The Cleveland Guardians may have lost in the ALDS, but they'll be well-represented in the World Series.
That's because the Toronto Blue Jays are loaded up with former Cleveland ballplayers. They had six of them on their ALCS roster that eliminated the Seattle Mariners in seven games.
The ALDS-winning Blue Jays have six players who were formerly members of the Guardians' organization:
- Shane Bieber
- Ernie Clement
- Andres Gimenez
- Nathan Lukes
- Anthony Santander
- Myles Straw
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Bieber is the most well-known and the most recently acquired.
The Blue Jays got Bieber from the Guardians before the trade deadline despite Bieber not having pitched this season yet as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. Bieber is healthy now started Game 7 for the Blue Jays.
Clement couldn't stick with Cleveland as a utility infielder, and not with Oakland either, but he's blossomed into a dynamic fielder and contact hitter this season.
Gimenez was a great fielding second baseman for the Guardians and has taken that skill to Toronto.
Straw was a fan favorite for his speed and centerfield defense in Cleveland.
Santander was a promising prospect who needed to bounce around to other organizations before panning out. He did exit the ALCS part way through with an injury, so his availability for the World Series is uncertain.
And Lukes was a seventh-round pick of Cleveland in 2015 who really never broke out in MLB until this season for the Blue Jays.
Former Cleveland front office leader Mark Shapiro now runs the Blue Jays. There's certainly some synergy, whether intentional or not.
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