Cleveland Guardians Sign Phillip Diehl
The Cleveland Guardians didn’t make a big deal out of announcing their signing Phillip Diehl to a minor-league contract earlier this week. It’s up to the slender left-hander to get out there and deal in a way that could make it a big deal.
On the surface, the transaction appears to be a penny-pinching ballclub grasping at straws and hoping. Except the Guardians put a great deal of fact-checking into even the seemingly most insignificant signing. That alone makes it a bigger deal than what the average fan could imagine. The time and effort before the signing, soon to be combined with hours of toil by organizational coaches makes it an investment.
Joe Fan looks at Diehl’s ridiculous 9.47 ERA in 21 relief appearances in the majors and dismisses the entire thing. Joe won’t notice it’s a tiny sample size AND likely skewed by pitching home games in two ballparks – Cincinnati and Colorado – that are notoriously hitter friendly. Cleveland’s analytics squad of numbers crunchers examine Diehl’s “other” numbers and take notice. In 347 1/3 innings across six seemingly nondescript years in the minors, the 28-year-old has struck out 11 batters while allowing 7.6 hits and 2.7 walks per nine innings.
Those numbers are better than what Paul Assenmacher, Tony Sipp, Rafael Perez, and Oliver Perez posted for their careers. Guardians fans will recall cheering those guys when they were key pieces during past postseason runs in Cleveland.
Starting to take a little more notice, Joe?
Diehl is the 16th player from Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati to make it to the majors. The first? Buddy Bell with Cleveland in 1972. Buddy’s son David followed in 1995. The best? Well, a couple of Hall of Famers named Ken Griffey Jr., and Barry Larkin fill the bill nicely. For Diehl, it was off to Louisiana Tech, where he showed enough to get drafted by the New York Yankees in the 27th round in 2016. Traded to Colorado in 2019, selected off waivers by Cincinnati in 2021 and dealt to the New York Mets last July, Diehl has bounced around.
Now, it is up to coaches in the Guardians organization to find out what puts the bounce in Diehl’s step and get him to repeat it. Repeatedly.
He basically is a two-pitch guy. Neither offering will get him compared to Sandy Koufax. Somehow, he does miss bats though with a four-seam fastball in the low 90s and slider in the low-to mid-80s. Both have decent spin rates and resulting movement. He commands the slider a bit better. The fastball can often end up in any direction, however. He seldom pitches inside, especially to right-handers, and must develop a pitch to keep batters from getting their arms extended and driving offerings on the outer half of the plate. He also must get a bit more tilt on the slider. Right now, his ground-ball rate is not nearly as high as desired.
Cleveland isn’t looking for him to be Randy Johnson. Organizational gurus do believe he can be a bullpen piece, however, and the 2023 roster is wide-open for a situational lefty. Sam Hentges is the only lefty considered a lock in manager Terry Francona’s bullpen. Francona is a master at mixing and matching lefties and righties, flame-throwers and soft-tossers, side-armers and rare-back-and-throw guys. Diehl will likely get a good look in spring training to see how his humble piece can fit into Cleveland’s big picture.
Two More Pieces Added in Collins, Knight
Right-hander Dusten Knight and catcher Zack Collins have also been signed to minor-league deals.
Collins, 28, the 10th overall pick in 2016 by the Chicago White Sox, has gone from highly regarded prospect to career backup. He hit 19, 15 and 19 homers in the minors (2017-19) but has shown little in the way of offense as a backup backstop since (career .185, 11 homers in 150 MLB games). He hasn’t exactly shone on defense, either. Perhaps working with Sandy Alomar Jr. and others in a new training camp can reclaim some of his tools. For now, he’s a backup to veteran Mike Zunino and rookie Bo Naylor, stashed away at Triple-A Columbus.
Knight, 32, has bounced around the minors (Giants, Twins, Orioles, Rays systems) for a decade with only a high strikeout rate and decent ground-ball rate as calling cards. He changes speeds on ordinary stuff. When he cuts down walks, he can be somewhat effective, though he has yet to do that consistently. He does have two option years remaining and will be among those receiving a non-roster invitation to the big-league camp later this month.
Commentary: Trade of Will Benson to Reds Not a Good Move
The Guardians have traded Will Benson to Cincinnati for Justin Boyd and a player to be named. Unless that name is Elly De La Cruz — and there is absolutely no way the Reds part with one of the top five prospects in all of baseball — I’m not pleased. There’s an axiom in baseball: never trade power potential for a jackrabbit.
Boyd, 21, is a jackrabbit. A second-round pick last summer out of Oregon State, he can run. He supposedly has good bat-to-ball skills as sort of a right-hand hitting Steven Kwan, the Guardians’ fifth-round pick in 2018 out of Oregon State who took Cleveland by storm a year ago. Kwan hit .356 his final year for the Beavers; Boyd batted .370.
And that’s the thing. The Guardians already have Kwan. They don’t need another, although Boyd may pack just a tad more pop at the plate.
What they do not have is a 6-foot-5, 230-pound masher with outstanding outfield arm and just as much running ability. They had one until they dealt Benson, the 14th overall pick in 2016. He has always displayed massive raw power and an exceptionally patient plate approach. Right alongside all that good stuff were daily concerns about his long swing and huge strikeout totals. One scout for a National League team (obviously not the Reds) told me three years ago: “The kid is unfixable. It’s a shame because he is one of the best physical specimens I have seen in the game in years and has a tremendous attitude. He’s is gonna make Russell Branyan look like a contact hitter. I wish I was wrong. I’m not. See me in five years.”
