Chase DeLauter and Kyle Manzardo are going to save the Cleveland Guardians

Maybe I'm being hyperbolic here, but hey, the Guardians aren't in the postseason so we have to get excited about something, right?

That being said, Chase DeLauter and Kyle Manzardo are going to save Cleveland next season, and the Guardians will ride their magical rookie campaigns to another AL Central title and a World Series victory that will end the longest championship drought in the game.

Too much?

Oh well, you get the idea. These are going to be two impact rookies the Guardians desperately need to transform a moribund offense.

And no matter what happens this offseason for the Guardians - like, say, trading Shane Bieber to Baltimore for one of the Orioles' many outfielders - it'll be imperative for the team to buck its own trends and consider opening the season with a guy like Manzardo on the roster, with DeLauter not too far behind.

Just How Good Have DeLauter and Manzardo Been in the Arizona Fall League?

Both of these prospects have been turning heads in the AFL, prompting both scouts and writers to wax poetically about their futures in the big leagues.

In 53 plate appearances over 11 AFL games, DeLauter, 22, is slashing .282/.377/.462 with two home runs, a double, 14 RBIs, and four stolen bases. Here is what one MLB scout had to say about DeLauter and his AFL performance thus far:

"Looks awesome. Larry Walker-esque. Physical specimen. Moves well in the outfield. Swing is direct to the ball. Uses all fields. Will grow into prodigious power."

Grow into prodigious power? I like the sound of that.

Not to be outdone, Manzardo, 23, is hitting .256/.356/.590 with three home runs, four doubles, and 11 RBIs in 39 at-bats. Manzardo seems like he's already tapping into that improved power he's displayed in the past two seasons, hitting 39 homers between 2022 and 2023.

It's a lot to put so much on the shoulders of young players, but that's the business the Guardians have been in the past few seasons. Aside from pretty much José Ramírez, most of these guys are still learning to navigate their way to sustained success at the major-league level. So why not add a few more to the mix?

Most fans would probably be feeling even better about the team's prospects if guys like Nolan Jones and Junior Caminero were still within the organization. But the past is the past - DeLauter and Manzardo could make everyone forget about the front office's recent missteps very quickly. And if the team is serious about trying to actually compete right now - a notion that sometimes feels less serious than it should be - we should be seeing these two fast-rising prospects in the majors sooner than later, Triple-A experience be damned.