The Guardians’ estimated $100.4MM payroll is lower than the $104.2MM they spent in 2024, as per RosterResource’s calculations, and Cleveland also moved a lot of long-term money off the books by trading Andres Gimenez and Myles Straw to the Blue Jays in separate deals. Despite what might seemingly be a bit of extra money available for the Guards to spend before Opening Day, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer thinks the team won’t dip into free agency for any late additions, and is more likely to re-invest those savings towards possible extensions for current players on the roster.
Early-career extensions have long been a key plank of Cleveland’s team-building strategy, dating back to John Hart’s tenure as general manager in the 1990’s. On the current team, Jose Ramirez, Emmanuel Clase, and Trevor Stephan are all playing on multi-year extensions, and there are plenty of interesting talents the Guardians might look to lock up for the future. Steven Kwan is in his first of three years of arbitration eligibility, and Tanner Bibee stands out as the top extension candidate among the Guards’ long list of pre-arb players. It takes two to tango, of course, so there would have to be an equal desire on the part of any interested players in working out an extension that is acceptable to both sides.
More from the AL Central…
- Michael A. Taylor will undergo scans on his right elbow, White Sox manager Will Venable told reporters (including Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times) today. Taylor was scratched from the lineup due to what the Sox initially described just as elbow inflammation, but the issue is serious enough to merit more testing. An injury would be a rough start to Taylor’s stint with the White Sox, as it was less than three weeks ago that the veteran outfielder and former Gold Glover signed his one-year, $1.95MM deal.
- Walker Jenkins suffered a left ankle sprain last Sunday, and Twins GM Jeremy Zoll told The Athletic’s Dan Hayes and other reporters that Jenkins will be set back around one or two weeks. This might mean Jenkins misses the very start of the minor league season, but the injury is minor enough that the top prospect shouldn’t be sidelined for too long. The fifth overall pick of the 2023 draft, the 20-year-old Jenkins is considered one of baseball’s elite prospects, and he made it up the ladder for six games in Double-A last season. Jenkins’ big league debut is probably likelier to happen in 2026 than in 2025, yet a cup of coffee in the Show could be possible this year if Jenkins keeps performing well against minor league pitching.
any twins fans worried abt jenkins health? he’s 19, he alredy missed time with bad hamstring, now ankle injury. by the end of this season he might be the #1 prospect in all of baseball. but he’s just a bit too young to have all these ailments
I’m not sure why he’s ranked so high already. Really good prospect but doesn’t have much pop to be ranked so high.
20 year old with a sweet swing and bat to ball skills. Thump will come as he grows. Comp I’ve heard is JD Drew. Not going to be a 40 HR guy, but knows how to swing the bat, decent pop and high average.
Larry Walker comp and that scares the heck out of me as a CLE fan. Twins got so darn fortunate to jump up in the lottery in a great draft year and have this kid fall to them. SMH at anyone who doubts Jenkins…he’s got as high a floor as they come.
Larry Walker at the same age hit 29 home runs and had a thousand OPS. Are we throwing names out because they are both left handed?
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19 yrs old… power usually takes some time to develop. he’s batted over .300, with a .400 obp, and over 40 doubles in a 162-game pace. those doubles will translate into hrs as he matures and gets bigger and stronger. jackson merrill is a good comp. merrill hit 0 hrs as an 18 yr old, 6 hrs as a 19 yr old, 15 at age 20, and then promoted to the majors at 21 and hit 24 hrs.
Maybe that happens and maybe it doesn’t. Top ten rankings and especially top overall prospect should be can’t miss guys ready for the show. Merrill wasn’t rated that high as an 18 year old and developed skills and earned it. I’m not trying to harp on Walker. Just saying sometimes players are pushed up the rankings to fast before they show anything.
@Mets Era Thumping Soto
How much have you seen him play?
@Mets era. Since when is that the standard for prospect rankings? that’s a purely subjective opinion with no historical backing and should be discarded with the same ease in which you made the statement. Second, have you watched him play at all? Have you taken a deep look at the stats? Everything supports the high ranking. He has tremendous tools, a large protectable frame, hits well to all parts of the field, draws walks at a very high rate, doesn’t strike out much, and had a nearly .900 ops+ last summer (July on) in A+ ball at 19. He’s done everything a guy can reasonably do. The ranking is well justified and conforms to modern prospect analysis. Lastly, it is an admittedly weak top end class with Anthony the only near universal 65 grade. Walker is a universally regarded 60 so in a normal strength pool maybe that pushes him from top 5 to just top 10 but that’s it. The funny thing is there are other guys in the top 10 your arguments might have applied better to. You just struck out badly – unlike Jenkins – by choosing the wrong player analysis to criticize.
