A Brief Overview
Tonight I was very lucky to attend The Rubber Ducks Hot Stove Banquet that was headlined by Guardians President of Baseball Operations, Chris Antonetti himself. I want to extend a very special thank you to the generous reader (CBiscuit) who offered a ticket to us at Covering the Corner as well. In the interest of getting something out to you all quickly I have put together a couple bits of info that were discussed by Antonetti. Not to worry, in the coming days I will have a full in depth report with all of the information I was able to gather!
The Bad News:
There will not be any free agent bats coming to Cleveland before Spring Training, Antonetti was about as clear as he will ever be on that topic. In addition to his usual deflection, “Who’s going to miss opportunities,” he also talked about why they weren’t able to get anyone to sign in Cleveland this year. The payroll was not the primary source of blame, but rather the playing time that would be afforded to said free agents. The most explicit group of hitters they looked at were RHH outfielders that could play CF and RF. Players like Lane Thomas (who Antonetti was interested in bringing back), Austin Hays, and Miguel Andujar were not interested in signing with a team that would be platooning them — which the Guardians of course would be. Make of that what you will.
The Good News:
Kyle Manzardo is in the best shape of his life. According to the POBO himself, Kyle has gained 13 pounds of lean muscle this offseason as he looks to build on a massive 27 home run year. Another player mentioned to be putting work in the gym was CJ Kayfus. I believe that Kayfus could massively benefit from some more raw power with his knack for good contact.
Other Interesting Tid-bits:
- Antonetti described Jacob Cozart’s defense as “close to Austin Hedges behind the plate”
- On the flip side, he noted that Cooper Ingle has a lot of work to do behind the plate
- Pitchers will not be allowed to use the new ABS Challenge system
- Antonetti trashed the “Golden Batter” idea that Manfred has been peddling
Thank you for reading and I hope that some of what I’ve shared has piqued your interest! As I mentioned before, a more complete write-up will be coming very soon — so let me know in the comments what you would like me to expand on in that article.
Category: General Sports
