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I think the Guardians are very worried about Naylor's weight gain.....not to mention his overall inconsistency with the bat.

I just don't even know what to say.

Between MLB and the NFL, I'm starting to think these dudes get in a room and drop acid before they kick around 'new ideas'.

Duuuuuuuuuuude

"Think about the traaaails from all those extra home runs!!"

Fantastic!

He probably won't help at all for the 1st half of the season, but after that should be back and provide a boost.

good news!

Gotta save money to pay for Bieber

Too much egg nog.

j/c…

Without knowing the deal, on the surface, not sure I like the idea of this. I know they drafted Bazzana but the thought was to move Giminez back to SS.

I understand the feelings. e seems like a good locker room guy and is one of the best fielders in baseball.
But to quote Lou Brown "he but he hit like $#!t"
We overpain him on his contract and Bazzanno is scheduled to replace him in 2 years.

We also have a plethora of young middle infielders
Angel Martinez, Juan Brito, Tyler Freeman, and Bazzanno

I would bet that we are trading him for one of their starting pitchers.
Their rotation is deep while ours in weak

Max Fried to sign with Yankees: New York picks up ace lefty on eight-year, $218 million deal
Fried has been one of the best southpaws in the game since his 2017 MLB debut

By Mike Axisa

The New York Yankees have landed one of the top starting pitchers in baseball. Left-hander Max Fried and the ballclub have agreed to a eight-year contract worth $218 million, CBS Sports HQ has confirmed. The deal includes a full no-trade clause and does not have opt-outs or deferrals, according to the New York Post. The team has not yet announced the signing.

The Yankees missed out on free-agent right fielder Juan Soto two days ago when he accepted a 15-year, $765 million deal from the Mets. As part of the pivot here to Plan B, Fried ends up in the Bronx. The deal makes him the best-paid left-handed pitcher in MLB history.

Fried is the third core member of the Atlanta Braves' 2021 World Series championship team to leave as a free agent, joining Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson. Fried started and won the Game 6 title clincher against the Houston Astros, striking out six in six shutout innings in the decisive Game 6 at Minute Maid Park.

Our R.J. Anderson ranked Fried the fifth-best free agent available this offseason, and the third best pitcher behind Corbin Burnes and Blake Snell. Here's his write-up:

We wanted to print a complete list of left-handed starting pitchers with a better ERA+ than Fried since the beginning of the 2020 season, but we ran into a problem when we went to compile the names. You see, no sinister hurler who had a decent amount of innings (min. 200 combined) actually placed ahead of him in that metric. Oh well. Blame Fried's sustained excellence on his ability to manage contact. He ranked in the 95th percentile in average exit velocity last season, and he did it while generating nearly 60% ground balls for a second consecutive year. The biggest knock on Fried is his innings count, as he's cleared the 180-threshold just once in his career. Given the league's direction over the past decade, we're not inclined to think that'll hurt him.
Fried, 31 in January, pitched to a 3.25 ERA in 29 starts and 174 ⅓ innings in 2024, and it was his worst season since 2019, his first full year as a big-leaguer. From 2020-23, Fried had a 2.66 ERA in close to 500 innings with the excellent underlying numbers to match. Simply put, he has been one of the game's best pitchers over the last half-decade.

The Braves originally acquired Fried as a prospect in the Justin Upton trade with the San Diego Padres in December 2014. Because he declined the qualifying offer, Atlanta will receive a compensation draft pick after the fourth round for losing Fried.

There remains plenty of offseason, but with Fried on board, the Yankees' rotation right now looks something like:

RHP Gerrit Cole
LHP Max Fried
LHP Carlos Rodón
RHP Clarke Schmidt
RHP Luis Gil
Righty Marcus Stroman and lefty Nestor Cortes are also still on the roster and could provide depth here or serve as trade bait.



The Yankees won the AL East and won the AL pennant last season despite Cole starting the year on the injured list. They got 32 starts from Rodón, 30 from Cortes, 29 from Stroman, 29 from Gil, 17 from Cole and 16 from Schmidt. If they can get full seasons from Cole, Fried and Schmidt, that rotation looks a lot better and it was already a good one in 2024.

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/...ce-lefty-on-eight-year-218-million-deal/

Not bad!

