CLEVELAND, Ohio — When pitchers need to rebuild their careers after major arm surgery, Cleveland has increasingly become the destination of choice. The Guardians’ reputation for successfully rehabilitating pitchers, particularly those recovering from Tommy John surgery, has become so pronounced that it’s now a recognized organizational specialty — one that could make them the perfect landing spot for recently non-tendered starter Alek Manoah.
On the latest Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast, beat writers Paul Hoynes and Joe Noga discussed this growing reputation and how it might factor into the team’s offseason strategy.
“The Guardians seem to collect these guys,” Hoynes observed when discussing Manoah’s potential fit. “They brought (Shane) Bieber back coming off Tommy John. They had John Means last year, and Matthew Boyd the year before that. They have a great reputation of rehabbing pitchers.”
This reputation isn’t just industry chatter — it’s backed by results. The Guardians’ pitching development program, led by pitching coach Carl Willis and their advanced biomechanics and training staff, has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to not just return pitchers to the mound after major surgery, but often to help them recapture or even exceed their previous form.
Manoah represents exactly the type of high-upside arm that Cleveland has targeted in the past. A 6-foot-6, 285-pound former Cy Young finalist who was an All-Star in 2022 with the Blue Jays, Manoah underwent Tommy John surgery in 2024 and was surprisingly non-tendered on Friday, making him a free agent. His combination of past success and current rehabilitation status fits perfectly with Cleveland’s model.
The podcast discussion turned to how a potential deal might be structured, with Noga asking if it would resemble the package they gave John Means — a one year deal with a team option.
Hoynes concurred, noting the similarity to previous rehabilitation signings: “They had Means on a $1 million deal this past season with a $6 million option. That’s the kind of the structure a contract would have…”
This type of deal — a low base salary with incentives and future options — has become Cleveland’s standard approach for pitchers in recovery. It offers the team protection if the rehabilitation doesn’t progress as hoped while providing the player with both immediate financial security and the opportunity for a bigger payday if things go well.
The success of this approach extends beyond just John Means.
Boyd was another example mentioned on the podcast, though his contract didn’t include a team option, allowing him to capitalize on his success as a free agent. As Noga pointed out, Boyd turned that into a $30 million deal with the Cubs.
What makes Cleveland particularly attractive for pitchers in Manoah’s position isn’t just the contract structure, but the entire rehabilitation environment. The organization’s methodical approach to recovery, combined with their cutting-edge pitching development program and patience with the process, creates an ideal setting for a pitcher looking to rebuild both physically and mentally.
For the Guardians, these types of signings represent the perfect balance of risk and reward. Even if Manoah doesn’t pitch in 2025, the investment would be minimal. But if he returns to anything resembling his 2022 All-Star form, the Guardians would have added a front-line starter at a fraction of his market value.
To hear the complete discussion about Manoah and other potential pitching targets, tune in to the latest episode of the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast, where Hoynes and Noga break down all the possibilities as the winter meetings approach.
Podcast transcript
Joe Noga: Welcome back to the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. I’m Joe Noga, joined by Paul Hoynes. Hoynsie, Friday’s non tender deadline produced a whole new crop of 60 plus free agents for Major League baseball teams to sort of pour over and evaluate and consider. The Guardians are sort of in a position where they can go out and look at some of these guys who were cut loose by their, their former clubs and are now free agents and maybe there’s a, maybe there’s a bargain, maybe there’s a deal, maybe there’s a player that fits their needs and they can go after them, they can pursue them in free agency and make this offseason a little bit more than just resigning. Austin Hedges for the third time for this club. Are there, are there any names right now just off the top that the jump out and sort of are the guys that boy, if the Guardians could get their hands on them would really make a difference in the lineup this upcoming season?
Paul Hoynes: Joe? I think, you know, there’s several at least that, that I think they, you know, would kind of pique their interest. Usually when you know, players get non tendered at this time of the year at the non tender deadline, you know, they’re not the big name free agents, they’re not the, the, you know, the guys that are going to command, you know, 10 year, $300 million contracts. They’re not Kyle Schwaber, Pete Alonso, players like that. But there are some players that, that could be more within the Guardian’s price range and could help them fill and I think we both agree that what the needs of the guardians headed into 20, 20, a lot of it, a lot of the focus is on offense. So you know, here’s a couple players that I was looking at. You know, MJ Melendez, the course of Cleveland, knows him very well. He’s former number two pick of the Royals. He’s shown power in the past. He struggled this past season. Didn’t only played, you know, a handful of games with the Royals, but at AAA Omaha hit 20 home runs. He’s a left handed hitter, catcher only 20. So. Interesting guy, interesting guy to me. We’ve seen him, you know, play well against Cleveland.
