The Cleveland Guardians are, believe it or not, one of the deepest teams in baseball when it comes to position players.
We are talking about their entire pool of quality hitters across their entire organization, not just MLB.
If there is a position in which they don’t have many upper-minors alternatives, however, it’s the outfield.
Besides Chase DeLauter, most of their outfield talent is in the low minors with the likes of Jaison Chourio, Alfonsín Rosario, and Esteban Gonzalez.
Gonzalez is not as highly regarded as the first two, but you can’t argue with the numbers and the fact he works very hard on his game.
It’s not the first time we write about Gonzalez working on his game during the off-season, and there is a chance it won’t be the last.
“Cleveland #Guardians 21yr old OF prospect Esteban Gonzalez getting some off-season cage work in. Gonzalez hit .271 with 35 XBH and 41 SB to go along with a 120 wRC+ over 97 games between (Low-A) Lynchburg and (High-A) Lake County in 2024,” Guardians Prospective posted on X.
Cleveland #Guardians 21yr old OF prospect Esteban Gonzalez getting some off-season cage work in.
Gonzalez hit .271 with 35 XBH and 41 SB to go along with a 120 wRC+ over 97 games between (Low-A) Lynchburg and (High-A) Lake County in 2024.#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/7Yb2h5Cb32
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) January 3, 2025
There are a few facts worth pointing out.
The first one is that Gonzalez is very good and, at 21, still has time on his side.
The second one is that while he cleared Single-A with a 135 wRC+ in 69 games, he is yet to master High-A, as he finished with a 81 wRC+ in 28 games.
He is working hard on his swing to try and increase his power and hard contact rate.
He knows that if he masters High-A in 2025, the doors of the upper minors will start to open for him.
From there, anything can happen.
NEXT: Guardians Infielder Keeps Impressing With The Bat In Winter Ball
