Cleveland Guardians

Cleveland starter Zach Plesac suffered a non-displaced fracture in his right thumb and will be placed on the injured list, manager Terry Francona told reporters Tuesday.

The right-hander "aggressively" took off his shirt following his outing on May 23 and hit his hand on a nearby chair. Plesac lasted just 3.2 innings in an 8-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins, giving up five hits and five runs (three earned), raising his season ERA to 4.14 with a 1.02 WHIP.

It's unclear who could take Plesac's next two turns in the rotation. The 26-year-old was scheduled to take the mound on May 28 against the Toronto Blue Jays but won't be eligible to return from IL before June 8. 

Cleveland may also decide to send him to the minor leagues for a rehabilitation start following a prolonged layoff without throwing before returning him to the active roster. 

While the cause of the injury is a bit odd, it's far from the first weird baseball injury this season.

Atlanta Braves righty Huascar Ynoa punched a padded bench in the dugout on May 16, breaking his pitching hand during the moment of frustration. Before that, Oakland A's star Jesus Luzardo fractured his left pinkie finger by hitting his hand on a desk while playing video games in the clubhouse. 

Even Cleveland has seen stranger injuries with former starter Trevor Bauer slicing his right pinkie finger open while trying to repair a drone—during the 2016 American League Championship Series, no less. 

Plesac is just the latest entry into an infamous baseball category.

In the meantime, Cleveland (25-20) remains just 1.5 games back of the Chicago White Sox for first place in the AL Central and will need to find suitable pitching to replace Plesac to keep that gap from widening. 

Cleveland infielder Yu Chang spotlighted a series of anti-Asian racist messages he received on social media after his throwing error led to his team's 4-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Monday.

Chang, a Taiwan native, posted screenshots of comments he received on Twitter along with the hashtag "#StopAsianHate" (some language NSFW):

Cleveland and Chicago were tied in the bottom of the ninth inning when Chang, who was playing first base, fielded a grounder and tried to start a double play by throwing to second base. His throw hit the runner, Yasmani Grandal, and careened away, allowing Nick Madrigal to score the winning run.

Chang, 25, signed with the organization in 2013. He played in five levels of the minor leagues along with the Arizona Fall League before making his MLB debut in June 2019.

He didn't play first base in the minors or during his first two MLB seasons. Monday's game marked his seventh appearance at the position in 2021. The game-ending misthrow marked his first error in 35 chances at first base.

In March, NBC News' Kimmy Yam reported research by the Stop AAPI Hate reporting organization showed there were almost 3,800 instances of reported anti-Asian hate over the past year, an increase of nearly 50 percent from the previous year, and 68.1 percent of the reports stemmed from verbal harassment.

One day after that report was released, a man shot and killed eight people, including six Asian women, at Atlanta-area spas.

Cleveland's Major League Baseball team has banned fans from wearing headdresses and face paint that mimic Indigenous cultures.  

Per an official list of rules for the 2021 season released on Wednesday, Cleveland announced that "headdresses and face paint styled in a way that references or appropriates American Indian cultures and traditions" are banned at Progressive Field:

The move comes amid the team's decision to change its nickname sometime after 2021. 

Team owner Paul Dolan announced in December that the organization is going through the process of adopting a new nickname, but it will keep its current one for the 2021 season. 

“Our role is to unite the community,” Dolan told Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com. “There is a credible number of people in this community who are upset by our name, are hurt by our name, and there is no reason for our franchise to bear a name that is divisive.”

Castrovince noted at the time that "the earliest" a new nickname would be implemented is 2022, though it's not clear at this point if that will happen. 

Dolan told reporters in March there's a chance the name change might not take place until 2023 due to the "real challenge is finding a name that works that we can use."

The organization dropped the Chief Wahoo logo for good prior to the 2019 season. It has used a block C as its primary logo since 2016.  

Cleveland has been using its current nickname since 1915. 

Cleveland's Major League Baseball team "would love" to sign third baseman Jose Ramirez to another long-term deal, per ESPN's Jeff Passan:

"Ramirez's long-term deal has paid enormous dividends for Cleveland—and it would love to do another, according to sources. Ramirez, 28, has resisted. Cleveland isn't losing sleep over it. He remains under contract for this season at $9.4 million, with an $11 million club option for 2022 and a $13 million club option for 2023."

