5 former Guardians players that fans definitely forgot were All-Stars for Cleveland

Cleveland’s baseball franchise has produced plenty of All-Stars over its more than 120 year history as a major league franchise, and, most of the time, those players ended up becoming franchise icons. Whether it be Jim Thome, Albert Belle, the Alomar brothers or, more recently, José Ramírez, there were plenty of Cleveland All-Stars who made their mark on baseball as a whole. 

But that doesn’t mean that every Cleveland All-Star falls into that category. With that mind, here’s a look at five former Cleveland All-Stars who may make you say “huh?”

Here are some former Guardians that fans have probably forgotten were All-Stars

This was a bit of an interesting exercise due to Cleveland’s dominance during the 1990s. While they produced plenty of All-Stars over that period, almost all of them were household names thanks to Cleveland’s dominance. Now without further ado: 

Brad Hand - 2019
6-4, 3.30 ERA, 34 saves in 57 1/3 innings

We debated including Hand on this list considering he entered Cleveland with plenty of fanfare after the team acquired him at the trade deadline in 2018.

And while he reached All-Stars heights during that time period, he’s not really thought of as one of the best relief arms in team history, which is likely due in large part to how his tenure with the team ended. 

He posted a 2.17 ERA in 37 1/3 innings in the first half of 2019 before ballooning to 5.40 in 20 innings in the second half, which was one of the reasons why Cleveland ended up missing out on a postseason spot. And while he led all of baseball with 21 saves in the truncated 2020 season, he blew the lead in Game 2 of Cleveland’s Wild Card Series loss to the Yankees.

Hand was fine during his time with Cleveland, but it's easy to forget that he was once an All-Star for Cleveland.

Danny Salazar - 2016
11-6, 3.87 ERA, 161 strikeouts in 137 1/3 innings 

While Salazar had some highlights for Cleveland in his six-year tenure with the team like starting the All-Star Game in 2013 and making the All-Star Game in 2016, his time with the franchise is still a game of “what if” due to injuries. 

Salazar was fantastic in the first half of 2016 and entered the All-Star Break with a 2.75 ERA, but he only had a 7.44 ERA in 32 2/3 second half innings before he missed the last month of the regular season with a forearm injury. 

That injury ended up bringing about the end of his MLB career. He bounced between the bullpen and rotation in 2017 before missing all of the 2018 season due to arm injuries. He managed to make one MLB appearance for the Indians in 2019 before suffering another season-ending injury. He resurfaced in 2022 in the minor leagues for the Yankees  but it never became anything.

Matt Lawton - 2004 
.277/.366/.421, 20 HR, 70 RBI 

Lawton, who was part of the return Cleveland got when they traded Roberto Alomar to the Mets, had a solid if not unspectacular three year run with Cleveland at a time when the Indians were playing a lot of bad baseball. That said, his 2004 season was still impressive, as he put together a 20/20 season and nearly recorded as many walks (74) as he had strikeouts (84).

That year ended up being Lawton’s last in Cleveland, as Cleveland traded him to Pittsburgh after the season in exchange for Arthur Rhodes. Lawton went on to play two more MLB seasons before retiring. 

Travis Fryman - 2000
.321/.392/.516, 22 HR, 106 RBI 

The 2000 season was Fryman at the height of his powers, as he set a new career-high in batting average (.321), slugging percentage (.516), on-base percentage (.392), hits (184), doubles (38), and RBI (106) — stats that helped him earn the starting third base nod in the Midsummer Classic. He also won the Gold Glove at third base on the back of a 60-game errorless streak. 

While Fryman had been a four-time All-Star in his career prior to joining Cleveland in 1998, most of his Cleveland tenure was robbed by injuries except for his magical 2000 season. While he played in 146 games in 1998, he only played in 85 in 1999 (though he did hit a walk-off single against the Red Sox in the ALDS) and 98 in 2001 before retiring after the 2002 season. 

Pat Tabler - 1987 
.307/.369/.439, 11 HR, 86 RBI 

While Tabler has been around the team a bit more as of late due to his presence on the team broadcast, it can still be easy to forget how good he was in 1987. In fact, he generated 2.6 of his 3.1 career bWAR in ‘87. 

Cleveland acquired Tabler from the Cubs ahead of the 1994 season where he became a weapon of mass production in the middle of the lineup. While  never hit worse than .275 in any of his seasons with Cleveland, his 1987 season is the stuff of legend, as his 86 RBI and .809 OPS  were the best marks of any of his seasons in Cleveland.

Cleveland traded Tabler to the Royals in 1988, and he’d go on to win a World Series with the Blue Jays in 1992.