Cleveland Baseball Insider

Questions Still Remain On The Guardians Roster

The Cleveland Guardians still need to make decisions with their final outfield and catcher spots.

Tommy Wild

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Opening Day is not even a week away at this point. Spring Training has flown by and it's time to get the season officially kicked off! While the roster is just about finalized for the Cleveland Guardians first game against the Seattle Mariners, there are still a few spots that need to get figured out.

Outfield Vacancy

Steven Kwan, Myles Straw, Oscar Gonzalez, and Will Brennan have already been confirmed to be on the Opening Day roster. However, that leaves room for one more player to get the nod.

As much as I'd love to see Goerge Valera make the team, that's not happening with him already being optioned to Triple-A to start the season. The two players that are fighting for the final spot of Roman Quinn and Richie Palacios.

Palacios was with the Guardians in 2022 and went up and down from the Majors and the Minors. He ended up appearing in 54 games and had a batting average of .232 and 10 RBI. If the Guardians still think that Palacios can develop into a solid bench piece then that's who they'll go with.

If Cleveland would rather have a veteran on the bench then Quinn is who they'll give the roster spot to. He started off the spring red hot but has cooled off quite a bit since then. Still, he's a reliable defensive outfield who won't need to get consistent playing time to make an impact.

The one issue here is that the Guardians would have to clear a spot on the 40-man roster if they want to sign him.

Backup Catcher

Mike Zunino will be the number-one catcher when the season gets going and Bo Naylor will start the season in Columbus. This means the Guardians will need to use one of their open roster spots on another backstop.

The most likely candidate is Cam Gallagher who's received plenty of playing time there this spring and has looked solid as a defensive catcher. The other option the Guardians have is Meibrys Viloria who's been fantastic at the plate in the four games he's played in. (Meibrys was absent from camp to compete in the World Baseball Classic.)

Gallagher has to be the front-runner, but the team must be considering Meibrys with them still not making a decision. 

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Cover Photo Credit: © Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

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Tommy Wild
TOMMY WILD

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