In 2017, Cleveland signed Ramirez to a five-year, $26 million contract extension that will run through this season. However, as Passan noted, Ramirez is under team control through 2023 should Cleveland decide to exercise its 2022 and 2023 options.

Ramirez has been sensational since the extension with a 162-game average of 36 home runs, 104 RBI and 28 stolen bases from 2017-2020, per Baseball-Reference. He's slashed .284/.367/.549 during that time as well.

Ramirez's value to the team is also more important than ever this year after Cleveland traded star shortstop Francisco Lindor to the New York Mets.

The onus is on Ramirez to carry a greater weight in a Cleveland lineup that struggled at the dish last year with a .228 batting average (12th in the AL) and 59 homers (last in the AL).

Ramirez led the team with 17 home runs (no other Cleveland player had more than nine) and a .993 OPS (no other player had an OPS over .800).

Naturally, Cleveland would love the nine-year MLB veteran to stick around. We'll see if a long-term contract materializes, but for now, Cleveland is gearing up for its 2021 season, which will start Thursday, April 1 at the Detroit Tigers.  

Cleveland chairman Paul Dolan told employees in an email last Friday the MLB club did not provide the "culture and processes necessary" for staffers to report concerns over alleged lewd behavior by former pitching coach Mickey Callaway. 

According to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, Britt Ghiroli and Katie Strang, who obtained the email, Dolan acknowledged the team's shortcomings and sought to reassure employees moving forward. 

"This is deeply troubling to me," Dolan wrote. "It is clear that we have not done enough to build the inclusive culture we strive to create."

Callaway is currently suspended from his role as pitching coach of the Los Angeles Angels while Major League Baseball investigates his past behavior. 

Ghiroli and Strang first reported on Callaway's conduct as a member of Cleveland's staff from 2013-2017 in early February, revealing accusations by five women that the former New York Mets manager "aggressively pursuing" them, with the coach sending "inappropriate photos," asking for nude pictures in return and carrying on an affair with a married woman.

A follow-up report from The Athletic noted an additional 22 people who interacted with Callaway in Cleveland confirmed the perverseness of the coach's sexual indiscretions in the workplace with one employee calling it the "worst-kept secret in the organization."

In his email on Friday, Dolan attempted to explain the team's handling of allegations from an angry husband that Callaway sent his wife "pornographic material"—a revelation that confirmed team president Chris Antonetti knew of complaints against Callaway despite his previous denials. 

"We have a consistent process for intaking, investigating, evaluating and ultimately addressing reports that we receive about any Club employee, which we followed in this instance," Dolan wrote. "While we believed Mickey Callaway’s actions we reviewed involved poor judgment, our leaders in Legal, Human Resources, and Baseball Operations made a mutual determination that this was not a personnel matter but instead a consensual extramarital relationship."

The woman told The Athletic no one from the organization reached out to her to "confirm or deny the nature of the relationship."

"He pursued me on the job, he texted me on the job, and they don't know any of that because they didn't ask," the woman said.

Dolan said the team will not comment publicly on Callaway's alleged behavior until the completion of MLB's investigation.

Toronto Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said Thursday he was "absolutely not aware" of the behavior that led to several harassment allegations made against Mickey Callaway, per Ian Harrison of the Associated Press. 

Atkins, who worked in Cleveland's front office from 2001-15, helped hire Callaway as a pitching coach in the team's minor league system in 2010. He served in that role until 2013 before working as Cleveland's pitching coach until 2017.

"There is no chance that we would have overlooked that if we had had any signs of that type of behavior," Atkins said.

On Feb. 1, Brittany Ghiroli and Katie Strang of The Athletic reported that Callaway "aggressively pursued at least five women who work in sports media, sending three of them inappropriate photographs and asking one of them to send nude photos in return."

Per that report:

"He sent them unsolicited electronic messages and regularly commented on their appearance in a manner that made them uncomfortable. In one instance, he thrust his crotch near the face of a reporter as she interviewed him. In another, he told one of the women that if she got drunk with him he'd share information about the Mets.  

"The five women, who spoke to The Athletic on the condition that they not be identified, said that the actions by the now 45-year-old Callaway spanned at least five years, multiple cities and three teams."

Additionally, Ghiroli and Strang reported this week that they interviewed 22 people who were in contact with Callaway during his time in Cleveland, including 12 current or former employees of the organization, who suggested it was unlikely that Cleveland's front office hadn't caught wind of Callaway's inappropriate behavior.

