Terry Francona, Steven Kwan are award finalists

Award nominee season is now in full swing as the finalists for the BBWAA Awards were announced live on MLB Network last night. As you may expect, a few of them included Guardians players and managers.

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Cleveland Guardians news

Kwan, Francona finalists for AL ROY, MOY awards | MLB
No surprise here — one of the many young rookies on the Guardians and the manager that led them all are both up for awards. Steven Kwan is a finalist for Rookie of the Year alongside Adley Rutschman and Julio Rodriguez, while Terry Francona joins Brandon Hyde and Scott Servais on the Manager of the Year ballot.

If Kwan can pull off the upset over Julio Rodriguez, he’d be Cleveland’s first Rookie of the Year since Sandy Alomar Jr. in 1990. Francona has already won two Manager of the Year Awards with Cleveland (2013 and 2016) and could be seen as the favorite to win again this year.

Cleveland Indians legend Albert Belle on ballot for Baseball Hall of Fame’s contemporary era committee | WKYC
Albert Belle is among the eight players to be considered by the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee (formerly the Veteran’s Committee), to be voted on during the Winter Meetings next month. The committee will decide if players who were left off the BBWAA Hall of Fame voting will still be inducted. Most of the list is, unsurprisingly, steroid users who had the numbers to get in but were tainted by their decision to use performance-enhancing drugs.

One notable exception on this list is Kenny Lofton, who was unceremoniously dropped off the BBWAA ballot in 2013 after receiving just 3.2% of the vote. Unlike many steroid users who never reach enshrinement because BBWAA writers see them as cheaters, Lofton’s low vote totals are often attributed to the fact that he wasn’t nice enough to reporters during his 18-year career. Totally normal and good system.

Triple-A award winners and All-Stars | MiLB
Guardians Triple-A prospects didn’t take home any awards, but catcher Bo Naylor and outfielder Will Benson were both named to the International League All-Star team as voted on by league managers.

What Flaws Must the Guardians Improve? | Everyone Hates Cleveland

The Guardians are rich with postseason sellout cash, a top three minor league system in all of baseball, and a number of players on absurdly below market deals. The team has to attack roster’s offensive limitations. First base/DH, catcher, and center field are where Antonetti and company have to start.

From an A+++++++ to an F-minus: Grading bold season predictions for all 30 MLB teams | ESPN ($$)
If you hadn’t already seen it, David Schoenfield’s bold prediction for the Guardians heading into 2022 came true down to the last detail. It was actually kind of remarkable. He takes a well-deserved victory lap in this ESPN+ article.

Around the league

• MLB announced the BBWAA Award finalists.
• Anthony Rizzo opts out of Yankees deal, becomes a free agent.
• Xander Bogaerts will be an interesting free agent.
• The Angels insist they aren’t trading Shohei Ohtani.
• Next year’s MLB Draft will be the first to include a lottery.
• Edwin Díaz signed a massive deal to stay with the Mets.
• The Phillies declined Jean Segura’s option.
• Dusty Baker finally won it all as a manager.
• The Red Sox declined James Paxton’s option.