CLEVELAND, Ohio — For Guardians fans, watching the World Series has become an exercise in bittersweet nostalgia as former Cleveland players take center stage for the Toronto Blue Jays. None shone brighter in Game 4 than Shane Bieber, who delivered a clutch performance to even the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast hosts Paul Hoynes and Joe Noga broke down the surreal experience of watching so many former Guardians excel on baseball’s biggest stage.
“He called it after the game, the biggest game of his life,” Hoynes reported of Bieber’s pivotal start. “He goes 5 1/3 innings, one run, four hits, three walks, three K’s as the Blue Jays even the series with a 6-2 win.”
The significance of Bieber’s performance wasn’t lost on either host. Traded at this year’s deadline while still rehabilitating from injury, Bieber has now become a postseason hero for Toronto, making his third playoff start in this championship run.
But Bieber isn’t the only former Guardian making an impact. Andres Gimenez delivered a key RBI single, driving in another ex-Cleveland player, Ernie Clement, who had doubled earlier in the inning.
“Clement has been on fire. Two more hits,” Hoynes noted, highlighting the contributions from Cleveland’s former utility infielder.
The Blue Jays’ comeback win — they trailed 1-0 before Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s two-run homer put them ahead — exemplified the resilience that has characterized Toronto’s season. “The Blue Jays have come back 49 times for victories this season. The most in the big leagues,” Hoynes explained.
What makes this World Series particularly fascinating for Cleveland fans is the sheer number of former Guardians on Toronto’s roster, earning them the nickname “Cleveland North.” The Blue Jays’ roster is so heavily populated with Cleveland-developed talent that Hoynes offered this advice to Guardians fans: “If you’re a Guardians fan, you can’t miss a game because half the team after Toronto’s team is from Cleveland, or grew up in Cleveland’s organization.”
This phenomenon creates a complicated emotional experience for Cleveland fans. On one hand, it’s gratifying to see players developed in the Guardians system succeed at the highest level. On the other, it raises difficult questions about what might have been if Cleveland had managed to keep these players together.
Bieber’s dominance is particularly poignant, as he struck out Shohei Ohtani twice during his outing. For a pitcher who was uncertain to pitch at all this season following injury, his World Series performance represents an incredible comeback story.
The series, now tied 2-2, has guaranteed games will return to Toronto, making this the first MLB season to both begin and end outside the United States —starting with the Dodgers-Padres series in Japan and now finishing in Canada.
For the complete breakdown of Game 4 and more analysis of former Guardians in the World Series, tune in to the latest episode of the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast, where Hoynes and Noga provide insider perspectives you won’t find anywhere else.
Podcast transcript
Joe Noga: Welcome back to the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. I’m Joe Noga, joined by Paul Hoynes. Hoynsie, no real movement or news in the Emanuel Clase Luis Ortiz investigation that’s still ongoing for Major League Baseball. But you did get a chance to have contact with Class A agent. What did you learn about just Clase’s status and what’s going on with him right now as he, along with the rest of us, weigh the results of Major League Baseball’s findings?
Paul Hoynes: JOE Kelvin Nova B But you know, he supports his client and says, you know, Emmanuel Class A has told him, I don’t gamble, I don’t bet. And he said he is not really worried about his future because he’s done nothing wrong. And he’s currently training in the Dominican Republic. Him and his teammate Luis Ortiz, who is also under investigation for gambling, are petitioning, you know, the Dominican Winter League to, to see if they to be able to pitch winter ball for I’m trying the, the Orientals down there. So, you know, they’re both, they’re still trying to petition mlb, I mean, the Dominican Winter League to see if they can pitch. And there’s, and they’re waiting. They’re, they’re just waiting. He says, I say is not, doesn’t is not really that concerned about his future.
Joe Noga: So I guess the, the logical, you know, question is if he, if he doesn’t bet, then why is there were his bets that were made on prop bets about him flagged if it wasn’t him making the bets, you know, he doesn’t necessarily have to be the one placing them to, to be caught up in some sort of investigation or scandal. Is he aware of all of the protocols surrounding Major League Baseball’s, you know, gambling rules and prohibitions? Because Chris Antonetti told us in the preseason they have meetings in, in English and in Spanish that every player is, is told in no uncertain terms what the rules are.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, you know, basically, you know, I asked them, well, you know, if he says he doesn’t bet, how did he get involved in this? And you know, Kelvin Nova, his agent, said I can’t comment on that. You know, this is an ongoing investigation. We’ve been told to not to say anything. You know, he said it’s a, it’s a big investigation and we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens.
