The Cleveland Guardians' shortstop battle is heating up but not the was fans may have envisioned it. The organization has plenty of candidates to start up the middle of the infield with Andrés Giménez, but none of them have separated themselves.
Both manager Stephen Vogt and President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti spoke about the situation and it's clear many unknowns still conclusions lie ahead for the front office.
"Kind of where we were a few weeks ago," admitted Vogt when asked about the status of the shortstop batle. "There's a number of guys that we've played there. You think of [Brayan Rocchio], [Gabriel Arias], [Tyler Freeman], [José Tena], [Angel Martínez]. All five of these guys have seen some time there. Then [Daniel Schneemann] as well has played some shortstop very well. Six guys that have shown well in camp."
It's easy to immediately point to the spring training stats and determine who should have priority over another. However, Vogt made it clear that's only one small piece of the overall picture.
"We're not just evaluating them in the game. The way all of these guys have been attacking their practice is really telling of their talent level as well."
Vogt's response to the void in the infield is one of optimism and excitement for whatever possibility plays out. That's the best mindset to have from his perspective. However, Antonetti provides a more business-like response to the middle infield dilemma.
"The nature of it is, as we approach Opening Day, we're going to have some tough decisions to make ... that's natural for this time of year," said Antonetti. "What we're hopeful is, as Stephen mentioned, is that each of those guys are all young players and [they] continue to put in the work every day to continue to get better and improve. That's all they can control and in the end, we're going to have to make a decision."
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