Last year at Triple-A Columbus, it seemed Benson DID fix it. He cut his strikeout rate to a league-average 22.7%, drew 75 walks, and hit .279 with 17 homers and 20 doubles in 89 games.
One more thing. I’ve seen more than 4,000 pro games since my dad took me to a game, pointed to a tiny speck on the field and said, “There’s the greatest hitter in baseball: Ted Williams.” From the upper deck, he looked just like all the other tiny specks in uniform that day. Yet the only player I have ever actually seen hit four home runs in one game was not Williams, nor the 108 other Baseball Hall of Famers I actually have seen play (I counted ’em up last night). It was Benson, on an April evening in 2019 at Class A Lake County. Every one was a no-doubt blast and the longest ball he hit that night would have been No. 5 — except it went foul. Yeah, he ended up striking out.
Benson, 24, may never get 20 more games in the majors. Even though he has great speed (91 steals in 113 attempts as a pro) and 209 extra-base hits in 594 career games, that flawed swing indeed may be too much to overcome. Curiously, the deal comes after Cleveland coaches acknowledged Benson’s shortcomings and worked hard for six years to do something about them. Maybe the brainiacs at the top came to the conclusion that this time, the formula did not work. The Guardians seldom make an error in player evaluation. Except maybe this time.
Sign of the Times in Cleveland: Getting Them under Contract
The Guardians signed all seven of their players eligible for arbitration and added 24 international free agents to their talent pool in a whirlwind of activity last month. Every signing at the big-league level should prove critical for 2023, while the infusion of young talent is a must for an organization that relies heavily on home-grown players.
Eighty percent of Cleveland’s starting rotation — Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale and Cal Quantrill — along with shortstop Amed Rosario, first baseman Josh Naylor and reliever James Karinchak — got one-year contracts, all with significant pay raises.
Here are the numbers, according to MLB.com:
Player Pos 2023 Contract 2022 Contract
Shane Bieber RHP $10.1 million $6 million
Amed Rosario SS $7.8 million $4.95 million
Cal Quantrill RHP $5.5 million $2.51 million
Zach Plesac RHP $2.95 million $2 million
Aaron Civale RHP $2.6 million $716,000
James Karinchak RHP $1.5 million $714,500
Cleveland has been able to avoid arbitration hearings each year since 2019 and this time gave their staff ace a $4.1 million raise. Bieber, the 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner, has one more year of club control before he becomes a free agent following the 2024 season.
Cleveland Guardians’ 2023 International Showtime
The Guardians also were quite active on the international front, securing one top player from Panama, 15 from Venezuela and eight from the Dominican Republic including shortstop Welbyn Francisca and outfielder Yerlin Luis. Cleveland signed two players playing high-school ball in Florida, third baseman Luis Merejo Jr., and shortstop Jonathan Martinez. They were eligible as they are from the Dominican Republic.
PLAYER POS FROM CONTRACT
Welbyn Francisca SS La Romana, Dominican Republic $1.375 million
Yerlin Luis OF La Romana, Dominican Republic $850,000
Jose Marcano INF Valencia, Venezuela $800,000
Pablo Arosemena C Panama City, Panama $375,000
Luis Merejo Jr. 3B Port St. Lucie, Florida (Dom. Rep.) $340,000
Jose Pirela OF Maracaibo, Venezuela $320,000
Juan Frances OF Villa de Cura, Venezuela $320,000
Jonathan Martinez SS Orlando, Florida (Dom Rep) $300,000
Yaikel Mijaris INF Petare, Venezuela $275,000
Heribert Silva C Santa Teresa, Venezuela $250,000
Jonathan Taveras SS Moca, Dominican Republic $175,000
Jhonvic Abreus SS Guatire, Venezuela $125,000
Erigaldi Perez RHP Romana, Dominican Republic $110,000
Mason Bolivar OF Chirgua La Paredena, Venezuela $60,000
Yelserth Ayala INF Ayala, Turmero, Venezuela $50,000
Sebastian Cadiz C Charallave, Venezuela $37,500
Javier Abreu RHP Ocumare del Tuy, Venezuela $30,000
Renil Ramos RHP Maracay, Venezuela $20,000
Pedro Dalmagro C Caracas, Venezuela $20,000
Manuel Osorio LHP Guarenas, Venezuela $10,000
Joelvis Perez RHP Bonao, Dominican Republic $10,000
Reiner Herrera C Merida, Venezuela $10,000
Santiago Pereza RHP Barquisimeto, Venezuela $10,000
Estarlin Cruz LHP San Francisco de Macoris, DR $10,000
Francisca,16, is bound to draw comparisons to former Cleveland fan favorite Francisco Lindor as a speedy, switch-hitting shortstop, but scouts say the 5-8, 150-pounder likely will not develop into a power hitter. They love his plus speed both in the field and on the bases. They rate him as a plus-contact hitter and base stealer with a slightly above average arm, so a possible move to second base could be forthcoming.
Luis, 17, a 5-10, 160-pound switch-hitter, has more of an upside in the long-ball department as his quick, fluid swing already has a bit of uppercut trajectory to it. He is a potential five-tool center-fielder that scouts believe will add muscle as he matures.
All these players most likely will spend at least two seasons playing for the Guardians’ two teams in the Dominican Summer League, where daily instruction is regarded as much more important than won-loss results.
