4 difficult decisions the Cleveland Guardians will have to make this offseason

1. How much more are the Guardians going to spend in 2025?

This is easily the one area that is going to be impacted the most by their success in 2024. The Guardians have not been known to be a team that spends a lot, and the times they usually do spend outside of their comfort zone, it is carefully orchestrated in order to avoid any additional unnecessary risk. It is easier said than done, but for the most part, Cleveland has been successful with this method of operation.

The problem is that it requires a team to play absolutely perfectly if they are matched up against a star-studded squad, and as everyone saw in the ALCS, the New York Yankees had a much larger margin for error than the Guardians. And while additional spending does not always result in winning at a higher rate, more often than not, it increases the margin for error, and that could have made a huge difference against the Yankees.

It must be acknowledged by the front office and ownership that now is the time to invest in this team and spend their way to increasing their chances. They have already done the hard part, building a stable roster foundation without having to spend a ton to do it. Now, they just need to fill in the gaps on the roster by spending and turning a team once considered an afterthought into a team that is feared leaguewide.