Did you really just give me the stats from July on? I could care less about any plus stat because it is a fictional stat made up by someone. His OPS last year was .833. There are a couple hundred minor leaguers with a higher OPS. I’m not saying he’s bad but saying he’s the best prospect in baseball right now because of a low strike out rate is ridiculous. could care less about historical prospect rankings and maybe that’s why there is so many busts because people over value players before proving themselves. He is currently an an average hitter with limited power numbers. He is no where the current levels of Roman Anthony or Kristen Campbell, or Jordan Lawlar.
How many of these couple of hundred minor leaguers with higher OPS have you seen play? It’s essential when evaluating players, wouldn’t you say?
Well if you think it’s reasonable to just say “I don’t care about x, y and z” when those are the measures by which the industry evaluates a player you’re essentially admitting your ignorance and forfeiting the dialogue. Which is perfectly fine. It’s just strange to see a person simultaneously flaunt their ignorance and assert such strong opinions.
A plus stat is “a fictional stat made up by someone.” Lol
What’s funny about it? Any plus stat is taking real numbers and twisting them with some unknown persons slant to change them.
How many has fangraphs seen play when they actually don’t have scouts? I’m sorry but your argument is that I don’t know what I’m talking about because I haven’t seen them all play when either have you. I’ll I was saying was a prospect shouldn’t be in top rankings until they are major league ready and he clearly is not.
Don’t tell me that is what the industry measures and evaluates because clearly they don’t are he wouldn’t be about to become the number one prospect with average stats in those categories.
Moncada was a number 1 prospect.
Someone needs a nap already
Worried about an ankle sprain? Nah – common typically relatively minor injury. We’re not talking a torn MCL or ACL here. Pulled groins are probably the most common injury for position players, again not unusual.
Yes. It’s obviously not as good as having a clean season.
Still, he got 368 PA in 2024, enough to lock in some good habits and get rid of some bad ones. I’m a little more concerned by the 6 HR in those 368 PA.
@Chandlerbing…injury prone young guys will always tempt and tantalize you with their sheer talent, but at the end of the day you’ll always come up short, frustrated and disappointed.
Injury-prone young guys should be showcased(while they’re healthy & playing)and traded off to become somebody else’s disappointment and injury problem.
Another injury for the Sox. Well, at least that’s SOMETHING to write about the team, although the soon to be traded Luis Robert has had a decent start to ST games.
They had better trade Robert ASAP before he goes down with his usual months-long injury.
looks like all teams besides 3 slashed payroll for this season. Owners are expecting no baseball for the entire year of 2027, and are keeping commitments low until a long term resolution is established.
The uncertainty of the TV market is probably playing as much of a role as labor uncertainty. But you’re right, spending is down overall. Just ask Scott Boras.
That’s not what the facts state:
statista.com/statistics/236213/mean-salaray-of-pla…
The huge spending of the Dodgers, Mets, and Yankees are driving that mean salary. Blah blah blah is correct. More teams are running smaller payrolls compared to last season.
payroll as a whole. not median salary. different argument.
Look again:
legacy.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/
There will be baseball in 2027 and there will be no salary cap instituted. The luxury tax is enough. Deal with it.
It’s not enough but it is what is in place and what was bargained for.
I hope not. It’s going to be a wasted year if they do.
The Guardians dealing away Giminez, though? He put up 90% of Lindor’s and Soto’s bWAR 2022 to 2024, and he’s signed only through age 30 with a team option for 31, so they didn’t have to suffer through his decline phase the way the Mets will have to do with both those players.
Who knows what they were thinking.
I believe Guardians’ opening day payroll was under $100 MM and they added to it at trade deadline, which might be their strategy again. While they shed several high-end salaries, they also have a smaller TV deal now. It would be great to do an extension with Kwan and Bibee; however, it might be too late to meet Kwan’s price. Perhaps Bibee too.
Be very interesting to see what it takes to get Kwan to agree.
They may have to blow him away. He has rejected previous offers and likely prefers to play on the West Coast in the future.
I would love to see them lock up Kwan. I love his style of play.
We all love Kwan. But he’s a small guy with a history of leg problems who plays hard and will be 30 by the time his arb control ends with CLE. I see no reason CLE would be interested in chasing a deal with him. It’s way too risky. Play him out, make him a QO, then let him walk and give some big market team the privilege of paying him for past performance during his declining years. Kwan is a unicorn and you don’t bet on them long term. Not savvy low revenue teams anyway.