitch.
15:18.044 --> 15:24.632
[SPEAKER_00]: He actually got better as a seasoned progress and began throwing harder and holding his velocity better deeper into games.
15:25.233 --> 15:31.500
[SPEAKER_00]: His slider was a banger-breaking ball prior to being drafted and had this great combination of power,
15:31.480 --> 15:34.324
[SPEAKER_00]: and movement, and we still view that as a plus pitch.
15:34.404 --> 15:41.975
[SPEAKER_00]: I think Joey Oki's pure stuff is better than Brayland Doty, who we have ranked number six right now, and is on the top 100.
15:42.395 --> 15:47.783
[SPEAKER_00]: Doty is just far more advanced in terms of control and command, like his command is exceptional, maybe we can get into him.
15:47.883 --> 15:58.618
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, if Doty continues to, or excuse me, if Joey Oki continues to make strides with his control and command, he will very quickly be on this top 100 list, and just has,
15:58.598 --> 16:03.886
[SPEAKER_00]: awesome upside potential so so there's a lot of players we can get into here today wherever you want to go.
16:03.926 --> 16:04.306
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm happy.
16:04.326 --> 16:07.130
[SPEAKER_01]: Well okay so let's put it this way.
16:07.250 --> 16:18.126
[SPEAKER_01]: We let's assume Bizana does graduate this year which no guarantee but as we just laid out like this is a guy if he doesn't it'll be a slow path even the Guardians are moved guys slower but
16:18.106 --> 16:27.114
[SPEAKER_01]: It'll be a slow path for a polished bat from a 2024 draft class, where we've already seen Nick Kurtz win rookie of the year.
16:27.515 --> 16:29.216
[SPEAKER_01]: We've already seen JJ Weatherhold.
16:29.236 --> 16:31.398
[SPEAKER_01]: We expect to be an everyday regular.
16:31.518 --> 16:35.482
[SPEAKER_01]: Like the other guys at the top of that class, most of them are graduate.
16:35.502 --> 16:38.965
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's assume for these purposes that Bison is going to graduate.
16:38.985 --> 16:42.689
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's assume the Trace to Lotter is going to graduate, which he's already made his major league debut.
16:42.729 --> 16:43.669
[SPEAKER_01]: That doesn't seem crazy.
16:44.550 --> 16:47.573
[SPEAKER_01]: If that happens, who's the guest to be the number one next year?
16:48.970 --> 16:51.655
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess it'd be conversation of like three players.
16:51.795 --> 16:53.839
[SPEAKER_00]: Ralphie Velasquez, we have ranked number three.
16:54.200 --> 16:57.867
[SPEAKER_00]: Angel Honell, we have ranked number four, and then Brayland Odie, we have ranked number six.
16:58.448 --> 17:02.616
[SPEAKER_00]: Odie was the one player that I even still wonder, shall I rank him a little bit higher?
17:02.696 --> 17:06.203
[SPEAKER_00]: I ranked him behind Parker Messick and Park, because Parker Messick is a now.
17:06.183 --> 17:22.326
[SPEAKER_00]: Big League starter who pitched, I think he pitched better than like what his stuff and what his role ultimately will be, but there's a lot of value in a solid number four arm that you can rely on and very clearly he helped them get to the postseason, but Bralindode is certainly a lot more exciting to dream on.
17:22.866 --> 17:34.182
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think those are the three, like I could see a case where Ralphie Velasquez who has a little bit more upper-minor's performance and experience actually gets an opportunity
17:34.162 --> 17:42.715
[SPEAKER_00]: So much of this is just like uncertainty about how quickly the guardians are going to push players and they have a number of these first base types that maybe he's just going to be blocked for this year.
17:42.755 --> 17:47.182
[SPEAKER_00]: But Rafi Velasquez maybe has the best hit power combination in the class.
17:47.262 --> 17:50.928
[SPEAKER_00]: It's basically a conversation of him versus not in the class, but in the guarding system.
17:51.429 --> 17:54.794
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a conversation between Travis Buzana and Chase DeLater.
17:54.834 --> 17:58.960
[SPEAKER_00]: I think in terms of Rob Power, Rafi Velasquez is definitely up there.
