Demons from Guardians’ past loom large in Cleveland’s Game  4 ALCS loss to Rays 

At one point, Junior Caminero, Richie Palacios and Yandy Díaz were all part of the Guardians’ system. 

Díaz spent four seasons in Cleveland’s system and appeared in 88 big league games before blossoming in Tampa Bay. Palacios was a second round draft pick in 2018 and made his big league debut with Cleveland in 2022 before being cut loose. And Caminero had just one season in Cleveland’s system as a 17-year-old before being traded to the Rays.

They all may have had different experiences with the Guardians, but all three of them played a part in evening the ALCS in Tampa Bay’s 7-3 win over Cleveland on Saturday. 

Caminero staked the Rays to a 2-1 lead with a big RBI double off Daniel Espino in the sixth inning, while Palacios went 3-for-4 at the bottom of the lineup and scored two runs. Díaz recorded the final blow with a huge two-run homer in the ninth inning off Guardians’ reliever Matt Festa. 

The ghosts of transactions past made their presence known, and now we know the Guardians are going to have to go back to Tampa for at least one more game. 

The Rays' contingent of former Guardians made their presence known in Tampa's win on Saturday

Although the Guardians would have taken a 1-for-5 showing from Caminero prior to the game, his double was a back-breaking moment since it gave the Rays the lead while also likely removing Daniel Espino from the Guardians’ pitching plans for tomorrow. 

The real hurt came from Palacios and Díaz, who had mostly been held in check throughout the series. Palacios entered play on Saturday having gone 3-for-14 in the postseason, while Díaz was 6-for-24. 

That didn’t matter on Saturday, however. Díaz helped create the Rays first run in the third inning with a double that set up Johnathan Aranda’s RBI single before Palacios recorded his first hit two innings later on a ball that Travis Bazzana misplayed. 

He led the seventh inning off with a single and came around to score on another RBI hit from  Aranda. Díaz provided the big blow with his ninth inning homer that just snuck over Chase DeLauter’s glove in right field. 

Although Caminero stands out as the one who got away because of his prospect pedigree and 40+ homer power, both Díaz and Palacios have also done enough to generate some seller’s remorse from the Guardians' front office. 

Díaz has been one of MLB’s steadiest contributors for the past half-decade, has a career batting average that’s approaching .300 and has become one of the best players in Rays history. Palacios is a bit more of a role player, but he was worth 1.8 bWAR in the regular season and can move around the diamond if needed. 

There may not have been enough room for him on the Guardians' roster, but it still doesn’t remove the string that comes with knowing they got rid of him for nothing. 

The Guardians are still in a good spot thanks to their early-series win at Tropicana Field, but Díaz, Caminero and Palacios are still going to have plenty of opportunities to add even more hurt to the Guardians.

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