Did the Cleveland Guardians make the right move by sending Kyle Manzardo back to AAA?

Yeah, guys, tonight, we take on the Mariners one last time. But if you want free free shirt day is tomorrow for the 1st 10,000 listener or 10 do 10,000 attendees at the Guardian's game. And there's no better place to get your tickets than game time. You can save up to 60% off by buying last minute tickets for sports concerts, comedy theater. So much more, you can get a panoramic view of your seats. So you know exactly where you're sitting. And right now the cheapest deal on game time is upper dock, upper deck 546 row C for $32 apiece. Go get your free sheet t-shirts tomorrow. Download the game time app, create an account and use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase guaranteed terms do apply again, create an account and then redeem code Lockedon for $20 off download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. So to make room for Jose Ramirez coming off the paternity list, the guardian sent Kyle Manzo back to AAA his stint with the Guardians on the major league level. Uh I would say it was disappointing but not terribly disappointing. The, the power numbers weren't there. He hit 207. Jason, right move, wrong move. Do you agree with the move to send Kyle Manzo back to the minors to get more consistent bets? No, I'd like to see him stay up and play. Uh, I think you saw like this is who he is. He's a gap hitter. He's, he's a doubles guy. He doesn't have over the, a ton of over the fence power right now. But you also who else did in early in his career? Josh Naylor and look at Naylor now? So I think it's in there, he'll get to it eventually. I don't think, look at this as a massive setback that he's back in AAA. Obviously, those numbers don't look great. I felt like he did put together some really good at bats though and he was starting to feel a little comfortable. Um And I, I just, I would like to see him in the majors. I think he's gonna be a big part of this team moving forward. But if they make a move of the deadline for a more proven bat, you know, that will offset this to me. But I don't look at this as some major disappointment that, oh my goodness, Manzo had to go back to AAA. You know, I, I think they felt to me like they were kind of positioning that as a possibility when they brought him up in the first place. And how many times you see it? A guy comes up, struggles a little bit, goes back down, figures, some things up comes back up and never goes back to AAA again. And hopefully that'll be the case with Manzo. I think he'll be back this year. It's only June, it's not the all star break. I think he'll be back. So, if, if he does come back, how were they rolling him defensively? Well, that's the thing because he never played the field. That's what I'm saying. So was he just d hing the whole way? And they would talk about playing in the outfield, which, but, and, and, and, and it's tough because like Naylor's earned the right to be the first baseman. And if Josh would rather play first than DH, you're gonna, a lot of times you're gonna defer to your veteran on that, but it just feels like you gotta create more opportunities for Kyle to play the field when you go from being a first baseman playing every day to only be in a DH, you know, I remember talking to Travis Hafner years ago about how hard that can be on guys when, if you strike out, you got nothing to do for 45 minutes, but think about that strikeout. And so, although baseball games move so much faster now you're probably hitting again in 1520 minutes. But you know, all you do, you go back down to the cage and you take some more swings, you have nothing else to, to consume your time with other than that strikeout that you just had and you just think guys can just fester with this. That's why some guys don't like DH e because that, that they don't do it. That's all they do is hit and then you gotta go back and sit down again and wait for your next to bet. When you're not in the field, you would like to see more opportunities for Kyle in the field. Um And I maybe it helps him at the plate find a little bit of a rhythm just being able to get more into, of routine. But with Naylor in front of him, a lot of times you're gonna defer to the veteran. I was always a little bit confused on how they utilize Manzo since bringing him up. Uh mostly because to your point, he just never seemed to get in a rhythm. Like even when he was getting at bats, he was moving up and down in the lineup. He was never playing in the field, believe it or not despite his numbers and his traditional counting stats 207 batting average, no home or seven RBIs. His OPS was sub 600. He's fourth on the team in doubles despite missing and by missing, he wasn't called up when the season started. He wasn't playing every day. He wasn't getting consistent at bats. He has 10 doubles, which is tied for fourth on the team. So he was doing what I think the Guardians expected in that sense, but he didn't live up to the hype of, hey, this is a can't miss guy, a can't miss bat that we're gonna add to our lineup. He didn't have the power. And if he's getting sent down to Columbus to get more consistent at bats, he had nine homers and 100 and two at bats in Columbus, like he showed power at AAA. Now, granted, I think I was a little over exaggerated to what their even expectations were for him, but he had 82 at bats in the majors without a single home run. You know, it was a stark difference and it happens to prospects. Jackson holiday got called up earlier for Baltimore. He was the number one, the number one prospect in baseball. He had like he was like one of 34. So it wasn't a catastrophe to that extent, but I had higher expect. I'll just be honest, I had higher expectations for Manza when he got called up and even though he showed glimpses and flashes of promise, it just, it never was enough to meet my expectation for them calling up their top hitting prospect. What is the background on Daniel Schneeman, a career minor league guy who just figured he's just a late bloomer. He just figured because he plays every position and that's the thing, like he got called up and I don't think he did well last night, but this past weekend he was, he's been hitting very well. He, I think he batting over 300 right now. Not limited plate actions, but still, and I think, I think that they had those kind of expectations. Maybe for Kyle Manzo, they kind of thought that he'd probably be batting like that. So I think maybe, do you think the fact that Sne is batting so well in the lineup that they were ok with sending Manzo down? Like, do you think that that played a part in it? I think it was just when your DH is hitting 200 with no home runs, you're probably looking for more production out of that spot and you know, David Fry has obviously been swinging it. Well, you mentioned Schieman has been swinging it well and those guys are more versatile and can play more. David Fry can play catcher outfield, first base winfield. You can you put him second base shorts, top outfield, put them anywhere and the Guardians thrive on that. They love positional versatility and flexibility and guys