The Cleveland Guardians didn’t have a particularly good roster to enter the offseason, and they failed to make any major upgrades before the lockout.
Lots of players were available in free agency, but the Guardians failed to do much besides pick up Jose Ramirez’s club option.
They did protect several top prospects from being taken in the major league portion of the MLB Rule 5 Draft by adding them to the 40-man roster.
The draft is postponed, but could take place once the lockout is over.
George Valera, Brayan Rocchio, Jhonkensy Noel, Konnor Pilkington, Bryan Lavastida, Cody Morris, Jose Tena, and several others were protected.
The Guardians also let defensive-minded catcher Roberto Perez sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates via free agency, and replaced him with Sandy Leon.
That is a recap of the Guardians’ offseason.
No wonder fans are mad.
A Reiterative Lack Of Investment
Right now, the Guardians have one of MLB’s lowest payrolls, close to what Max Scherzer will make from the New York Mets.
Estimated current opening day payrolls, per @baseballpro:
Seattle Mariners: $57 million
Cleveland Guardians: $46.7 million
Max Scherzer: $43.3 million
Pittsburgh Pirates: $40.2 million
Baltimore Orioles: $37 million— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 29, 2021
A good portion of that is destined to pay $12 million to their best player, Ramirez.
Other than that, the Guardians are a collection of cost-controlled players in pre-arbitration or early arbitration years.
In 2021, Cleveland was 29th in total payroll, at $50,220,534 (per Spotrac), so it’s nothing new.
They were 22nd in 2019 and 24th in 2020, so it’s really a downward trend: that’s exactly why fans have every right to be mad at the ownership.
It’s a baffling situation, because there is a feeling the Guardians would be so much better with even a modest investment of funds.
They have one of the league’s best pitchers in Shane Bieber, and one of the MLB’s top players in Ramirez.
In fact, their rotation is very good and has even more potential.
Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale, Triston McKenzie, and Cal Quantrill is a really interesting group behind Bieber.
But it’s extremely disappointing to see Cleveland throw away another year of Ramirez and Bieber’s prime with no investment in the lineup.
Franmil Reyes is a good source of power, and Amed Rosario is at least respectable.
Myles Straw, Bobby Bradley, and Andres Gimenez have the potential to evolve into useful pieces.
The Guardians have a really creative front office, but there is a huge challenge ahead with little budget.
Don’t panic #Guardians fans. Antonetti knows this offense needs upgraded. The fact I haven’t heard us linked to any FAs tells me just how active they are going to be in the trade market post lockout.Just remember, he’s REALLY good at his job,and we never hear things ahead of time
— Mel (@mellow_nie91) November 30, 2021
The Offense Is A Problem
But Cleveland doesn’t need “useful”: it needs “good”, “great”, and “comfortably above-average”.
The team ranked 18th in runs scored in MLB last season among 30 teams, with 717.
Several talented free agents who can help change the outlook of Cleveland’s offense remain on the market: Nick Castellanos, Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Seager, Kyle Schwarber, Alex Dickerson, Corey Dickerson, Michael Conforto, Jorge Soler, Nelson Cruz, and many more.
It’s really hard to see the Guardians taking a long look at most of them because they don’t like to spend money on the team, and because they don’t have enough roster spots after protecting more than a handful of prospects.
But there is no way the Guardians can compete with the Chicago White Sox and the up-and-coming AL Central teams like the Detroit Tigers if they don’t bring in drastic offensive improvements.
The lack of moves is baffling, and fans have every right to be upset about the organization’s inactivity during free agency.
The start of the offseason was really fruitful for several teams, but sadly, the Guardians aren’t in that group.
Perhaps the trade market is where they make an impact, but so far, Cleveland’s offseason hasn’t been good at all.
NEXT: Bad Omen Strikes The Guardians On First Day With New Name