Cleveland DFA's Triston McKenzie

     I don't write often about baseball anymore, but one of my favorite people whom I met when traveling to minor league baseball games and autographing was Cleveland pitcher Triston McKenzie.

I never saw McKenzie be rude to anyone, signed when asked, and was very kind to anyone who spoke to him.

I always collected variations and oddball items of McKenzie because he made it so easy to be a fan of his.

Once I tweeted to him that I had a few cards for him to sign and would give him a few unique ones before a game in Harrisburg.

McKenzie saw me that night and grinned, saying, "Oh, you're the guy trying to buy me off" as he took the Sharpie and signed what I had for him.

I bought the low-number Heritage inserts with a nickel and a quarter coin cards from 1968, the season in which that year's Heritage sets were based.

I had Triston sign one of them in person, and he commented that he had never seen one.

A few weeks passed, the other coin card arrived, but Triston's team at the time (Akron Rubber Ducks)
wasn't returning to Harrisburg, so I sent it to Brett Shaw in Altoona, who was hosting Akron before the season concluded.

Brett told me that when Triston signed the card, he said, "I've only ever seen one of these before," with Brett responding, "In Harrisburg".

Triston replied, "Yeah, I think so." Brett's response? "Yep, this is for the same guy!"

That's why I was disappointed to see McKenzie's struggles and the Guardians designating him for assignment.

McKenzie was the team's first-round pick in the 2015 draft and struck out ten batters in his 2020 debut.

McKenzie finished 2022 with an 11-11 record with a 2.91 ERA in thirty starts, striking out 190 batters in 191 innings, and was mentioned by many as a potential top-of-the-rotation star for 2023.

McKenzie would struggle with shoulder and elbow problems in 2023, pitching only sixteen innings as he decided against Tommy John surgery and tried to fix the problems through rest and rehab.

McKenzie struck out seventy-four batters in seventy-five innings last season, but his ERA was over five, and he rarely threw the curveball and slider that helped make him so effective in 2022.

McKenzie's velocity is reported to be improved this season, but he's still reluctant to throw anything else. In four appearances (5.2 innings) from the bullpen this season, he allowed seven runs and walked seven.

The DFA designation means Cleveland has seven days to trade McKenzie, place him on waivers, if a team is willing to pick up McKenzie's contract, and should he clear waivers, Cleveland could then send him to the minors, most likely AAA Columbus, but possibly AA Akron.

Editor's Note: McKenzie did clear waivers after I wrote this piece and was assigned to AAA Columbus.

While I'd rather McKenzie stick with the Guardians and try revitalizing his career, he might be better suited to a new organization that could bring a new philosophy or direction to his game.

No matter how his career plays out, I'll always think fondly of McKenzie. He seems like a person who is more than baseball and one who is more accommodating than most athletes to the fans who help them earn a lucrative livelihood.

Indians to Guardians

     As I catch up from my weekend, another change occurred besides the Devils drafting of Luke Hughes as the Cleveland Indians announced their decision on what nickname would represent the baseball team by Lake Erie for the 2022 season and thereafter.

The decision to change the Indians nickname to the Cleveland Guardians was one that was destined to take place eventually and even though Rob Manfred had stated that the Indians name was safe when the team agreed to whack the logo of Chief Wahoo, Manfred's word wasn't enough to stop the momentum against the name change.

As a longtime traditionalist, it bothers me that the name Indians is no longer going to be used.

As a realist, while I had hoped that the elimination of Chief Wahoo would be enough to satisfy the wave against the name change, I thought the name would eventually have to be changed.

While I'll miss the name, I do understand why some were offended and there is a certain sense of relief that the constant drumbeat (pun intended) of protests and complaints can move south to Atlanta or west to Kansas City to complain about their team nicknames.

The Guardians name doesn't do much to move the needle for me as the new nickname.

Named after the "Art Deco" style statues that reside on the Hope Memorial Bridge, Guardians isn't a terrible name, it's just a boring one.

There wasn't exactly a barrel filled with names that would have been excellent choices ( I liked Spiders and Commodores as my favorites) and the choice of the Guardians isn't the worst option that could have been chosen, that I would give that honor to Rockers, which was a name that people outside the Cleveland area seemed to like but very few in the area thought of it as highly.

Guardians didn't rank very highly on my list for nicknames but what doesn't help with the name is the very small tweaks to the already boring "Block C", the logo that looks very minor league (A G gripping a baseball), and an all-around dull looking set of uniforms and font.

Plus Guardians doesn't work very well to the inevitable shortening by media and marketing (The Guard?) and comes up short in that department.

Look, I don't hate Guardians so much that I despise it, but it's average at best, I'm really not happy with basically the same crappy Block C, and the nickname sounds like an arena football league franchise more than a major league baseball team, but I'm glad that the situation is finally finished.

As much as I miss Chief Wahoo for the memories of childhood and I'll likely still call the team the Indians forever as I'm the same guy that still calls the Washington Wizards "Bullets" years after their name change but as blah, as Guardians are as a nickname, I'll get used to it and will survive! Ha Ha!

Back later with the beginning of NHL free agency and what appears to be a surprising addition for the New Jersey Devils.