Kee On Sports Magazine Volume 1: “The Genesis”

3 Tasks Facing The Cleveland Guardians this offseason

By Hunter Simboli

Address the outfield

It’s no secret that the outfield for the Guardians has been below average on the offensive side in recent years. It finally seems as though they have center field locked down with Myles Straw. Straw was traded to Cleveland in exchange for pitcher Phil Maton and catching prospect Yainer Diaz on June 30th. In 2021 with Houston and Cleveland, Straw’s slash line of .271/.349/.348 indicates that he won’t hit for much power, but excels at hitting the left center and right center field gaps and can create scoring opportunities with his speed on the bases. Not to mention, he is a gold glove caliber center fielder.

The corner outfield spots are the positions that the Guardians need to address. Both Bradley Zimmer and Oscar Mercado have proven to be inconsistent over the past several years with Harold Ramierz being a question mark in terms of defense.

The Guardians could dip into their farm system and call up Oscar Gonzalez (.293/.329/.542 split between Double A Akron and Triple A Columbus) or Guardians No.2 prospect George Valera (.260/.405/.505 split between Lake County and Double A Akron). With both being incredibly talented, they are also extremely young and could use more development.

With that said, the Guardians could look to free agency to fill out the corner outfield spots. Two names that stick out are Michael Conforto (.232/.344/.384 with the New York Mets) and Nick Castellanos (.309/.362/.576 with the Cincinnati Reds).

Both are slated to be free agents for 2022 and they would help the outfield drastically on the offensive side with Castellanos being the greater of the two. Framil Reyes is also an option for right field as Reyes has worked on his fielding over the course of the 2021 season.

Figure out the starting rotation

This is actually a good problem to have. The Guardians have one of the most talented starting pitching rooms in the MLB. With the likes of Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale, Zach Plesac, Triston McKenzie, Cal Quantrill, Eli Morgan, and Logan Allen. Is clear that Shane Bieber leads that group with Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac providing backup.

The Guardians need to lock down the 4 and 5 spots of the rotation with the pieces that they have, with the others either getting sent to the minors or staying on the club and providing help in the bullpen.

Cal Quantrill proved that he can be consistent on the Major League level, with an ERA of 2.89 across 149.2 innings pitched. Triston McKenzie struggled mightily in the beginning of the season but showed signs of greatness with a 1.93 ERA in 5 starts in the month of August.

Fix James Karinchak

When James Karinchak is locked in, he’s a force in the Cleveland bullpen. On June 1st, Karinchaks ERA was 2.28. By the end of August, his ERA swelled to 4.14 with an ERA of 6.23 in the month of August alone. Karinchak struggled so mightily after the All Star break that Karinchak was sent down to Triple A Columbus on August 28th to work on his mechanics. He’s heavily needed in that bullpen to help finish close games, or to set up for Emmanual Clase, who was lights out all year long.

The Guardians are going to need both Clase and Karinchak if they want to close games out. Not to mention a healthy Nick Sandlin, who showed promise before going down with a shoulder strain on August 12th. With an ERA of 2.94, he’ll compete with Karinchak for the set up role.