TODAY: Straw cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
MARCH 22: The Guardians have placed center fielder Myles Straw on waivers, reports Zack Meisel of The Athletic. Any team will have the opportunity to claim him, although doing so would require taking on the entirety of the three years and $19.25MM still remaining on his contract. That appears quite unlikely. Straw figures to clear waivers, at which point the Guardians could assign him outright to a minor league affiliate.
While Straw’s 4.112 years of MLB service time give him the right to reject that outright assignment, he’s still short of the five years necessary to reject an outright and retain the money he’s owed. There’s no chance he’d forfeit that $19.25MM to go into free agency, so the likely outcome seems to be Straw clearing and heading to Triple-A Columbus while no longer occupying a spot on the 40-man roster. It’s also feasible that the Guardians could simply be gauging whether there’s a taker for Straw and, if not, could simply plug him back into their center field spot. He can be optioned to Triple-A if the club keeps him on the 40-man roster. A player does not have to be assigned outright to a minor league affiliate after clearing waivers (though that’s obviously the most common outcome).
With Straw in limbo for the time being, that leaves Steven Kwan and Ramon Laureano as locks in the Cleveland outfield. The former will see regular reps in left field. The latter had been slated for right field work but can handle center. It’s also possible the Guards will go with Will Brennan and/or Estevan Florial to fill outfield roles. Infielder Tyler Freeman has also gotten looks in center this spring. Brennan has all three minor league option years remaining, while Florial is out of minor league options. Top outfield prospect Chase DeLauter could be an option eventually, but he was never a full-time member of big league camp and was only called up on occasion to fill at-bats as needed, Meisel notes. He was never a consideration to make the Opening Day roster.
Cleveland originally acquired Straw in a now-regrettable 2021 deadline swap sending right-hander Phil Maton and catcher Yainer Diaz to the Astros. He made a strong first impression, hitting .285/.362/.377 with plus defense and baserunning down the stretch. That brought his season-long line to a solid .271/.349/.348 — just shy of league-average production (98 wRC+). Paired with Straw’s speed and glovework, it was a strong effort that served as a catalyst for the Guards to sign him to a five-year, $25MM extension with a pair of club options for two additional seasons.
Unfortunately, Straw’s bat has cratered since putting pen to paper on that deal. Over the past two seasons, he’s turned in just a .229/.296/.284 in 1114 trips to the plate. That’s about 32% worse than average, by measure of wRC+. Straw is a light-out defender in center (23 Defensive Runs Saved, 17 Outs Above Average over the past two seasons) and offers blazing speed (41-for-48 in steals since 2022), but his lack of offensive ability has severely capped his overall value. For an immensely cost-conscious Guardians club, his contract has apparently reached a point where they’ll see if another club is willing to take him on for no return other than salary relief.
Turned out to be a Yikes trade for the Tribe.
Gave up Yainer Diaz in that deal.
I actually thought it could have worked out, since on the surface, they got the low-whiff, 10% BB rate, 90 OPS+ guy that he was that season, and that would have been awesome for them. But then I think he got the Tony Kemp treatment when teams figured out that his bat control and decent eye didn’t matter if he couldn’t punish pitches in the zone anyway.
The extension was a mistake.
I give them credit for trying. It doesn’t always work out.
It didn’t seem like a bad trade at the time. Straw was a pest all over the field when he first came up with the Astros, guy drove the Mariners nuts. He just failed to ever make a good adjustment after the league figured out what to throw at him.
Ditto.
Depends on how you define “woke ass”
Angry – Yeah he is the poster child for not rushing into a longterm commitment when there’s still at least 4 years of team control remaining.
Hopefully Breslow is paying attention. Wait for the player to prove himself and pay a few more bucks if necessary.
Waz – Why would you give credit for making a ridiculous financial commitment to a guy with a career .684 OPS who still has 4 years of team control remaining?
That’s like giving credit for buying $1,000 worth of Powerball tickets because they were trying to win the jackpot.
Save the credit for making smart decisions, not dumb ones.
@GiantJim:
What part of SODOMOJO’s comment was “woke ass” or incorrect? He or she summarized the situation correctly. Sounds more like your comment was a punk arse comment.
It was an 88 OPS+ through 2021, which isn’t amazing, but also 6 Reference fielding runs / 7 FanGraphs DEF over that time in just over 250 games, and a 3 WAR season in 2021. That would seem like a smart decision then for a team that has to survive with either regular roster churn or locking up guys as early and as a cheaply as possible. They probably understood there was a lot of risk to something that premature, but I wouldn’t call it outright stupid to take that risk. To get those couple free agent seasons for a hypothetical 3 WAR CF at that price for the Indians/Spiders/Naps/Guardians would have been huge.
Rudy – The general consensus is WAR gets inflated by above average defense in key positions such as CF and SS. That is very evident when you look at his 2.7 bWAR for 2022, which is absurd for a guy with a .564 OPS that year. Offense matters, especially these days with so many teams utilizing very short benches.
They should have waited at least one more year before locking him up, worst case scenario is they end up paying $1-$2M more for the same time period as long as he doesn’t turn into Mookie overnight.
It was to Waz for “giving credit for trying” Everybody gets a star for trying.
We should ask ourselves why it’s inflated, then. It’s not for no reason. You can’t often throw another hitter in the same spot and expect to get the same coverage. I think we as fans easily miss how valuable it is to have a vacuum at short, or to have extra bases turned into outs in center. A run saved is a run earned, as Ben Franklin once said.
Yes, the OPS+ dropped to 65 in 2022, but that is not the full story about what his offensive production was before that. It was 85 going into the trade (small sample, yeah), and 93 on the year. I think that’s more fair to examine what leadership saw at the time. Yes, there’s risk to that 93 OPS+ number because he had so little power, but if he could have kept grinding his way into decent on-base numbers at that clip, a 90 OPS+ is something one would absolutely take for plus CF defense.
Now for whether the market would agree, I don’t know. Baseball Trade Values said they overrated him at the 2021 deadline similarly to Jordan Luplow when he got traded because of the tightrope profile. But my point wasn’t to decide whether it was a slam dunk trade and extension, but just to point out that I don’t think it was outright stupid. These are the Spiders, after all, and for all their self-imposed restrictions, a 3 WAR player for 5 mil/yr during what would be his free agent years is something they as a team would probably pounce at.
GiantJim: This is actually a clever satire on people who think that anything to the left of Marie Le Pen is “woke,” right? You can’t possibly be such a flawed human being that you are making these absurd comments sincerely, right?
There needs to be a sarcasm faunt.
They are correctly valued.
Everyone & Everything is woke EXCEPT for Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Vlad Putin, and the Houston Astros.
Thumbs up for making me smile. Woke is a tough word for me. I believe it means “putting your feelings ahead of the truth”.
He’s the straw that broke the Guardian’s back. Ahahaha!
Even a broken analog clock is correct twice per day
This is another example of a smart James Click move. He’ll probably be the only GM to ever get “fired” for winning the World Series.
Must have been the last Straw.
Reds should nab him.
He’s expensive prolly won’t happen
Right – no need to commit 3 yrs and $20 mil because Friedl is out until the all star break
That’s the first thing I thought, not that they necessarily should nab him, but they will.
Nothing against the guy, I hope he ends up in a good situation
Thought the Rays would pick him up for shortstop till I saw the $$
Doesn’t mean the Guards won’t pick up some of the contract if a lotto ticket of their choice is included. Less cost for both teams
No, they shouldn’t.
How is Tyler Freeman an oversight in this piece? He seems the likely beneficiary in CF and as a super utility player.
I think you’re right… I think this makes Tyler Freeman Cleveland’s opening day CF’er. Unless they do something completely unexpected and have DeLauter up with the big club.
I’d guess Florial get the first shot in CF
Whatever they see in Florial, it sure doesn’t show up in the box score..
Spring Training is just that….training. Stats mean almost nothing.
Florial may, indeed, do badly during the regular season, but let’s give the guy a shot.
Florial has had his chances, I just do not see how he makes the roster.
Florial is out of options. So he will get a look first.
Look, I’m no huge florial fan, but he has had just 134 plate appearances in the bigs. That is not enough to judge if they can play. Not even close.
If he is terrible with us, fine. Release him. But give the guy a shot.
Norcal – normally I would agree about not being too hasty with spring training numbers.. but 19 K’s in 40 ABs, 1 XBH and 2 BB. That is just brutal.
I’d prefer to keep De Los Santos and risk losing Florial on waivers, but he would almost certainly clear waivers (again).
I have been down in Goodyear watching this team and it is not hyperbole that Florial is the worst big league hitter I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. He makes Billy Hamilton look like an amazing bat. I have no clue what they see.
The stats back up his wretchedness. He swings and misses at pitches by matters of feet.
Florial is out of options…so he will make the team so they can give him an audition. Similar to De Los Santos, who is a Rule 5. I do agree that this seems to give Freeman an avenue to regular ABs though.
Florial sure looks like a classic 4A hitter, but he does have some pop, so he is worth a look. Nothing left to prove at AAA…it’s sink or swim for him.
Florial is just a younger Kyle’s Straw.
Are you serious????!?!?!?!?! Have you seen him play at all this spring??? If you have the most ABs on the team in spring and you’re still hitting below the Mendoza line… They’ve given him a shot. The Yankees have him a shot… What do you want from him? He’s not it
Yes, they’ll give him a shot, and if he struggles through the middle of May, they’ll release him, recall Straw, and the cycle starts all over again.
I can see them running Laureano in CF, Kwan LF and platoon RF.
No one else sees that Gator. Laureano will be in RF platooning with Brennan. Freeman should get starting CF nod.
That’s the apparent plan. They wouldn’t do this is if Plan B was to replace him with Florial who has been completely lost at the plate all spring. EF will be lucky to even start the year on the bench.
Straws are not disposable.
But biodegradable
Enjoy Columbus at least the foods good there
The dime a dog nights at Clippers games are a great value. You don’t really get to digest them for a few hours but that never stopped me before.
Ring your bell!
Compared to where? Akron?
“We’re interested if you pay 99% of his remaining salary.”
-Craig Breslow
You have to suck for awhile if your Straw is Myles long.
Especially if it’s a milkshake from Cookout.
The Guardians must have really enjoyed watching Florial strike out every other AB this spring.
As for Straw, for the love of god someone please hide Breslow’s phone…
You know he’s calling right now
This needed to happen. I think he should have been sent down early last year or even the year before, but they were married to the plan that he was just going to play through his struggles at the major league level. It, predictably, didn’t work. What’s curious is the near term plan. Florial is having a horrific spring, so putting him in CF and hoping he figures it out is only repeating the Straw mistake. If Straw ends up in AAA they need to leave him there like they did Plesac last year. If he turns his game around, bring him back up. If not, just cut him loose and eat the money. Nice to see the FO finally seem to have come to their senses where he is concerned.
This is not a team willing or able to eat that much money, it’s why he wasn’t out right released in the first place. Best case is he turns it around enough in the minors that they give him another chance–or someone else is willing to and they trade him, or worst case he’s a very expensive minor leaguer or they eat part of the salary and toss in a prospect kicker to get someone to take him
They went down that road with Kipnis because they couldn’t afford to eat 2 years or so of a $15M/year contract. They just cooked off his contract. Kipnis, like Straw, failed to make necessary adjustments. Straw is still salvageable, but he needs to spend considerable time in AAA to rework the fundamentals of his plate approach.
I don’t understand, Straw is having a good spring. Check his stats compared to Florial. Geez
Their plan for him heading into ST was to swing and miss more as part of a program to increase his power output. I’m guessing the results were not what they wanted.
You do understand that Spring Training stats are predictive of nothing, yes? It doesn’t matter that he’s had a good spring. They will stick with their plan no matter what.
Not like he was mashing HRs in spring. Same old weak contact, and feels like he lost a step regarding his speed too.
You are correct. It’s always good to have a strong spring training but, for hitters it is about reps, seeing pitches and timing not stats.
For pitchers it is a little different, they have more to lose or gain from a good or bad spring.
Tito loved Straw. Probably the only reason he lasted as long as he did. He’s a competitor and will fit nicely on a great team that needs speed and defense. Cleveland just isn’t the right fit at the moment.
He can’t hit at all, and will fit nicely at AAA.
Old school managers love Straw.
Reportedly, the reason James Click traded him to Cleveland is because he could not convince Dusty Baker to leave him on the bench with Chas McCormick, Jose Siri, and Jake Meyers all options the GM preferred.
Lofton – Tito thought Straw was another JBJ.
The only problem, Straw is the over-30 JBJ not the younger one.
He wasn’t the Straw that stirs the drink, obviously.
FO kept him this long to save face on their extension contract. Florial is making team to ,again, save face. Florial’s add was weak, even meaningless, but FO has to try. They are pretending. vs contending
Straw will be at Columbus and he will be recalled after Florial has his opportunity. Read between the lines…Cleveland writers tout FO “values Defense in CF and C’… which, in layman’s terms, …”Hedges and Straw can’t hit but we allocated substantial funds for their participation “.
now the “promising ‘ Manzardo is sent to minors because FO backed themselves into a corner acquiring Rule 5 position-less prospect who MUST make the squad. FO sees the upside of the 20 yr old. BUT, He can only DH. Cleveland brass is highly overrated.
The Astros traded Straw to Cleveland in exchange for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. Not quite the Bagwell for Anderson trade, but pretty darn good.
Wait a bit.
Idk. I can see a club grabbing at Straw.
Not at that money
Oh, he’ll definitely go make $6M/yr in Columbus. Not a bad little city. Could be worse.
Fastest growing city of the 2040’s.
Bad Move. Pitiful Florial has done nothing in 3 years w Yankees but strikeout w no power & zero for us in spring training. Straw worked hard in off-season & is hitting over 400 with good slugging percentage this spring & is superior fielder & base runner.
Straw will land on his feet w other club – he is also a great guy in clubhouse. Best of Luck to you Myles!
Terry Francona used to say that making roster decisions based upon Spring Training performance is a sure way to make a mistake.
It is the regular season performance that counts and the only way to really tell what is happening with a player is to watch them play regular season games.
It is concerning that Florial hadn’t looked good, but we should give him a shot. The powers that be saw something good in him last year. That hasn’t gone away. Further, it is foolish to think that Straw has somehow become a new man in the last 50 at bats. Let him prove it in Columbus and if Florial does badly, then we can replace him.
Let the man play.
At the end of the day, players that were drafted high and or paid big money are looked at and held on to at all costs. Also, if you are a player that is blocked by one of those high pick or big money guys you can hit .500 in spring and you will probably be in the minors. Front offices and GMs don’t want to ever admit that their investment is not as good as a non drafted guy or a fringe trade throw in guy.
His worst year of the last four produced 1.1 bWAR.
If there aren’t signs of decline in his supporting stats getting a 1+ WAR CFer PLUS two cheap option years, it would be surprising if he wasn’t picked up.
GMs are like ACOAs in that regard. They always figure they can fix the guy.
What’s an ACOA
After all the early seasons roster shenanigans are over Straw will be back. His defense is just too good and he makes the pitchers better by bailing them out. He may not produce runs but he saves runs and thats not nothing. Of course Florial, Delauter or Valera could be the second coming of Willie Mays and if so Miles will bring his defensive talents to south beach.
Straw is the biggest reason why I believe WAR to be one of the worst stats at evaluating a player. This guy is one of the worst players in the game yet he had almost the same WAR as Pete Alonso in 2022. Only a fool would use some made up stat over their own eyes
Dude plays a difficult position well. That’s valuable. It contributes to wins in a measurable way. Do you disagree? A DH contributes nothing on defense and it’s easy to find someone who can play first so a player gets little credit for contributing there. Hiwever; defense is hard to measure and can vary a good bit year to year, so one should judge accordingly. That’s why WAR is broken out between oWAR and dWAR.
Sure I guess. As a guy who watched Hosmer play first I think 1b is undervalued. They touch the ball all the time. Center touches the ball a few times a game. Yes it takes more soles maybe you count that as a better athlete to play center. If you want to pick apart war the additional war you get via positioning is where the most flaws are or at least subject to questioning.
Bottom line is if you can’t hit you just aren’t going to be playing for long.
Right – and that’s part of the problem and why it’s good to separate the two. A hitter will get their 3 to 5 at bats a game. A fielder’s opportunities are dependent on the pitcher and other defenders.
Now that’s the last Straw!
Reminder, order more Straws.
Cleveland is still paying the penalty for the theft of Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore & Brandon Phillips for Bartolo… The karma keeps coming, no matter what you change your team’s name to!
I mean since then they did steal a 2 time Cy Young winner to be fair
This org has quite the history of fleecing other teams
Cardinals should sign him for depth
Wow DeLauter’s limited Spring ABs stats are absurd 4 HR in 25 AB!!??!! Of course it’s possible those ABs were against subpar pitching depending on when in the game he was hitting but still… wow… looks like he could be on the fast track to ML
He certainly is on the fast track. I would expect to see Manzardo and DeLauter with the big club at some point this year.
Mets should look at this guy for cf.
He thought he was the straw that stirs the drink, but myles to go before that happens if would seem
Seems like another attempt to slash some payroll and save money, hoping another team claims the player/contract or they can find a trading partner where they maybe cover 1/3rd of the $ for a low prospect or something
It’s sad that the Cleveland fans have to put up with such a cheap ownership.
It’s the same with Detroit as well. While neither franchise is a “big market”, there is no reason the teams can’t be MLB-average level spenders, and have demonstrated the ability before during eras like the Detroit Verlander/Scherzer/Miggy/Padgett etc days and Cleveland Belle/Alomar/Sizemore etc ones
CLE had several seasons of selling out every home game in the 90s and I think the early 2000s, as well as an owner (Richard Jacobs) who was simply more willing to spend than the Dolans. In DET’s case, Mike Illitch refused to throw in the towel, but his son has been far more willing to rebuild, hence the lack of big contracts. Also, back then, the teams didn’t depend as much on TV broadcast money as they do now, and the Diamond/Bally Sports situation really screwed the Guardians this offseason.
Jacob’s never really spend. Signed wash up veterans on their last leg. Won’t sign perdro Martinez as a free agent. Jacob’s said he wasn’t worth what he was asking for money wise. Won’t debit spend as well.
Blue Jay’s centerfieder Kevin kerinmeyer got hurt today. Jay’s may calling the guardians about straw.
That would be cool to see. Straw would get to hang out with Springer again and continue to clash with NYY fans.
Estevan Florial needs to go… I know he’s cheaper than Straw but Florial hasn’t done anything with the opportunities he’s been given. He’s a poorer man’s Straw.
Cost has nothing to do with it.. they are still paying Straw’s full salary.
Oooooooooook…. Sooo get rid of Florial then. Rather have Straw than Florial.
Straw is a known commodity at this point. It seems so unlikely that one day he is going to wake up and his bat will be serviceable as a major league regular.
At least Florial has some offensive upside. It probably won’t work out but at least there is some potential.
Personally, I’d prefer De Los Santos because we need some power from the right side. I think Florial would have cleared waivers too, given his spring performance.
Good field,no hit Dime a dozen.
Wow, how did he get such a huge contract ? He’s for life with that insane overpay.
lol
Because of course he did…..
Myles Straw on an outright. Which ironically is his standard box score entry. Out, right?