The Guardians are finally calling up Kyle Manzardo, but it comes at the expense of Steven Kwan.

But, what does Kyle Manzardo bring to the Guardians? What does he do well and what should we expect from his skill set and tools?

I dive into that, discuss the return of George Valera, as well as another injury to Chase DeLauter.

Also get into observations on Trenton Denholm, CJ Kayfus, and Alex Mooney from my latest trip to Lake County.

I also cover Matt Wilkinson and Alex Clemmey in Lynchburg, as well as what to look for on the ACL Guardians club.

And finally, I talked about why I like the day two college pitching in the 2024 MLB Draft.

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Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/lKKGAcX-pn4

After a slow start, some Lynchburg Hillcats bats are catching fire.

Ralphy Velazquez, Jaison Chourio and Angel Genao are hitting everything in sight, which has promoted some talk about promotions.

But when is the right time to promote prospects up a level and what goes into that?

This episode ponders when those three will be promoted, and what has to happen for them to get to the next level.

Also discussed is the return of an injured pitching prospect, Guardians relief prospects that are surging and Kyle Manzardo's big weekend.

We wrap up this episode with part of an interview I did with Guardians 2023 pick Alex Mooney from Lake County over the weekend.

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The Lynchburg Hillcats will be must see-tv when it comes to the Cleveland Guardians farm system and prospects in 2024. Hillcats broadcaster and Cleveland native, Jason Prill, joins Guardians of the Future to talk about the exciting young Hillcats roster, some exciting insights into players like Jaison Chouio, Ralphy Velazquez, Alex Clemmey, Matt "The Tugboat" Wilkinson and Rafael Ramirez, and more.Jason also lets us know what's going to be going on in Lynhcburg this year in promos and new, great ways to watch and listen to the Hillcats this year! Subscribe to the newsletter: https://nextyearincleveland.substack.com/

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/siX4VfwDLpI

The Guardians of the Future podcast is back for the 2024 season!

The 2024 minor league season is sort of underway. The Columbus Clippers have a few games under their belt though mother nature is holding them back some, and Akron, Lake County and Lynchburg will all get started this week.

This week's episode looks at the most fun rosters in the Guardians system and thoughts on where certain prospects are starting.

How much will Ralphy Velazquez catch or play first? Why Lynchburg's roster is the most fun, and we look at the rotations and lineups throughout the system. We also look at the impact of major injuries to Daniel Espino, Joey Cantillo and Justin Campbell.

And at the end, we talk about how Braden Montgomery is putting himself into the 1.1 discussion quickly.

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Fresh off of a trip to Guardians spring training in Arizona and two days at the player development facility, here are my observations from the backfields of Guardians spring training and some prospects in big league camp as well.

Players and storylines discussed:

What has to happen for Chase DeLauter to debut in the majors

Angel Martinez's adjustments have him as a prospect to watch this spring

Deyvison De Los Santos is having a rough camp

How can Kyle Manzardo making the Opening Day roster?

Kahlil Watson in CF?

Rafael Ramirez Jr.'s exciting physical build

Alex Clemmey looks big and impressive

Injury updates on George Valera and Daniel Espino

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The 2024 D1 college baseball season starts Friday, February 16. And in case you haven't heard, the Cleveland Guardians are picking #1 overall in the 2024 MLB Draft.So we get the D1 college season talking 2024 MLB Draft with Willie Hood.

We talk about the Guardians strategy at 1-1, how to view early season college baseball performances, and of course the three impact bats at 1-1: JJ Weatherholt, Nick Kurtz, and Travis Bazzana.

We also dig into if any college arms that could force their way into the 1-1 conversation, if Jac Caglione has any chance, and our favorite lower round college bats.

Check the watch list: https://nextyearincleveland.substack.com/p/cleveland-guardians-mlb-draft-coverage

Watch and subscribe on YouTube: https://youtu.be/WA05AkQ8faM

It's been a busy offseason for Guardians pitching prospect Will Dion. He got married, spent some time working out with Driveline, and caught up on some of his favorite hobbies. He was nice enough to take a half hour of his time to talk to us this week about all of that, the change in his delivery away from the Clayton Kershaw motion late last year, getting closer to his major league debut, what he's working on and what he thinks of his teammates music choice.

Thanks to Will for making time for us on the podcast.Subscribe to the Next Year in Cleveland newsletter for more on Dion and other Guardians prospects heading into spring training: https://nextyearincleveland.substack.com/

Watch on YouTube and subscribe: https://youtu.be/ocq8LbQ9WLo

It's a new year, and it's a big year for the Cleveland Guardians farm system. Not only did they win the draft lottery to pick #1 in the 2024 MLB draft, but there are a number of prospects in the farm system who are down to their last option season, who are Rule 5 eligible coming in November that need a big year, and a number of big name prospects coming off of injured 2023 (and 2022 in some cases) seasons that need a big 2024. On the first 2024 episode of the Guardians of the Future podcast, we discuss all these names and storylines of who needs a big year and why. Subscribe to the newsletter: https://nextyearincleveland.substack.com/

Perhaps the biggest news of the baseball offseason for the Cleveland Guardians is winning the draft lottery for the 2024 draft, picking # 1 overall. On this episode of Guardians of the Future, Justin Lada is joined by Joe Werner (@ JoletinJoey on Twitter/X) of the self-published Prospect Digest Handbook to talk about the Guardians options at the #1 pick in 2024 as well as some historical looks at the draft for Cleveland and MLB in general. They also discuss the Guardians picking a lottery-type player in the Rule 5 draft in Deyvion De Los Santos.

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Follow Joe: https://twitter.com/JoltinJoey

https://www.amazon.com/2023-Prospect-Digest-Handbook/dp/B0BW38DFBY

Justin Lada and Willie Hood react live to the Guardians 40 man roster decisions ahead of the Rule 5 protection deadline on Nov. 14, 2023, running through who will or won't be added, the Cal Quantrill news and Daniel Espino and Cade Smith being added

The voice of Huntington Park and the Columbus Clippers, Matt Leinginger, joins the podcast to share what powers he does and doesn't have over the Columbus Clippers roster, working in minor league baseball and social media, why he's optimistic about Jhonkensy Noel, Angel Martinez, Kyle Manzardo, Cade Smith and others. And we also discuss what makes a good minor league ballpark experinece, and why he never settles for just good enough.

https://x.com/CLBClippers?s=20

https://www.tiktok.com/@clbclippers

https://www.milb.com/columbus/schedule/2024-04

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Subscribe and watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/heNIGFVAxYc