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CLEVELAND, Ohio — The defining Game 7 matchup between the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners offers plenty of drama for neutral baseball fans. For Cleveland supporters, however, it is about to deliver something else entirely – a painful glimpse at what might have been. As the ALCS reaches its climax, former Guardians populate both dugouts in crucial roles, turning what could be an exciting elimination game into a bittersweet experience for Cleveland fans watching familiar faces chase a World Series berth in different uniforms. “This time around, the Guardians fans will have a little bit more of a rooting interest with Shane Bieber on the mound,” noted Joe Noga, cleveland.com Guardians beat reporter, highlighting the awkward position Cleveland fans find themselves in – rooting for beloved former players they no longer get to claim as their own. The star-studded list of ex-Guardians making an impact in the ALCS is remarkable. Shane Bieber, the former Cleveland ace who was traded mid-season, takes the mound for Toronto in a decisive Game 7. Josh Naylor, once a fan favorite for the Guardians, continued his playoff power surge for the Mariners. “Naylor hit a home run Friday. He’s having a great series,” observed Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com’s veteran Guardians beat reporter. “And Ernie Clement just doesn’t stop hitting.” The contributions didn’t stop there. Andrés Giménez, Myles Straw, and even former Cleveland farmhand Nathan Lukes have made their presence felt throughout the series for Toronto. Lukes, who never reached the majors with Cleveland before being traded to Tampa Bay for Brandon Guyer, has hit an impressive .343 in the ALCS. What makes the situation particularly poignant is the collective impact these former Cleveland players have made on baseball’s biggest stage – the kind of impact Guardians fans hoped they might make while wearing Cleveland uniforms. More Guardians coverage Could Craig Albernaz go from Guardians coach to manager of a division rival? Baseball, Salary Cap & Money: Will they ever get it right? — Terry Pluto Shohei Ohtani makes history and he makes it look easy: The week in baseball “Cleveland has been well represented in this ALCS,” Hoynes noted, before Noga delivered the painful follow-up: “Just not representing Cleveland. And that’s sort of the problem.” The Shane Bieber situation exemplifies the complicated emotions. When Bieber began his injury rehabilitation earlier this season, few could have imagined he’d be starting Game 7 of the ALCS for another organization. While Cleveland received promising young pitcher Khal Stephen in return, watching Bieber potentially pitch Toronto into the World Series undoubtedly stirs mixed feelings. For a franchise that has consistently developed elite talent only to see much of it flourish elsewhere due to financial constraints or organizational decisions, the 2025 ALCS serves as yet another reminder of baseball’s harsh economic realities. The Guardians have mastered the art of identifying and developing talent, but keeping that talent together long enough to achieve postseason glory has proven more challenging. As Cleveland fans watch Bieber, Naylor, Clement and others chase a pennant, they can’t help but wonder: What if these players were still wearing Guardians uniforms? Could Cleveland have been the team battling in October instead of watching former stars do so for other organizations? The question lingers uncomfortably, even as Cleveland continues its cycle of developing the next wave of talent that may someday star in someone else’s playoff run. Podcast transcript Joe Noga: Welcome back to the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. I’m Joe Noga, joined by Paul Hoynes. Hoynsie, it was a pretty good weekend. Had a chili cook off that I won. You know, my award winning chili got another trophy but still I didn’t have as good a weekend as Shohei Ohtani had. Ohtani leading the Dodgers back to the World Series with a three home run game and ten strikeout pitching performance. Everything that you’ve ever seen written about this guy and how good he is, it doesn’t do him enough justice after a performance like that. He was struggling. He was 1 for 26 in his previous, you know, at bats in the, in the postseason, you know, look lost at the plate, comes out there and hits a couple of 400 plus foot home runs and strikes out 10 batters in a game where the Dodgers clinch the National League championship. Just what more can you say about Shohei Otani and the effort that he put forth in the playoffs for the Dodgers? Paul Hoynes: Joe, this guy, I mean, I don’t know if we’ll ever see another player like this guy. I mean, I guess maybe this will, you know, his two way ability to pitch and hit will spark, you know, an outpouring of other two way players. But even if it does, will they be as good as he is? Will they get a chance that he’s gotten? Will Major League Baseball give them a chance to, you know, to really kind of take advantages of not just one part of his game, but all parts of his game? I mean it’s, it’s amazing to even think about it. This is a guy that, what is it, 50 home runs a season? You know, he really didn’t pitch that much this year because he was coming off Tommy John surgery. And then he has a, you know, the postseason game. Of all postseason games, you know, there’s no one that can even come close to this. I mean it’s, I mean it just, you know, it defies description. Joe Noga: Yeah. To have two players on your team, one that hits