WISH LIST: Why Cleveland Guardians IDEAL Offseason MUST Include Adding Controllable Bat, Relief Help

WISH LIST: Why Cleveland Guardians IDEAL Offseason MUST Include Adding Controllable Bat, Relief Help

Tis the season for making lists and wishing. We’re making ours. We’re checking it twice and we’ll tell you what would make a naughty or nice off seasonason for the Cleveland Guardians. [Music] Tanner by 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 podcast network. Your team every day. Ho ho ho Cleveland Guardians fans. What’s up? Thanks for hanging out with us for the next half hour on Lockdown Guardians. The only daily podcast that covers your team every day from the majors to the minors to draft and everything in between. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Now the number one sports podcast network. I’m Justin LA, one of your two co-host for the last three years in counting with my friend and co-host Jeff Ellis. And I’ve spent 18 years covering the Guardians minor league system as a prospect writer and editor. As you mentioned, I’m Jeff Ellis. I’ve been here since lockdown, expanded into baseball. Before that, I was a national writer at Scoutton 247, focused on prospects and the draft. I want to thank you for making today’s episode your first listen today, every day, where is wherever it is you get podcast, as well as a big shout out to each and one of our everydayers out there. Thank you for tuning in and joining in in the conversation. Yes, happy to have you here. And uh we solicited some opinions and lists from our insiders, too. We’ll get to those later in the show. We’re talking about the Cleveland Guardians ideal holiday wish list this off season. It is it is uh December, so it is the holiday season. So, we’ll give you our wish list for the Cleveland Guardians this off seasonason. We’re going to hear what the insiders you is on your offseason wish list for the Guardians this holiday season. Today’s episode brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’re going to get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the FanDuel app today. Obviously, the ideal wish list is sign Kyle Tucker, sign Pete Alonzo, and apparently trade for Nolan Aronado, right? That’s the that’s the ideal list for the offseason, right? There’s one dude whose idea list has Nolan Areronado on it. There’s one dude. It’s very confusing. Uh but I want also want to preface by saying like games aren’t won in December. We’ve seen a lot of great offseasons never pan out, right? The whoever wins the off seasonason doesn’t always win the season. And I think we can all the Padres’s have won a lot of offseasons and don’t have a lot to show for it. Not even a lot of like not even a lot of NLCS’s to show for it. Yeah. Do they even have one LCS? Have they made it to the NLCS yet? I don’t think they have. I I couldn’t tell you top of my head to be honest. So, you also want to, you know, point out the fact that as much as people might make might hate to hear this, but if you’re realistic, a lot of what the Guardians are going to try to do next year in terms of offensive improvement is going to be the health of some outfielders and infielders. And yeah, infielders, Bazana, like Gus, Manzardo. A lot of that’s going to be growth and development. Let’s just be honest about that. But like not even just the Padres’s, too. Remember the Marlins back in the day? They signed like Keith Bell and and Mark Burley and and Jose Reyes. That worked out great for them. I think uh all those guys didn’t finish their contracts there. How many times have the White Socks won the offseason? Uh so that’s, you know, there was a lot of times the White Sox did a lot in the offseason. They didn’t do anything. The the Dodgers had some moments last off season, but like weren’t I I Well, I mean, the Mets were the winners of last offseason, were they not? They didn’t make the playoffs. Well, look at the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays didn’t what did they do last offseason? Sander, right? And that worked out terribly and Jeff Hoffman. Yeah, that did not work out great. They still made the World Series. So, they tried like they wanted Roi Sasaki. So, just because you have big dreams in the offseason like the Blue Jays, they didn’t achieve their winter dreams, but their fall dreams almost came true. So, that’s that’s good. All right. So, Jeff, who is number one on your what is the number one wish on your list? And we we decided this would be it could be player specific, position specific, it could be scenario specific, it could be any wish your heart desires about the Guardians. What’s going to make your Guardians watching, listening, podcasting experience better? What’s the first option? Well, I just went straight up with people. Um because the the the problem with the ethereal is um you know, it’s like it cuts down on my ability to like talk about certain players. Um, I guess if you wanted more ethereal, it’s a more proven bat. Um, so looking at