BOOST: Cleveland Guardians COMPLETE Bullpen With Shawn Armstrong Signing | Why He’s BETTER With Age

BOOST: Cleveland Guardians COMPLETE Bullpen With Shawn Armstrong Signing | Why He’s BETTER With Age

Tiny Tim, it’s a Christmas miracle. The hot stove is warmed up, the temperature in Cleveland. The Guardians sign Shawn Armstrong to fortify the bullpen and he’s getting better with age. >> Tanner of the Guardians and you’re listening to Locked On Guardians. >> You are Locked on Guardians, your daily podcast on the Cleveland Guardians, part of the Locked On [music] podcast network. Your team every day. You thought you could get rid of us. There’s no vacations here in Cleveland. The Guardians, they made a move. A real move. And we’re back. It’s Locked On Guardians. Thanks for tuning in to the extra episode in your feed this week. It is a Christmas miracle. Uh it is Lockdown Guardians, the only daily podcast that covers your team for the majors, the minors, the draft, and everything in between. Part of Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network. If you’re new here, welcome. Thank you. If you’re not new here, you still have to listen to this. I’m Justin Lad, one of your two co-hosts for the last three years in counting with my friend and co-host Jeff Ellis. And I have spent 18 years covering the Guardians minor league system as a prospect writer and editor where I covered Sean Armstrong as a minor leager back in the day for Cleveland. And you did too, I believe, Jeeoff. >> Oh yes, I I might have called Sean Armstrong the next Cody Allen back in those days. Uh I might have had him as the high man on him on You know what? But I don’t feel bad having had him ranked 10th all the way back then because he’s carved out a heck of a career. But as you mentioned, I am Jeff Ellis and I’ve been writing about prospects for a long time. Before joining locked on seven years ago nearly, I was a national writer at Scotton 247 focused on prospects in the draft. I want to thank you for making today’s episode your first listen today and every day wherever it is you get podcasts as well as a big shout out to all of our everydayers and insiders out there. Thank you for joining us. You’re getting a bonus episode this week cuz when news happens, we will be there to cover it since no one else does. We will cover your Guardians news top to bottom. Doesn’t matter the size. We are jumping in because someone needs to do it. People want to know. Inquiring minds want to know. >> Yes. And we are here. We are the minds unfortunately for you. Uh now the Guardians have signed another reliever. Will they turn their attention to offense? We’ll talk about that. We’ll talk about how the roster shakes out with this addition because the Guardians do have to let go of somebody to add Shawn Armstrong. But of course, leading off today’s show and the reason we’re in your feed today, the Guardian, Sean signed Sean Armstrong and Jeff, he’s getting better with age. That that’s something we see a lot. And today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app. Create an account. It’s called Locked in MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Sean Armstrong turned 35 on in September. So, there’s a guy around my age on this team, which is very good. I like that. Um, still a little bit older than him. That’s okay. Only a few by a few months or yeah, about 18 months or so. But he literally has had his best statistical seasons in baseball. The last three seasons, Jeff, the age uh 33, I’m sorry, 32, 33, and 34 have been the best seasons of his career. How is Shawn Armstrong defying father time? Is he LeBron James? Well, he’s doing it how a lot of players are finding a lot more success and it’s he’s he’s diversifying his pitch mix, you know, uh he is adding pitches in. He is, you know, expanding his repertoire. He was a guy that when I liked him uh as a prospect, he was mostly fast ball cutter. Uh and that those are the bread and butter. He has really changed his repertoire and that’s what’s really allowed him to be a lot more successful. Um, in my humble opinion, you know, the sweeper and the sinker in particular have really turned into useful pitches. And, uh, you know, he’s if if you’re going to get better with age, you got to find things. You got to change what you pitch, what you throw. You got to always be trying to get better. Armstrong, you know, he you know, I think you might have talked about in your now. If not, hey, we got two now. Go check those out for even more info. Um, it’s like he he ended up being the best player in the Lou Corey deal when it was all said and done. He’s had the the longest career. It’s it’s not what we all thought. Like as much as I did at one