three home runs in a game and one that strikes out 10 batters in a game, to have two different players in the game, that’s something, you know, worth noting. The Dodgers have that in one player and he did it. He’s the first player to do so in a single game in the postseason ever. You know, the home runs were amazing enough. It almost looked like he was hitting him off a tee. The way that, that he launched them out of the ballpark, you know, 460 foot and nearly cleared it out of Dodger Stadium, that’s, that’s impressive in its own right. And then he goes up there and he’s throwing just ridiculous, filthy braking pitches and 100 mile an hour heaters. Yeah. You talk about how impressive it is that he can do, you know, both sides. But what’s impressive is that he’s doing it and, you know, they can’t stop him. They’ve got guys who are geared to, and whose only job it is to hit his pitching, hit pitching like that, and they can’t do it. And then on the other side, they’ve got guys who are geared to pitch to him and try to get him out, and they can’t get him out. I will never, we’ll never see somebody who is dominant on both sides the way that he is, I don’t think ever again. Paul Hoynes: Yeah. What did Mookie Betts say? He goes, we’re the Chicago Bill Bulls and he’s Michael Jordan. We’re just following him around. We’re just along for the ride. And, you know, that’s, that’s pretty much it. I mean, the exit velocity on his first two home runs, I think all three home runs was about 116 miles an hour. He hit one, the second home run out of the ballpark, over the roof at the pavilion at Dodger Stadium. And the third one was the run of the litter. I think ed only went 424ft. I mean, that’s it. What he does on the field is, is incredible. It’s, you know, it’s really, you know, you, you run out of words to say. You know, I remember reading a story about this college football writer that would, that, that watched Red Grange, this going way, way back. You know, Red Grange played for Illinois, and Red Grange was doing all sorts of things on the field. And, and finally the writer got up and goes, this is too big for me. I can’t write this. And he left the press box. And I think that’s pretty much sums up what Ohtani does. You know, he has the ability to do that almost every, in every game he plays. Joe Noga: Yeah, the, the Galloping Ghost. Red Grange. I like it. The fallback, I guess. Yeah. It’s almost like we’re sitting here talking in all this hyperbole and all this hype and everything, but when you see somebody who lives up to it when, when Shohei Ohtani signed a, a groundbreaking, you know, 700 million dollar contract, what, two years ago, and, and everybody, oh, this is ridiculous. These, these salaries are out of control. And this is, you know, there were all these Deferrals. And, you know, what’s this mean for baseball? At the time, $700 million sounded like a lot to be spending on one player. Shohei Otani is showing right now that $700 million might have been, you know, fair market or at least maybe even underpaying the guy. The Dodgers made back the, the balance of that contract just within the first two years of him after signing it in endorsements and, you know, dollars from the Japanese market, you know, that came into them. They’re, they’re able to do this because of the star power that he generates, but he’s able to generate that star power by being just the absolute best at everything that he’s doing. It’s kind of ridiculous. Paul Hoynes: Yeah. Joe, I remember the first time I saw Ohtani. It was in spring training with the Angels. The Indians at that time were in, in Tempe, Arizona, where the Angels home. And Corey Kluber at the, at the height of his powers, you know, was. Was pitching a game. And, and he made Ohtani look foolish. I mean, he, he struck him out a couple times. And, and you’re sitting there thinking, okay, you know, what, what’s the, what’s the big deal about this guy? But the next time they faced each other in, in, in spring training, I think Ohtani hit two home runs against them. So, you know, this is, this is a, this is a, this is the real deal here. I mean, and you saw that, you know, right away that this guy could adjust, that he, that he could adjust to big league pitching and that, you know, he wasn’t going to be intimidated. So, you know, that, that was, you know, that was a sign to me that, you know, we have, we’ve just seen the, you know, the, the, the tip of the iceberg with this guy, right? Joe Noga: And the physical gifts and the physical tools are there as well. You’re talking about a guy just coming off of Tommy John surgery. They did, they did take it slowly with him. Obviously. You got to be careful, but he’s already a guy who, at 6 foot 3, 210 pounds, can, can run the bases, you know, with the best of them in the major, can steal bases. He has, he’s had a, what, a 50, 50 season in stolen bases and home runs. And it’s the fact that, you know, if he played any other position beside pitcher, he’d do that well as well. You know, you could put him in the outfield, and he probably have the best arm in right field in major league baseball. So, you know, we’ve seen all Sorts of just amazing things. And it’s, it’s kind of fun to watch from, from sort of this perspective and you can understand why, you know, Major League Baseball, having Ohtani and the Dodgers in the World Series again this year, I mean, this is, this is big bucks for the, the league to have their best players on the biggest stage once again. And now we get to talk about who’s going to face Ohtani and the, the Dodgers in, in the, the