Kyle Manzardo’s historic opening day performance got me thinking about him and the other players on the Guardians roster acquired by trade. There are seven of them, including Manzardo. Manzardo was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays on July 31, 2023, for right-handed pitcher Aaron Civale, who at the time was 5-2 with the Guardians. The Rays trailed first-place Baltimore in the American League East by 1.5 games. The Guardians were only a game behind first-place Minnesota in the AL Central, but they were 53-54. The Rays paid a steep price talent-wise for a pitcher they hoped would carry them deep into the playoffs. Manzardo was playing for Tampa’s Triple-A team in Durham N.C. The young first baseman was ranked as the Rays’ No. 4 prospect and No. 37 overall by MLBpipeline.com. Civale went 2-3 with a 5.36 ERA in 10 starts with the Rays in 2023. He was 2-6 last year before the Rays traded him to Milwaukee for minor league infielder Gregory Barrios. Manzardo, the designated hitter on opening day, walked, tripled homered and doubled while driving in four runs in the 7-4 win over the Royals. He is the first player in Cleveland baseball history to homer, triple and double on opening day and the first in MLB since Don Baylor with the Orioles in 1973 to come up a single short of the cycle on opening day. Of course, Manzardo won’t keep that pace, but he is only 24 and isn’t eligible for arbitration until 2028. He won’t be a free agent until 2031. • Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti traded starting pitcher Corey Kluber to the Rangers for young, unproven Emmanuel Clase in December 2019. Clase, now 27, was 2-3 with one start for Texas in 2019. He was suspended for all of 2020 for using performance-enhancing drugs. But in the four seasons since, he became Cleveland’s all-time saves leader with 157. He will continue to add to that total in 2025. Clase led the Majors in saves (42, 44 and 47) each of the last three seasons. Kluber,  a two-time Cy Young Award winner with the Indians, is retired. He was 18-19 with four teams after being traded. • The Guardians traded starting pitcher Mike Clevinger to the Padres on Aug. 31, 2020, for first baseman Josh Naylor, pitcher Cal Quantrill, catcher Austin Hedges, pitcher Joey Cantillo, infielder Gabriel Arias and infielder Owen Miller. Cantillo and Arias remain from the trade. Arias is starting at second base. Cantillo is in the bullpen. He could be a spot starter if necessary. Hedges is back with the Guardians after signing with them as a free agent in 2024. Clevinger is in his third season with the White Sox. • Outfielder Nolan Jones was reacquired from the Rockies for utility player Tyler Freeman on March 22. The Guards traded Jones to the Rockies in December 2022 for infielder Juan Brito. In effect, Freeman was traded for Brito. Brito was optioned to Columbus on March 21. Jones is expected to get most of his playing time in right field when the opponent uses a right-handed pitcher. Jones batted .297, homered 20 times and drove in 62 runs in 109 games with the Rockies in 2023. Back problems last year limited him 79 games. He hit .227 with three home runs and 28 RBI. The Guardians are hopeful he can return to his 2023 form if they manage his workload properly. • Starting center fielder Lane Tomas was acquired from the Nationals on July 30 last year for three prospects — left-handed pitcher Alex Clemmey, shortstop Rafael Ramirez Jr., and infielder José Tena. Freeman played 97 games in center field last year. Thomas has more power and the potential to steal 30 bases. • Starting pitcher Luis Ortiz was acquired in a three-team trade with the Blue Jays and Pirates in which Cleveland dealt second baseman Andres Gimenez to Toronto. Ortiz had a shaky spring — 0-4, 10.13 ERA, 14 walks allowed in 18 2/3 innings — but Antonetti is confident Ortiz will settle in. Ortiz was 12-13 in three years with the Pirates. • Charles Friedrich Ludwig Getzein was the first German-born player to play Major League Baseball. He is also the only Major Leaguer past or present to be nicknamed “Pretzels.” Getzein, a right-handed pitcher born in 1864, compiled a record of 145-139 playing for five teams from 1884-92. He was nicknamed Pretzels because his pitches were described as “puzzling twisters.” Until 1893, pitchers pitched from a box that varied in width from 12 feet to four feet and in length from seven feet to three feet. A pitch could be delivered from anywhere in the box. Getzien was 30-11 with the Detroit Wolverines of the National League in 1886. The Detroit Free Press had this to say after Getzein beat the Kansas City Cowboys in September of that year. Game details were not available: “The Pretzel is all right. He went into the box to-day and pitched one of his finest, his curves circling around in the form of the delicious pastry from which Getz takes his sobriquet.” The headline on the story was “Our sturdy German twirler does good work at Kansas City.” Getzein played one game with the Cleveland Spiders in 1891. He gave up eight earned runs in nine innings and was the losing pitcher. The opponent is unknown ...read more read less