Could Cleveland Guardians legal case push club back to drawing board?

Could Cleveland Guardians legal case push club back to drawing board?

The Cleveland Guardians have yet to take the field and the club’s new identity has already hit a snag. A local roller derby team by the same name is taking the baseball club to court over the “Cleveland Guardians” namesake, leaving the Major League Baseball team in limbo in terms of the moniker as the 2022 season draws closer.

The organization already started taking the steps of removing the Cleveland Indians from sight around Progressive Field so going back doesn’t seem to be much of an option, but should this legal case continue the club could be faced with some difficult decisions with a short window of time.

Hopefully, the legal case is handled before the season starts and all of this doesn’t matter. However, the organization needs to start planning now for any outcome that could result from the court case. That means being prepared for anything.

As an organization, the Cleveland Guardians need to start planning for the best and worst results that could come from this court case. Since the club owns the copyright to the name, it seems like it should be a quick case that might even just be settled out of court to expedite the process. Even so, there needs to be a course of action if set up if that isn’t the case.

Given that the team has already made strides in the short time since the end of the season to start the name change process, the only options are to move forward one way or another. How that will happen is what could still be altered by the course of the legal situation. But what are those routes? What options do the Cleveland Guardians have if Guardians isn’t on the table for at least the 2022 season if not beyond? And if Guardians is off the table for 2022, does the team change course for the long haul and not just one season?

The Cleveland Guardians ride it out and make sure the name is available in 2022

The Cleveland Guardians could make the effort to ensure that the team is able to proceed with the name come Spring Training in 2022. While the roller derby team would prefer to keep their name, money talks. If the Dolans have their hearts set on being the Guardians in 2022, they could most likely make this case go away with a check.

This seems like the easiest route to go and also the fastest. Settling out of court should make the situation go faster and would quiet the cries before they truly begin. Legally, it seems as though the baseball club did their due diligence. They currently own the rights to the name and that should be that.

With that being said, it does seem like they maybe missed a step in the process. As a fan of the Cleveland Guardians name, I didn’t see anything about the roller derby team prior to the name announcement, but it also wasn’t my responsibility to be looking for it. The deep dig on the name that the organization did didn’t go deep enough and now ownership will have to pay for that one way or another. Doing it out of court and quickly will be the preferred option.

The Cleveland Guardians spend a season or more as the Cleveland Baseball Team

Cleveland Baseball Team, Cleveland Baseball Club, whatever way you spin it, this could be the most favorable option for 2022 if Cleveland Guardians is put on hold. This is what the Washington Football Team has done for the past two seasons and while it would be a writer’s nightmare, leaving few options to refer to the team, it does make sense.

There’s no sense in trying to go a different route if the court case does spill into the season. Picking a new name would essentially eliminate the Guardians all together. Having one identity shift is enough, but multiple isn’t plausible. Ownership has been adamant about moving on from the Indians and going back on that for a season would seem quite literally like a step backwards.

Should the legal proceedings of the Cleveland Guardians name appear to go into the season, the Cleveland Baseball Team might be the temporary moniker. It would buy the organization time to reevaluate the position while also accomplishing the goal of moving on from the Cleveland Indians.

Again, from a writer’s perspective the Cleveland Baseball Team leaves very few options, but from the ownership’s perspective, it might be the only option in the short-term.