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

3. Matthew Boyd - Starting Pitcher

The Cleveland Guardians took chances on their fair share of lottery tickets this past season, and Matthew Boyd was one of the more successful players.

Cleveland brought Boyd into the fold knowing that what they would receive from him would be somewhat limited, but were hoping that he would be able to maximize his value in that short time. Luckily for the Guardians, their acquisition of Boyd was a highly productive one.

In his eight starts in Cleveland, Boyd posted a 2.72 ERA, 1.134 WHIP, and 10.4 strikeouts per nine across 39.2 innings. This was far beyond what any reasonable person could have expected from Boyd, and his contributions to what the Guardians were able to accomplish this season should not be discounted.

Even though every single bit of information up to this point is of the positive variety and sounds like an argument for keeping him, the reality is the Guardians should not fall into the obvious trap that sits in front of them. Boyd outperformed his career marks across the board, this is a major red flag. The other area of concern would be the fact he has not been all that healthy over the past few years, including undergoing Tommy John surgery last year.

This combination of injuries and overperformance are textbook examples of when to let a guy walk. The risk of re-signing Boyd and him flopping for one reason or another is not worth the potential reward and the Guardians should make their decision accordingly.