point in time think he’s going to be a relief stud, I kind of fell off of him and a lot of people did and he’s bounced around. Uh so it’s also good for Shawn Armstrong. I don’t know if he’s I bet this is the highest amount of money he’s ever made. I bet that 5.5 million is a reward for him. I don’t think he’s ever gotten to that because he’s always been kind of a year-to-year guy. Uh but the way you get to 5 million in your mid-30s is by staying in fantastic shape and working on your craft. And he has done both of those things. He has. I do know for sure. I got a friend who became friends with Shawn in uh Triple A when he was pitching for Columbus and he said uh this past season when he was with Texas that uh Shawn wants to get to 10 years of service time in Major League Baseball. So he is at seven, he’s got to pitch three more years. So if you’re going to do that, if he wants to be Brian Shaw to some extent, uh at least get the 10 years, he is going to have to uh keep his body in shape. And he’s done that. And the nice thing about Sean Armstrong getting better with age is that the fastball velocity for him um is still pretty much the same year over year. Like he’s generally between 93 and 95. Um he averaged 93 93 and 94 last year with his uh four seammen sinker. That’s consistent with where he was in 2024, consistent with where he was in 2023. It’s down a little from 2022, but um it’s still been very effective in terms of results for him. The fast ball is not last year not getting hit hard. He’s having good results with it. Um it did drop a little in value. Um the force seam I should say, but his cutter went up in value last year. His cutter in 2024, Jeff, had a negative seven run value. This past year it was six and then the sinker was seven. So hey, some 67 and the sweeper was a plus six. But yeah, adding the sweeper has been a big deal for him. Um the velocity is still there. He throws strikes. Um, I think there’s a really nice level of consistency here. He doesn’t have a ton of career saves. He only got 18. Um, but he has been a guy who has gotten save opportunities. He had uh nine this year. >> Say this year was the big one, right? >> It was this was the most he’s ever had saves in a season. Um, because he kind of inherited that role for Texas when things kind of got out of hand for them at the end of the season when they he pitched against Cleveland in Cleveland. Uh, I saw him pitch. But yeah, adding the sweeper has been big for him. The strike throwing has been good for him. Stuff plus models again still think everything is pretty good. Not as good as it was two years ago. Um but the fast ball, the sinker, all above 100. The sweeper is at a 119. So those models love him. Uh when models love you, that’s a good thing, right? Um and all things. But uh I’m really I’m really excited for this. This is the guy we said we wanted. We wanted this is one of our targets early in the offseason was I wanted him or Phil Mason. I know I was on Luke Weaver for a while. um that obviously didn’t happen, but for this money and there’s a a mutual option for 2027, which I feel like mutual options never get picked up, but that’s that’s neither here nor there. What I really love here too is that you can use I think you can use Sean Armstrong in the ninth inning and you can say Kate Smith, okay, you’re going to pitch the seventh or the six when there’s a a big rally and a big game and you’re trying to to knock out that rally. I think you can actually use Sean Armstrong and tinfoil hat time. Jeff, Shawn Armstrong is gonna close games for them this year so they can suppress Kate Smith’s salary for the future. I think that’s and and tinfold ahead again. They’re going to use this to leverage Kade Smith into an extension because they’re going to say, “Guess what, Kade? You’re not going to get all the saves in 2026. So that’s going to hurt your career earnings, but if you sign this extension, you’ll be taken care of. How’s my 10fold half day? [laughter] >> Uh, you know, I’ll say this. I don’t necessarily disagree with you. Uh, you know, just as I’m looking at like because saves are what get paid. Uh, and you know, if you got to figure out either you got to figure out the extension for him or you got to figure out um God, why is my or you know, you got to figure out how you’re going to work it just because yeah, he’s going to be in for some big payraises. So otherwise, um, you know, it I’m hoping that what we see here is a situation where, yeah, cuz he can be effective and getting Kate Smith back in that role of a multi-use weapon, I think, is going to help this team. So, I would love it if Armstrong could settle into that role and he can pitch great for a year. He can then hit the