this and looking at like how that all lines up, I’ve got I’ve got Tyler Soderstrom instead of um though sixth on my list tied to that idea, I guess, would be uh Seya Suzuki. Is that why am I having a moment where I’m thinking that’s not his last name? Uh, isn’t it Sea Suzuki, right? or am I having literally I know it’s like I’m having a semantic saciation where I’m like that’s not his last name. I don’t know why. Um but first off, shout out to Feverdog who corrected me. He is in a one-year deal. So he should get actually probably a little bit less than it would cost to get a a Taylor Ward um because he’s also a worse defender. And like I I think this team too can’t be afraid of like the guys who are in walk years. Um, but specifically why I have Soder Strom over him is is the years of control. You’re getting a guy who maybe doesn’t have quite the track record of the other guys, but last year was very solid. The year before that in limited time was good. The year before that was terrible in limited time. Like, you know, we always say development isn’t linear. Um, getting a player who’s performed well, and he performed well both home and road, which is important when you’re looking at that team. And specifically when you look at Oakland, there’s a chance, I’m not saying they’re looking, where do they play? Where do they play? Oh, Oakland. I mean, I’m they’re always going to be Oakland to me. Sorry. You know, um, but when you look at the team that was stolen from Oakland, that when you’re looking at that team, you know, they they’ve got Butler at in their other outfield spot, they’ve got Rooker, they’ve got Kurts, they’ve got Wilson, um, they’ve got Langalers. They actually have a lot of good offensive pieces, and a lot of their recent draft picks, they don’t have a lot of starters. Like, they’ve they’ve done some really I love a lot of their drafts. I mean, yes, Jamie Arnold, yes, Gage jump, but beyond those two, it’s been a lot of hitters more in terms of what they’ve added. And I like a lot of what they’ve done. I’ve really actually liked last year’s draft was probably my favorite one in baseball, but maybe they consider moving an outfielder for, you know, multiple pieces that could help. Like, could it, you know, one of the guys you didn’t mention as a rebound, it’s like Juan Breurto, like they’ve got a gaping hold second because Zack Gellof didn’t work out, right? Like he really fell back to earth. And that’s another guy who couldn’t not a great defender. So, it’s like, can you put together a deal with, you know, someone like a Parker Messik, a Joey Canillo, and a Bridto to get a Sodor Strum? Like, does how close in the park does that get you? Because the important thing here is multiple years of control. And as much as like, hey, Capus might work or, you know, you got Watson, you just add to the 40man. All the the thing is until they do it, you can never really be sure. Like, you know, Andrew Benendi was a top prospect. He’s had some good years, he’s had some terrible years. Jackson Proofar was the number one prospect in baseball. He’s had some great years in his 30s. Most of his 20s were all over the place. So getting security, getting someone who has performed. I’m I’m looking at that. And Suzuki again would be a great, you know, upper tier guy. I think you give him the qualifying offer, potentially end up with him for two years then or maybe get a draft pick and recoup some of what you lost. But, uh, Sod Strom’s one because of the multiple years of control and a team that, you know, might actually consider trading him because of their other young pieces. That’s fair. Yeah, I think you were saying having a problem with the Ethereal, but I think I think an ideal number one top wish would be to get a controllable bat in the outfield that has some proven years of experience that is still controllable. I think that’s a really great start to the offseason if you can do that or at least your big piece. I I still want the reliever because in my head I don’t think they’re going to get a hitter that’s that’s going to be a lineup changer. Like Soda Sherman would be a lineup changer because you literally have a controllable outfield bat who hey maybe he could play catcher. I don’t know. I know he wasn’t a catcher. It’s been a while but like I would still consider that experiment if if things go ary with with Bo Naylor. So I’m down with that. I don’t have the confidence you’re going to get that outfielder or that player this off seasonason. Suzuki would be great. Like he would be good for a rental piece of it. So, I still went with a reliever because I think in the wake of the Emanuel Class situation and given that run prevention is still the main way this team operates, I think you need to have Kate Smith in the fireman role because of his talent and where he’s good at and and because of let’s be honest, it’s the arbitration, too. you’re not going to get him to sign a major league uh or extension if he knows he’s going to have a chance to close