5 Cleveland Guardians free agents who should not be back in 2025

2. Carlos Carrasco - Starting Pitcher

Of the players expected to play a sizeable role for the Cleveland Guardians in 2024, Carlos Carrasco was near, if not at the bottom of that list. Carrasco was signed to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training in the offseason. This seemed to mostly be some time of doing right by one of their former key players type move, but a few injuries provided an opening for Carrasco to join Cleveland's rotation at the start of the season.

Carrasco finished 2024 with a 5.64 ERA, 1.399 WHIP, and 9.7 strikeouts per nine in 103.2 innings across 21 starts. Even though the overall numbers were not necessarily all that impressive, Carrasco was able to hold the Guardians' rotation together and provide some much-needed stability during a time when they desperately needed it.

At 37 years old, Carrasco does not have a lot of playing days left in his baseball career, if any. It was quite obvious from the start of 2024 that any appearances from Carrasco would seem to be part of a last-ride-type scenario.

When his career is officially over, Carrasco will always be remembered as a fan favorite in Cleveland and as someone who played at their best during his time in the organization. While others appearing in this list are the easily discarded type due to a lack of usefulness, Carrasco is someone who will be celebrated for what he was able to accomplish in Cleveland and for the impact he made on the organization he spent the most time with.