Joe Noga: Yeah, we, we’ve seen him on several occasions be a threat in the middle of that Royals lineup and, and, and have a little bit of pop in his bat. The mix, the versatility mix there is also interesting and intriguing because he is a guy who can go behind the plate and play catcher if you need him to. He’s played in the outfield he’s played behind the plate. But the, with the Royals, they’ve got Salvador Perez behind the plate and they’ve got a couple other options. I think Freddie for mean is another guy who’s a catcher there in Kansas City. And they just re re upped with Sal Perez through. They gave him a contract extension and I don’t think, you know, he’s going anywhere anytime soon. So Melendez and his, his catching abilities became a little expendable. But you talked about the Guardians being, you know, familiar with this guy. He, he’s very familiar to one guardian in particular.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, he’s childhood friends with Logan Allen. The two have faced each other, you know, Allen with, with the Guardians, Melendez, when he was with Kansas City. And Melendez I believe has a couple hits off him. I know Allen has struck him out a couple times, so it’s kind of a friendly rivalry. But they grew up together in Florida. Joe playing baseball on the same team. I think from Little League all the way up through maybe high school. I don’t know if it’s high school or. But right, right around sort of summer ball, something like that.
Joe Noga: Yeah, I think we’d seen it written. It was ages 5 through 18. They were on each other’s teams, sleepovers at each other’s houses, practices in the summer. These are two guys who were very familiar with each other. So I think, you know, one guy who would be all in favor of pursuing MJ Melendez would be Logan Allen. So, you know, maybe their agents can get together. Next guy on your list of potential free agents is, is a guy who can, you know, maybe help out at first base.
Paul Hoynes: Nathaniel Lowe, probably the most experienced and established hitter of that group of 66 free agents. Nathaniel Lowe, 30, former Gold Glove winner, former Silver Slugger winner, played with the Nationals and the Red Sox. Last year the Nationals release him. The Red Sox picked him up for the stretch run. I did a nice job for, for Boston. Drove in 16 runs in limited time. He made, you know, this is a guy that, you know, he made 10, 10.3 million last season. Joe. He’s probably looking for a multi year deal I would think, but perhaps, you know, Cleveland could work out a one year, two year, one year deal, a platform deal where he could kind of reestablish himself, go back out as on the free Agen in 2027. He’s, you know, another left handed hitter though. And I, you know, you, you probably block Manzardo a little bit if you bring him in, but he could, D.H. manzardo could play first you could switch back and forth like that, but I think you know it. Definitely a guy you’ve, you’ve got to consider after the offensive season the Guardians had last year.
Joe Noga: Yeah, the big concern there would be making the dollar figures work out and you know, you with what you’ve already committed to a guy like a Nolan Jones, does that take away from what you’d be able to offer Nathaniel Lowe? 10.3 million last year? They don’t usually take, you know, big pay cuts, especially when they’re, they’re free agents and in the. What would be the prime of his career. So sort of got to look at that for sure and like you said, you don’t want to stunt Kyle Manzano’s growth. But you know, calvinzardo was the most productive last season when he was primarily a DH and not having to worry about playing first base. It was when they tried to sort of expand him, expand his responsibilities in that regard that maybe his numbers sort of trailed off at the end of the year. So maybe that’s a good idea to sort of bolster that first base possibility. The, one of the other areas that the Guardians are definitely going to need help in and you know, sort of need to add to what they’ve already got on the roster is late inning relief guys who can set up Hunter Gaddis and Kate Smith at the back end of that bullpen. That’s where the next guy on your list comes in.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, Mark Leiter Jr. Kind of a veteran right hander. He’s 34. Joe, the Guardians saw him in 20, 24, in the postseason in the ALCS. He did a nice job against them. You know, if, if the Guardians are looking for another durable guy, you know, durable reliever to help them in the pen. He made 60, 59 appearances last season, struck out 54 and 48 innings, was making just over 2 million a year. You know, right handers, you know, he, he gives up some hits. Right handers hit 315, lefties hit.269. So he went 6 and 7 with a 4.84 ERA. But you know, another, they’re going to need a durable guy. I think as we were saying before Joe and you know, Leiter might be that guy.