games. So, you need to move him back into the fireman role and that means bringing somebody in from the outside. So, my target my top target even though relievers are starting to come off the board like I’m still all in on on bringing in Luke Weaver because it sounds like the money there is still going to be reasonable. I’d still be all in on bringing in Shawn Armstrong. I’d like to bring in Tyler Rogers, you mentioned him the other day, or you know, through a trade like bring in a Jimmy Herget. I don’t know if if Jimmy Herget is gonna allow you to move Kate Smith back to the fireman role, but maybe. And then the other guy I want to point out, too, is Dennis Santana. There’s been some talk of the Pirates trading Dennis Santana. He’s got two years of control left. He was in the back end of their bullpen last year, so I’d be interested in that, too. I just I just want somebody even if you can’t move Kate Smith back to the fireman role, bring somebody in that you can trust in the eighth inning so you’re not just, you know, Gatis Gatis and Smith Gatison Smith because that’s a great way to fall apart and run prevention very quickly. Yeah. And when we come back from break, I’ll talk about just how many relievers I have seven names on my list and how many of those were relievers and uh kind of discuss a my my tinfoil hat conspiracy. I I’ve got it all written down here. It looks like a crazy man’s code. I’ve got relievers. I’ve got starters. I’ve got hitters, too. 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That is a great way to help support the podcast. Even if you listen on YouTube, if you’re watching on YouTube, auto download on your audio platform. We just need you to download it so we get the numbers. We we’ll appreciate that as well. All right, Jeff. Uh, who is I guess what or who is number two on your list then? So you went with Tyler Sodestrom or say a Suzuki. Well, Sodesttorm was one, Suzuki was six because I went with players. So then I have relievers at two, three. Wow. Okay. Five and seven. All right. Because of the relievers done. So when you’re talking relievers right now, if you roster resource is an imperfect, but it’s it’s fun to look at it. It’s something to look at. If you look at roster resource to show just why this team needs dad, multiple relievers. Zack Kent, Joey Canillo, I’m trying to think who else are listed as relievers for this team. Doug Nazi, Kent, I still think doesn’t survive the offseason. Nazi, I think, is in TripleA and Canillo I’m hing is a starter and that, you know, they figured out a trade for Logan Allen or Parker Messik or Joey Canelo to get that bat, you know, figure out that trade to get that bat. But they need to add multiple relievers. So, um, Tyler Rogers is number two to me. Uh, so my crazy conspiracy, I’ve talked about part of this before, the idea that you want different looks coming out of the bullpen. You want different players with with different looks so it’s not all the same thing. One of the hardest situations is I went through and wrote down the arm angle for every single pitcher on this team. The only two who who share the arm angle, same arm angle, same release point would be Hunter Gatis and Kate Smith. So, your eighth and ninth inning guys give you a same release point, which is I don’t think that’s what you want. Um, on top of those guys being a 37, Andrew Walters is a 39 who’s in that range. Um, you know, I’ve got Eric Sabowski at 48 gives him a different look. Uh, Fes is a 33 and a 31 for Timmy Heron. So, like I was looking through, you know, what what Tyler Rogers arm angle is, it’s negative 61. Uh, he is giving you a really different arm angle. No one made good contact. I was using Savon’s hot stove um way to sort stuff. It’s like he is near the top of so many different things. He doesn’t walk anyone. No one hits him hard. He doesn’t miss bats. It is hit to contact, but again with the defense they have um and he’s probably more of a ruggi and he is older, but like sign me up for that. Uh I mean honestly uh we’ll probably say 8 million. That was it. What? It was one year. 8 million was the projection for him yesterday. Tomorrow I would do that. I mean, I assume Suarez will be the next reliever off Devin Williams, you know, going today. Or Edwin. Or Edwin. Yeah. But like after that tier, like to me, Rogers is top of the next tier. Um I got Jimmy Herget next. His arm angle is 9 degrees. No, five degrees. It should be a smaller deal, you know, trade a lesser. I I still kind of like Riley Felner out there as well. I’d like to see though his splits aren’t bad. It’s like I still think he could be an interesting guy. um is maybe a bullpen arm, some depth for this team if you could get both and you know tra you know trade him Noel and then a real prospect but Noel would just be fun in Colorado. That’d be that’d be fun for baseball. So it’s like but then you know something real. I’m not I understand that’s not a great one. But it’s like um God it’s all initials on here like Brad