CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Guardians acquired outfielder Estevan Florial last week in a trade for righty Cody Morris. Where will Florial fit in a suddenly crowded Cleveland outfield and what can the Guardians expect from the former top New York prospect?
Paul Hoynes and Joe Noga break down what Florial’s acquisition means and also discuss Zach Plesac’s new deal in Los Angeles, Michael Brantley’s retirement and the latest Shane Bieber rumors on Monday’s podcast.
Listen and read along with an AI-generated transcript of the podcast below.
Read the automated transcript of today’s podcast below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it may contain errors and misspellings.
Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast, Jan. 8, 2023
Joe Noga (00:14): It’s Monday, January 8th, and you’re tuned into the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast. I’m Joe Noga, joined by Paul Hoynes. Hoynsie, welcome back. It’s the start of a new year, fresh start here in Cleveland. We’ll jump right in with some news items that we missed while we were away on a little holiday break. Leading off with a former guardian’s pitcher, Zach Plesac has found a new home on the west coast.
Paul Hoynes (00:40): Yeah, one year deal for Zach with the Angels Big League contract. So good news for Zach. Hopefully he gets to restart his career. The Angels are definitely looking for pitching after losing Tani, and he’s got a chance to make the back end of that rotation. Joe,
Joe Noga (01:04): What does police act have to do to sort of maybe correct what went wrong here in Cleveland? Or is it just a matter of finding a fresh start and maybe getting some different eyes on him out there? Or is that the pitching coach situation out there in Los Angeles with under Ron Washington as he takes over as a new manager?
Paul Hoynes (01:30): Yeah, I think Joe, he just had a tough go here when we saw his stuff kind of declined year to year in Cleveland this past season, he only made five big league starts. You got optioned and then he got DFA, well, he got designated for assignment, then optioned and designated for assignment from Cleveland. They cleared outright waivers. He agreed to go back to Columbus to keep his salary intact. And even in Columbus, he didn’t pitch well. Joe, he gave up, I believe 30 home runs at triple at the AA level. So number one, he’s going to have to keep the ball in the yard. I remember talking to Carl Willis about him and Terry Fona last season, and they said Zach would make all these corrections and look good in the bullpen. He would work on the things they wanted him to work on. Things looked good. But then once he got into the game and the adrenaline started pumping, he kind of went back to his old habits, maybe trying to overthrow a little too much and that hurt him.
Joe Noga (02:46): His time, especially towards the end of his time in Cleveland, was marked by immaturity and some emotional outbursts and even self-inflicted injuries that were sort of a problem for him to stay on the field. Do you think it might be easier with just being a couple thousand miles away on the west coast and getting a different mindset out there that some of those issues could be corrected for him as well?
Paul Hoynes (03:14): Yeah, I think he’s older now. He’s been through the mill now. He’s been kind of to the top of the mountain now he’s seen the other side of baseball, and if that doesn’t humble you, nothing will. You’re in the wrong game because this game, what your one pitch away from being king or humbled. So I think hopefully this helps Zach and he gets control of his emotions and he’s always pitched well in Anaheim Joe. I saw him throw a four hit complete game out there and I think he likes that mound. He likes the ballpark, so hopefully he gets a chance to reestablish himself.
Joe Noga (03:54): Well, and the other thing is, I believe just from watching and following on social media that he welcomed his first child. He and his either fiance or I don’t know if they were married yet, but I do have seen pictures of him holding a brand new baby within the last few months here. So maybe that presses the reset button for him as well. Another guy who’s pressing the reset button, longtime Cleveland mainstay in the outfield 10 seasons before he left for Houston was Michael Brantley. Brantley announced his retirement just one of the greats over the last 15 years here in Cleveland all around, not just in the outfield in left field where he held it down for so many years, but then at the plate, just the model of consistency in one of the smoothest, prettiest swings you’ll ever see for Dr. Smooth there. He steps away and now is going to spend more time with his kids after 15 seasons. A bunch of injuries in the last few years sort of limited him, but he was able to get a ring with the Astros and be a contributor on that team, and I know that meant a lot to him as well.
Paul Hoynes (05:14): Yeah, good dude. And Dr. Smooth who gave him that nickname,
Joe Noga (05:19): I think D Man did, didn’t he?