Joe Noga: So Clase has, has already tried to play in the Dominican Winter League. He’s been denied there. And obviously, like you said, they’re pursuing legal action to try and get him eligible to play in the Dominican league. He tried in Venezuela and the guardians shut that down as they were allowed to do through the agreement with the different winter ball leagues. Did his agent give any indication as to whether he would try and play in Korea or Japan or even Australia or any of the other professional leagues around the world if he continues to be shut out in Latin America?
Paul Hoynes: Well, he said the whole thing has to start in the Dominican. They have to clear him. And he said that’s the first step to being able to pitch in the Dominican Republic. I did not ask him about, you know, the professional leagues in Japan and Australia probably should have if that was an option. But it sounded like to me that the first hurdle for them at least is to get cleared and to be able to pitch winter ball in the Dominican.
Joe Noga: Was there any follow up as to, you know, what the money or the contract situation, as to what’s owed to him to Class A if, if he doesn’t pitch or if he is found to be guilty of what they’re accusing him of or what he’s being investigated for in terms of the gambling if he’s banned, do the guardian, are the guardians on the hook for the rest of his contract?
Paul Hoynes: He would not comment on that. I really didn’t pursue that angle. I was more interested in seeing what, you know, what class I had to say. But yeah, he’s the guy that negotiated the contract with the guardians. You know, it’s one year left in 2026 a guaranteed money and two years after that on club options were 10 million each.
Joe Noga: Yeah, there’s, there’s the question of the money that’s out there obviously. And you know how that’s going to get resolved regardless. Just after, after that conversation and after, you know, just your reflection on it, what’s, what’s your feeling on whether or not Emmanuel Class A will ever pitch again in a Cleveland uniform?
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, I do not see that happening, Joe. I just, you know, I think, you know, obviously we have to get the, you know, the, the final decision from commissioner Rob Manfred. But you know, I, I don’t see this ending well for, for Class A or Ortiz. I think penalties will be involved. But you know, you’re, you’re, you’re innocent until proven guilty. So right now, you know, that’s, they’re both in limbo. But you know, I, I think, you know, after what this investigation this is at the end of this month, it’ll be a four months long investigations, I guess take as long as investigations take and each, each case is different. There’s got to be something here, Joe, to keep, to keep this going this long to, you know, have put the guardians in a bind for the last three months of the regular season and the post season to be without these guys services. So I would think there’s a penalty awaiting class A. And Ortiz, at the end of this, the only question is the severity of it.
Joe Noga: Yeah, you know, it’s funny you use that phrase innocent until proven guilty. And, and the thing is that’s, that’s a standard of the American judicial system and the courts. It’s not necessarily the standard of Major League Baseball. And whatever their investigation is, and whatever penalties, you know, they can, they can levy, you can, you can still be found, you know, maybe legally not liable for, for anything. But in the eyes of Major League Baseball, it really doesn’t matter. The investigation is, is not necessarily held to the same standard as the, the, the court system. So they could still be hit with penalties regardless of, you know, what level of guilt or innocence that they’re, they’re determined to have in this whole process. And you know, with Kelvin Nova, every, everybody’s entitled to a zealous defense, I guess. And if you’re the agent, you have a vested interest in your client, they’re being, you know, cleared of any implications or whatever. You know, this, this seems to me, or sounds to me like a guy putting on his best possible face to, to try and make it seem positive right now in the face of pretty much insurmountable evidence that, that, that things are not going to go his way still remains to be seen. But there’s a lot out there that, that’s yet to be, you know, sort of finalized in that situation. So good to have an update, good to have contact with, with the, the, the client, the, the agent there just to see what the results could be potentially coming forward.