open market and make big money after that if he proves himself in that role. And if it doesn’t work, you can always rotate back. But you you can’t start with Kate Smith in that role. Um, and you know, rotate one way or the other. You gotta If you’re gonna give it to Armstrong and let him try, then give it to Armstrong, let him try, and if it goes wrong, you can always rely on Cade. >> Yeah. Well, I just think the idea of not having to lock Kade to the ninth inning is is the whole point. Like, >> yeah, agree. >> I’m not say I’m not saying they’re going to say, “Well, we’re just going to have a closer by committee.” I do think there’s a possibility that Kade Smith is still the primary closer. But if you say, “Okay, we’d like to use Cade in earlier in the situation or we have to give Kade the night off.” You can potentially use Shawn Armstrong back there and give Cade the night off so you’re not burning him out, but you can also use him earlier. Like that’s the flexibility they need. It’s not exactly Cody Allen and and Andrew Miller of 2016, obviously, but Armstrong, everything that indicates in his profile that he’s extremely solid. I love that he has the three fast balls, too. I I can’t tell you how many articles I’ve been reading from really smart pitching people um that are saying like Enos and Lance Brazowski, these people need three fast balls. You need a straight fast ball, you need with IVB, you need a cutter, you need a sinker. when you have three fast balls that keeps guys guessing. They can’t just assume it’s going to be a straight fast ball. And then he and he has more pitch disparity, too. He throws the sweeper, the cutter, and the four seammen, the sinker pretty much equally. So, you’re keeping guys off. You don’t see a whole lot of four pitch relievers out there. >> Do you? >> No. >> I can’t believe I’m getting excited. >> I can’t believe how excited we’re getting about a 35year-old $5 million reliever who may or may not be the closer, but >> I don’t know. Maybe maybe that’s just who we are as as a as a franchise and as a city, but I’m excited, Jeff, and I think this is a good signing. >> Yeah, it’s a guy. Bottom line, you and I both had him as like top five lists from the very beginning. And with the way this market has gone, relievers have flown off the shelves. They are the hot ticket item this holiday season. It’s nice to see Cleveland get one of the one of the best guys out there in our opinion. >> It sure is. All right, we will continue to talk about Shawn Armstrong. We’ll talk about who has to go on the 40 to make room for Armstrong next. Speaking of the holiday season, game time is the way to go. The World Cup is coming back to North America for the first time since 1994 with 48 teams. That is going to be a doozy of a tournament, which means getting tickets is going to be hard. And that is why the Game Time app is going to come in super clutch if you’re a soccer fan. It’s going to give you the advantage. back to the real fans when it comes to getting seats to the World Cup because you can track price drops in real time. You can get alerts when great seats open, buy tickets the moment they hit the app, put the power back in your hands, so you can actually go to the World Cup and not just watch from home. Uh I again Game Time, I’m going to recommend this for holiday season. If you want to go to any event, concert, comedy show, theater, Cleveland’s got a great theater uh district. You can use game time to find all sorts of tickets at a good price at the last minute. If you’re looking for that perfect holiday gift, take the guesswork out of buying World Cup tickets every match, concert event with Game Time. Download the app, create an account, use code locked MLB, they’ll get you $20 off your very first purchase. Terms apply again. Download the app, make an account, use code locked MLB for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Game time. appreciate everybody being here with us. Of course, you would be here with us because we’re talking about a Guardians free agent signing, but we do appreciate you being here with us and making us your first choice to listen to and every day wherever you get podcast. You are living your team every day. We know this cuz you’re here. Take it up a level. Go ahead. Join the Everyday Dare Club. Get Locked on Guardians with no interruptions. Members only discord access and more for $5 a month or $50 a year. Go to lockdownguardians.supcast.com or check the link in the show notes. Uh Jeff, I found my prospect rankings from 2016. Do you want to guess where I had Stretch Armstrong ranked? [snorts] >> Uh, you know, 2016, it’s going to be a bad guess, but I would guess 21. >> You’re very close. I had Sean