17:59.040 --> 18:01.384
[SPEAKER_00]: He absolutely pulverizes the baseball.
18:01.364 --> 18:03.286
[SPEAKER_00]: He's improved his angles.
18:04.087 --> 18:07.852
[SPEAKER_00]: He actually strikes out, I think less frequently than you might expect.
18:07.892 --> 18:14.400
[SPEAKER_00]: I hear just nothing but constant praise for how Ralph is able to conduct himself in the batter's box.
18:14.440 --> 18:18.925
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have any worry about his hit power combination profiling at first base.
18:19.646 --> 18:25.793
[SPEAKER_00]: You can maybe move around a little bit in the corner outfit, but I think you're gonna wanna put him at first base and just improve as a defender there.
18:25.853 --> 18:30.679
[SPEAKER_00]: And then Angel Haneu, who we haven't even talked about much,
18:31.790 --> 18:37.095
[SPEAKER_00]: lost some time, he dealt with a right shoulder, a sprain in spring training.
18:37.656 --> 18:39.778
[SPEAKER_00]: So that kind of cost him a decent amount of time.
18:40.338 --> 18:46.084
[SPEAKER_00]: But he was a player who we were just praising for his pure hitting chops a year ago.
18:46.144 --> 18:52.830
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think there's every reason to think that he's going to come back healthy and just look more like the prospect he was last year.
18:52.850 --> 18:56.674
[SPEAKER_00]: And he's a very well-rounded prospect in terms of the tools he has.
18:56.734 --> 18:58.776
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a big arm, it's one of the better arms.
18:58.756 --> 19:05.607
[SPEAKER_00]: in the system where he plays defensively, I think might depend more on like who's around him than anything he's doing.
19:06.408 --> 19:13.900
[SPEAKER_00]: He needs some more refinement as a defender, but he's got changed by short second, third base and bringing above average hit tool.
19:13.920 --> 19:19.970
[SPEAKER_00]: So those two hitters and then Brayland Doty would be in the conversation for me.
19:20.030 --> 19:26.620
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I might just go on to let me say Doty because I think the command traits he has are exceptional and really rare.
19:28.692 --> 19:33.236
[SPEAKER_01]: OK, I do want to ask before we get to what the good order is good at developing.
19:34.537 --> 19:35.458
[SPEAKER_01]: We talked about the entries.
19:35.878 --> 19:40.823
[SPEAKER_01]: I feel like that we need to, like, was Daniel Spino one of the toughest guys to rank?
19:40.883 --> 19:46.568
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, where you want to put him in a 30 of anyone you can think of that you have a rank?
19:46.588 --> 19:53.674
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, this has been the case for two years for Daniel Spino, because last year we had no room formation to go off of this year.
19:53.694 --> 19:58.598
[SPEAKER_00]: We actually got on the mound late in 2025.
19:58.898 --> 19:59.659
[SPEAKER_00]: And the stuff was back.
19:59.719 --> 20:00.099
[SPEAKER_00]: Look great.
20:00.119 --> 20:02.242
[SPEAKER_00]: It was awesome to just see him on the mound.
20:02.342 --> 20:06.868
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, I think this is the most volatile profile.
20:06.948 --> 20:20.164
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I think Daniel still wants to start and the guardians should give him every opportunity to prove that he can't start before they just put him in the bullpen and just say go throw this fastball, throw this sliders as much as he can, and we'll get what we can out of you.
20:21.045 --> 20:22.206
[SPEAKER_00]: But the way
20:23.418 --> 20:29.705
[SPEAKER_00]: Guardians officials talk about Daniel Espino and how hard he's worked in the sort of character that he has and his makeup.
20:29.965 --> 20:32.788
[SPEAKER_00]: He's just hard to not root for, to be honest.
20:32.828 --> 20:34.990
[SPEAKER_00]: He's gone through so many injuries.
20:35.050 --> 20:38.234
[SPEAKER_00]: He's gone through some off the field hardships this past year.
20:38.254 --> 20:41.657
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, multiple shoulder surgeries, knee injuries.