Paul Hoynes: All right, Joe, you raise a great point from people I’ve talked to. MLB has investigated others for wrongdoing and you know, courts, they’ve been cleared legally, but they were in violation of MLB’s rules and MLB, despite having them being cleared in court, so to speak, MLB has penalized them. I think the Black Sox were cleared in court and they, you know, eight guys were suspended for life by the commissioners. You know, definitely, you know, you raise a good point there.
Joe Noga: Well, you don’t have to look any further than the Trevor Bower situation situation. He was cleared of anything legally and yet, you know, he still had to serve a suspension. And, and now in pretty much what’s probably going to be the same situation with Class A and Ortiz, even though he wasn’t found legally at fault or anything. The, the teams just won’t sign these guys because they don’t want to be involved with the mess. You know, that could be the case. You know, we see it all the time in the NFL with players of being accused of different levels of assault or whatever and charges get dropped, and yet they still wind up having suspensions under the league’s conduct policies. So we’ll, we’ll keep an eye on that. All right, Hoyncy Last week we asked our subtext subscribers, we, we put a poll on out there and, and had them vote. We got over a hundred responses in the poll. The poll asked this question. It said, do you feel like the Guardians are doing enough to live up to their goal of winning a World Series? So every year the stated goal for the franchise win the World Series. Do you feel like the Guardians, specifically the Guardians front office, is doing enough to live up to their goal of winning the World series? More than 100 and 100 votes. More than 100 votes cast in the the poll with opinions ranging from strongly agreeing, agreeing, you know, don’t feel strongly either way to disagreeing or strongly disagreeing. The overwhelming majority, more than 75% of the votes cast, indicate that fans, at least our subtexters, believe the Guardian. They disagree that the Guardians are not doing enough to live up to their goal of winning a World Series. 50% disagreement, 23% strongly disagree. Only 3% of votes cast say that they agreed with the the statement that the Guardians are doing enough to live up to their goal of winning a World Series. Seven percent don’t feel strongly either way. And 17% of voters agreed with that statement that they think, yes, the Guardians are living up to their goal of winning a World Series. We, we sort of put that to Chris Antonetti in our postseason meeting with, with the Guardians front office. We asked him if there’s pressure. Winning division titles are nice, but that’s not the goal. The goal, he has said, is to, to win the World Series. And how motivated is the front office to make something like that happens while Jose Ramirez is still the face of the franchise? I want to read to you a word for word what Chris Antonetti’s response to that question was. And then I want to get your take on it. Antonetti said. It’s my number one goal. It’s all of ours. I think, yes, Jose is a big important part of that, but we absolutely, we absolutely feel urgency and want to win A World Series, that’s the goal every year. I mean, the overwhelming sentiment initially at the end of the year was to disappointment. And it felt like getting punched in the gut because we didn’t achieve that end result of what we were seeking to do. And that’s when the World Series. I know I’ve been doing this for 27 years and I’m over 27 for the final goal. Next year, we’re going to try and make it one for 28. You know, that really stood out when we talked to Antonetti in that meeting. And what, what’s your take on whether or not the Guardians are doing enough to win a World Series and what the fans response to that was?
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, I’m not surprised at the fans response, Joe. They haven’t won, Cleveland hasn’t won a world series since 1948. So I think, you know, this was, this was kind of, you know, a layup to ask fans if they were disappointed or, you know, just to, to, to weigh the, the degree of their disappointment. Do they do the best they can every year to win a World Series? I think, you know, you know, that’s, it’s, it’s a tough call. I mean, it’s, it’s, you know, it’s, it’s not like this team, they’re. They operate in a different bracket, so to speak. They, you know, they cannot throw money at their problems, at least under this ownership. They’ve shown the, they have shown the reluctance to, you know, to have a 150 to 160 to $180 million payroll. Doesn’t, obviously doesn’t guarantee a winning season, a World Series championship season, but it sure makes life a lot easier. Instead of, you know, relying on your farm system, working players through the, to the big leagues, you know, bringing players to the big leagues before they’re ready, you know, grooming them at the big leagues, you know, and living with their mistakes and their talent. It, it’s, it’s a hard way to go, you know, win. And as you said, winning division titles is just the first step. They’ve got to be able to take the next step. And, you know, so far they haven’t been able to do that. We’ve 16, they reached the World Series, they went to Game 7, they lost, you know, in time and time again, they’ve, they’ve won the division and have been, you know, short circuited in the postseason. You know, it’s clear that, you know, that said, they have to change almost. They have to change their philosophy. And I don’t you know, and I don’t think they ever will, Joe, with this ownership.