Keller was a 47 who we talked about. Um Jake Junice who was here last year was a 28 which would would have been the lowest on the team. So that gives him a different look. I would be very open to bringing him back no matter who. Like if if they were to go out and get, you know, Luke Weaver, Shawn Armstrong or Tyler Rogers, whatever. I’d still bring Jake Junis back because he was really reliable if he’s a sixth inning guy. And some of his some of his leverage work last year was really good, too. So, yeah. So, you got you got Herget and Rogers, which even though they’re both maybe rugies, they have different arm angles, different looks with it. Um, and you’re going to face 80% of the time right-handed uh hitters. So, like you need righties. Uh the other two guys that uh Sean Armstrong was seventh. We’ve talked about a lot. He’s got had one of the best fast balls in baseball last year. Um nearly made the list was Tyler Kinley. Uh really interesting data for a guy that Atlanta didn’t choose to pay. Like he was great once he got out of Colorado. Has um one of the best was it sliders in the game based on his data. Missed a lot of bats. No one hit him hard. Kind of a guy that I’m curious to see now that he’s fully out of Colorado. He he would have been eight. But Armstrong we’ve talked about so much. And then the guy I texted Justin and I’m like, “Hey, I got someone who we have not talked about at all that I think we should talk about.” And that’s the Brewers closer, Trevor McIll. If you read on The Athletic last week, the Brewers are with Brandon Woodruff accepting his $22 million qualifying offer. Uh, and there’s talk they want to keep Freddy Peralta that they’re going to run out those two guys in that rotation. They have to trade other pieces. They’re they’re trying to look to get down. And with Migill um estimated somewhere between four to seven million. He made his first uh all-star team. You know, he’s a two- pitch guy, fast ball curve 54, so a very different release angle. Um you know, throws the ball hard. He’s he’s a huge human, which I’m not always the biggest fan of in the draft, but he’s got Sam Hench’s size essentially, but it’s, you know, and he’s an all-star closer. So again, the situation Justin talked about earlier, you could make him your closer and move Kate Smith into a different role and then that does that, you know, he just trying to look at some of the data like, you know, he can get hit a little bit hard at times, uh, or at least get barreled, but he guys chase, they whiff, he’s only got two years left, too. So that’s the other reason why a Milwaukee team that always trades the relievers ahead of time. Hater was with a year and a half, I believe, one just one year for Devin Williams. Um, and they might, you know, that’s that’s one of the situations. I’m like Logan Allen plus a piece might make sense. Like the Brewers are looking to hold on to all their starters, but like Misarowski has his own question marks with health. Um, I really like Chad uh Patrick and Logan Henderson, but I think more depth um could be part of it for them. Um, you know, there’s talk of a maybe they’d like Juan Breurto, you know, then you could move Terra potentially to shortstop because Joey Ortiz was kind of a disaster for them offensively. There’s just, you know, they’re always a team that has some pieces they like or guys they’re looking at. And if they’re really want to save money, I would be calling about Trevor McIll tomorrow. Yeah, I talked about him last week when I did a solo show or was it maybe two weeks ago? I can’t remember now, but I did talk about him because I saw that piece in the Athletic that talked about they might be interested in trading him. The thing is with him like he both he and Smith are not under contract. So no matter who you put at closer, you’re going to be paying for saves. If I trade for Miguel, to be honest with you, I would put Smith as the closer while Miguel is here because only got two years though, so it doesn’t matter. But he but he but he’s already slid up the arbitration cost because of previous But this way Smith down overall. You would save more money long term if you put Miguel in it because it keeps Smith at a smaller number instead of accelerating his number earlier. Yeah, but Miguel would if if you keep Miguel in his final year, his number is going to be really high. You can always 10 or 11 at max just because the amount you a little bit lower. Yeah, I don’t know. I I still it’s going to be an I I don’t think Miguel is attainable just because I think the cost to trade for him is going to be exorbitant. Two years control of of a all-star closer. I think Deon Williams was Nester Cortez and a utility guy. So, you never know. It’s just like having that and Cortez coming off injury. That was one year. That was one year. It was one year, but it’s also Devin Williams. Deon Williams is is better than Trevor Miguel. So, like I don’t know. It’s both Milwaukee has players they like. Like Corbin Burns only netting