Armstrong 26 in my ranking. I’m sorry, 25 in my rankings that year. 25 behind very well-known prospect names such as Sam Henches, Shane Bieber, and Logan Ice. I I was trying to find him. He didn’t make my top 20 in 2016. So, I didn’t have him in there in 16 or or in 15. So, in 14, I had him up super high. Uh, I thought he was gonna really climb and then he ended up not making my list either the next two years. >> Ahead of Sean Armstrong that year for me also included um relievers named Leandro Lenares and Rob Kinsky. [snorts] >> Uh, let’s see. Do I Who do I have who’s embarrassingly high? Uh, Ben Ben Heler in 2016. Ben Heler ahead of him. >> Uh, [clears throat] how about Tyler Kger? Where was Tyler Kger on your list? Tyler Ker was 17th on mine. >> He was eighth for me. Yikes. Shame. >> Been doing this 18 years. I’m not good obviously. >> Yeah. No. >> Juan Hillman number nine. >> Number eight for me. Nine was Tristan McKenzie. >> Oh Trist Mackenzie was number one who we’ll talk about later. Jeff’s got some research. >> Yes, I have way too much research, but he’ll be in segment three. Uh I just want to throw this out there too because salary is always a thing. So, let’s just very quickly, if you count class A and Ortiz, uh, I have them at 76.7 million. Before people start yelling at me, there’s three things everyone forgets. One, you have to count the money they’re paying Straw. Two, you have to count the money they’re paying Trevor Stefen. And if you count the 40man roster and guys on the minimum, that’s an additional $12 million. Like, that’s the money that no one ever counts is the fact that it’s everyone on the 40man. So the the 40man roster actually comes out closer to when I have this because I have guys who are just making the min minimum in the minors plus one year and men’s minors. So it comes out to a total of actually closer to 14 million. So you have to add 14 million to any payroll number if you’re just adding up who’s on because you have to count the guys in the minor. So I have them at 767 and I have them if you don’t count classes at 69.88. So, uh, that is if you go back and listen to my show from like two Mondays ago where I discuss I I take apart the Braves payroll to figure out what Cleveland should be in the range to spend. This puts them at about 77% of their where they should be compared to the Braves numbers uh or on the class RT size 71%. So, there’s still plenty of room to operate. And again, for everyone who is sitting there getting ready to type, what about the bats? Let me just very quickly here, the relief market in particular, it’s bad. Hunter Harvey is about the only guy I would really look at as someone you give money to. Everyone else is a camp invite. Everyone in baseball, every team went for this market hard. And you couldn’t wait. If you waited, everything would be gone. In terms of the bats, it feels like we’re not seeing trades. And this team is not going to sign a free agent. It’s a bad hitter class. Even someone like Rush Schneider, when you look at the whole picture, as much as I would like to upgrade the floor, it’s it’s probably going to be Fry and Martinez in that same role. So, they’re probably not going to sign a refer. Let’s just be honest. So, they’re not going to go for a free agent. It’s got to be via a trade. All those trades are held up by the top end free agents. You got to see what Bregman does because that’s going to affect Arizona and that’s going to affect Seattle. You got to see what Bashette does because that affects Boston. So, they can’t really go out and get a bat right now because the trade market is held up and they’re not going to shop at the high end of this free agent market and the the middle end of this free agent market is trash. So, >> and they’re waiting. They’re gonna Yeah. I mean, those those guys can’t sign either until >> like I know like Lane Thomas signed and uh Kyle or Kyle um Mikey signed so like those guys are off the board obviously like those are middle tier free agents. But yeah, Rob Revit is still out there. But you’re right. It’s probably going to be a trade. By the way, the relief market. Yeah. Yeah. Hunter Harvey is the best projected reliever left. Uh Pete Fairbanks is out there who can’t pitch in Cleveland because he can’t pitch in the cold. Yeah. His >> his uh finger injury. Sir Anthony Dominguez, 38-year-old uh Justin Wilson, and after that it’s it’s Shawn Nukem. So yeah, it’s pretty bad out there. So that’s why the Guardians had to go here. So hopefully they’ll they’ll turn their attention to bats next, but they’ve got to wait the market out on that a little bit. like they’re not gonna Yeah. They’re not going to go out and and find all these guys out there. Back to