Paul Hoynes (05:20): D Man did Dennis Manoloff former pd, baseball writer. Sports writer. So yeah, that was a nickname that stuck and really captured the player, Joe. I mean you hit on it like a great swing. I remember Fona saying very low maintenance, swing kind, that two taps on the back shoulder and just kind of nice even level swing. There was no launch angle with Michael Pran. He wanted to make contact, he wanted to drive the baseball and he did it as well as anybody. And you’re right, the injuries really took a toll on him and really kind of shortened his career in Cleveland. Well, although he had some great seasons in Cleveland, they could have been better if he hadn’t injured that left shoulder. And I remember the play that he did it in, the Guardians slash Indians were in target field and playing the twins. There was a drive in the gap in left center field. He dove and kind of landed on his shoulder. His shoulder was extended and really, really had problems with it the rest of his career.
Joe Noga (06:35): And that was at the end of the 2015 season. And if you think about it, that injury and the carryover from that and his limitations during the 2016 season when I think he only made 11 appearances during that season, had to go back and have more surgery. But that really necessitated Cleveland getting Jose Ramirez into the lineup. And I believe he spent some time out there in left field to start the season. And Brantley’s sort of demise that year was sort of the birth of Jose Ramirez becoming sort of a superstar.
Paul Hoynes (07:18): Yeah, he kind of opened the door there. I think that was the year, well, 2016, right? I think. Correct,
Joe Noga (07:24): Yeah,
Paul Hoynes (07:24): Yeah. Jose Uribe was playing third and Jose was out in left field and kind of bouncing between third left, short second base and he just started to hit Joe and yeah, the rest is history with Jose, but I remember frankly working really hard to come back during that 2016 season and he was activated for the postseason roster, but all that time off, you could tell he just wasn’t himself. And thankfully when he had to part ways with Cleveland, he got another chance in Houston like you were saying, and got a chance to win a ring and kind of regained his stature as one of the best hitters in baseball.
Joe Noga (08:09): Well, what four playoff appearances with Cleveland, if you count 2013 and the wildcard and five consecutive playoff appearances. He was never on, he never missed the wildcard or I’m sorry, the A LCS round of the playoffs in five seasons with the Astros. Even though he was hurt in a few of those seasons, it was just a model of consistency in winning that he was able to be a part of those clubs and just from being around him and his dad was always around with helping him with the swing coach. He was his personal hitting coach and Mickey Brantley, obviously a former major leaguer himself, so just really good experiences here in Cleveland for him. And he basically, he’s probably the greatest player to be named later acquisition in Cleveland history. If you look back on it, he came over in the CC Sathia trade.
Paul Hoynes (09:19): Yeah, no doubt about it. He saved that trade, Joe. I mean, just think who’d they get? Robbie Bryson, Zach Jackson and Matt Laporta. I
Joe Noga (09:29): Was going to say Matt Laport was the one, yeah,
Paul Hoynes (09:31): Yeah, for cc and they didn’t know that who they’d get. It was between Brantley and I believe there was another minor league infielder that they would get at the end of the year. And it depended on whether or not CC and the brewers who they traded, who he got traded to, whether they made the post-season, and I think when they made the post-season, they got Brantley, if I’m recalling that right.
Joe Noga (10:00): Yeah, so there were probably a few high fives back then in the Cleveland front office when the brewers advanced for sure. Speaking of another guy who needs to retool his swing, if we’re going back to police act there, frail Reyes, apparently we saw reports online that he’s looking at the possibility of playing in Japan next season. Reyes obviously a few seasons here in Cleveland, but then sort of a rapid decline. The strikeouts kept piling up and adjustments were not made. FMO Reyes was cut loose. He bounced around from Kansas City to Chicago a couple other places and has been playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic, but now looks like he’s going to get an opportunity in Japan. He will definitely stand out among Japanese baseball players. A pretty big guy out there when he does get a chance to go play in Japan. What do you think of, does Ramo res have a future maybe getting back into major league baseball? He is still pretty young.
Paul Hoynes (11:16): Yeah, he’s only 28, Joe. Maybe he could pull a Cecile fielder, go over there, rediscover his swing, rediscover his power, get in shape and get in better physical conditioning because obviously, geez, he’s still got the power. He’s a huge guy and if he can adjust to Japanese pitching, I think have two or three, maybe two, maybe one, two good years over there. He’s still young enough to come back and play well here and reestablish in the big leagues. But Joe, I mean right now he’s opportunity missed. You look at his numbers in 2000, what, 2020?
