The Guardians have reassigned top first base prospect Kyle Manzardo to minor league camp, tweets Mandy Bell of MLB.com. Cleveland also reassigned catcher Bryan Lavastida and outfielder Petey Halpin. Manzardo is not yet on the 40-man roster — hence being “reassigned” rather than optioned — so this move won’t burn a minor league option year.
The 23-year-old Manzardo is the top prospect acquired from the Rays in last summer’s Aaron Civale trade. He’d been a candidate to make the roster heading into camp, presumably splitting time between first base and designated hitter with Josh Naylor. Today’s move ensures that he’ll instead start the season in Triple-A Columbus.
Manzardo has had a strong showing this spring, hitting .381/.458/.476 in 29 plate appearances. It’s a small sample, of course, as with all spring stats — but Manzardo’s seven strikeouts (29.2%) were uncharacteristic for a player who carries a career 17.5% strikeout rate against a robust 13.7% walk rate. At least in the early portion of the season, he’ll continue to get some work in Triple-A, where he slashed .237/.337/.464 with 17 home runs and 27 doubles in 2023.
The decision to ship Manzardo to minor league camp further opens the door for Rule 5 pick Deyvison De Los Santos to make the team’s Opening Day roster. He’s hit just .257/.257/.371 in camp and has yet to play above the Double-A level, but the Guards plucked him from the Diamondbacks organization after De Los Santos batted .254/.297/.431 and popped 20 homers in 481 Double-A plate appearances last season.
De Los Santos and out-of-options outfielder Estevan Florial — hitting just .167/.231/.194 with a 41% strikeout rate in 39 plate appearances — seem increasingly likely to make the cut. Outfielder Will Brennan and utilityman Tyler Freeman are among the other frontrunners for roster spots. Top outfield prospect Chase DeLauter is still in big league camp and has raked at a .474/.546/.842 pace in 22 plate appearances (9-for-19 with a double and two homers), but he’s played just six games above A-ball.
Barring any subsequent additions, the Guardians will rotate that group through designated hitter early in the year. They can also use the DH spot to get some rest for other regulars, as Florial can play all three outfield spots and Freeman can bounce around the infield. It’s a lackluster group of bats on the whole, however. Cleveland declined to do much of anything to upgrade a lineup that finished 27th in runs scored (662), 23rd in on-base percentage (.313), 29th in slugging percentage (.381) and dead last in the majors with 124 home runs. (The Nationals, at 151, ranked 29th.)
Florial, De Los Santos and the re-signed Austin Hedges — who split the 2023 season between Pittsburgh and Texas — are the only newcomers who’ll reshape that lineup. The Guards will hope that a full year of catcher Bo Naylor, a rebound from Andres Gimenez and the eventual promotions of Manzardo, DeLauter and outfielder George Valera will add some life to what was a largely punchless group in 2023.
Summary: Guardians Reassign Kyle Manzardo to Minor League Camp After Discovering His Secret Ability to Hit Baseballs into Orbit and Cause Constellations to Go Out of Alignment.
I’m sure this is some service time manipulation
It has to be, he’s way more ready than de los Santos, a top prospect in baseball. What more does he have to do? The guardians don’t have much power in their lineup outside of Ramirez and the naylor brothers. He would have helped them at least stay alive in the al central, and possibly even be a rookie of the year finalist which would help them in the long run as well. This is pathetic, the guardians didn’t make any meaningful moves during the off-season, and their core group from last year is not a threat. They are tanking on this season for absolutely no reason. They won’t be better than the twins, and probably won’t be better than the tigers or royals either. They are not a great team so I don’t understand sending him down, while not trading Bieber or any other assets they have and commiting to a rebuild and playing the younger guys like manzardo. This team is weird.
As a Rays fan, I can empathize. After an embarrassing playoff round against Cleveland in 2022 in which the team simply couldn’t score, the Rays FO did nothing before last year. Wins in the regular season were fine, but what happened in the playoffs? Same.exact.thing. Cannot expect much change if an FO doesn’t do anything.
I do find it funny that you mention three teams in the Central that might be better…but the sox are not even mentioned. Agree lol.
Glad you caught onto that lol! And yeah the rays are definitely a great regular season team and are one of the best pitching factories in all of MLB, but come post season time they just aren’t scary, they don’t have that difference maker with the game on the line you can trust him to drive in that run to tie or win the ballgame. Sure they have a bunch of talented hitters, but they don’t have that MVP superstar caliber player that could put them over the edge. Randy arozarena could be that dude, but he still has a good bit to go before we consider him a top tier superstar talent.