20:41.678 --> 20:46.843
[SPEAKER_00]: And when he was healthy prior to a lot of these injuries, we're talking about him.
20:47.195 --> 20:57.236
[SPEAKER_00]: And like the same way that we've been talking about, Boba Chandler and Nolan McLean and Andrew Painter, this offseason, he looked like one of the best pitching prospects in baseball.
20:57.476 --> 21:00.262
[SPEAKER_00]: And he clearly still has that stuff.
21:00.302 --> 21:06.775
[SPEAKER_00]: And so you see a guy like this sitting at 17, it feels like it's crazy low, which is there's so much uncertainty, it's really hard.
21:06.855 --> 21:08.258
[SPEAKER_00]: You could argue him.
21:08.407 --> 21:14.240
[SPEAKER_00]: 10 spots higher 10 spots lower and I don't think there's really a wrong place for him because of that.
21:14.341 --> 21:25.065
[SPEAKER_01]: So I don't know, JJ, where would you have him again, like I just love that we keep ranking these guys right because we saw it with the speed, right, which is.
21:25.045 --> 21:31.494
[SPEAKER_01]: you could obviously argue that when he's that hurt for that long that you just say, okay, put him off the list until he comes back.
21:31.915 --> 21:32.876
[SPEAKER_01]: And now you put him back on.
21:33.337 --> 21:37.804
[SPEAKER_01]: But Daniela Speedo, there's a reason that the Guardian is put him on their 40-man roster.
21:37.844 --> 21:39.386
[SPEAKER_01]: This is that you don't want to quit got like this.
21:39.786 --> 21:44.854
[SPEAKER_01]: And when you talk about him starting, we're leaving the crazy thing is is he hasn't used an option yet.
21:45.535 --> 21:47.337
[SPEAKER_01]: Because if you're on the I.L.
21:47.377 --> 21:49.821
[SPEAKER_01]: the whole year, you're never option.
21:50.105 --> 21:53.370
[SPEAKER_01]: while it may feel like that the timetable is really speeding up.
21:53.450 --> 21:54.251
[SPEAKER_01]: It actually isn't.
21:54.672 --> 22:03.705
[SPEAKER_01]: He could spend all this year as a starter option to the minors, and you could go into next year, and if you say, okay, well, move them to the pen, these days healthy, you still have multiple options.
22:03.725 --> 22:13.660
[SPEAKER_01]: You would be valuable as a reliever with multiple options, or if he has gotten back to 80% of what he was pre-injury, watch out.
22:14.001 --> 22:16.905
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it's kind of a fascinating guy that way.
22:17.003 --> 22:21.127
[SPEAKER_01]: That's, as you said, this is an organization that has a lot of injuries, that's had a lot of injuries.
22:21.528 --> 22:25.352
[SPEAKER_01]: But what are they good at developing?
22:25.592 --> 22:29.816
[SPEAKER_00]: I think the Guardians are a solid development team across the board, really.
22:30.597 --> 22:34.721
[SPEAKER_00]: I think pitching is maybe what stands out the most because I think most of them are impactful player.
22:34.801 --> 22:39.566
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, it's hard for the Guardians because they spend so infrequently that their roster is always very homegrown.
22:39.746 --> 22:43.450
[SPEAKER_00]: It's hard to not have a homegrown roster if you're not spending money.
22:43.430 --> 23:01.233
[SPEAKER_00]: you're just reliant on on what your farm system produces, but the fact that they are as homegrown as they are and they've been as competitive as consistently tells you they're doing something right and so part of that is they've just been good across the board but you look at their rotation, Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibi, Logan Allen, all homegrown guys.
23:01.293 --> 23:04.177
[SPEAKER_00]: You look at Kate Smith in the back of their bullpen.
23:04.197 --> 23:05.218
[SPEAKER_00]: He's become
23:05.198 --> 23:08.302
[SPEAKER_00]: one of the best relief pitchers in baseball the last two years.
23:08.342 --> 23:09.163
[SPEAKER_00]: He was an NDFA.
23:10.024 --> 23:18.134
[SPEAKER_00]: I think they do a good job of identifying pitchers who can throw strikes and command the ball and they've been pretty good at helping those pitchers add a little bit more stuff.
