Chris Antonetti explains why the Cleveland Guardians held onto Amed Rosario for so long.
Gabriel Arias and Tyler Freeman are currently with the Big League club. Brayan Rocchio is raking at Triple-A. Jose Tena, Juan Brito, and Angel Martinez are making a name for themselves at Double-A with the Rubber Ducks.
All of those players are middle infielders who were being blocked by Amed Rosario who's manned shortstop for the last two and a half years.
There's no denying that Rosario had his positive moments with the Guardians. He hit .278/.314/.397 during his tenure and was continuously a reliable bat in the hot summer months. However, Rosario became a defensive liability and his bat was streaky at best in 2023.
A change felt inevitable, but why did the organization wait so long to hand the keys over to Arias and Freeman?
Chris Antonetti touched on this following the trade saying:
It's a long answer, but it appears it's what was suspected all along. The team was waiting for Rosario to heat up on offense consistently and improve on defense, but neither of those things happened.
It's been a long time coming, but we're finally going to get to see what the young infielders have in them and Rosario can help the Dodgers reach yet another postseason.!
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