Kinda feels like a salary dump


Blue Jays to acquire Andrés Giménez in trade with Guardians: Second baseman heads to Toronto, per report
Giménez is under team control through the 2029 season


By Dayn Perry
1 hr ago
•
The Toronto Blue Jays are acquiring infielder Andrés Giménez from the Cleveland Guardians, per multiple reports. The Blue Jays will also be receiving right-hander Nick Sandlin, The Athletic reports. Sandlin, who turns 28 in January. In four MLB seasons, has pitched exclusively in relief with a 3.27 ERA and 4.41 FIP across 195 ⅓ innings. On the Cleveland side, Sportsnet reports that 1B/2B Spencer Horwitz and minor-league outfielder Nick Mitchell will be going to the Guardians.

Giménez, 26, is coming off a 2024 season in Cleveland in which he slashed .252/.298/.340 (82 OPS+) with nine home runs and 30 stolen bases. For his career, Giménez has an OPS+ of 101 with a WAR of 18.6 across parts of five MLB seasons. He's also a standout defender at second base and has three straight Gold Gloves to his credit. In 2022, what may stand as a career year with the bat for Giménez, he earned an All-Star selection and finished sixth in the American League MVP vote.

Giménez is going into the third-year of a seven-year, $107.5 million contract extension. He's owed roughly $97 million over the next five seasons, and his contract includes $23 million team option/$2.5 million buyout for 2030. The Blue Jays were in need of stability and improved defense at second base, and Giménez certainly provides that.

He'll now join a Blue Jays infield anchored by first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and shortstop Bo Bichette, both of whom are free agents after the 2025 season.

Horwitz, 27, bats from the left side and has a slash line of .264/.355/.428 across parts of two big-league seasons. Mitchell, a 21-year-old former fourth-rounder, had an OPS of .816 at Low-A in 2024, his first professional season.


Toronto was heavily involved in the bidding for top free agent Juan Soto, who eventually agreed to a $765 million deal with the Mets. The trade for Giménez marks the Jays first major move since their efforts to sign Soto came to grief. Doubtless, it will not be their last as they attempt to rebound from a disappointing 2024 season.

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/...ond-baseman-heads-to-toronto-per-report/

And then Horwitz flipped to Pirates.

Pirates Acquire Spencer Horwitz From Guardians
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/cleveland-guardians

Well,I guess I should not have held off buying Horowitz jerseys for the whole fam.

Looks like Ortiz will be penciled in as a starter next year.

The trade makes a little more sense now, though I woud still rather have gotten the one of Toronto's starters

Recap of the day/night

Good Podcast - Locked on Guardians
Listen to these guys a lot.
They know their stuff

j/c…

Selby is Godcast with Zack Meisel and TJ Zuppe is good, too.

Huh. I missed this until this morning.

May he R.I.P... with the curse firmly in his grip.

If Espino could ever get healthy, if Cantillo is ready, and Bieber gets back and picks up his option. SP might be okay

I missed this. Sad day. The "rock' was Cleveland. I feel a big void.

Rest in Peace Rocco.


As for Ortiz, I think it is a great pick-up. The guy is 25, has a 99 mph fastball, great stuff. I can see him as a pretty sure 15 game winner for a good while, and 15 is the floor. With this team, maybe 17+ per year.

How odd, traded Naylor for a pitcher who has struggled. Carlos Santana is back again.

They also got Arizona's "competitive balance" pick, do they will have that plus their own in the coming draft. I think their ability to add Santana made the deal possible.


Slade Cecconi is the kind of pitcher Cleveland likes to work with. He is a tall pitcher with a plus fastball, who is in need of development. I think he'll be middle of the rotation this year.

Diamondbacks Acquire Josh Naylor
By Nick Deeds | December 21, 2024 at 5:08pm CDT

The Diamondbacks are acquiring first baseman Josh Naylor from the Guardians for right-hander Slade Cecconi and a Competitive Balance Round B draft pick, according to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported that a deal between the sides involving Naylor was close. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the draft pick’s inclusion in the deal. The teams have since announced the trade.

An All-Star for the first time in 2024, Naylor hit a solid .243/.320/.456 (118 wRC+) with a career-high 31 homers in 152 games for the Guardians this past year. That continues a three-year run of solid production from Naylor in Cleveland, as he’s posted an even better .267/.330/.465 (121 wRC+) slash line since becoming a regular fixture of the Guardians’ lineup in 2022. In addition to that solid 20-to-30 homer power Naylor has displayed, he’s posted impressive contact numbers with a strikeout rate of just 15.6% across the past three seasons. He’s paired that low strikeout rate with an improving walk rate that reached 9.2% in 2024. In Arizona, the 27-year-old Naylor joins an offense that not only lost Christian Walker at first base when he landed in Houston on a three-year deal earlier this week but also figures to provide the left-handed pop the club lost when DH Joc Pederson elected free agency last month.