DJ Hall and Joey Ortiz is was kind of a surprise. But like you just got to have the guy that Milwaukee likes. Yeah, fair enough. They have interesting tast when we come back. All right. I’ve got a couple of names. I’ve got a couple of ideas, too. And you know, you don’t get everything on your wish list. So, it’s important to ask for multiple things you want. hope for the best. We’ll tell you who is left on our holiday offseason wish list for the Guardians and we’ll read some of our insiders wish list as well coming up on the rest of today’s Lockdown Guardians. We know you are in need of more Guardians baseball talk this offseason. We all are if you’re a Guardians fan. So during the winter, make sure you are following Jeff everywhere on social media. Jeff LB draft myself at JL baseball or JL baseball and you can join the Lockdown Guardians Insiders Club where we text with the community daily, drop news, rumors when we get them. We ask for mailbag questions which we’ll do at the end of the week this week. We do monthly video chats which is also coming up this week and we’ll provide some bonus content from time to time as well. And we ask them for some of their wish list ideas too for this show. So we’ll get to those and that’s all at jointsubtex.com/lockdowngardians. And you can email the show at [email protected] if you want to communicate that way if you’re not on social media or you know YouTube all those things. So the other piece, my second biggest piece, I’m just going to go two, three, and four here real quick. Fair enough. Um because the rest of mine are all depth related. But my number two was find some kind of outfielder platoon wise. Not Lane Thomas. I am fine with Austin Hayes. He’s not my first choice, but he’s fine because he hits lefties. He barrels the ball. He’s got good bat speed. I’m fine with that as a right-hand platoon bat or Rob Reidider. Any velocity, right, though? That’s the thing. You just if you throw hayes fast balls, he’s going to die on the vine. Yeah, fast ball was not his friend last year for actually No, that’s that’s a lie. Fast balls last year. Uh 635. He can’t hit anything that curves. There’s something that he can’t hit at all. Yes. Yes. Curve uh straight ball hit very much. Curve ball no hit. So, yes. Um, I don’t think Santa, the Elves, or or anybody is going to be helping Austin Hayes there. So, we’ll see what happens there, but not against that. And Rob refer. One of those two guys. I bring one of those two in and I will be fine with that addition to the lineup. Uh, number three, I would love Snider. I I like honestly in terms of free agency, he might be my number one free agent. I just don’t think they can get him. He is so much good data under the hood. But yeah, sign me up. Yeah, my number three. This is not a This is player specific, but it’s also situation specific. It is just get Chase the Lauder and Daniel Espino to Goodyear in March healthy. I don’t want to hear, “Oh, Chase the Lauder is delayed at spring training because of a foot because of a toothache or whatever it is because he ate too many Christmas candies or Daniel Espino uh pulled aside muscle stretching.” Like, none of that. I I want these guys in bubble wrap from now until March. I just do. Those guys. Um this is my biggest one, my most controversial one. I want an infield spot finalized for 2026. And I know everyone’s going to say, “Yeah, Travis Panic coming.” Yeah, that’s great. But what has Jeff said multiple times and I agree with is that prospects don’t get blocked. Prospects clear the deck and they get in there. I want Brennan Donovan or Jorge Palano or Kettle Marte as I’d mentioned multiple times too. Give me one of those three guys. Solidify shortstop if you get Donovan for a couple years at least or second base with I mean I know Blanco is not a great second baseman, but he’s a switch hitter with power. I He can’t play it at all anymore. Like the data is really bad. I had him on my last game. He’s a DH. He’s a DH. He’s a DH first base. That’s all he is anymore. I don’t know. But I I want one of those spots filled. I want, you know, you push Rokio Aras to shortstop or Donovan plays shortstop and you just say, “Okay, this spot is filled. You two compete for this last spot because I don’t think you can go 150 games with those two as your middle infield next year.” I know Breurto is there. I I can move Breto to the outfield, too. It doesn’t matter where he plays because he’s a stone glove, too. Just like Palano. They’re very similar players. I’d love if he turned into Palano. And And then Bazanna, you know, outfield might be a good choice for him, too, honestly. So, we’ll see. And then I’ll just throw my last one. That’s my last wish on the on the spot. I just want pitching depth. I want them to bring in some guys this off seasonason. How would you feel about I I don’t know what kind of deal he’s going to get because he was he’s been hurt. I can’t quit this guy. I love Dustin May. I I don’t know. Is he going to get paid? He’s