Armstrong, too, real quick. You mentioned this is probably the most money he’s ever made. Do you know how much money he made in his career up until now? This is a whole career at this point in the majors. >> I’m going to guess about 10 million. >> 7.9 up until today. So, he almost he more than doubled his career earnings in one off season. He made 1.25 25 last year for Texas. What a great deal for them, by the way. So, yeah, that’s a good one. Uh good good for Sean Armstrong to to get paid. And I it doesn’t say anything about the what the mutual option is for next year, but who cares? [snorts] >> Yeah. No, it’s it’s a great deal. And again, they can, you know, we’ll see how things develop right now. Um what was it? Uh M not Murakami, the the M guy who >> I keep forgetting that, too. Yeah. >> Yeah. Like he’s got to sign, I think, by tomorrow. So like he’ll sign >> 20 22nd. They all got to sign by the 22nd. >> No, no, they’re they’re different ones. They’re they’re >> Oh, okay. Okay. >> So his is first and I believe his is actually tomorrow. His window opens first. Uh the Kazito, the one I’m interested in, the first baseman, but he’s a first baseman, so he doesn’t make sense here. He is he and Ammana, the pitcher, are later. And after them is >> Okamoto. Okamoto is is in the next one. And then uh Sun uh I believe is Bach is that the third baseman from Korea who I also kind of like but those guys are the further down the line ones but we’ll maybe start to see some movement because you know this is a player who has to sign. So it feels like and the talk is the white socks are going to get him and I sent you a tweet with uh you know Sarah had kind of a hilarious tweet when you look at guys with his contact numbers it’s >> it’s uh it’s not a good list. >> It’s not Mick Curts is on it so it is a good list. Okay, stop it. When we have a near 400 BAP pip, you know, a lot of things can get covered up. >> I will not tolerate Nick Curts slander on this podcast for another >> Jeff and I were just talking about off the air how well we get along and he’s testing that right now by slandering Nick Curts. I that’s that’s as bad as cancelling >> Noel on Christmas. That’s just as bad. >> We just [clears throat] talk about who’s going to go off the roster. >> So, who’s going to be cut for Sean Armstrong? Where do they go next? And uh the history of Guardians High School pitching drafts is bad. It’s very bad. Jeff’s going to tell you how bad in a little bit. But first, NFL Sundays move fast. One big play and suddenly everything feels different. That’s what makes live betting with FanDuel so exciting. You’re not watching the game, you’re reacting to it in real time. With FanDuel, you can place bets as the action unfolds. every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. Uh you know, they specifically, let’s talk about live betting. If you are a Blue Jackets fan, uh time to load up on live betting when that third period starts, bet on everything that uh is the other team’s going to score. Score a lot, score often. Man, it’s painful if you’re a Blue Jackets fan right now. That third period, it just every time, you know, every single game they’re going to cough it up, they’re going to stink it up. They are going to blow the third period. So, if you’re going to have to deal with that pain, you might as well make some money off of it. Uh, the Cavs are giving up six and a half tomorrow to the or they are six and a half favorites, even though the Bulls just beat them. And I mean, the Browns only 10 and a half to the Bills. That feels like free money. We know they’re going to get slaughtered by the Bills who have to fight for their playoff hopes. So, if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fan.com, place your NFL live bets all season long. FanDuel, the game moves fast and so can you. >> All right. Uh, keep up with the Guardians and locked on Guardians all off season long. Uh, when there’s big moves like Sean Armstrong or when there’s moves like Justin Brule. If you hit the bell on YouTube, you get our reaction videos sent right to your phone. Again, no matter big, how big, how small, we cover it all. That should be our our TV slogan, Jeeoff. Yeah. Um, but we do videos for every transaction for the Guardians. We react to it, tell you our thoughts. We post emergency episodes like this one when they sign a free agent like Sean Armstrong. So, hit the bell on YouTube. you make sure you never miss any of those and auto download on all of your favorite audio platforms so you can take us with us with you wherever you go and never miss an episode. And if you’re behind, that’s okay. It stays in your feed and you catch up. It’s one of the best ways to support the