For those that don’t follow so closely, I am sharing a couple pieces from an article I was reading on the Athletic. This shows how damn good they are at identifying and teaching/growing their starting pitching prospects through drafting and trades.
The pitching factory grants them major-league depth. In 2019, when a barrage of injuries left the rotation in tatters, little-known entities named Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac emerged to preserve the team’s bid for playoff contention. That same year, Shane Bieber, in his second year, emerged to cover for Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco and allowed the team to trade Trevor Bauer.
It prevents the Guardians from using what they would deem an uncomfortable portion of their payroll on an offseason Band-Aid for the rotation. No free-agent starting pitcher has cracked Cleveland’s rotation since Shaun Marcum and Bruce Chen combined for eight starts eight seasons ago. The last full-time free-agent addition to the rotation? Scott Kazmir, who signed an unheralded deal with the club almost exactly one decade ago.
And it arms them with trade ammunition. The Guardians have received plenty of inquiries about their crop of starters, as they do annually. The club has been reluctant of late to include its top pitching prospects in trades, but team president Chris Antonetti, speaking in general terms, didn’t rule out a trade involving a starting pitcher.
“We’re not out there peddling it,” he said. “But it’s not surprising that we believe in that group (and) it seems like other teams may share a similar viewpoint of that group.”
Beyond the five members of Cleveland’s rotation — Bieber, Plesac, Civale, Triston McKenzie and Cal Quantrill, four homegrown talents and one trade acquisition — the club has a wealth of starters who are major league-ready or close to it.
Cody Morris, Xzavion Curry, Hunter Gaddis and Konnor Pilkington all debuted in 2022. Peyton Battenfield joined the Guardians for an August trip to Toronto, but he never appeared in a game. Joey Cantillo was added to the 40-man roster last month. Logan Allen pitched for Triple-A Columbus last season. And Daniel Espino, Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee, a trio of top-100 prospects in the sport, are only a step or two away from the big leagues.
The bolded part of the second quote….wow, I didn’t realize it’s been eight years since a free agent pitcher has cracked the rotation! That’s unbelievable.
