After the non-tender deadline last week, a variety of interesting players became available.
There are hitters who were non-tendered, but I am not particularly interested in any of them on a major league deal. No, I am interested in a group of pitchers who could become the latest castoff to become a trusted high leverage option for the Guardians once sprinkled with Carl Willis’s pixie dust. Without further ado, here you go:
RHP:
Alek Manoah, 27 years old – The Guardians can try to fix a pitcher with
a lot of talent whom several other organizations have failed to fix. Toronto and Atlanta couldn’t do it, but we can! He’s 6’6 and he has elite extension* in the 89th percentile… might be time to try him as a reliever?
Jorge Alcala, 30 years old – Alcala has been a good reliever in the MLB in the past, he strikes almost 10 batters out per 9, and looks great by Stuff+* (3 pitches well above average), and throws a fastball at 97 mph. I feel like Alcala is practically a Guardian already, and he’ll be a 7th inning guy we will be happy to see. The Cardinals letting him go does not put me off AT ALL.
Taylor Rashi, 29 years old – So… Rashi is a split-finger specialist who had a 1.91 FIP* in 16 innings last year and struck out 12 per 9, non-tendered by the Diamondbacks who are bad at developing and coaching pitchers. 83rd percentile in extension. GUARDIAN.
Evan Phillips, 31 years old – Phillips is an elite reliever who had Tommy John surgery last year. Come to Cleveland, Evan. We make TJ recovery our business here.
Trent Thornton, 32 years old – Above average cutter and slider who had a 3.47 FIP in 2024 and is familiar with the various former Mariners coaches on the Guardians. This should be a minor-league deal, though.
Max Kranick, 28 years old – 102 Stuff+, 107 Location+ and 109 Pitching+. Major League experience with an FIP well under 4 the past two years. A chance to show the Mets they don’t know what they’re doing by non-tendering him. 78th percentile in extension. Sign me up.
Daniel Robert, 31 years old – 10.38 K’s per 9, 96 mph fastball and an elite sweeper. The Phillies don’t know pitching; we can fix his walk issues.
Dauri Moreta, 29 years old – After returning from Tommy John, Moreta had a 3.24 ERA and 3.68 FIP for the Pirates following a season where he had a 3.72 ERA and a 2.68 FIP. Moreta seems like a good reliever. So, either the Pirates know something or they are dumb and the Guardians should pounce. Career 10.65/3.47 K/BB/9, with 60th percentile extension. That’ll play.
Jacob Webb, 32 years old – Webb had a 3.00 ERA and a 3.09 xERA* in 66 innings for Texas last year. He doesn’t strike out a ton of guys but he gets outs in a very Jakob Junis kinda way. His Savant page is FULL of red, for what that’s worth.
Josh Sborz, 31 years old – Recovering from a shoulder issue, but has been a very effective reliever. Someone to stash?
Taylor Clarke, 32 years old – Pitched 55 innings for the Royals with a 3.25 ERA and 3.97 FIP and a 7.16/1.46 K/BB/9. Two Stuff+ offerings over 100 in a 103 slider and 107 changeup and started throwing a sinker last year to great effect.
Ian Hamilton, 30 years old – Hamilton would be a returnee, and his command declined with the Yankees last year. For his career, he has a 3.59 ERA and a 3.64 FIP with a 9.64/4.19 K/BB/9. He may be at minor league deal status, or, if not, should be quite cheap.
Mark Leiter, Jr., 34 years old – Leiter had a 10.06/3.17 K/BB/9 last year and a 3.55 FIP. The Guardians could do worse… but they could also probably do better. He does have 74th percentile extension.
LHP:
Tayler Saucedo, 32 years old – Had a terrible 2025, but from 2023-2024 he had a 3.54 ERA and a 3.79 FIP with an 8.44/4.27 K/BB/9. 53rd percentile extension.
Danny Young, 31 years old – Hasn’t put it together for the Mets but has a career 11.57/3.71 K/BB/9 and a 3.23 FIP in the bigs, including a 1.82 FIP against LHH.
Sign me up for Rashi and Saucedo and call the bullpen done! I’m that much of a believer in the Guardians’ pitching group.
GLOSSARY:
*FIP – Earned run average while attempting to reduce the noise of defense and luck.
*K/BB/9 – Strikeouts and walks per 9 innings.
*Extension – How close the ball is to the plate when the pitcher releases it.
*Stuff+ – Pitches evaluated by the inherent quality of their pitches bases on characteristics like velocity, spin and movement. 100 is league average
*xERA – ERA taking into account the amount of contact (strikeouts, walks, hit by pitch) and the quality of that contact (exit velocity and launch angle), in an attempt to credit the pitcher for the moment of contact rather than what happens after contact.
