Some of you have asked – “Quincy, what is your next annoying project now that Chase DeLauter is no longer around for you to beg the Guardians to call him up?” Allow me to introduce you to another frequently injured right-fielder – George Valera.
After a snake-bitten 2024, George Valera chose to return to the Guardians on a minor league deal, having exhausted his options. He tore his knee up at the end of last season and has spent most of this season rehabbing that and associated injury concerns. After getting
his feet underneath of him for a couple weeks, Valera had a 137 wRC+ in his past eight games, and followed that up last night with this home run:
And, a 112 mph single.
Most importantly, perhaps, so far this season in the complex and Triple-A leagues he has a 22.6/12.4 K/BB% rate, indicating he’s seeing the ball well, in addition to now displaying some of his prodiguous power. The Guardians should strike while the iron is hot and reward Valera for his organizational loyalty by calling him up.
Where does Valera play? How does he get on the roster? I see potentially two options for this:
-Demote Angel Martinez to go to Columbus and abandon switch-hitting and practice hitting right-handed pitching right-handed. This option depletes your options against left-handed pitching a bit… I do not care. Nolan Jones and Daniel Schneemann become your centerfielders.
-Designate Nolan Jones for assignment and sneak him through waivers to Columbus. Someone might pick Jones up, and Jones might figure something out next year. Oh well. Personally, I think the chances are decent he could get through waivers at this time of the year.
-Convince Carlos Santana to start an early retirement. Whatever scenario I imagine, it always requires Santana to sit on the bench a LOT. If Valera is coming up, Kayfus will have to get more reps at first base and Santana will need to take a back seat, whether through a roster move or just accepting that he is a 39 year-old pinch-hitter and defensive replacement. That would all be worth it to see Valera in Cleveland.
He believes in us, folks.
Let’s believe in him, too.