going to get paid. Is he gonna get a major league deal? Oh, yeah. 100%. Look what Boston paid to acquire him for half a year. They gave up James Tibs. Like, he’s going to get paid. There’s a lot of people I know. I know you and you love James Tibs and I was on that, but there’s a lot of people who feel like James Tibs probably isn’t as good as we thought or Well, he had an awesome season once he got to the Dodgers and there’s a lot of people who were fans beforehand and this and that. Like they paid a hefty price to get him. There’s a lack of in general. Um he’s getting contract. They were in on Griffin Canning last year until they u made some trades. So Griffin Canning, maybe he gets minor league deal because things didn’t go that great for New York. I think he was hurt. It was health. It was great when he was healthy, but then it’s So maybe maybe you get a mild league deal out of Griffin. I will say this, I don’t think you do because Cleveland’s depth is going to count against them. Like everyone’s going to look at this team and be like they already have six starters. Why would I don’t want to go to camp with them? So you’re I you know you’re you’re probably stuck with like what you have your six and then Peterson as your seven just cuz like who’s going to willingly go to camp with this team? Like you’re an outsider. They’ve already got the the Braves. So I have Junice down. I have Jacob Webb down. Uh Jojo Romero was a guy I talked about a few weeks ago on a show. Um I liked him in his draft year. It sounds like the Cardinals are willing to trade him. He’s a one-year lefty reliever. Mark Leather Jr.’s out there on the market, too. I’m not against that either. So that’s my wish list. I’ll say the thing with Lighter is like every single year he’s at a negative war. Like even with the Yankees, he’s never had a positive war. That kind of scares me when I look at a guy like that that he’s good against Cleveland, but like against everyone else, it just hasn’t been there. I mean, strikeout rate was good. The RA is fine. like there’s nothing like he’s not sexy but he’s you know been pretty consistent. I don’t know if you can’t bring positive value that means there’s something wrong with the overall profile. Um and the Yankees have such relief needs. I’m kind of hesitant about anyone New York lets go. Like New York levers who have left New York the I think the last good one was Eric Plunk. I mean it’s it’s kind of gone that way for a while. They did trade Andrew Miller. Just saying. and they did, but they traded. They didn’t let him go. Like he wasn’t a free agent. Like they typically tend to because it’s also been such a need for them. Um I’ll say like I’m actually the like on the infield I look at it as a situation where with the way they’re set up to be a pitching first team, it’s not the worst thing if they go defensive heavy at short and and and sec short stop and second base. Like I’m okay with those two guys. Now if you can get a Brendan Donovan, then it’s like okay, well, you know, you do that. But if they can’t go out and get a Donovan, um, then I I’m relatively okay with it. Like there’s a lot of teams who would love a Gabi Arias type right now where you get plus defense and a little bit of pop. Um, again, if you could get someone better, I would definitely love to move on, but it’s the short stop position is so weird where it’s either stars or scrubs. Like that’s essentially the there’s not a whole lot of middle ground out there at that position. Um, though speaking of like guys who could play up the middle, I’m just gonna bring up four fourth on my list is is a guy that I’ve brought up before on the show and I just want to again uh talk about overall which is uh Rammy Gonzalez with Boston, especially if they do bring back Rob Rush Schneider. If you go look at Ramy Gonzalez’s page, uh you know, he’s played I think every position on the infield, 99th percentile for hard hit, um bat speed for days. He barreled at a 12.6% of the time. Big average exit vos. Sprint speed was was good as well. Defense not great. But you know if you’re looking for a guy who can and again teams have uh really benefited from taking the Chicago White Sox castoffs like uh teams that every guy leaves Chicago and you know gets actual coaching and then play so much better. So again, he’s still high on my list because I I think it feels like a guy that kind of is lost in the shuffle who provided some valuable at bats and uh could be a situation where if you can’t get you know him, if you can’t get uh Brennan Donovan, maybe this is a light version just because like especially if you look at his similar batter scores, I just have to bring this up like Brett Baddy last year, Oscar Tscar Hernandez as well. So, I think, you know, it’s it’s a player that gives you that kind of depth and some of those players to look at for um you know, a way to supplement the team. Yeah, I wouldn’t be against that either. I think there’s multiple options here. Let’s really quickly before we get out here, read some of our insiders, too. This is a good one from Aaron. He went with the uh 12 Days of Christmas theme. He said, “10 Lords leaping, get some center field defense, 12 drummers drumming. He wants to recreate some John Adams experience in the ballpark.” I agree with that. Three French hens. Can they be involved in any smart moves in the international market? Uh, history says no, unfortunately. I don’t think they have anyone there. No. Uh, this one’s my favorite though. Four calling birds. Phone the Cardinals and get Donovan and Nbar. Uh, that’s a good one. Five golden rings. Just start with one, win the World Series. I like that. Um, David says he wants the Guardians to bet on themselves, make a trade that forced them to lean on their developmental strengths while cashing out on some prospects. Agree with that. Um, he wants his Steven Quan to see his shadow from the first half or not see it, whichever might make works for him better. He wants Tristan Cassus and the Boston hitters on the block. I don’t care about redundancy. I agree. I mean, Durant out of Breu would be interesting if that’s possible. Um, and he wants they want a big starter for them is the one thing. I don’t think we have we match up with them. Yeah. Uh, he wants Santa to force the baseball gods to return all the years they’ve robbed us of Valera Spino and Delau. I agree with that. How about this from Stacy? Stacy had a great one. She wants the Guardians to sign Tim Anderson just for funsies. That is a That is a diabolical Christmas wish. Stacy, uh, she also said trade for Adley Rutman. I don’t think that’s happening, but that’s wild. Uh, JJ Blade, Cedric Mullins, Carl Yremsky. I actually flipped the order of those, but uh, that works for me. Carl or Mike? Because isn’t Carl dead? Did I say Carl? I think I said Mike. I think Carl. No, you said Carl. I said Carl. Say Carl. It can’t be any worse than what they ran out there last year. Okay. Um, let’s see. Todd says a number two hitter to slap between Quan Ramirez. I agree with that. That’s why I’d love to have like Brennan Donovan or or Kettle Marte there. Outfielder gets on base and then he wants to add bullpen depth as well. Um, Stephen, this is actually realistic. It started off pretty iffy, but it’s realistic. Um, owner willing to make one, not only one, I’m not crazy. To make a risky financial decision on the order of 20 million or more, knowing some years they’ll get burnt. I don’t disagree with that. New strategy that BL that bans platoon unless stats show a clear advantage statistically. I agree with that 100%. We saw a lot of that garbage last year. Um, some protection for Jose, a reliable lefty reliever, an injuryfree outfield. I don’t have time to read the rest. Maybe we’ll get to it in a future show. I want to throw this last one out there just because he trolled me on this. Nunio said, “Find a way to get Nick Curtz.” Just, you know, ruined my off seasonason by uh telling me, “Get Nick Curts.” And we know it’s not realistic. So, I’ll just throw that out there. Yep. It’s uh Yeah, I mean, I always understand. It’s uh it’s always fun to get the feedback, get the interactions, hear what people are thinking. Um whether or not they agree or disagree with us, it’s fun to get that outside. Let us know if you didn’t get a chance to submit your wish list. Let us know in the comments. Tomorrow it’s our second annual favorite event where Jeff has to guess whether or not Chris Anthony said this winter meetings quote or it was Chris AI toti. So tune in for that tomorrow. See what Jeff gets. Not able to look at the hands and and that’s that’s a big giveaway for AI. Look at the hands. Look for the hands. Uh thank you all for joining us. Remember to rate and review. Download daily. That helps so much. Hit the thumbs up, hit the like, add a comment below. Thank you all and go Guardians Go. Merry Christmas.

Cleveland Guardians face pivotal offseason questions—can adding a controllable outfield bat or revamped bullpen take the Guardians to the next level? Justin Lada and Jeff Ellis unpack the Guardians’ ideal wish list, spotlighting targets like Tyler Soderstrom, Seiya Suzuki, and intriguing relief options including Tyler Rogers and Trevor Megill. The duo debate Austin Hays and Rob Refsnyder as viable platoon solutions, and weigh the impact of depth moves, pitching additions, and infield upgrades with names like Brendan Donovan and Jorge Polanco.
Listener wish lists turn up bold trade scenarios—Adley Rutschman, Tristan Casas and demand a healthy roster, improved run prevention, and development breakthroughs. Will the Guardians make the right moves to take the next step in 2026?

05:00 Discussing Player Values & Contracts
08:26 Team Strategy: Reliever Over Outfielder
16:26 Trevor Megill: Brewers Closer
18:01 Brewers’ Pitching Depth Concerns
25:26 Cleveland’s Depth Causes Hesitation
28:16 Underrated Player to Watch
31:07 Realistic Strategy, Smart Decisions

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