"I laughed out loud when I saw the quote [in The Athletic's original report] that said it was the worst-kept secret in baseball, because it was," said a Cleveland employee. "It was the worst-kept secret in the organization."

On Thursday, Atkins apologized to those affected by Callaway's alleged harassment. 

"As a leader, it's our responsibility to ensure that our staff feels safe, supported," Atkins said. "I deeply apologize to anyone who ever faced harassment or didn't feel comfortable to come forward. I see that as a failure on my part that there weren't the proper channels for someone to feel safe to come forward. As a leader in that organization, that's heartbreaking for me."

Callaway is currently a pitching coach for the Los Angeles Angels, though he is suspended pending a team and MLB investigation into the allegations made against him. 

In the wake of additional allegations of inappropriate behavior by former pitching coach Mickey Callaway, Cleveland president Chris Antonetti said he would abstain from any comments in order to best assist with Major League Baseball's investigation.

Antonetti has become a central figure in further reporting by Brittany Ghiroli and Katie Strang of The Athletic, who first reported on initial allegations against Callaway a month ago. Callaway is currently suspended from his role as the Los Angeles Angels pitching coach pending MLB's investigation. He worked for Cleveland in the same capacity from 2010-2017 before managing the New York Mets for two years from 2018-2019.

Antonetti told reporters in February he had no prior knowledge of complaints against Callaway, however, Strang and Ghiroli noted a previously undisclosed incident concerning Callaway in 2017 led to Antonetti's direct involvement.

Asked if he wanted to revise his comments on Wednesday, the team president held back: 

"I very much want to answer that. At this point I'm not able to. The last time we talked, the investigation had not yet started, so I had more latitude with what I was able to share. With the ongoing investigation, the most important thing is that the investigation is able to maintain its integrity, its thoroughness, its impartiality.

"And I don't want to do anything that would jeopardize that investigation. As importantly, we look forward to learning what that investigation reveals so we can make sure that we address everything in totality and not in piecemeal."

The president confirmed the franchise is fully cooperating with MLB and apologized for not speaking with reporters on Tuesday, leaving manager Terry Francona to answer for Antonetti's previous comments. 

According to Strang and Ghiroli, Antonetti was aware of complaints that Callaway had sent explicit photos to a married woman in 2017 after the woman's husband contacted the team:

"An angry husband repeatedly called the team’s fan services department to complain that Callaway had sent 'pornographic material' to his wife. Those calls were brought to the attention of Antonetti, manager Terry Francona and general manager Mike Chernoff; the Indians spoke with Callaway about the matter. A Cleveland attorney spoke with the wife and said – in a phone call that was recorded–that Callaway had expressed remorse to him. The attorney added that 'the Indians are frickin’ pissed as hell' at Callaway and offered to have Francona call the husband. Additionally, an MLB security official contacted the husband and told him: 'Mickey wants this all to go away,' and the husband later emailed MLB directly about Callaway."

One Cleveland employee told The Athletic that Callaway's behavior was "the worst-kept secret in the organization."

Cleveland's MLB team expressed a commitment to creating an inclusive environment on Tuesday only hours after a new report from The Athletic's Brittany Ghiroli and Katie Strang detailed additional allegations of inappropriate behavior toward women by former pitching coach Mickey Callaway.

Ghiroli and Strang first reported on Callaway's alleged lewd behavior on Feb. 1. after which his current organization, the Los Angeles Angels, suspended him pending an investigation involving Major League Baseball. 

In their latest report released Tuesday, Ghiroli and Strang noted while Cleveland president Chris Antonetti  stated last month that he was unaware of Callaway's behavior, evidence points to Antonetti having been involved in discussions concerning at least one allegation in 2017:

"An angry husband repeatedly called the team's fan services department to complain that Callaway had sent 'pornographic material' to his wife. Those calls were brought to the attention of Antonetti, manager Terry Francona and general manager Mike Chernoff; the Indians spoke with Callaway about the matter. A Cleveland attorney spoke with the wife and said – in a phone call that was recorded – that Callaway had expressed remorse to him. The attorney added that 'the Indians are frickin' pissed as hell' at Callaway and offered to have Francona call the husband." 

Callaway was hired as the New York Mets manager in 2018—a position he held for two seasons. 

The Athletic has spoken with 22 people who interacted with Callaway during his time in Cleveland in addition to the initial five women who first came forward with allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior in February. One of the new sources directly refuted Antonetti's initial statement that he had never been made aware of any complaints against Callaway. 