Joe Noga (12:11): 20, 21, 30
Paul Hoynes (12:13): Home runs, 85 rbis, 2 54 batting average in 115 games. And in 2022 when Cleveland really needed him, he was the missing ingredient. And on that ball club and just think that Ball Club still won 92 games, got to game five of the A LDS and unfortunately Franwell came to camp out of shape. He got hurt, they let him go early at the midway point and he supplied, he was going to supply what the one ingredient they lacked was power and he just didn’t do it. And the club overcame that. But think of that lineup with a healthy and well conditioned Fran Mill Reyes. It’s a different ball club and it could have gone a little farther in the postseason perhaps.
Joe Noga (13:10): Yeah, the one thing that they needed was the protection for Jose Ramirez, the pop they would’ve provided and once in a while, you need to win a game by hitting a three run home run. And certainly Fran, Mel Reyes was somebody who could do that. It was just that the strikeouts were there and he never made the adjustments that they needed him to make. It just didn’t work out here in Cleveland. Maybe he gets another shot with a ball club in the major leagues at some point you pulled that Cecile fielder comp out of the air there. That’s a good example man of a guy whose career sort of took off after he came back from a stint overseas. So we’ll see what happens to Fram Mill. Certainly a good guy and fun to deal with in the media, so we wish him nothing but the best. Speaking of nothing but the best, the Yankees are still looking for the best available pitcher in a trade out there. And there’s been renewed chatter that possibly if they’re, they’re looking at maybe trying to sign Blake Snell, they’re looking at maybe trying to sign Jordan Montgomery. If those things fall through, maybe they turn their attentions to Shane Bieber or trying to acquire a Dylan cease. What are you hearing? What’s the latest on the Bieber trade market for the Yankees?
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Paul Hoynes (14:42): Yeah, Joe, I mean obviously they need starting pitching. Do they go to the top of the free agent class with the Snell or Montgomery or do they try to make a trade? The Juan Soto deal kind of wiped their prospects out or took a lot of the top tier prospects, and so that kind of made it a little tougher to make a deal with a team like Cleveland. But also the Yankees probably aren’t going to give up that much because there’s only one year left on Bieber’s contract. I don’t know. Obviously he’s said that he might be open to an extension to a team that he got traded to, but I don’t know. He said that in Cleveland as well and he never signed an extension. So we will see how that works. But right now, Joe, I think the odds are he opens the season in Cleveland, but we’ll see how that works out.
Joe Noga (15:49): Yeah, it’s feeling more and more like a situation where he’s going to be a hired gun at the trade deadline and then he becomes a free agent at the end of the year and then tests the open market. And I think he wants that feeling of teams competing for him that you can’t necessarily get when you’ve been traded to a team inside an extension that way it feels like he sort of wants to be the guy at next year’s winter meetings that everybody’s talking about or among that crop of free agents. So we’ll see how that goes. As far as a trade that did happen with the Yankees happened around Christmas time and during the week there in between Christmas and New Year’s, the guardians did send a right-handed picture, Cody Morris to New York, and in exchange they got a AAA out of options in Esteban Floreal. What do we know about Floreal as far as where he could fit in the outfield picture, which is suddenly becoming a little more crowded for Cleveland?
Paul Hoynes (17:09): Yeah, Joe, an interesting guy. At one time he was one of the Yankees top prospect, top minor league prospect. He’s played parts of four seasons in the big leagues, never really established himself, but it is coming off a really a big year at AAA this past season, hit 28 home runs, stole a bunch of bases. So we’ve got a guy that can run that has some pop and that really kind of jumps out at you when you think of the Cleveland outfield because they combine to hit 18 home runs last season. So I mean, you got a guy that hit 28 home runs at AAA and can play center field. Well, that has to put a lot. I’m sure there’s a lot of guys sitting there thinking, well we, we’ve got to come to camp ready because the competition has been ratcheted it up a little bit.
Joe Noga (18:11): You’ve got an outfield right now with Floreal in there. You’ve got Will Brennan Floreal, Quan Ramon, Loriano, miles Straw. You’ve got guys rookies like George Valera who’s going to get a look at some point. And John Kenzie Noel is on the 40 man roster. Jonathan Rodriguez is out there. He had a monster year in the miners for Cleveland’s farm system. So really the mix is pretty crowded right now if you look at that and you could still maybe try and add somebody via trade if that’s possible. What do you think the chances are that Florio breaks camp with this club since he’s out of options?
Paul Hoynes (19:01): Yeah, I think he’s going to get a, well obviously they either have to trade him, he’s got to make the club or you put ‘em on waivers at the end of spring training. So a big spring for Floreal. And I think they need to do something in the outfield, Joe. I mean it doesn’t seem like they’re going to make a big acquisition free agent wise still the trade market has been relatively quiet from Cleveland’s point of view and maybe this is their trade, maybe this is the trade that kind of an under the radar deal that turns into something good for them because they certainly can use it and that outfield certainly needs an upgrade. And then Cody Morris, Joe, I don’t think this was a guy whose arm they always liked but could never stay healthy.
Joe Noga (19:59): That was the big deal is it was what, two consecutive spring trainings where he injured a terrorist major muscle or something along those lines and was slowed in coming out of spring training and then had to join the club and then they didn’t know if they wanted to keep him as a starter last year or bouncing back and forth in the bullpen. And that sort of played on him a little bit. So yeah, maybe an opportunity and a fresh start with the Yankees is what Morris needs, but we will see if somehow figures out a way to stay healthy for New York. Maybe New York picked up an arm that can give them some depth and that’s something they need
Paul Hoynes (20:42): Because the arm is there, Joe. I mean he’s just got to be able to consistently in whatever role the Yankees put him in that he can consistently contribute. And this is a guy that still has two options left Joe, so he can move up and down a little bit
Joe Noga (21:00): And a nice guy, good guy to talk to, not tough to see him go from the organization, but trades happen and we’ll see if Floreal works out for them. I wanted to touch on before we get going here, I saw a stat come across on social media the other day. To this point, the Dodgers were either close or have reached an agreement with Teos or Hernandez, I believe it was like a $38 million contract, something like that. So right now that brings their total spending in the off season this year to over 1.02 billion in spending. If you include that monster show Otani contract, the entire major league baseball, every other major league baseball team combined has spent 1.22 billion to this point in the off season. So the Dodgers are outspending all of baseball on their own. It almost looks like a cartoon. It looks like a video game roster that they’re going to be able to put together. Is this pretty much the Dodgers going completely all in and saying it’s a World series or bust this year?
Paul Hoynes (22:19): Yeah, I think Joe, this is a team that wins a hundred games a year anyways, no matter what roster they have. So I think this is obviously, yeah, they’re going for it. And the thing that set this all up, set this all in motion was O’S contract and his decision to diver so much money where he is only making 2 million a year for the next 10 years and that has let them be able to add Hernandez and a, who was the kid from Tampa Bay, the
Joe Noga (22:55): Yeah,
Paul Hoynes (22:55): Glass Now and Yama, Yamamoto and Hernandez now. So that really kind of set the table. They were able to add a lot of, and I think even Hernandez’s contract, a lot of it’s reportedly is deferred. So they’re definitely going all in and we’ll have to see how it works because we thought the Mets were going all in and they didn’t even make the postseason
Joe Noga (23:22): 454 million met team that didn’t make the playoffs. Are the Dodgers done is the big question, are they done spending this off season? Are they done acquiring players this off season or is there more for them to do? And obviously they’re going to be a player at the trade deadline as well. If they think they need a piece in the bullpen or in the rotation, they’ll go out and try to make a deal there. But do you think right now that they’re done in terms of spending this off season?
Paul Hoynes (23:52): I don’t think so Joe. I think they have a lot of starting pitching, but some of it is questionable. O Tommy’s hurt and there’s a couple other guys that are question marks of whether at what time they’ll come back this season
Joe Noga (24:11): You’re speaking about Clayton Kershaw, of course, Clayton
Paul Hoynes (24:14): Shaw, Dustin May, and yeah, so they might add, who knows if they’re able to trade for a pitcher, Shane Bieber in the fourth or fifth spot on a one year deal, who knows?
Joe Noga (24:28): Yeah, I think Shane Bieber would welcome an opportunity to go back to Southern California and pitch, even though I think he grew up an Angels fan, maybe wearing the Dodger blue might be a real treat for him at some point. Alright, Hoey, we’re going to get into later on this week in a future podcast. We are going to break down the top nine pitchers and the top nine position players in the American League Central Division. We’ve talked about those, we’ve had some posts on those in the last couple of days here on cleveland.com. We’ll get into the weeds on those over the next couple of days and we’ll continue breaking down some of our players on the roster. Try to wrap up the 40 man roster here before we get to Guards Fest later on this month. January is starting to pick up now. We can see real baseball in the future, February 24th, the first spring training games. So let’s set our sights on that and Sprint to the finish line. We’ll get to spring training games here sooner rather than later here on the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast. We’ll talk to you again tomorrow and we’ll talk to you then.
Paul Hoynes (25:44): Alright, Joe.
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