Fall Classic. We get, we get the, the, the two best words in baseball, really, in any sport, but particularly in baseball, because the games are so amazing. Game seven, the two best words in baseball. And this time around, the Guardians fans will have a little bit more of a rooting interest as the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALCS have Shane Bieber on the mound going against the Seattle Mariners. This has been a really fun series to watch, both teams going back and forth. A really evenly matched series. You know, what have you seen just in the games over the weekend with Seattle getting the win and taking a three games to two lead, and then the Blue Jays last night with their backs against the wall coming out and doing what they did to even the series in force of game seven. Paul Hoynes: This is really, really, really a competitive series to between two evenly matched teams. The NLCS was kind of a runaway, Joe, between Milwaukee and the Dodgers. But this is, you know, this is, it doesn’t get any better when you go to a game seven and you know, just, you know, this is, this is, you know, this is what you dream about, I guess, as you, if you’re a player, you know, and you want to get to game seven, you want to be there with, when everything is on the line and you know, every, every play you make, every swing you make, every pitch you make, you know, there’s an added emphasis to it. Just, you know, really a great environment. And you know, you love the way the, the, the Blue Jays bounced back last night. I mean, you know, Guerrero’s just having a, an unbelievable series. But Naylor, Josh Naylor answered. He hit a home run. He’s having a great series. And then our buddy Ernie Clement. Yeah, Ernie Clement just doesn’t stop hitting. Joey had two, two more hits. Yes. Last night he’s hitting.447. Jimenez is playing well, just, just really a great series. And now, you know, we get to see Shane Bieber on the mound for game seven, uh, tonight. And Joe, when, when Bieber started this season, you know, and the Guardians, you know, when he started his rehab this season, do you ever think he imagined being on. On the mound in Game seven with a chance to go to the World Series and not be with the Indy of the Guardians. Joe Noga: Yeah, no, I. In here, I can’t put my. Myself in his shoes and sort of imagine what he was picturing. But I think from the Guardians perspective, I think maybe there was a strong possibility that Shane Bieber would be pitching for a contender at some point in October, whether it was the Guardians or another team. But Game 7 of the ALCS, certainly a long road for him to get to. We sort of saw the backstory of all of that all through the season as we kept giving updates on his progress and his setbacks and everything that he had to go through. I think to get Shane Bieber to this point was something that all interested parties are happy to see, even the Guardians, because, you know, they got a return on that investment in Cal Stefan. There’s a good prospect and a good potential starter waiting in the wing some at some point down the line for Cleveland. And. And you just knew that Shane Bieber was going to pitch himself into a position like this where now as a free agent after the season, he’s going to be able to command, you know, pretty much top market dollar there and, and choose where he wants to go, whether it’s to stay in Toronto or to move on. So hopefully for Shane Bieber, he gets to go out there and, you know, put his best foot forward in that regard. You know, you sort of touched on a few of them. But, you know, just what have you thought of the Guardians, the. The ex Guardians players that have performed in this series? I think Naylor’s done pretty well for himself as well. Paul Hoynes: Yeah, Naylor’s hitting.341. He’s got two home runs in the series. You know, Nathan Lukes from Toronto, former Guardians farm hand that we really never got to see in the big league level, but he was traded to Tampa Bay for Brandon Guyer. This guy had two hits last night, Joe. He’s hitting.343. I mean, and then, you know, Jimenez has done a good job. 243. He’s hit a couple home runs, big home runs when they needed it. Miles Straw has gotten in there and played some good defense. Just. Yeah, Cleveland has been well represented in this. In this alcs. Joe Noga: Yeah, just. Just not representing Cleveland. And that’s sort of the problem. And, you know, we’ll. We’ll see how that moves forward. All right. I want to shift our focus here to the ongoing managerial searches in Major League Baseball. There are a few of them out there. Hoinse, you wrote about over the last week or so the potential of the Guardian’s executive vice president, Matt Foreman interviewing in Colorado for their GM job. What’s the latest on any of that and if that’s going to impact Colorado’s search for a manager and how that could line up with Cleveland? Paul Hoynes: Yeah, Joe, I mean, they had, you know, they fired their, their, you know, former, you know, director of baseball operations at the end of the season. You know, the Rockies had the worst record in the big leagues. They haven’t had a winning season since 2018. Foreman, Matt Foreman with, you know, in the Guardians front office is interviewed for that job. If and if he gets it, you know, it would be his pick, from what I’ve read, at least from what I understand, you know, to pick his own manager. You know, Warren Shafer is the interim manager right now, replaced Buddy Black during the season. So, you know, interesting situation there and it should be decided this