3 habits Guardians fans wish Chris Antonetti would break to make 2026 a success

While the Guardians front office is one of baseball’s best at developing young talent and building a consistent winner, they’ve also developed some frustrating habits that seem to put a cap on their ability to build a team that can compete in the postseason. 

With that in mind, there are three of those habits they need to break this offseason. 

Three Chris Antonetti habits that need to be broken in order to make the Yankees' 2026 campaign a success

3. Stop letting option years dictate how things go in April

Every year it seems like the Guardians carry some lame duck on their roster in April because of their roster status. Jake Bauers played in 43 games for the Guardians at the start of 2021 because he didn’t have any minor league options left. In 2022, it was Oscar Mercado’s turn. Two years later, Estevan Florial had an early-season stint with the Guardians before being sent out to pasture.

The Guardians have plenty of candidates who could fill that role in 2026, as Jhonkensy Noel, Brayan Rocchio, Gabriel Arias, George Valera and Nolan Jones won’t have any options next season. That lack of options means that the Guardians would have to designate them for assignment to take them off the roster as opposed to just being able to send them down to the minors. 

Noel is in the most precarious situation of that group. After playing okay in 2024 and hitting one of the biggest home runs in Guardians postseason history, he had a disastrous 2025 where he hit just .165 before going 0-for-3 in the postseason with a big error. 

The Guardians have a plethora of outfield options for 2025, but Noel could end up beating all of them out thanks to his lack of options. Noel has the kind of power the Guardians desperately need in their outfield, but his struggles are becoming too much to ignore. 

He could obviously work his way into the outfield picture with a strong spring training, but, based on Antonetti’s track record, he likely has a step up on the other candidates due to his roster status. 

2. Be aggressive in promoting the top prospects 

This isn’t an Antonetti problem as much as a general problem across all of baseball. Every year it seems like teams across baseball wait until the middle of April to call up top prospects as opposed to having them break with their respective club. 

The Guardians have two prospects who could fit into that category next season in Chase DeLauter and Travis Bazzana. While DeLauter made his major league debut in the postseason last year, he didn’t collect any service time or MLB salary.

The Guardians were hesitant to call DeLauter up during the regular season last year because of injury concerns, and those hesitations ended up being vindicated when DeLauter suffered a right hamate injury in July. But it’s time for him to make his (regular season) debut with the Guardians. 

The same can be said for Bazzana, who made it all the way to Triple-A last season. While the best move with Bazzana may be an extension, being aggressive in his promotion is the next-best thing. Arias and Rocchio are both solid options in the middle infield, but Bazzana has more upside than both of them. 

1. Finally add a power hitter through external means

In 2017, the Guardians signed slugger Edwin Encarnación to a three-year, $60 million contract (the largest free agent contract in team history), who responded by slugging 70 home runs across his two seasons in Cleveland. 

Even if signing Encarnación was a costly endeavor, it was still a shrewd one. The Guardians came within a game of winning the World Series a year prior and decided to reinforce their lineup with one of the top hitters on the market. 

That still stands out as the last time they added a pure power hitter in the offseason. Carlos Santana put together a Silver Slugger season after Cleveland (re)acquired him in 2019, but he's in a bit of a different category since he was a known commodity. 

It’s a blueprint they should follow again this season. Even if Kyle Schwarber ends up being out of the Guardians price range, there are still plenty of other power options who could be available either through free agency or the trade market. 

But they need to do a little more than that. Not only should they go after one of those options, but they should also make sure to have them still be a power hitter. 

The Guardians are one of baseball’s best teams at developing contact hitters, but their lack of power across recent seasons has been incredibly frustrating, especially considering how many former Guardians have gone on to hit for power elsewhere.

Even if the Guardians have plenty of exciting internal options, adding a power hitter should be a priority for Antonetti and co. this offseason.