The Arizona Complex League Guardians are a Rookie-level affiliate of the

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

, competing in the

Arizona Complex League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it f ...

of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at

Goodyear Ballpark Goodyear Ballpark is a stadium in Goodyear, Arizona (a western suburb of Phoenix) and part of a $108 million Goodyear, Arizona Goodyear (O'odham language, O'odham: ''Valin Thak'') is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census had a population o ...

. The team is composed mainly of players who are in their first year of

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

either as draftees or non-drafted free agents from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, and other countries.

History

The

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

previously fielded a Rookie-level team in the

Gulf Coast League The Florida Complex League (FCL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Before 2021, it was known as the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Together with the Arizona Complex League (ACL), it forms the l ...

(GCL) during three tenures (1967–1975, 1988–1990, and 2006–2008) known as the Gulf Coast League Indians. The team played at

Chain of Lakes Park Chain of Lakes Park is a baseball field in Winter Haven, Florida. The stadium was built in 1966 and holds 7,000 people. It was the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox from 1966 to 1992, after which the Red Sox moved operations to City of P ...

Winter Haven, Florida Winter Haven is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. It is fifty-one miles east of Tampa. The population was 49,219 at the 2020 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 estimates, this city had a population of 44,955, making ...

, during 2006–2008. Notable players for the GCL Indians include Jeff Newman in 1970; Newman went on to play in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

from 1976 to 1984, and was one of three managers for the 1986 Oakland Athletics. In 2009, when the major-league Indians moved their

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives estab ...

from Florida to Arizona, the Rookie-level team moved to the

Arizona League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it ...

(AZL), becoming the Arizona League Indians. The team has competed in Arizona since then. In 2018 and 2019, the team fielded two squads in the league, differentiated by suffixes (1 and 2, or Blue and Red). Prior to the 2021 season, the Arizona League was renamed as the

(ACL). Following the rebranding of the Cleveland Indians to the "Cleveland Guardians" prior to the 2022 season, the organization's domestic complex team was renamed the "ACL Guardians."

Rosters

Season-by-season

References

External links

Official website (Blue)

Official website (Red)
{{Arizona Sports Professional baseball teams in Arizona Cleveland Guardians minor league affiliates Defunct Florida Complex League teams Arizona Complex League teams Baseball teams established in 1967 1967 establishments in Florida Sports in Polk County, Florida Winter Haven, Florida Goodyear, Arizona Sports in Maricopa County, Arizona