23:19.135 --> 23:22.138
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's also true that they've taken players with the inverse.
23:22.178 --> 23:27.625
[SPEAKER_00]: A Gavin Williams was not this pitchability type when he was coming out of college out of ECU.
23:27.645 --> 23:33.552
[SPEAKER_00]: They took him in the first round and he's shown a lot better controlling
23:33.532 --> 23:34.033
[SPEAKER_00]: throughout.
23:34.053 --> 23:40.341
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think I probably think of the garden still more as a a better pitching development organization.
23:40.361 --> 23:47.190
[SPEAKER_00]: I also think they've done a pretty good job developing catcher defense like this is with Bo Nailer on the team now.
23:47.371 --> 23:55.101
[SPEAKER_00]: There were big questions about whether or not he was going to catch enough to just stick at the position when he was in high school and he very quickly became
23:55.081 --> 23:56.363
[SPEAKER_00]: a much better receiver.
23:56.664 --> 24:01.011
[SPEAKER_00]: We haven't talked about Jacob Kozart at all on this podcast.
24:01.872 --> 24:16.195
[SPEAKER_00]: Or Cooper Ingol, who I think with Cooper Ingol, this is kind of why I'm curious, like how good really are the guardians that developing catching, because I think Cooper Ingol is a player who maybe you would have wanted to see a little bit more improvement from him defensively, and that is kind of still a little bit of a knock on his game.
24:16.175 --> 24:18.685
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, so what they're going to be able to get out of him defensively next year.
24:18.705 --> 24:19.367
[SPEAKER_00]: I think we'll be key.
24:19.387 --> 24:23.262
[SPEAKER_00]: But Jacob Kozart, he was already a really good defensive catcher when the Guardian's drafted him.
24:23.323 --> 24:25.290
[SPEAKER_00]: We viewed him as one of the top defensive catchers.
24:25.895 --> 24:30.322
[SPEAKER_00]: in the game, but the reviews were getting on him now for his defense are exceptional.
24:30.362 --> 24:37.294
[SPEAKER_00]: I think for a player of his size, he doesn't look like one of these defensive savants at the position, because he's just a lot bigger.
24:37.354 --> 24:40.940
[SPEAKER_00]: But I do think he is one of the more exciting defensive catches in the game.
24:40.960 --> 24:44.025
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's an area that I think is interesting to me.
24:44.726 --> 24:46.890
[SPEAKER_00]: So those two maybe to start out.
24:48.288 --> 24:51.656
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's gonna wrap up the video portion of this.
24:51.736 --> 24:54.422
[SPEAKER_01]: But on the podcast side, we're gonna keep going right after this break.
24:54.442 --> 25:00.215
[SPEAKER_01]: And by the way, if you wanna hear all that, we're gonna talk about sleepers and more, check out the podcast feed if you're watching on YouTube.
25:00.857 --> 25:05.207
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll be back right after this quick break.
25:05.227 --> 25:07.191
[SPEAKER_01]: So Carlos, now that we're back,
25:08.217 --> 25:10.180
[SPEAKER_01]: We've talked about a couple of guys outside of the tent.
25:10.200 --> 25:21.279
[SPEAKER_01]: This is a some organizations you get to kind of that natural demarcation line before 10 where you're like, okay, yeah, if I've ranked everyone I really like that's I easy to rank.
25:21.319 --> 25:23.823
[SPEAKER_01]: Now I've got to line it up to grid out.
25:23.843 --> 25:26.527
[SPEAKER_01]: This is an organization where that really kind of stretched.
25:26.567 --> 25:28.991
[SPEAKER_01]: I would say into the almost of the teens at least.
25:29.592 --> 25:30.073
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, yeah.
25:31.100 --> 25:40.223
[SPEAKER_01]: So, sleepers may even buy me the right word, but what are some guys outside of the 10 that jump out to you as this other guys to kind of keep an eye on?
25:41.106 --> 25:46.901
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so we've mentioned Joey Okey, and we've mentioned Daniel Espino already, so I won't spending more time on that.
25:46.921 --> 25:47.843
[SPEAKER_00]: And you mentioned Cosa.