Joe Noga: Yeah, they, they’ve gone out historically over the last couple of seasons and brought in a guy like a Paul Seewald and tried to get some, some veteran innings out of him. There were there. They have a history of finding guys that fit that role and making it work. So, you know, maybe lighter is a guy that that can, can step into that role again this year.
Paul Hoynes: No doubt about it. And they do. They always find guys like this, you.
Joe Noga: Know, Barlow, another guy.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, Scott Barlow Festa last year, Jacob Junas last. They are not afraid to take chances on those guys. They do their research and you know what they paid? I think they paid seawalt 7 million. They paid Junas 4.5 million last year. When they have extra, extra dollars, they usually spend it. It seems like to me on the.
Joe Noga: Bullpen, you know, it was kind of a. I think we were a little bit surprised when they, they did the deals with Seawald and Junas last year, at least with those names. So you know, that’s why talking about Mark Lighter isn’t necessarily a, you know, such a stretch because this is sort of a guy in that same mold right now.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, yeah. You know, I mean Seawall didn’t work out, but Junas did. As you were, you know, referring to Joe. Historically they’ve done a great job finding these kind of players, plugging them in and having them really have productive seasons and helping that bullpen. And this bullpen is going to need some help, you know, with, without class A, you know, I’m projected, projected without class A. So you’re going to need another really kind of a durable 60 to 70 appearance reliever. And you know, Lighter has done that. He has a track record of doing that.
Joe Noga: I think we can safely say that. You know, I feel very comfortable in saying that Class. They will not throw a pitch for them this year. But you know, stranger things I guess have happened. Let’s go back to the outfield for the, the next guy maybe sort of the, the headliner of this group. The guy that made the most waves when, when he was non tendered by the Rangers and on Friday it was Adoles Garcia, a guy who was an instrumental part of their World Series run a couple of seasons ago.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, an all star Gold glove winner in 2023. You know, just. He had eight home runs in the postseason that year, Joe. But obviously he’s kind of slipped the last two years. He still hit 227 with 19 home runs and 75 RBIs last season. Joe. If he had been on the Guardians, they probably would have built a statue to him right now. So you know, but he is expensive. He made 12 million last season. You know, he’s going to be looking for a multi year deal but you know there’s always, you know, there’s always a hope they could get him on, on a shorter deal. And you Know, put him in the middle of that lineup, put him right behind Jose Ramirez or Kyle Manzardo and have him, you know, really drive this offense and you know, give himself a second bite of the apple in the free agent apple if he, if he would sign a one or you know, a short term deal with Cleveland.
Joe Noga: I go back to another former Texas outfielder that Cleveland signed and brought him in to have a, you know, show me season sort of deal was, was Juan Gonzalez and, and Juan Gonzalez had a heck of a year his one season in Cleveland before moving on after that.
Paul Hoynes: My goodness, what 2000, 2001. I mean yo, he was the guy. He was, he had, he, he was the best I’ve ever seen at driving in an easy, an easy run. If there was a guy at third base, you know, as big as he was and as powerful as he was, he had no business. He had no problem hitting a ground ball to second base to get that guy in from, from third. Bas was an expert at that.
Joe Noga: 2001 Juan Gonzalez put up a 4.4 baseball reference WAR that season. He had.325 with a.960 OPS, 35 home runs, 140 RBIs in 140 games in right field before I believe didn’t he go on. And that was, that was after he was in, in Detroit and he wanted to get the heck out of Detroit but he went back to, he went back to Texas the next year and.
Paul Hoynes: Then he kind of came. I thought he came back with Cleveland. He played one game maybe 2005. Yeah, he was, he was a guy. They, they, they chose him over Corey, I mean Grady Sizemore. And then the day after they sent Sizemore down, this was still in spring training. The day after that he, he tore a hamstring and they brought Grady back and I think Juan played one game with Cleveland that year retort the hamstring. And we, we never heard from him again.