Don’t get your underwear in a bunch. By the second week in May he will up for good. Not only be up with guardians he will have 1 more year service time at least 7 years rather then 6.
Exactly service time manipulation. I think we touched on that. I’m not getting my underwear in a bunch l, I’m simply saying things I guarantee a lot of guardians fans are feeling. I’m a braves fan, but I’m also a baseball fan in general and it sucks to see teams that have the potential to be good, not doing anything to make sure they stay good and possibly stay in contention. Again the guardians are weird and have no power in their lineup aside from a few players. They could do so much more, instead the strive for mediocrity.
The Guardians were absolutely ravaged by injuries last season and were still in the mix for the AL Central before fading in early-September.
If they are healthy and get reasonable performances from key players, the team is perfectly capable of competing in the weak AL Central. That division is up for grabs.
Manzardo definitely impressed with his ST and AFL performance. But he has a less than a full year at AAA, with mixed results. It’s not like he has nothing left to prove down there.
He needs everyday ABs and he is defensively limited. Before slotting a guy in as the primary DH, that bat has to be ready. I assume they are going with De Los Santos. He offers a little defensive flexibility, so he makes more sense as a bench piece. If they screw up his game by rushing him or not getting him enough ABs, oh well. Just send him back to the Diamondbacks. It is practically a free look at a RH-power prospect. We will see how it goes.
They will be better than the Royals.
It doesn’t really matter if Manzardo is more ready that de Los Santo because de Los Santo is a rule five pick and has to stay on the active roster.
Teams like the Guardians have to weigh winning now and playing the long game. Their front office sees something in de Los Santo and want a longer look. Manzardo also isn’t on the 40 man, which means they would have to add him making them expose someone to waivers.
I suspect Manzardo will be up soon. Now they have a little time to see if Deyvison has any value.
I think the Tigers have a chance to leave the Twins and Guards in their dust. The Twins may still win but the tigers and royals have really improved while the Guards have not done anything to get better. This division is so weak as a whole though.
Comes down to starting pitching and staying healthy. Baseball 101. Thanks for playing.
I like the moves the Tigers have made this offseason. They have a decent shot to compete in the AL Central this year.. it is probably going to largely depend on how that core of young talent performs.
If Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa, and Royce Lewis can each play in 140+ games, boy that would be something. The Twins would still need some more pitching though.
More interesting next year with a lineup showing:
C. Naylor
1b. Manzardo
2b. Brito
Ss. Giminez
3b. Jose
Lf. Kwan
Cf. Delataur
Rf. Delosantos, Valara, Noel, etc.
Dh. Naylor.
Much more interesting.looking forward to it.
Delataur!
I’ve watched them in person at camp this year. Florial is downright terrible. Awful plate discipline swinging at pitches two feet off the plate and at anything and everything. There is zero chance he makes the team. He doesn’t even remotely resemble an MLB player.
I’m sure they are waiting for final cuts hoping he can slip through waivers and send him down to Columbus as depth there.
I have only seen his numbers and they look awful. Hard to imagine anyone claiming him…
Seeing him in person was eye opening. I couldn’t even imagine a high school player looking as bad as he has looked in camp. Not joking when I say he swings and misses at pitches by feet, not inches. Can’t believe he was a Yankees top prospect at one point.
He makes Myles Straw look like Mickey Mantle.
In that he’s achieved nearly the impossible. Maybe they just brought him in to stink up the place and make Straw look good. At any rate, they’re screwing around with players who are either guaranteed duds or too young for MLB.
Brennan has probably made the team, though his defense has looked pretty suspect in Goodyear. His bat looks great though.
Florial will make the team.
That would be insane. I looked up his numbers just to see if my “eye test” might be off, and his numbers are just as bad as seeing him in person. Dude doesn’t look like he could hit AZ Fall League pitching and that pretty much is what he has been facing.
They traded a controllable asset for him. Their scouts saw something. Hamilton has said everyone knows he’s been pressing trying to make a good impression. They will probably keep him and give him time to get acclimated. He has to be better than Straw.
No, he’s not. Straw is world class bad with the bat, but Florial is even worse.
Straw’s D is elite & he’s hitting better.
He will make the Guardians roster… You must not be familiar with Cleveland baseball lol
No ones mentioned the change in manager – going from stable, experienced Franconia to raw & inexperienced Vogt leads me to believe there will be hiccups. Tigers, Royals & Twins pitchers will feast on that lineup.
When he learns to make more contact, he’ll be back up. Folks are overreacting. Kid is young, he’ll be all right.