25:48.110 --> 25:50.453
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think those are, you know, brainer options.
25:50.673 --> 25:59.906
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll, I'll make it the easiest and just start at number 11 with June, I care Caseras because this is maybe the player I was most upset that I couldn't really get into the top 10.
26:00.747 --> 26:03.310
[SPEAKER_00]: I talked about a couple of players that I couldn't get into the top 10 of the system.
26:03.370 --> 26:04.252
[SPEAKER_00]: Caseras is one.
26:04.852 --> 26:09.038
[SPEAKER_00]: He was signed out of Venezuela for 300,000 in 2024.
26:09.912 --> 26:16.965
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't think he was ever viewed as one of the top end players in this international class, even among Guardian's Sunnis of the International Class.
26:16.985 --> 26:22.435
[SPEAKER_00]: Like he was not the top player, but he was tremendous in the DSL.
26:22.695 --> 26:26.723
[SPEAKER_00]: Initially, he moved stateside in 2025 and continued to look awesome.
26:26.803 --> 26:32.393
[SPEAKER_00]: He had 273.79, 410, over 70 games between the ACL and Louis Lynchburg.
26:34.027 --> 26:43.965
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think the polish of his approach, his contact ability, his plate skills, his power are all tremendously impressive to me.
26:44.205 --> 26:51.799
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think even if this is not a player who I would expect to be a centerfield defender in the long run, I think he's definitely going to be a corner.
26:52.387 --> 27:19.305
[SPEAKER_00]: Like liking a corner outfielder who has just 30 games at the lower level as a 17 year old feels like maybe a tough profile, but I like his hitting ability and his impact potential so much that like I'm kind of fully in on on the offensive package here with Cassaris and so I think Guardians fans are very aware of how good he is, but if he was more of a breakout sort of hitter and the larger landscape of prospect.
27:19.538 --> 27:28.529
[SPEAKER_00]: like fans or just the baseball universe that wouldn't surprise me at all because I just think it's a very well-rounded advance offensive profile here.
27:28.569 --> 27:34.637
[SPEAKER_00]: It's more average or fringy secondary tools, but I'm just very much in on the hit power combo here.
27:35.398 --> 27:36.980
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so that's a fascinating one.
27:37.000 --> 27:39.523
[SPEAKER_01]: I do want to ask you about Dean Kerlick.
27:39.603 --> 27:41.445
[SPEAKER_01]: I feel like that he was one who
27:42.708 --> 27:54.763
[SPEAKER_01]: If we'd have said going into last year, that again, that I would say that one trait you could also say about this Guardian's draft class was, is they were not scared of the guys who, the guys who slid.
27:55.384 --> 27:55.924
[SPEAKER_01]: You slid.
27:56.245 --> 28:00.610
[SPEAKER_01]: They're like, hey, this is the guy we didn't expect to be available at this spot, and let's take him.
28:00.750 --> 28:02.032
[SPEAKER_01]: They did that with Jay Slavia Latt.
28:02.653 --> 28:04.615
[SPEAKER_01]: That's also very true of Dean Kerley, right?
28:05.388 --> 28:11.516
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, Dean Curley, we were talking about him as a top 15 player in the class, entering the year of very early on.
28:11.577 --> 28:17.364
[SPEAKER_00]: We were talking about him potentially moving inside the top 10, and then it feels like as conference play kind of got around.
28:17.425 --> 28:27.919
[SPEAKER_00]: You just didn't take the step forward offensively that teams wanted and then the defensive questions really ballooned like there were a number of bad defensive plays he started.
28:27.899 --> 28:30.342
[SPEAKER_00]: I think a short stop maybe optimistically for Tennessee.
28:30.402 --> 28:31.624
[SPEAKER_00]: Then he moved to second base.
28:32.164 --> 28:38.312
[SPEAKER_00]: We're just kind of just a weird fit for him and the throwing was just a real, yeah, it was bad.
28:38.352 --> 28:39.594
[SPEAKER_00]: There's no other way to put it was bad.
28:39.654 --> 28:47.023
[SPEAKER_00]: But what's interesting with Curly is he actually has a plus throwing arm in terms of like the power he can put on the baseball is plus.