week. Joe, that’s what it sounds like. There’s, there’s, I think Foreman is one of three finalists and we, at least Iraqis, I think, would like to get this done by the end of the week or in the near future, at least before get, get things settled before the GM meetings in November. Joe Noga: Yeah, that would be ideal to have. You know, maybe a lot of the managerial searchers are probably thinking along that same line to get guys in place before those GM meetings. So we might see some movement here in the next week or so, depending on how many contenders there are associated with the Dodgers and Blue Jays staffs or Mariner staffs as well. The one managerial spot that we have heard is getting close to being finalized, could be announced soon would be the Giants, who are close to naming a University of Tennessee coach, Tony Vitello, as their, their manager. According to a bunch of reports that we saw over the weekend. That was a spot that Craig Alburnez, you know, was, was maybe rumored for, would have been a good fit for because of his experience with the ball club. But, you know, perhaps Alberto winds up in Colorado if Foreman winds up there still, what do you put the chances that Craig Albernas could wind up as a manager somewhere in this hiring cycle before the start of the 2026 season. Paul Hoynes: Just based on the interest he drew last year from the White Sox and Marlins? Joe, I think there’s a good chance, you know, it’s up to Alby if he wants to go. You know, I think that was the case last year, probably is the case again this year. But you Know, I’m thinking, what about the Twins? That’s kind of an interesting situation. You know, you’ve got some Cleveland connections in that front office. That would be, that would be interesting. You know, I know a bunch of people have already interviewed there. I don’t know if Alby has. But yeah, I would think his chances with what, at least seven, seven or eight, you know, teams looking for managers. I guess seven now you know that he would definitely draw some consideration. Joe Noga: Right. Texas named Skip Schumacher their, their manager. So that takes them out of the, out of the picture. But yeah, I, the, the Twins is an intriguing one. You know, we learned about that during the uh, the later part of and of the postseason run there for the Guardians. And, and we immediately thought to ourselves, huh, you know, it’d be kind of awkward and weird to look across the diamond 13 times a year to see Alby in the dugout over there. But yeah, I, I don’t know if he’s interviewed there. I don’t know what the fit would be like. And, and I’ve heard that there are internal candidates possibly that, that are, are, you know, high on their list as well. But you know, it would be, it turns it into the, the AL Central. You, you know, have, you have Q in, in Kansas City Macataro and then you would have Alby. Both guys would be associated at some point with Cleveland in their, in their past. So could be fun to have, uh, have that. But uh, who knows? Uh, all we know right now is that uh, the closer we get to those GM meetings, uh, the, the more likely some of these managerial spots are going to be filled. I still think, you know, Baltimore might be a good fit for, for Alby if there were any interest on, on their part there just based on his sort of east coast. And you know, the, the Nationals as well, they have an opening over there in Washington D.C. so definitely stuff to keep an eye on. Finally, Hoinse, anything. Have we heard anything, any movement on the Luis Ortiz Emmanuel Classe investigation? I know there was a change in the status of both of those players recently. Paul Hoynes: Yeah, Joe, just a bit of an update. There’s no breaking news but you know, during the season while starting in July, both of them were put on non disciplinary paid leave based on an agreement by Major League Baseball and the Players Association. But the end of the regular season, you know, they are players, they are no longer getting paid because players, all players only get paid, you know, from the start of the season to the end of the regular season. So now you know that, so that designation has been taken away from Ortiz and Class A and now they’re simply on the restricted list. Restricted list means they are not counted on the 40 man roster. And in their case, their particular case, they cannot be traded. Joe Noga: Right. So it’s more of like an extension of that limbo state for. Right, for these guys. It’s. They. And particularly for Ortiz, who’s not under contract right now. You know, Class A has a year on his contract, plus option years that have buyout clauses in them. They’re still remaining. But Ortiz was just working on a, you know, the major league contract, which is a year to year thing. He still had several years of team control remaining, but right now he’s sort of like a guy without, he’s a, he’s a man without a country, basically. Paul Hoynes: Yeah. And they, you know, they, they were denied the permission to play in the winter league in their native Dominican Republic. So I’m not sure what those guys are doing. So they’re. They, both of them are in limbo, Joe. That’s a good way to put it. Joe Noga: Yeah. So that’s the latest that we’ve sort of ascertained for Class A and Ortiz. We will be back the remainder of this week as we follow along the ALCS and get ready for the World Series and maybe some, some surprises along the way. Hoynsia is going to wrap up today’s edition of the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast. We’ll check in with you on Tuesday. Paul Hoynes: Good deal, Joe.
