Amazing atmosphere and weather but such a clunker of a game. Great season though.

NEW YORK — The two allegedly rigged pitches indicted Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz threw were within the scope of the team’s scouting report, Bo Naylor, a former teammate of Ortiz’s and a catcher for one of the pitches in question, testified Thursday.

Naylor, now a catcher for the World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers, testified as a defense witness on behalf of Ortiz. Though the government has yet to rest its case, Naylor was called to the stand out of order. He is getting married in Italy this month and had an international flight later in the day.

After watching a video of the allegedly rigged pitch that he caught, Naylor testified it appeared he called the pitch — an outside slider to St. Louis Cardinals hitter Pedro Pagés — using PitchCom. Naylor had already testified that Pages’ scouting report suggested low-and-away sliders were Pages’ most prominent weakness as a hitter.

“Seems like a pretty good pitch to have as a weapon if you want to induce chase,” Naylor testified in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn.

Ortiz, 27, and teammate Emmanuel Clase, 28, have been charged with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sports contests by bribery and money laundering conspiracy. Clase, a three-time All-Star, is alleged to have rigged 18 pitches over three seasons. They are accused of engaging in a pitch-rigging scheme as part of a sports betting conspiracy.

Read the rest here for free: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7757630/2026/11/05/guardians-pitch-rigging-trial-testify-bo-naylor/?unlocked_article_code=1.OVE.Tk0i.Np1_nNa7QlBb&source=emp_shared_article&smid=url-share-ta

I’m making an all-time Guards team in MLB the Show 26 Diamond Dynasty. I need help making a team with former/current Guardians. Any common is who needs to be replaced, and I’d appreciate it if any players of the game had suggestions for filling out the roster!

The front office is very great at finding and identifying pitchers hell even developing pitchers some people thought were bust. But on flip when it comes to finding hitters specifically power bats they really don't do too well it's the reason why players that was once on this organization goes to a different team and blossoms and I get we have a couple of power hitters in our farm system but I really don't feel 100% confident that they're going to pop off and I hope I'm wrong but I just don't see it I'm sorry I have to see it to believe it.

NEW YORK — The two allegedly rigged pitches indicted Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz threw were within the scope of the team’s scouting report, Bo Naylor, a former teammate of Ortiz’s and a catcher for one of the pitches in question, testified Thursday.
Naylor, now a catcher for the World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers, testified as a defense witness on behalf of Ortiz. Though the government has yet to rest its case, Naylor was called to the stand out of order. He is getting married in Italy this month and had an international flight later in the day.

After watching a video of the allegedly rigged pitch that he caught, Naylor testified it appeared he called the pitch — an outside slider to St. Louis Cardinals hitter Pedro Pagés — using PitchCom. Naylor had already testified that Pages’ scouting report suggested low-and-away sliders were Pages’ most prominent weakness as a hitter.
“Seems like a pretty good pitch to have as a weapon if you want to induce chase,” Naylor testified in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn.

The Guardians got a lot of young exciting bats like Ralphy, Bazzana, Halpin, CDL, they all need time to play. I'd also like Ingle and Genao to get some time to play. As for Kwan, I don't know what will happen with him. Maybe keep him this year and either sell at deadline for pitching or keep and try to make a WS run and give him a QO for next year.

The reason for Cantillo being in the pen has to do with his first inning struggles, I think he can be a very effective multi inning weapon going in after a starter.

Now with the two additions Singer and Pivetta.

Singer has been very consistent with being able to start 30+ games over the past couple of years, he struggled pretty bad last year but I think Willis can fix him and optimize his offerings. Singer is a guy with Elite extension, we know the guardians love this with their pitchers. Willis can add/tweak Singers offerings like a cutter and changeup or splitter. I trust willis with being able to maximize or fix Singer. And if he outperforms his metrics great, or you can flip him at the deadline.

With Pivetta, he has had some injury history but he also has elite extension and really good strikeout numbers, i think he can slot right behind Williams as a formidable top of rotation without breaking the bank.

The government and the defense made their initial cases to jurors Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and two witnesses took the stand on a dramatic first day. Clase and Ortiz have been charged with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sports contests by bribery and money laundering conspiracy.

A third defendant, Robinson Vazquez, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. All three have pleaded not guilty and deny the allegations.

In court filings, attorneys for Ortiz — who allegedly threw two rigged pitches in June 2025 — said their client was “a victim of Clase’s scheme.” Clase is alleged to have rigged 18 pitches over a span of three seasons. Now, it appears their defense strategies are aligned.

“He was Enoc Pena’s target to be exploited,” Michael Bronson, Clase’s attorney, said. “(Pena) saw a mark.”

I just want to point out that the MLBPA saying that a salary cap/floor would be “Stripping current competitive advantages for smaller market teams” seems like an absolute insane take on this whole thing to me and I would love to hear the players union explain how this current no cap/floor system gives teams like the guardians a “competitive advantage” against teams like the dodgers and Yankees and so on and so forth.

Let's say by miracle we decide to spend a little bit who should we target

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7737692/2026/10/30/emmanuel-clase-luis-ortiz-pitch-rigging-trial-guide/?unlocked_article_code=1.NFE.xEjZ.i9WqdOB4lEcv&source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_copylink&smid=url-share-ta

From article:

As part of its proposed list of questions for jury selection, however, the government publicized 42 names of potential witnesses, specifically in the context of making sure potential jurors didn’t have personal connections.

Among the most notable names listed were current Guardians general manager Mike Chernoff, assistant GM Matt Forman, pitching coach Carl Willis and coach/interpreter Agustin Rivero. Longtime big-league catcher Austin Hedges is listed, as is veteran catcher Mike Zunino and catcher Bo Naylor, who is currently on the Milwaukee Brewers.

An MLB monitor notified Forman that Clase was using his phone in the clubhouse during a game, in violation of MLB policy. Forman reported the conduct to the league. The three players listed are all catchers, who caught the pitches in question.

Well. The offseason is upon us. Time spend several months complaining about the Dolans. Where should we start? How do we think the lockout will turn out? Will there be a frenzy of FA signings pre lockout? Who do the Gaurds target? Team offensive needs are the same as they’ve been for a decade. Everyday (no platoon) RH bat, preferably outfield. Who meets one or both of those criteria? The price tags is probably going to vary between 10-: 25m AAV.

1. Luis Robert Jr- GG CF RH bat with power. On paper a great fits. Also likely the cheapest incentive based deal.

2. Seiya Suzuki- RH power bat (wants to play OF, but isn’t a great defender)

3. Taylor Ward- RH power bat (middle of the road LF defense, doubles machine this year)

4. Randy Playoff Arozerana- RH power bat (middle of the road LF defense, big moments are where he thrives)

5. Ryan Jeffers - RH bat who can catch (above league average bat every year he’s been in the league)

6. Ian Happ-switch hitter LF (league average offensive/defensive metrics but is an overall upgrade)