28:47.063 --> 28:48.405
[SPEAKER_00]: I just think that he,
28:48.385 --> 29:00.645
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe he didn't have the experience he needed to make the plays from the angles he was making them at second base and I'm hopeful that I'll be curious to see where the gardening's playing, but I think this is a player that you probably just put it third base.
29:00.665 --> 29:03.068
[SPEAKER_00]: All the throws you're going to be making there from similar angles.
29:04.010 --> 29:08.497
[SPEAKER_00]: The exchange is less of a big deal at third base, so just let the natural arm strength kind of take over.
29:08.517 --> 29:14.747
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that's a position he has a lot more experience with or is he at least looked good at in the past and then
29:15.520 --> 29:18.042
[SPEAKER_00]: You're really looking at a pretty well-rounded hitter.
29:18.082 --> 29:23.087
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, curly is a guy who has shown solid patience and swing decisions.
29:23.167 --> 29:25.029
[SPEAKER_00]: He's shown solid contact skills.
29:25.109 --> 29:26.070
[SPEAKER_00]: He's shown power.
29:26.090 --> 29:31.635
[SPEAKER_00]: I think he could be looking at like a 50, 50 sort of hit power offensive profile.
29:31.655 --> 29:36.279
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you can avoid the defensive lapses, that's a pretty valuable player.
29:36.339 --> 29:42.525
[SPEAKER_00]: That, again, if he has a good year, and we don't notice any defensive hiccups, he's another guy who can be in the top 10 of this.
29:42.545 --> 29:44.987
[SPEAKER_00]: This is my at some point, we don't have room and it tops him for all these guys.
29:45.828 --> 30:03.668
[SPEAKER_01]: It is when you say that it is kind of interesting but like it's not crazy to think that everything cascaded on him in part like you said if you don't have a lot of when we talk about shortstop one of the key things you have to have at shortstop is it's not just a throwing arm but it's throwing versatility because you have all kind of arm slots that you have to throw from.
30:04.627 --> 30:28.390
[SPEAKER_01]: If Dean curly doesn't have that and he tried to play store stop and then he got moved to second and it was kind of all in his head right a lot of what we saw last year could be something works like we made just look back and say okay put him at a position let him just stay there this is not a guy you want to have playing five games that you know five different positions for five games in a week it looks like just let him do what he can do well.
30:28.370 --> 30:35.480
[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe that will come with just some more confidence, but I do think there's a lot of true to things kind of snowballing on you defensively.
30:35.500 --> 30:42.429
[SPEAKER_00]: And once you have some throwing errors, you're constantly thinking about that when you're getting rid of the ball and so it tends to compound.
30:44.111 --> 30:48.777
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, I just think that he was put in a position that he maybe shouldn't have been put in ultimately.
30:48.858 --> 30:52.943
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think he has the defensive tools to be a fine defender at their base.
30:54.155 --> 31:04.650
[SPEAKER_01]: Once the act that has been just natural and something that you try to do about every thinking, become something you're thinking about every time or it becomes conscious, it does subconscious.
31:05.411 --> 31:06.613
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a very satisfying thing.
31:06.633 --> 31:07.614
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's a bad thing.
31:07.634 --> 31:08.415
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's true of hitters.
31:08.455 --> 31:10.398
[SPEAKER_00]: It's the same temperature of deep fenders, yeah.
31:10.418 --> 31:17.708
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, the harder the the easier you can make it, the easier it is, the harder you it becomes, the harder that you just know about.
31:17.728 --> 31:18.289
[SPEAKER_01]: But
31:18.877 --> 31:34.135
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, before we've got off sleepers, I did want to ask you like there's also a couple guys here who have been a little higher on this list at sometimes like or in past years or whatever and then I feel like a lot of this is just because of the depth of the system is kind of moved guys down.
31:34.115 --> 31:43.549
[SPEAKER_01]: You mentioned like Juan Brito is a guy who I would say like I'm going to throw a buffet out there of Juan Brito or Khalil Watson or Josh Hartle, P.D.
