Guardians could have Franmil Reyes, Amed Rosario see time in corner outfield this spring

The current outlook for the Guardians' Opening Day outfield includes Myles Straw in center field and two giant question marks in left field and right field.

There are some internal options. There are some potential additions on the free agent and/or trade markets. And there is plenty to sort out.

Bradley Zimmer and Oscar Mercado are options who are both out of minor league options, meaning they'd have to first be exposed to waivers or be traded if the Guardians wanted them off the major league roster at any point. Manager Terry Francona noted on Friday that Mercado gained nearly 20 pounds over the offseason but hasn't seemed to lose any of his speed in the outfield.

Josh Naylor will man one of those spots, but not until he's ready to return from the ankle surgery that ended his 2021 season. His timetable remains murky, though he recently said he's "close to 100 percent."

Then the Guardians have prospects Steven Kwan and George Valera as potential contributors. Neither has spent a day in the majors, and both among the 14 players on the 40-man roster who no service time. Kwan, especially, is a contender to be a factor early on in left field.

Richie Palacios is another possible option, as he's logged time primarily at second base and in left field in the minors.

And after those six, two other internal candidates exist in shortstop Amed Rosario and designated hitter Franmil Reyes. Rosario could see time in left field this spring. Reyes will likely get some reps in right field. Both could become factors in this corner outfield equation.

Rosario last spring tried to make the switch to center field to start the season, an experiment that was short lived. Once he moved back to shortstop full time, he took off at the plate, hitting .309 with a .796 OPS in the second half.

The Guardians have a plethora of talented, younger middle infielders already on their 40-man roster, a group that includes No. 1 prospect Tyler Freeman (according to Baseball America), No. 3 Brayan Rocchio, No. 5 prospect Gabriel Arias, No. 11 Jose Tena, Palacios (No. 13) and No. 24 Ernie Clement in addition to Andres Gimenez (a key piece to the Francisco Lindor deal), Yu Chang and Owen Miller. It's a crowded situation, and it remains likely there is some roster maneuvering involving this group between now and Opening Day.

Rosario, for the moment, is penciled in at shortstop, but it remains possible he could see time in left field to give the active roster some more flexibility. That would open up a number of scenarios involving the other middle infielders, namely Gimenez.

One of the early conversations manager Terry Francona had this spring was with Rosario, and the potential scenarios with his spot.

"We explained to him, because he was such a good — this kid did everything we asked of him last spring and it was really difficult for him, so we want to make sure we include him in all the conversations," Francona said. "We kind of told him, honestly, like hey, because of the weird offseason and free agency was just starting four days ago, we don't want to tell you something and then back up a week later and take it back. Right now he's playing short. He understands that we could move him to left. We asked him if he thought he could handle the back-and-forth. He says he's fine with it."

"As long as he plays, he doesn't care where. We want to be respectful of getting him ready and not over-doing and asking him to do too much too quick."

Reyes knows he'll see time in right field. It has been an attempt over the last few seasons and offseasons to become an option, at least part time, to bring his glove to the ballpark and receive innings in right field. If Reyes can do that, it'd give the Guardians some flexibility with the first base spot (Bobby Bradley) and the DH spot. Reyes logged 11 games in right field at the end of the last season and remains largely untested in games that matter.

"We want to use the next three and a half weeks to find out how much of an option that is," Francona said. "I've got him tentatively scheduled to play right field on Sunday against Oakland. He'll DH on Friday and then come back Sunday and play some innings in right field. We definitely want to get a look at that to see how much that can be an option. If it is, it probably helps us as far as platoon advantages when we make our lineup out."

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.