Joe Noga: Yeah, it’s. That’s sort of the point is that the restraints are there as long as maybe the Dolan’s are the owners. But is there any sort of hope maybe on the horizon with the idea that a change in ownership would, would make a difference here? Would David Blitzer coming in and sort of injecting something to the franchise make a difference? Or is it just because of the market size and because of Cleveland being just Cleveland? Is it a situation that they can’t overcome?
Paul Hoynes: They can overcome it. You know, we’ve seen them reach the World Series in 95, in 2007, and, you know, 2016. You know, we’ve seen them get there, you know, under, you know, different type ownerships. The Jacobs family, you know, spent money at that time. They had one of the highest payrolls in baseball. But, you know, the game has changed. I don’t know if Blitzer’s, if he took over the ball club, if, you know, became the majority owner, if that would change radically or not. I, you know, it’s just, you know, the, you know, we’ve seen, we’ve seen thing is they have to be able to blend what they do very well, which is develop players, particularly pitchers, and they have to have an influx of, you know, they have to go out and add hitters, the right kind of hitters so far, and that costs money. And you can’t take a shot. You can’t just keep taking a shot in the dark and hoping you’re, you’ll get lucky. You’ve got to, you know, you’ve got to be able to blend the two, get the right mix, find the right manager and go from there. I think, you know, they’ve got two or two or two of the three missing ingredients right now. They need some help offensively, obviously. Joe.
Joe Noga: Yeah, and you mentioned that. Two of the three ingredients. I want to, I want to take you to a quote from Stephen Vogt from that very same meeting when we talking about winning division titles, winning the World Series, being competitive. Here’s just a snippet of what Stephen Vogt had to say. He said, I’m just, just so proud of our group for coming back and winning the division. But that isn’t enough. And, you know, and he sort of paused dramatically there. He sort of let that sink in. He said, that isn’t enough. I don’t care how many American League Central pennants we hang. That really doesn’t matter to me. It’s a Step in the right direction where we need to go. So if we get one of those every year, great. But we want the ultimate banner to be hung. And when you look back over the last six, eight months, you see individual growth, and that might not show up in the stat sheet, but it, and that’s the hardest thing to explain. But then he goes into talking about the resilience of players like Gabriel Arias and Brian Rocchio and others. So, at least in, in terms of the leader on the field, the, the head man in the dugout, and, you know, at the ballpark, Stephen Voats got it sort of pointed in the right direction. That’s the kind of leadership you want in that, you know, sort of area. It just feels like he’s not being given the tools to do that.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, Joe. And, you know, obviously, you know, this front office knows, you know, the constraints they operate under. Every, every, every person that joins that front office knows they’re, they’re going to have to do things differently to be able to compete with the Yankees in Toronto and the Dodgers. It’s, it’s just not a money thing. It’s not going to be a money thing. It has to be inventive. You have to work on the edges. And, you know, they’ve done a great job in, in that. But how do you get over that last hump? That. That’s the thing. You’ve got to be able to keep your talent, keep the best talent, extend guys, and so far, we haven’t seen them do that outside of Jose Ramirez. Would, Would it have been better to keep Josh Naylor this year instead of trading him and, you know, signing Carlos Santana? I, I mean, it, it’s a perfect second guess by me, for sure, but why not, why not keep Naylor? And, and you know, it. There’s. When they do make a mistake, when they do misstep, it, it seems to hurt them a lot more than, than if, you know, than a, than a team that could just throw money at their mistake and, and step over that and spend on another guy.
