Guardians Star Reliever Praises Team's Player Development Skills

The Cleveland Guardians have an established modus operandi: they rarely sign big free agents and while they are open to big-money extensions, they don’t happen every day.

What they do is spot talent and develop it like very few other teams in the league, especially on the pitching side.

This past season, they fielded the best bullpen in baseball by a considerable margin, and most of the guys on it are what you call ‘homegrown’, or developed by themselves: Cade Smith, Tim Herrin, Hunter Gaddis, Erik Sabrowski, Andrew Walters, and many others.

They even traded for Emmanuel Clase when he was very young and inexperienced.

They know when a player has potential, and give them the tools to develop and reach it.

Herrin spoke about the team’s ability to develop its own stars and his own experience working with the organization.

“I wasn’t an early draft pick by any means. I was kind of a later round guy, but they took the time to develop me. They saw something and they were able to get the best out of me.” When it comes to developing prospects, each player in the Guardians organization is valued equally, and it’s one of the many things that stood out to Tim Herrin during his time in the minor leagues,” GuardsInsider posted on X.

“I wasn’t an early draft pick by any means. I was kind of a later round guy, but they took the time to develop me. They saw something and they were able to get the best out of me.”

When it comes to developing prospects, each player in the Guardians organization is valued… pic.twitter.com/ubYhwQ3ccO

— GuardsInsider (@GuardsInsider) November 19, 2024