The Pirates and the Guardians have discussed Bryan Reynolds, the outfielder who has requested a trade. It puts them in an unusual situation. Do they keep pursuing Reynolds or Oakland catcher Sean Murphy?
The Guardians are torn between the two big deals they’re pursuing
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Or they could take a different approach and sign a free agent catcher, as Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reports, and then try to sign Reynolds.
They could also re-sign free agent Austin Hedges while developing rookie Bo Naylor to take over as head coach sometime during the 2023 season.
Reynolds has been pursued by the Guardians for several years. They couldn’t come to an agreement, so they went to Houston and made the deal for Myles Straw.
The Pirates’ manager, Derek Shelton, was asked about Reynolds’ trade request on Monday. He stated:
“It’s unfortunate it came out in public. Look, when you have good players people are going to ask for them. I tell people all the time when I was in Cleveland and we had those good teams, we got those players because we traded for them.”
Cleveland’s catching situation, according to Chris Antonetti, president of baseball operations, is a work in progress. Naylor plays an important role in that endeavor.
The Guardians are attempting to find a way to give Naylor the necessary big-league experience while not overexposing him.
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Antonetti stated: “We’ve spent a lot of time talking through that, I’m not sure there is a simple answer to that. How do we position Bo and the team for success?
“Indidivually we want to make sure Bo is as prepared as possible when the opportunity is there for him to come up and contribute to us winning games. On a team level, one of the things we continue to wrestle with is at what point do we start planning for Bo. It’s hard to answer.”
For one thing, the Guardians could sign a veteran catcher before the season begins. For another thing, a starting catcher has more on his plate than most regulars.
Antonetti said: “One of the reasons why we wanted to get Bo in the enviroment last year was to hopefully accelerate his comfort with out staff. Having him around Tito, having him around the coaching staff, having him around Sandy Alomar (catching coach), we felt that would accelerate his readiness to transition into the role,”
“Is it fair for that to happen on opening day next year? I’m not sure. Is it some point during the season, hopefully. But it’s hard to predict.”
“We’re not in a position to say, ‘Let’s just see how it goes, we feel we have a good team that’s capable of competing,” said Antonetti.
Naylor appeared in just five games following his promotion. He was 0 for 8. Prior to his promotion, he hit.263 (109 for 415) with 26 doubles, 21 homers, and 68 RBI at Class AA Akron and Class AAA Columbus.
GM Mike Chernoff stated that Naylor changed his defensive crouch for the 2022 season, which relieved pressure on his legs. It encouraged him to use his legs more when hitting.
The Guardians will have to make a decision based on where Naylor begins the 2023 season. Will it be Murphy, Vazquez, or someone else at Cather?
Do they try to sign the switch-hitting Reynolds if they sign a free agent catcher – Vazquez hit.274 (109 for 398) with nine homers and 52 RBI with Boston and Houston.
“What makes it most challenging is when there are other alternatives, how do you weigh those other alternatives and whether or not it makes sense to strike on those before you have clarity on other guys on the list.” said Antonetti.