He’s a solid fit for that role, though with free agency just one season a way at an arbitration salary that MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects to land at $12MM he lacks the surplus value more attractive trade targets typically offer. That increasing price tag in arbitration combined with the presence of youngster Kyle Manzardo as an obvious successor at first made Naylor somewhat expendable for the Guardians, however, and this evening’s addition of veteran first baseman Carlos Santana to the Cleveland lineup on a one-year deal suggests that the Guardians may have preferred to reallocate Naylor’s projected salary and playing time to the 15-year MLB veteran.

In exchange for parting ways with the slugger they’ve added some draft capital and an intriguing young arm in Cecconi. Competitive Balance Round B encompassed the 66th through 73rd picks in the 2024 draft. As noted by MLB.com’s Joe Trezza, the Guardians already had the first pick of Competitive Balance Round B in 2025. Now, the club will get a second pick in that same round as the Diamondbacks were slated to pick third behind Cleveland and Baltimore.

Meanwhile, Cecconi is a former first-round selection by the Diamondbacks who has pitched in parts of the last two seasons for the club but has yet to establish himself in the majors. He flashed league average numbers in an up-and-down role with Arizona in 2023, pitching to a 4.33 ERA (102 ERA+) with a 4.37 FIP in 27 innings spread between four starts and three relief appearances. Those numbers took a tumble in a longer stint with the big league club this year, however. Cecconi struggled to a 6.66 ERA (63 ERA+) in 77 innings of work. While his 5.02 FIP was substantially better, that figure was still well below league average. Cecconi enjoyed an excellent 5% walk rate in the majors last year, but his 18.9% strikeout rate was lackluster and he allowed an eye-popping 16 homers in just 20 games.

Disastrous as his 2024 season was, however, Cecconi will now get an opportunity to move to a club well-regarded for its ability to develop young pitchers. Still just 25, the right-hander’s 3.04 ERA and 29.5% strikeout rate in 47 innings at the Triple-A level this year offer some reason for optimism regarding his future in the big leagues, whether that winds up being out of the rotation or the bullpen. After losing Matthew Boyd and Alex Cobb in free agency and with Shane Bieber expected not to pitch until midway through the 2025 season, Cleveland already added Luis Ortiz to their rotation earlier this winter. Cecconi may not be able to break a rotation that now projects to include Ortiz alongside Tanner Bibee, Ben Lively, Gavin Williams, and Triston McKenzie on Opening Day, but he’ll provide value depth for the club nonetheless.

Turning back to Arizona, the acquisition of Naylor brings the club’s estimated payroll to $160MM according to RosterResource. That leaves the club with some additional flexibility before they reach their 2024 figure of $173MM, which Diamondbacks brass has previously indicated the 2025 payroll will likely end up in the vicinity of. The club is known to be in the market for relief pitching and has previously expressed interest in a reunion with Pederson, though it’s possible they believe the addition of Naylor fills the void created by Pederson’s departure.

With Naylor now set to join Eugenio Suarez, Zac Gallen, and Merrill Kelly as key Dbacks contributors slated for free agency next winter, it’s possible the club could also benefit from being in longer-term help for its lineup or rotation that can help preserve continuity alongside core pieces like Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll, and Gabriel Moreno. Jordan Montgomery is also slated to reach free agency next winter, but the Diamondbacks haven’t been shy about looking to move him this winter and could free up additional payroll space by doing so.


https://www.mlbtraderumors.com

I don't know much about Cecconi

I have been long hoping for a trade with the Mariners and have been getting excited with those trade rumors having started
I wanted to see Naylor, Gattis, Freeman go to Seattle in exchange for one of hteir starting pitcher
Mix in some low minor leaguers to balance it out.

This gets us a high quality starter while filling 3 major holes for the mariners

good news!

Lolz.

It's only for 1/2 the games but I like the new pre and postgame host lineup.

On a side note, Austin Jackson's catch against the Red Sox at Fenway Park remains an all-time crazy catch.