31:43.569 --> 31:51.600
[SPEAKER_01]: Halpin guys like that dug the kz he like who jumps out to you is someone where it's like you know what yes he's lower on this list but don't forget about this guy.
31:51.918 --> 31:55.968
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, Brio was a guy really like the year ago and I think he just had a bad season till some injuries.
31:56.028 --> 32:01.502
[SPEAKER_00]: So I still like him at least a bit, but the one name you mentioned that I think is maybe the most fascinating here is Khalil Watson.
32:01.543 --> 32:04.270
[SPEAKER_00]: He's had a really interesting path.
32:04.290 --> 32:07.598
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, in his draft class in 2021, we're talking about him.
32:08.168 --> 32:12.537
[SPEAKER_00]: As one of the elite short-sought prospects in his class, he slid a little bit to the milliliphyr crowns of the marlins.
32:13.358 --> 32:17.487
[SPEAKER_00]: Then he had some some just suspension issues with them, got traded to the Guardians.
32:18.068 --> 32:25.182
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think Khalil is coming off of what was maybe his best professional season in 2025, both on the field.
32:25.162 --> 32:26.083
[SPEAKER_00]: and off the field.
32:26.424 --> 32:30.709
[SPEAKER_00]: He played outfield consistently for the first time in his career.
32:30.789 --> 32:34.614
[SPEAKER_00]: He obviously started his career as a short stop and he played a few other positions in the infield.
32:35.215 --> 32:40.381
[SPEAKER_00]: Looks like he actually has found a home in center field where he's pretty good.
32:41.522 --> 32:42.564
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, he's fast.
32:42.624 --> 32:44.106
[SPEAKER_00]: He has an above average arm.
32:44.586 --> 32:48.351
[SPEAKER_00]: I think just the burstiness could really suit him well in any outfield position.
32:49.132 --> 32:53.177
[SPEAKER_00]: But he's also a player who got to solid power.
32:53.731 --> 32:54.693
[SPEAKER_00]: And he hit pretty well.
32:55.074 --> 32:59.723
[SPEAKER_00]: I think this is not like a, you're always going to live with some strikeouts with Calil Watson.
32:59.783 --> 33:02.969
[SPEAKER_00]: It's never going to be in above average or a plus hitter.
33:03.109 --> 33:12.027
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think he's enough to tap into above average, drop power, maybe plus, drop power at the majorly level to get to,
33:12.007 --> 33:14.310
[SPEAKER_00]: 18, 25 sort of home runs.
33:14.330 --> 33:19.517
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you're doing that and you're playing center field, that's like quietly a really exciting player.
33:19.537 --> 33:21.760
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean it was 59 games in AA.
33:22.320 --> 33:24.443
[SPEAKER_00]: It was 43 games in AAA.
33:25.424 --> 33:30.571
[SPEAKER_00]: So just the overall performance in the upper levels and the overall offensive production he can provide.
33:30.631 --> 33:33.795
[SPEAKER_00]: I think is is exciting maybe like a
33:34.940 --> 33:38.707
[SPEAKER_00]: bench type, platoon type, not sure exactly what the roll will be.
33:38.748 --> 33:45.822
[SPEAKER_00]: But he was added to the 40-man roster in November, and he brings some of the power that I think the Guardians are trying to find.
33:45.862 --> 33:48.527
[SPEAKER_00]: So definitely a sneaky name to be aware of.
33:49.621 --> 33:56.129
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, when you look looking ahead, um, obviously this is a team will kind of wrap it up with this.
33:56.249 --> 34:06.801
[SPEAKER_01]: This is an organization that without spending much money at all at the big league level, a pay role that is microscopic in most years, still manages to figure out a way he can tend.
34:08.083 --> 34:16.152
[SPEAKER_01]: Does it feel like now like when you look at it kind of big picture that, you know,
34:16.402 --> 34:22.550
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll see Stephen Cuan is kind of, I would say the closest to the other thing they have to a star, offensive players so far.
34:23.050 --> 34:39.270
[SPEAKER_01]: And he's nearing the, you know, he's getting closer and closer to, you know, to kind of the end of his, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh uh, uh uh, uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh
34:39.925 --> 34:44.995
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, yeah, if you're looking at their payroll, you would think they're in the middle of a rebuild and they're not planning to compete.
