Antonetti and Chernoff: Grading the Cleveland Guardians front office at season’s midway point
Acquired or traded
Antonetti and Chernoff could hardly have been less active in their pursuit of other teams’ talent. Since the end of the 2022 postseason, they have not acquired a single major league player via trade, waiver claim or purchase, and they’ve lost only two via the same methods.
One of the moves may be regretted before long; the other is likely to be forgotten by nightfall.
The departures were outfielder Will Benson at season’s start and reliever Touki Toussaint just this week. The Benson decision has by far the more likely long-term implications.
Benson was sent to Cincinnati in mid-April for a pair of minor leaguers. At the time, the deal looked like a case of Antonetti and Chernoff doing a favor to a kid who had little chance of making his mark in their outfield. Keep in mind that the Guardians were coming off a 2022 season in which Steven Kwan, Myles Straw and Oscar Gonzalez — all of them 27 or younger — gave every indication of having settled in for the long haul.
Benson started slowly in Cincinnati. But with an athletic 6-foot-5, 230-pound body his potential was obvious, and in June it began to show. Since June 1, he’s hit .369 with four three-hit games, his fourth three-hit game coming Saturday.
Benson hasn’t done quite enough to make the Guardians regret that trade already, but he’s trying.
Toussaint is a journeyman reliever who tried to make it with Atlanta and the Angels before being signed by Antonetti and Chernoff as a free agent in January. He only worked four innings, and two weeks ago Cleveland waived him to the White Sox. Unlike Benson, Toussaint is does not appear to be in the process of showing people that he belongs in the majors long-term.
Free agency
Antonetti and Chernoff focused on the second and third tiers of the offseason free agent market, the headline name probably being Josh Bell. A 30-year-old with a reputation for more power potential than actual power, he had been granted free agency by the Nationals, to whom he had been traded in the summer of 2021.
In Cleveland, Bell has generally filled the DH role, and not especially well. He’s hitting .232 with eight homers and a .712 OPS, all of that good for a -0.8 WAA.
The Toussaint signing, which preceded his departure, has been previously noted. The Guardians also signed veteran catcher Mike Zunino as a semi-regular. Zunino never hit much for average, but he had a power reputation. In Cleveland, he lived up to half of that profile, batting .177. As for the power, well his slugging average was .306, about what you or I would do.
Antonetti and Chernoff released him two weeks ago.
The other part of the catching tandem was turned over to free agent Cam Gallagher. No improvement; Gallagher is batting .138 in 34 games and splitting time three ways with rookies Bo Naylor and David Fry. If either or both of them begin to hit a little, Gallagher’s days may also be numbered.
Farm system
Antonetti and Chernoff have made ample use of Cleveland’s farm system, mostly in the search for effective yet controllable talent.
The Guardians have to date utilized 15 first-year farm system products, which is probably a major league high. A wise major league executive never expects the bulk of rookies to produce positive benefits immediately, but Antonetti and Chernoff have done okay in that respect.
Of the 15, nine have generated some level of positive benefit to the team. Because those benefits have been small and because the two most consequential are also negative, the overall rating is slightly to the down side. That’s to be expected.
The biggest productivity issue has involved first year utility player Gabriel Arias. The Guardians have given the 23-year old every opportunity, keeping him on the active roster all season and using him in 61 games. But he’s batting .189 with a .318 slugging average and negligible fielding numbers. That translates to a -1.0 WAA.
Starter Peyton Battenfield got an early April promotion from Triple-A, and made six starts. But, by mid-May Battenfield, along with his 5.19 ERA, was headed to the injury list with shoulder inflammation. A final prognosis on that damage is awaited.
Fry and Naylor, younger brother of first baseman Josh Naylor, will probably be given a full shot at filling the gaping hole behind home plate. Logan Allen is a rookie pitcher who got a dozen starts and produced a 3.47 ERA before the Guardians for some reason decided that wasn’t good enough; they shipped him to Triple-A last week.
Overall
The 2023 season performance of the Antonetti-Chernoff front office has to date been ordinary, maybe a bit less. In the AL Central, however, that puts you in contention.
Here’s the first-half report card on the Guardians front office. Note that grades for players departing the organization are based on the reverse of those players’ WAAs with their new teams.
Mode WAA Grade
Acquired 0.0 C
Traded 0.0 C
Signed -2.8 D
FA Lost -1.3 B
Rookies -0.4 C
Overall -1.9 D
In their effort to improve the Guardians for 2023, Antonetti and Chernoff have made 27 personnel moves, 14 of them working out in Cleveland’s favor and 11 going against the Guardians; two have been neutral.
Since that’s a positive ratio yet the overall rating is negative, it’s obvious that the most consequential moves have been on the negative side.
That includes the decision to sign free agents Mike Zunino and Cam Gallagher to split catching duties and the callup of reserve infielder Gabriel Arias, who has found himself overmatched.
Despite that glum-sounding summary, Antonetti and Chernoff still have their team very much in the fight. Their story, and Cleveland’s, will be told by what they do from here on out, and particularly at the trade deadline.
Next. Staying in the division and grading the Royals at the midway point. dark