CLEVELAND, OHIO – SEPTEMBER 04: Austin Hedges #17 of the Cleveland Guardians talks with Adam Frazier #26 of the Seattle Mariners during a rain delay at Progressive Field on September 04, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
The Cleveland Guardians are the youngest team in baseball so nearly all of their team is set to return in 2023.
The Cleveland Guardians are the youngest team in baseball and they have surprised the baseball world (including me) throughout the season. They extended third baseman José Ramírez before the start of the season and, especially in the second half of the season, they proved that they can play with the big boys in the sport.
However, as with every team in the majors, there will at least be a little bit of turnover on their roster heading into the 2023 season.
Here are three Cleveland Guardians that won’t be returning to the club in 2023 and where they’ll go.
3 Guardians who won’t return and where they’ll go
1) Guardians catcher Austin Hedges – San Diego Padres
The Cleveland Guardians have not had much offense at all out of the catching position this year but they have had one of the best defensive catching corps in the sport.
Austin Hedges has been their primary catcher and in the regular season, he hit a paltry .163/.241/.248 with an OPS+ of 42, which was the worst among all Guardians players with at least 60 plate appearances.
They also have Bo Naylor, the younger brother of Guardians 1B/DH/OF Josh Naylor, who is their No. 5 overall prospect and MLB.com’s No. 75 prospect waiting in the wings. He spent most of the season at Triple-A but after just five MLB games this year, he is on their postseason roster as a third catcher since they pinch-hit for Hedges so frequently.
For next year, they will likely have Naylor be the primary catcher and veteran Luke Maile, who is a good defender that has a much better bat, to be the backup. They also have Bryan Lavastida (Cleveland’s No. 24 prospect) waiting in the wings at Triple-A (with a few MLB games played) as well.
A team like the Padres could use Hedges. The Padres are familiar with him since they drafted him and he spent parts of his first six seasons in the majors with them. This year, their catchers were fourth-worst in the sport in Defensive Runs Saved and in the bottom 10 in nearly other fielding metric.