Joe Noga: Yeah, that was, that was his age. 35 season. So we’re not comparing apples to apples here. Adoles Garcia, certainly not, you know, the, with the track record of a Juan Gonzalez. But if the Guardians could bring him in and have him do what Juan Gonzalez did and one, I think even just for one season they, they would take that from Adoles Garcia. Again the strikeouts are a big concern there with Garcia. So another outfield option can also play infield. And a guy who was just released by the Cubs.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, a guy that Chris Morrell, 26 right handed hitter which would help the Guardians balance out that lineup. He got his best season he played with the Rays last year, you know, 11 home runs, 33 RBIs, hit.219. Not a great year for him. Morel showed a lot of promise in 2023 for the Cubs when he hit 26 home runs with 770 RBIs. Still making just above the minimum. An interesting guy, Joe. I don’t know if they’d bring him in. I don’t know where, where he’d fit, where his best outfield position is. But you know, this, this kind of is kind of a. He looks like perhaps he’d be a bargain for you if the Guardians were interested.
Joe Noga: Yeah, and we could ask our friend Tim Stebbins to give us a scouting report on, on all things Cubs. We’d be with them. So if they pursue Christopher Morell, we can, we, we’ve got the, the inside information. We’ll. We’ll be able to circle back with that last guy on your list here. If the Guardians were interested in maybe bolstering their rotation depth, there’s, there are some veteran options out there, but Alec Manoa looks like a guy who would have a lot of upside.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, I mean, he’s coming off Tommy John surgery and, and the Guardian, I mean, had Tommy John in 2024, I should say with the Blue Jays, you know, had the, had the breakout year in 2022 with the Jays. Huge guy, 66285. And the guardians seem to collect these guys, Joe. You know, they brought Bieber back coming off from Tommy John. They had John Means last year. They have a great reputation of rehabbing pitchers. So maybe Manoa, they could get him on a sweetheart deal bring and perhaps, you know, he could help them down the stretch. We’ve seen it before.
Joe Noga: Would the, would the structure of that deal maybe in your mind look something along the lines of what they did with John Means having, you know, one year deal with a player option or a team option for the following year, depending on his ability to get on the field at any point.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, I think so. What they had means on a $1 million deal this past season with a $6 million option. That’s the kind of. I think the structure the contract would have, you know, Matthew Boyd, really. I don’t, I, I don’t think he, he didn’t have an option when, when they brought him, when they signed him and you know, that really worked out well for them in what, 2, 24?
Joe Noga: Well, it worked out better for Boyd that he didn’t have a team option on that field that signed midway through the season because he was a free agent at the end of the year and, you know, made $30 million off of that.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, it couldn’t have worked out much better for Matthew Boyd.
Joe Noga: No, it’s pretty much the way that anybody in that position that, that Al now finds himself in, certainly the Guardian’s reputation for, you know, getting players back to the major league mound after that reconstructive elbow surgery, it’s, it, it’s a good one. One that they might be able to, to turn into, to something here. So we’ll keep an eye on those six guys. Yeah, so, you know, this, this new batch of free agents that hit the market, the guardians have to, to sort of process through them, but we might see something before the, the end of this year. This is around the time when they, they, you know, reaching out and connecting with these veterans as even, even ahead of the winter meetings, which are coming up the first week of December.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, this is a time of year where, you know, they sign guys to multi year, I mean minor league deals with spring training invites to, to, to invite them to big league camp. There’s all they have to fill out the training camp roster so they have enough guys to play the what the 25 to the 30 spring training games and to make sure their regulars are, you know, kind into the, eased into the, to the Cactus League place. Yeah, this is the time of year that they would, they would, they would start signing guys like this if, or you know, they, they would, maybe they can, you know, sign a couple of these guys to a big league contract. I mean, when they signed Junas and, and Seawall, that was in February. That was almost when camp started, right? Yeah. So maybe they see how it shakes out and who’s still available and at White at what price. Toward the end of camping at camp.
Joe Noga: We’Ll find out who makes the cut and who gets invitations and gets contracts as we move forward into this, this holiday weekend. Hoynsey, we will check back with you next week here on the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast.