Despite being a few games under .500, the Cleveland Guardians still have a chance to make the playoffs in 2023 if they can continue to improve their roster.
Although the Cleveland Guardians sold at the deadline, moving pieces like Amed Rosario, Aaron Civale and Josh Bell, they still find themselves in the middle of a potential playoff race.
The AL Central is historically bad this season and it's leaving the door open for the Guardians to make a playoff push.
The front office's job is to do what's best for the franchise and they likely did that by selling. The players job's are to go out there and win baseball games (or boxing matches in Jose Ramirez's case) to the best of their ability, no matter the direction of the front office.
With that being said, the Guardians front office needs to make some moves with the roster to put the players in the best position to do their job to end this year.
Guardians rumors: Michael Kelly will be optioned to Triple-A this month
If the Guardians are going to make a playoff push this year, their roster is going to need to improve on some pitching, either elevating guys to the major leagues or returning them from the injured list. At some point, Cleveland looks to have Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie back, with Cal Quantrill likely returning to the team sooner than those other two. With all these returning players as well as some top-level prospects on the rise, a few of the Guardians pitchers will need to lose their roster spots, especially in the bullpen.
The first name of note is Michael Kelly.
He's likely the first pitcher to see himself moved from the roster because he still has options remaining on his contract, meaning he can be moved to Triple-A rather than released. The 30-year-old hasn't been great this year and has shown some obvious signs of control issues, seen by his seven walks in 10 innings in 2023.
Top 30 prospect, Joey Cantillo has made his case to make his MLB debut, either as a starter in a 6-man rotation or in the bullpen. Either scenario will result in Michael Kelly being the active Guardian to be optioned.
Guardians rumors: Gabriel Arias should be optioned back to Triple-A this month
The Guardians have been rather aggressive in promoting and elevating their top prospects to the MLB in recent memory. They constantly have one of the youngest teams in the entire league, putting out lineups with only one player over the age of 30. But with this aggression, they need to understand when a player isn't quite ready and demote him in order to make room for another prospect to get his chance.
The most obvious case of this with Cleveland is with the utility man Gabriel Arias, who's slashing .193/.288/.315 on the season. While Arias is in the MLB producing like this, Cleveland has prospects that could take his place and potentially produce much better if given the chance. While some of their top prospects haven't been playing great in Triple-A, Cleveland has seen smooth transitions to the MLB in the past.
Either way, Gabriel Arias has shown this year that he isn't quite ready for major league pitching just yet. His career is long from over and he remains tremendously talented and has a high ceiling. A demotion back to Triple-A could be beneficial for him as well, giving him the opportunity to see everyday playing time and find his swing again.
Guardians rumors: Daniel Norris needs to be off the Cleveland roster soon
There are two directions that the Guardians could go in and both of these options result in Daniel Norris ending up off the roster. If they are looking towards the future, fully and intently, they need to begin bringing more of their young prospects up and exposing them to MLB talent in order to see how they do.
These pitchers that could receive this kind of promotion include the mentioned Joey Cantillo, who could replace Norris as a lefty on the Guardians roster, as well as Daniel Espino. Espino may be the highest ceiling prospect in their entire farm system.
Norris has put together a long and successful career in the MLB so far, but his prime years appear to be behind us and his production certainly doesn't mean much for the future of the Guardians. They would be better fit to win games with some of their high-ceiling prospects getting their exposure in the big leagues rather than trotting out a veteran lefty that has shown time and time again that he is the same pitcher he was in years past.
Cleveland has been aggressive with the promotion of their prospects, so it should be fully expected that this trend continues with their pitchers this season.
