Candidate for Guardians' starting second base job named in surprising list

With Andres Gimenez out of the picture, the Cleveland Guardians will have a new face manning second base in 2025 and beyond. There will be a position battle in spring training, and the Guardians have plenty of options available to them, one of which just happened to be named a list that not many would have even dreamed of.

Juan Brito was identified by Jim Bowden as one of his Thirty top Rookie of the Year candidates I can’t wait to watch in MLB spring training article appearing on The Athletic (subscription required). Brito was ranked as the 20th player on the list by Bowden, while likely American League Rookie of the Year winners Jackson Jobe and Jasson Dominguez are ranked inside the top five.

While most would not expect Brito to appear on a list such as this one, when examining the criteria used by Bowden, it makes a lot more sense. Having a path to playing time out of spring training or in the first few months of the season is weighted heavily here, and that is something Brito has and a primary reason as to why he appears on this list.

Cleveland has several options to consider for the starting second base job, and Brito seems to have the most upside of players not named Travis Bazzana. This points toward Brito being the most likely option to be the starting second baseman for the Guardians out of spring, and that would provide him plenty of playing time to prove himself worthy of being in any type of end-of-season award conversations.

Brito slashed .256/.365/.443 with 40 doubles and 21 home runs in 144 games for the Columbus Clippers last season. The 23-year-old has proved he can adjust to better pitching as he has worked his way through Cleveland's minor league system, and that could bode well for when he gets his chance in the majors. It may not be enough to ward off Bazzana from taking over at second down the line, but it could give them the stopgap they're looking for until 2024's first overall draft selection is ready.