Cleveland Guardians: 4 burning questions entering the offseason

Will Terry Francona return to manage the Cleveland Guardians in 2022?

The rumors around Terry Francona returning to the bench have been quiet of late. Since the front office committed to Francona if he’s healthy, there really hasn’t been much talk. With the wonderful game of manger musical chairs that happens every offseason, Francona is now the longest tenured coach with one team in the game, but that doesn’t exactly mean he’s locked in for 2022.

The fact of the matter is that Francona has missed large chunks of the last two seasons for health concerns. He stepped away at the trade deadline this past season and missed more than half of the shortened 2020 campaign. If healthy, he’s still a strong manager. However, that’s a big “if” right now.

Nothing is set in stone yet that Francona will return in 2022 and even if he does, for how long will he be back? DeMarlo Hale and Sandy Alomar Jr. have filled the interim role well in Francona’s absence, but a guessing game at manager isn’t a sustainable option. There needs to be a bit more clarity and with the questions being rooted in Francona’s health, we most likely won’t get definitive answers. Hopefully, he can make it through 2022 and this stops being a consistent question around the team.

How will the Cleveland Guardians use the “extra money” promised by ownership?

The ownership group of the Cleveland Guardians has pledged to do what is necessary to make the inaugural season of the new name a success, but the question is how? The initial reaction should be spending money. But even then, the same question of “how” comes up. How does ownership spend money to make the season a success?

There’s a few options that the team could explore. One, ownership could use an approach similar to that of the 2017 offseason and bring in big name free agents to create intrigue around the upcoming season. Two, the organization decides to invest in the future by signing current players to long-term deals before their price tags skyrocket.

Both options have worked in the past and are routes that are intriguing. Jose Ramirez was a deal that came at a time before he burst out and now he’s one of the best bargains in baseball. On the flip side, Edwin Encarnacion was an exciting signing that created hype and also produced for the club.

In terms of past success, the Ramirez route seemed to work a bit better. Looking forward, that’s how the money could be spent, but does that really create a splash heading into the 2022 season?

Will the Cleveland Guardians avoid another blockbuster trade?

Blockbuster trades have become the theme of the offseason for Cleveland over the last few seasons. Between the 2020 and 2021 season the club sent Francisco Lindor to the New York Mets. The offseason between 2019 and 2020 saw Corey Kluber dealt for Emmanuel Clase. The December between 2018 and 2019 was the trade of Edwin Encarnacion. What could this offseason bring?

The hope is nothing. Cleveland has spent the last three seasons shedding large contracts and adding future assets, preparing for right now. The rebuilding of the organization. There are very few pieces left to move. However, there are enough that this is still a talking point.

The aforementioned bargain contract of Jose Ramirez is one that nearly all other 29 teams would love to get their hands on. Would Cleveland trade their best player? Hopefully not, but that hasn’t stopped them in the past. The difference is that Lindor, Kluber and Encarnacion were all going to weigh down the books for Cleveland. Ramirez will be far from that.

Given all the facts of the situation, Ramirez shouldn’t be in trade talks, but it’s also hard to ignore the history of the front office. Nearly everyone around Cleveland doesn’t want to move Ramirez, but are the Dolans included in that?