News and Notes: Triston McKenzie’s Elbow Feels Good

News and Notes for Monday, January 22nd, 2024

We got some interviews with players and coaches from Guards Fest!

Paul Hoynes from Cleveland.com had an article on Stephen Vogt and on Josh Naylor’s comments about a potential extension, and Mandy Bell added an article of three biggest takeaways from Guards Fest. Zack Meisel added some more context of the potential impact of Austin Hedges, glowing comments from manager Stephen Vogt on Estevan Florial, and other notes, including that Triston McKenzie has been throwing a good bit and says his elbow feels good.

Make sure to check out the Guardians Weekly podcast with Jim Rosenhaus where you can hear interviews with bench coach Craig Albernaz, manager Stephen Vogt, and players like Sam Hentges and Tanner Bibee. I just noticed that last week they released an episode interviewing field coordinator Kai Correa, as well, which I’m looking forward to hearing.

A short interview with Guardians’ owner Paul Dolan popped up on Twitter, making it clear that any additional free agents coming to Cleveland isn’t a likely proposition:

I went to Guards Fest with my soon-to-be five-year old son, and it was a very nice event. Staff were very kind this year about allowing kids to ask players for autographs outside of the paid autograph sessions, and everyone seemed a lot more kind, in general, this year than last year, which seemed to have a more abrupt pace. I think there were fewer attendees this year, so that may have helped slow a frantic pace.

I did get to hear a little of president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff interviewed, and both made it clear that the mantra is “seeing what their young hitters can do.” Chernoff even mentioned “not wanting to block” the young talent they have coming up, referencing how they felt about the roster entering the 2022 season. In my humble opinion, this is the company line they have chosen to cover for the fact that Dolan and group have given them a directive to keep the payroll right around $100 million. But, at this point, all I can do is hope that Cleveland’s young infielders and outfielders impress and surprise.

The Guardians announced a list of 12 players not on their 40-man roster who have been invited to major league camp for spring training. No surprises here: