We have turned the Guardians into the pivot point of baseball in only a couple short months.
Starting the season off with sweeps of Seattle and the Dodgers (is that even legal?) we nearly won every series in April except a disappointing showing in Toronto to end the month. During this time, Jose Ramirez has caught the attention of the sports world by breaking the record of 14 home runs through April with 19 of his own. Kyle Manzardo wasn’t far behind with 11. However, Ramirez also started stealing bases seemingly any time he got on base. He had 18 SBs at the end of April.
As we entered May, the Guardians had obvious needs at SS and in the corner outfield. We traded a group of players (Nolan Jones, Festa and others) to Cincy for RF/3B Rece Hinds and Connor Phillips. We continued with a trade of MLB ready players to Arizona for prospect projects Tawa and Lawler. We found quickly that Lawler wasn’t at all ready to play as a defender in any regard and his offense wasn’t much better. So, by May 10 we shipped him out for the first of what was a whirlwind week of blockbuster trades involving the same player.
Trout had been on the block for a couple weeks. The Angels were 15 GB by the end of April. We made the move, and he basically had a cup of coffee here in Cleveland. We didn’t have longterm plans for him even with our tremendous record of 34-6 through 40 games.
He showed quickly that the bat speed and arm are still viable and we sent him to another surprise contender desperate to show success and keep their young stars – Pittsburgh sent us an offer of Termarr Johnson (2B/3B) and another prospect. It was an easy decision as Trout has star power the Pirates need on offense and we desperately need to find the heir apparent for Jose Ramirez as well as a potential filler for the middle infield. Johnson filled both roles.
We are now 43-7 with a tough series against the Tigers to finish. Jose Ramirez is currently on pace to have the single greatest season in MLB history. He is batting .388 with 32 HR, 62 RBI, and 41 SB. Asked about his seemingly ‘take no prisoners’ approach this year he said ‘You know, I have been top three in MVP voting for a few years. I keep saying I should be MVP, but no one believes me. So, instead of saying it I’ll just do it.”
The rest of the team has taken notice and 43-7 isn’t just a one man show. Look for more updates soon.
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