"I laughed out loud when I saw the quote that said it was the worst-kept secret in baseball, because it was," a Cleveland employee said. "It was the worst-kept secret in the organization."

The statement released by Cleveland on Tuesday made clear the organization is aiming to create a more inclusive environment and asked for the franchise to be judged on its actions. However, the statement did not include any mention of what steps it would take to ensure a safer workplace or how any changes would be enforced. 

Cleveland manager Terry Francona has addressed a new report that the team was aware of complaints about Mickey Callaway's alleged behavior during his time with the organization.

"Right now is just not the right time to respond to some of the questions I'm sure you have," Francona told reporters on Tuesday. "I do hope at some point, we are able to, because I think we need to. Just know that we take this very, very seriously. I apologize, but that's where it is today. Nobody's ever deliberately covered up for anybody, I can tell you that."

Per Brittany Ghiroli and Katie Strang of The Athletic, several key members of Cleveland's front office and coaching staff, including Francona, team president Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff, were aware of allegations of harassment against Callaway in 2017:

"Since the publication of The Athletic's first article, more women have come forward to say that Callaway made them uncomfortable by sending them inappropriate messages and/or photos, making unwanted advances and more while they worked for the Indians. Additionally, in 2017, an angry husband repeatedly called the team's fan services department to complain that Callaway had sent 'pornographic material' to his wife. Those calls were brought to the attention of Antonetti, manager Terry Francona and general manager Mike Chernoff; the Indians spoke with Callaway about the matter. A Cleveland attorney spoke with the wife and said – in a phone call that was recorded – that Callaway had expressed remorse to him."

Ghiroli and Strang previously reported on Feb. 1 that five different women who work in sports media accused Callaway of lewd behavior, including "sending three of them inappropriate photographs and asking one of them to send nude photos in return."

Cleveland issued a statement included in the Feb. 1 report: 

"We were made aware for the first time tonight of the allegations in The Athletic regarding Mickey Callaway's behavior towards women. We are currently reviewing the matter internally and in consultation with Major League Baseball to determine appropriate next steps. Our organization unequivocally does not condone this type of behavior. We seek to create an inclusive work environment where everyone, regardless of gender, can feel safe and comfortable to do their jobs."

The women in that report noted that Callaway's alleged actions "spanned at least five years, multiple cities and three teams."

"It was the worst-kept secret in sports," one of the women told Ghiroli and Strang in the latest report.

Following the release of the Feb. 1 report, Callaway was suspended by the Los Angeles Angels and MLB opened an investigation into the accusations against him. He was hired to become the Angels pitching coach in October 2019 after being fired as manager of the New York Mets. 

Tuesday's report noted that one former pitcher who worked with Callaway said his "conduct was widely known as early as 2010" when he was in his first season as pitching coach for Cleveland's Low-A affiliate. 

Callaway eventually worked his way up to become Cleveland's pitching coach in 2013 when Francona was hired as manager. The 45-year-old spent five seasons in that role before being named Mets manager in October 2017. 

Coming off a career year in 2020, Cleveland ace Shane Bieber is amenable to discussing a long-term extension with the organization.

Bieber told reporters Monday negotiations have yet to begin. The 25-year-old isn't eligible to become a free agent until 2025.

Cleveland's appetite for a new contract is in question after the team traded Francisco Lindor to the New York Mets once it became clear he would enter free agency in 2022.

The issue with Lindor wasn't whether he wanted to stay in Cleveland but whether ownership would meet his asking price.

Once team chairman Paul Dolan told The Athletic's Zack Meisel in March 2019 that fans should "enjoy him" when asked about the star shortstop's future, the outcome was certain.

Cleveland is also running MLB's lowest payroll ($38.1 million) for 2021 after having jettisoned many experienced veterans from the roster. The front office may not be prioritizing an extension for Bieber given how much longer he remains under team control.

Cleveland has proactively handed out new contracts to its best players in the past, but that was usually to the team's benefit. The four-year, $26 million deal Jose Ramirez signed is a massive bargain, and two-time Cy Young winner Corey Kluber was underpaid thanks to a five-year, $38.5 million pact he signed in 2015.

Bieber could gain some financial security by working something out now rather than going year to year in arbitration. That would likely come at the cost of his earning potential down the line.

Based on how the Lindor saga unfolded, fans won't be optimistic about Bieber's future in Cleveland beyond the 2024 season.