MINOR LEAGUE TEAM OF THE YEAR LAKE COUNTY CAPTAINS

The low-payroll Guardians rely on homegrown talent to fuel MLB success. Midwest League-champion Lake County provides optimism for the future.

- JIM INGRAHAM

The Guardians organization is on a roll.

It started at the 2023 Winter Meetings, when Cleveland won the first overall pick in the 2024 draft lottery.

It continued when the Guardians won 92 games and the American League Central division title.

It continued when Cleveland advanced to the AL Championship Series and when Stephen Vogt was voted AL Manager of the Year.

Another accolade for the Guardians: The organization’s High-A Lake County affiliate is the Baseball America Minor League Team of the Year.

That is a lot of hardware, and a lot of winning, even for a franchise on a roll.

“Winning is part of development,” Guardians assistant GM James Harris said. “The goal is to play what we call ‘Guards ball’ and be the best version of ourselves that we can be.”

Under manager Omir Santos, the Lake County Captains were all of that, and more, in 2024. The team went 77-53 (.592) then beat Wisconsin in the best-of-three championship series to win the Midwest League title.

The Captains led the MWL in runs scored and fewest runs allowed. They led in walks and on-base percentage and ranked second in stolen bases and slugging. Lake County pitchers allowed the fewest baserunners.

“When we looked at our roster at the start of the year, we were quite excited,” Harris said. “Then at midseason, we moved some guys up and got even more excited.”

Among those midseason additions were 21-year-old lefthander Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson, who was summoned to Lake County from Low-A Lynchburg, where in eight starts he allowed five earned runs with 71 strikeouts in 40.1 innings.