podcast, honestly. So, uh, make sure you’re checking that out. All right. I mentioned Justin Brule. I have to say I think he’s candidate number one to be DFA off this roster to make room for Shawn Armstrong. I know some people will will say that’s not they want somebody else gone. I’ve heard Jonathan Rodriguez mentioned, but he just survived John Kenzie Noel because um he has options left. And as much as I don’t want to see Jonathan Rodriguez play baseball for the team that I watch every day, um I think he stays. I think they’ll try to sneak Justin Bul through waiverss. They didn’t give up anything for him but cash consideration. So, uh, they’re not going to carry three lefties in the, uh, bullpen, I think, come opening day. There’s a long time between now and opening day, but I would have to guess it’s going to be Brule would be my number one candidate. >> Yeah, especially because he doesn’t have any options. I think that’s what stands out with Brew. Uh, >> he has not been Lively. You’re right. >> No. And, you know, when they don’t have anything to in that situation, when Nazis still has options, who’s another guy who I think is kind of in that, if I’m making a bottom five list, it has Rodriguez. It has Nikes. Uh unpopular opinion incoming in 321. It’s Py. I have PD Halpin. Uh the difference though is that the one without options is Brutal. He got all the way to Cleveland in the claim system. So you’re hoping that hey maybe you can pass him through becomes a decent depth arm. Uh there’s some fun stuff there and sometimes fun stuff turns into Matt Festa. So who knows what could happen but it does feel like right now uh that he is probably candid number one to see if they can get him through waiverss. Yes. Uh I will say I think they’re at this point in the offseason they are running thin on roster fodder. If they signed if they sign let’s say they sign a Rob refined for example like I would imagine then Rodriguez does go but like they are running thin on roster fodder. So like something has to give I think is like you can’t move on from Alam. You can’t we thought we thought for a while his roster spot was in jeopardy but I don’t think it is anymore. I mean, Vote called him out specifically unprompted and at the winter meetings and they need the depth. So, they won’t give up on him there. I could see like Connor Brogden, you know, passing through. Like, he’s not making that much money and he doesn’t have options, but I could see him passing through. Um, but they gave up more money to him they did to Brule. So, we’ll see about that. But, they are running thin. By the way, the Guardians bullpen this year, this is how it could look. You got Kate Smith, Hunter Gatis, Sean Armstrong, Eric Sabrowski, Festa, and then you got your pick of Brogden, Holderman, Brule Powette, and then you can always use Walters and Alamon, and maybe maybe Daniel Spino is dependent Tim Herren. The Guardians are done with the bullpen. I think I think they’re done. I maybe maybe you’ll see some non-roster invitees going forward in the in pitching. Maybe they’ll, you know, give an invite to 40-year-old, I don’t know, Kirby Yates or something like I I don’t really know who who is left out. >> I still kind of like Scott E. Frost as a camp invite. That’s my >> sure. Or, you know, Nick Sandlin, which are uh >> Eli Morgan. >> Eli Morgan. I don’t know if he’s healthy or not, but uh yeah, those are guys you could invite to camp. That’s probably what they’ll do at this point with pitching. I think they’re done. So, hopefully they’re ready to turn to offense, but as we said before, they kind of have to wait for the market to shake out. Like I know again everyone’s saying like, “Okay, can they sign a hitter? Can they acquire a hitter? I think they’re going to have to lie in the weeds and and kind of wait for the offense to shake out.” Again, Kyle Zucker’s got to come off the board. Alex Bregman has to come off the board. Bob Bashette. I mean, could you jump the market and say, “Here’s 5 million. Here’s 7 million.” Robert refer you could, but he may want to wait himself. Not the Guardians want to wait. Maybe they don’t want to wait. Maybe they do and they say we want to wait because the price might come down. But the players themselves might say if I wait maybe someone will get desperate like when musical chairs starts to to wind down like the hitter the the player might say hey there’s not a lot of guys left I provide value you know can that increase it’s it’s the chicken or egg thing I don’t know can you I I think if I was like a Rob refer type free agent I think I would wait too for these other guys to come off the board and I’d say hey I know you weren’t shopping in this part of the market But, you know, you