Joe Noga: Yeah. When it comes to the Naylor situation, I, I mean, my reaction is I, I think you needed to move Naylor in order to see what you have with, with Kyle Manzano, in order to sort of open up his development in that, in that regard. So I can understand the Naylor move, and I understood it at the time. And even in retrospect, I kind of, I kind of get it, because I don’t think Kyle Manzardo has the season that he has. If Josh Naylor Is there playing first base every day during this past year. So anyways, you know, just moving on. You know, we will circle back obviously to this, this question of are the Guardians doing enough to win a World Series? We’re, we’re going to ask our subtexters in the, in, you know, the next couple of weeks here what trades they would make, what free agents they would sign, what moves they would make if they were in charge, if they were Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff. So a good way to get in on that and make your voice heard on those questions. If you’re listening right now, go to cleveland.com subtext Sign up for Guardian Subtext. It’s 3.99amonth. Makes a great Christmas present. If, if you want to get it for, you know, a baseball fan in your life, let them weigh in on these subjects with us and, and we can use their responses in future podcasts and in posts on cleveland.com all right, Hoinse. Game 4 of the World Series Tuesday night. Familiar faces all over the place in Dodger Stadium, particularly on the mound. Shane Bieber pitching an important game miles from where he grew up in Southern California. Bieber goes out there and gives the Blue Jays exactly what they need. Gets the win in Game 4 to even the series. What’d you see out of Shane Bieber and the Blue Jays last night?
Paul Hoynes: He called it after the game, the biggest game of his life. He goes five and a third. Joe. One run, four hits, three walks, three K’s as the Blue Jays even the series with a six to two win. After an 18 inning marathon the night before in which the, the Blue Jays lost six to five. They, this was a big, big game. They needed this. They tie the series at what, two games apiece. They guarantee it going back to Toronto for at least a game six on Friday night. Huge game. Bieber. Joe, this, what a thing this is. When you, when they traded Bieber, when the guardians traded Bieber at the deadline, he was still going on through his rehab, pictured this, that, that he would be, you know, you know, really what he did, that was his third postseason start of this, of this run by the Blue Jays and, and you know, pot and definitely the, the biggest star.
Joe Noga: Yeah, I think Shane Bieber’s a confident guy. I think he, he was confident that he could go out there and do exactly this. And as long as he felt good and felt physically like he was where he needed to be, I think he has all the confidence in the world to be able to go out there and do this and you see the result really the, the four run seventh inning sort of broke it open for the, the Blue Jays last night. Andres Jimenez, another former guardian with an rbi, a base hit drives in Ernie Clement who had doubled earlier in the inning. But the biggest blow I think in the game, you know, the, the Dodgers had Shohei Ohtani on the mound and Ohtani started the game, did, did pretty well. He, he pitched six innings, did give up four earned runs, but the two biggest runs he gave up, home run to Vladimir Guerrero in the, in the third inning that put Toronto ahead 21 at the time. Guerrero now hitting.419 with a 1306 OPS in the postseason. Just pretty much out of his mind. And what we said at the beginning of this series, we said Vladimir Guerrero needs to be the difference for the Blue Jays if they’re going to get past this overwhelming dominant pitching staff for the Dodgers. And, and he’s, he’s making it happen.
Paul Hoynes: Definitely chill. You know, the Dodgers went up one to nothing in, in the second inning. They scored a runoff. Bieber, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Comes up with the two run homer to put him ahead. The Blue Jays are, have won, come back 49 times for victories this season. The most in the big leagues. They, you know, they like to get behind and you know, Guerrero put them back, back on top. Bieber, you know, held the line there. He punched out Ohtani twice. The rest of Cleveland north took care of the rest of the scoring. It seemed like Ernie Clement has been on fire. Two more hits. It’s just, it’s been a great series so far and we’ll see what happens tonight, but just really, really an exciting series. Cleveland. I mean, if you’re a Guardians fan, you know, you can’t, you can’t miss a game because half the team after Toronto’s team is from Cleveland. You know, grew up in Cleveland’s organization.
Joe Noga: Yeah, it’s, it’s been really exciting to watch. Great for the league, great for baseball, that this is the, the series that we’re getting history. The first time ever that, you know, the Major League Baseball season opened obviously with the games overseas in Japan with the Dodgers back in March. This will be the first time ever that the Major League Baseball season opens and ends outside of the United States. It’s guaranteed the Japanese Series opener back in March and then the World Series will end in Toronto in Canada, so not on US Soil. First time that’s ever happened. Hoinsey. That’s going to wrap up today’s edition of the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. We’ll check back in with you again tomorrow.
Paul Hoynes: Deal, Joe.
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