who can play multiple spots. I don't think Manzo in right field is a very good idea. They've tried that with Josh Naylor a few years ago and had a hor horrendous injury out there horrendous. So you some guys are just, they are what they are and that probably hurt Kyle a little bit in this. But to your point about Sne Man, I mean, wh Mary Feld is a prime example of a guy who spent his career in the Royals minor leagues. And then at 2728 figured some things out and became a late blooming all star. Really good. Yeah. Well, one of the best hitters in the game in his prime, Mary for a couple of years stretch, there was a, a terrific hitter and it's just, that's why this game is so wild, man. It, it clicks for guys at different ages at different times in their career and there's no riddle to figure out when that's gonna happen with a guy like Schneeman. He was 27 now and getting his chance. David Fry, very similar late bloomer late in his career, Corey Kluber was a late bloomer late in his career or sort of figure things out and became a multiple time cy Young winner. So you just, and that's why small market teams don't like giving up on their guys because there's nothing more gutting than to give up on a guy. Go back to, uh, oh man, I just lost his name. The third baseman, uh bounced around really good defensive, third baseman played for the Yankees. The Blue Jays was here for a while. Elite defensively could never hit Matt Chapman. No, uh I'll think of it in a minute, I can't believe, but he was elite elite defensively. And, but they just, they finally gave up on his bat and then he goes to New York and it clicks for him late in his career and he put together, it was never an all star, but put together some multiple productive years for other teams. And that's got into a franchise like Cleveland. Like they, when they spend all these years investing their guys, they got to get a payoff on that. So at the trade deal line, your show got it at the trade deadline. If they decided to trade Manzo, that would be you be, that's not happening. I was just as, and, and you know, b and I have had this conversation like anybody's available. This is a, this is a push all in type. But there are other guys that you can trade, that other teams would be interested in that you don't have to move. I'm telling you right now. He is the Josh near the replacement. I know nobody wants to hear that. What about Rodriguez? Rodriguez Field? Different position. He's out and he's not the caliber of prospect that Kyle Manzor that uh yeah, Manzo Manzo is the top 100. Like that's a big thing in baseball. If you're a top 100 guy, everybody has a top 100 list. Major league baseball puts it out. Baseball, America has theirs at the athletic. We have our guy Keith law who does a phenomenal job. He has his own top 100 list. And sometimes there's a wide variance between guys, that one guy is 15 and one guy is 62. But for the most part, they're about the same now, Manzo is on everybody. Manzo is top 50. It's the equivalent of a lottery pick tyus in basketball. I think of it as he's a lottery pick in Jonathan's second round. In that sense. I do. We'll move on in one sec. But it is interesting because, or one thing I found interesting in this whole decision is they had other options of guys to at least consider to send down for Jose and one guy I wanna bring up real quick and I forget who tweeted this out. But it was a funny tweet and I have a question that follows up on the tweet but essentially said the Guardians are paying Austin Hedges $4 million to be a vibes guy. And the city coach, what do you think you're paying me for? I know, but it's, it said they already have two catchers Naylor who they, I guess in theory they could have said down as well, but you have David Fry who's doing most of the back of catching Hedges as much as we love Austin Hedges. He is the biggest liability at the plate of probably any real major leaguer in baseball, phenomenal, defensively and phenomenal vibes guy, phenomenal clubhouse guy. And he might essentially be an assistant coach like there's never been there's never been an even thought for one second of setting hedges down. Well, no, you would, you wouldn't do that to a teran like that. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, you would d fa him before you would him down. I don't even know if he has any options left to this point. But, but I, and I hear what you're saying and you're right. But they felt like there was such a hole in their clubhouse last year when last year was a very miserable season. And by their standards, one of the first things that they did was run back out and get him. Like that's how important he is to the fabric of, of this organization right now. No, he can't hit, but I don't think it's coincidence that uh Bo has become a pitch framer defensive catcher that he has when I mean, Sandel our gold glove winner, Austin Hedge is one of the best defensive catchers in baseball. I don't know if he's got a gold glove or not. I can't remember in San Diego if he did, if he did or not. But one of the very best defensive catchers obviously vote was a catcher, Bo Naylor has all the resources at his disposal to be one of the very best defensive catchers in baseball. And the progress that you've seen this year, I believe is a result of all the people that they have on staff there. And so, and I get frustrated with Bo too. And I say sometimes the moments of frustration, man, just put David Fry back there and call it like just get some offense back there, but I get what they're doing. I understand why they have Naylor back there every day. Why they keep running him out there, even though he's hitting 180. But part of a big part of hedges job I believe is working with Bo making him the type of defensive catcher that he is. I'm not sure that Naylor is as good as he is this year defensively. If hedges is still in Pittsburgh or Texas or something, I feel very confidently saying he's not the defensive catcher. He is if it isn't for the tutelage of hedges and a Lamar and vote all coming together to kind of because that was the weak part of his game coming up. The bat was the good part. The, the glove was the question part and now it's flipped on his head. He's, I put him in the man Zaro category. I know he did have some success last year, but he's still a really young guy. And early on in your career there's going to be wild swings of a great play and you look like you belong in AA, not even AAA. That's just the way it goes. Hopefully, if he gets through that this year, next year, he can get a little bit more success. I just think a lot of times we get so reaction and me too. You get so reactionary to what you see in that moment, you kind of lose perspective of, of the bigger he did it well, yesterday. So hopefully we can put the, just keep it in going in a, in a rhythm and we'll keep an eye on Kyle Manzo in AAA. Hopefully he finds a little bit more of the power swing back as he heads to Columbus facing AAA pitching and I'm sure we'll see him again on the major league club this season. And let's do A r we'll move on, talk a little cabs.

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