need you need someone that who does what I can do. There’s not a lot of options left. It’s it’s January. Camp starts in 3 weeks. You know, like I think you can market yourself and say I’m I’m the last pick, man. It’s me or it’s me or it’s Jonathan Rodriguez next year. Okay. Mr. Rob refer here is $7 million and Jonathan Rodriguez, here’s your ticket to Columbus. We’ll get you an apartment and uh enjoy your stay. >> I don’t know. I don’t think it helps as much with the players just because we know Cleveland waits in the weeds because we know prices come down the longer guys sit maybe. >> So, you know, I think I will say though it does feel like with Cleveland they were focused on an area which again it made sense to focus they needed relievers. you and I talked about relief help was as important as adding hitting and uh it was a market that disappeared quickly and again I specifically with Bashette and Bregman and even with um again the Japanese guy who’s coming off today who’s a third baseman like you needed some of these infielders to shift off the market because if you’re talking about Brendan Donovan if you’re talking about again I I don’t think with some of the other stuff going on they’d have any interest in Marte like you have too many names and Cleveland kind of needs the names in some of the seats to go away. >> Um, you know, they need some of these guys to shift off and once guys sh start shifting off, it opens up opportunities for Cleveland to make moves. So, I think they’re kind of stuck in that holding pattern until a few more of these things get figured out. >> Yep. Absolutely. So, again, it’s going to require your patience. I mean, we didn’t know if the when the Guardians were going to strike. I think you and I both thought there was another reliever for them to to make a move for out there whether it was Hunter Harvey. I I still like the idea of Hunter Harvey and they’re probably out of it now. They’ve gotten Sean Armstrong and that’s fine because I think Armstrong was a really good candidate for them. Um so that his money kind of replaces Class A. So hopefully they can get that off the books and reset themselves. We won’t know until camp unfortunately which in which case the free agents are gone but um who knows? But Jeff, some other Guardians news. Tristan McKenzie, former Guardians draft pick and my former number one top prospect back in 2016, as I revealed, is signing a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres’s according to RM Leighton of Just Baseball, >> uh, former, uh, locked on prospects host. Um, broke that news. I I wish Tristan McKenzie nothing but the best. It it just did not work out here. Like 2020 was fun. 2022 was great. Uh, love the kid. I think he I know you and I had different experiences and interviews with him in the minors. I I talked to him in Lake County. I talked to him in Akran after he came back from his like back injury I think it was and he gave a home run to one of his best friends, Bo Bashette, which was hilarious. Um I always thought he was a great dude. I love the talent. You know, I know you go back a long way talking about his body type just not working. Um but as far as I know, the kid was always good and I know he worked hard and he cared and the velocity was back. It’s just the mental side of things. Hopefully Ruben Yabla can help him out over there. And I I want things to work out for him even though they didn’t work out here. But uh the Guardians, they might want to avoid picking high school pitchers. Can you do a two-minute version of your research? I know it’s not a lot. >> No, I’ll just quickly go through this all very quickly. I’ll say this, too. So, for those who are curious, uh I’ll tell a fun story. Well, before I go this, I’ll tell a fun story another day about uh how there’s literally no picture as Tristan Mackenzie’s body type. And that was always my concern with him, that he doesn’t exist. So, very quickly, I went through uh every single Cleveland Guardians draft pick from round in round one through round 41 is where I stopped. And this is your all-time list of prep players the Cleveland Guardians have drafted. In reverse order, starting at tied for ninth, uh these are high school pitchers. These are the best high school pitchers in the almost what 60 plus years of drafting. Uh [snorts] tied for ninth at 2.4 Warrior each. You have Alan Embry in 1989 and Aaron Laffy in 2003. Coming in at eighth at 2.9 war is Pep Harris, who they took in 1991. At seventh, Rudy Sanz at 3.3 war taken in 1986. Sixth, Jared Wright, 4.4 war, taken in 1994. Fifth, Tristan Mackenzie. That’s right, Tristan McKenzie has the fifth best war of all time at 4.9 uh taken in 2015. Fourth, you might have forgotten about this guy, Chris Archer. 