34:45.015 --> 34:52.049
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, they're projected payroll right now is a bottom five mark in the league behind teams like the nationals and the white socks and the Cardinals.
34:53.331 --> 34:58.221
[SPEAKER_00]: I think they're the Guardians are kind of one of these outlier teams that
34:58.201 --> 35:10.438
[SPEAKER_00]: kind of in the same raise and brewers camp where there's constantly competitive and that they have to try and win all these trades on the margins and they have to trade away players that a lot of other teams of trying to lock up because they just.
35:10.722 --> 35:15.529
[SPEAKER_00]: they need to find ways to be competitive on a minuscule salary clearly.
35:15.569 --> 35:28.147
[SPEAKER_00]: And until there is an ownership group in Cleveland that is gonna be more committed to actually either going outside the system to add some impact talent or just locking down more of the players that have left and gone to other teams.
35:28.247 --> 35:35.818
[SPEAKER_00]: Like Francisco Lindor once played for this organization if they were able to actually spend the money to keep him.
35:35.798 --> 35:41.767
[SPEAKER_00]: We're talking about a lot of different needs that the org has, so no, I mean, I would expect them to compete.
35:41.827 --> 35:44.661
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think they're a favorite for anyone entering the year.
35:45.333 --> 35:48.918
[SPEAKER_00]: but they also just have a ton of reinforcements waiting in the wings here.
35:49.138 --> 35:52.923
[SPEAKER_00]: They've got potential star players at the top of their farm system.
35:54.325 --> 35:57.509
[SPEAKER_00]: They've got no shortage of reinforcements and also they're in a division.
35:57.569 --> 36:05.359
[SPEAKER_00]: That has been easier than most to compete in because there are a lot of other teams in this division that haven't committed the same resources.
36:05.419 --> 36:10.446
[SPEAKER_00]: Now there are some teams that are willing to spend and also have really,
36:10.426 --> 36:12.890
[SPEAKER_00]: talented farm systems to compete with.
36:12.950 --> 36:14.812
[SPEAKER_00]: The Troy looks great.
36:14.872 --> 36:18.418
[SPEAKER_00]: The Kansas City Roles have been willing to spend a lot of money actually.
36:19.479 --> 36:24.486
[SPEAKER_00]: So there are some teams that are competing and then there are teams like Minnesota where there's a lot more question marks about what's happening.
36:24.506 --> 36:25.888
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think they're in the same window.
36:25.908 --> 36:32.518
[SPEAKER_00]: They've been in for years where they were going to try and just stay competitive sneaking to the playoffs and then you see what happens from there.
36:33.764 --> 36:36.588
[SPEAKER_01]: So that is our Cleveland Guardians deep dive.
36:36.648 --> 36:37.610
[SPEAKER_01]: We hope you enjoyed it.
36:37.630 --> 36:38.992
[SPEAKER_01]: We hope you'd like this one.
36:39.032 --> 36:39.352
[SPEAKER_01]: Check out.
36:39.372 --> 36:44.841
[SPEAKER_01]: We have deep dives now up for pretty much half of all 30 major league organizations.
36:44.921 --> 36:45.361
[SPEAKER_01]: Don't worry.
36:45.381 --> 36:51.390
[SPEAKER_01]: If you haven't done your team yet, and by the way, if you haven't done your team yet, and you're at this point in the podcast, who does to you?
36:51.430 --> 36:54.054
[SPEAKER_01]: But we will be rolling out.
36:54.114 --> 36:57.139
[SPEAKER_01]: We are rolling out four of these a week.
36:57.119 --> 37:02.284
[SPEAKER_01]: By the end of February, our goal is that we will have 30 deep thighs up for all 30 organizations.
37:03.028 --> 37:04.455
[SPEAKER_01]: For Carlos, I'm JJ.
37:04.797 --> 37:05.661
[SPEAKER_01]: So long, everybody.
We recommend upgrading to the latest Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge.
Please check your internet connection and refresh the page. You might also try disabling any ad blockers.
You can visit our support center if you're having problems.