13.5 war taken in 2006. Three, Larry Anderson. The problem with Anderson and Archer, two guys they kind of traded two were Larry Anderson, good for 3.9 war, drafted in 1971. And in 1972, the next year, they took Dennis Aersley, future Hall of Famer at 62.1 war. >> Speaking of traded too early. >> Yeah, I mean that’s the problem with this list. It’s a lot of guys traded too early at the top of it. Uh, but they took Anderson Arisley in back-to-back years. Didn’t keep either of them. Uh that’s why this team was terrible in the 70s. And then just two ten more than a for a career is Cece Sabathy at 62.3 who they took in 1998. So yeah, this is this is a lot of guys. They’ve drafted a lot of prep pitchers through the years. A lot um every single round. >> They’re all bad. >> It’s all bad. Number 11 was was Sam Henches at 1.4. That’s that’s how bad it is. So uh you know it makes me feel a little bit worse about that uh 2024 draft where they went deep. I mean, I I really like Brilland Dowy, don’t get me wrong, but who knows? And, you know, and the recent the recent value hasn’t worked out great either. When you look at some of the guys they’ve paid highly who have gotten hurt, so it’s just it’s a risk. It’s a gamble. It’s a huge gamble, and it has not paid off for Cleveland. >> Every once in a while, they’re able to unearth a high school pitcher that works out for them. So, let’s hope that uh one of the guys they took in 2024, >> four times in in like 60 years, that’s that’s worth a while. I I guess uh I guess McKenzie and Henches were the most recent examples and they weren’t good ones. So, they’re due, right? I mean, you talked about Seabathia and Jared Wright, though. I mean, Jared Wright got hurt, but Sebastia was great, but he was a first round pick. I don’t know. >> Jared Wright also uh didn’t take care of himself. Uh he spent a little too much time in the flats and not enough time in the gym. [laughter] Let’s be real honest. >> Everybody, if you are of the right age, you you knew someone who Jared Wright approached in the flats and said, “Hey, do you know who I am?” Uh >> I see what you did there. The right age. My mom was a huge Jared Wright fan. I’ll have to ask her if she ever partied with him in the flats. >> Uh yeah, there’s there’s a chance if you’re [laughter] the right age. Then Jared Wright was all all about it. >> All over there. We’ll be back on Monday. Uh chances are if the Guardians announce this move officially, they’ll have to make a move to um add him to the 40 and remove somebody else. So if that gets announced over the weekend, we’ll talk about it on Monday. We’ll keep you up to date any any weekend headlines on Monday. And then we still have to react to these ZIPS projections which we’ll have to look for for Sean Armstrong in the future. So appreciate you all tuning in. Shout out to the insiders who were with us on a chat earlier and uh enjoy your weekend and let’s uh get some more move. Let’s get a bat. >> Thank you for joining us. We hope you enjoyed this extra content and go go Guardians.

Cleveland Guardians bolster their bullpen, signing veteran reliever and former draft pick Shawn Armstrong in a move that promises stability and maybe some closing opportunities for the 2026 season. Can Armstrong’s evolving pitch mix and late-career resurgence bolster the Guardians’ playoff hopes while keeping Cade Smith’s in a more versatile bullpen role?
Justin Lada and Jeff Ellis break down Armstrong’s strengths, his role in the bullpen, and what this means for Cleveland’s roster construction and potential trade strategy. The show also discusses the tough decision of who loses a 40-man spot, and why the stagnant free agent bat market is impacting the Guardians’ next move. The guys also re-examine Cleveland’s mixed history drafting high school pitchers and track the latest roster news alongside trade rumors for hitters and relievers. Are more moves coming, or will Guardians fans need to stay patient this off-season?

00:00 Shawn Armstrong Career Reflection
07:52 Armstrong’s Role and Pay
14:44 Accounting for Full Payroll Costs
17:10 Guardians’ Roster Challenges Persist
23:56 Guardians Bullpen Depth Overview
27:11 Infield Market Shifts Key
29:36 Guardians’ High School Pitcher Picks

Everydayer Club
If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans.

Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.

FanDuel
Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA and NFL seasons are here, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-guardians/

Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More
🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/mlb/

#Guardians #ClevelandGuardians #MLB