5 Guardians who won’t be back in 2027 after ALCS defeat to the Rays

The Cleveland Guardians’ 2026 season may have ended XX days ago, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t too early to start looking toward the future. 

Most of their roster is set for 2027 (such is life for a small-market team that always builds from within), but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for some moves to be made. 

Here are five Guardians players who shouldn’t be on the roster once Opening Day rolls around 

The Guardians have plenty of players they should part ways with this offseason

RHP Shawn Armstrong
2-1, 4.58 ERA in 35 1/3 innings

Last offseason the Guardians signed Armstrong to a one-year, $5.5 million deal in the hopes he’d be an anchor in their bullpen. That didn’t happen, as he spent a good portion of the season off the field with two lower-body injuries. 

Although he had a productive postseason, that may not be enough for him to earn a spot on the roster. He’s already not guaranteed a spot on the roster by virtue of being an impending free agent, but it’s hard to believe the Guardians would consider bringing the 36-year-old back (should he choose to continue to keep playing). 

RHP Slade Cecconi
5-7, 4.91 ERA, 99 strikeouts in 121 innings 

Cecconi may be the lone big league piece remaining from the Guardians’ trade of Josh Naylor, but that may not be enough to keep him on the roster. 

Cecconi’s recorded 44 starts with the Guardians over the past two seasons, but his 4.51 ERA in those starts shows the juice hasn’t really been worth the squeeze when it comes to having him in the rotation. 

The Guardians have the first four spots in their rotation settled with Parker Messick, Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee and Joey Cantillo, and they have some MLB-ready pitchers in the minors led by Justin Campbell and Austin Peterson. 

Cecconi is set to hit arbitration for the first time in his career, which could end up factoring in the Guardians’ decision to cut him loose ahead of a pay raise. 

1B David Fry
.201/.313/.364, 8 HR, 20 RBI, 59 K in 91 games 

Fry etched his name into Guardians lore in 2024 with his walk-off homer against the Yankees, but we’re at a point where his time in Cleveland could come to an end. 

He went on a crazy Linsanity run at the start of 2024 that resulted in him earning an All-Star nod, but he then suffered an arm injury that led to him undergoing Tommy John surgery that changed the trajectory of his career. 

He had a .592 OPS last season as a full time designated hitter, and has been a bit better this season (.677). That still isn’t enough to cut it, which is part of the reason why the Guardians sent him down to the minors after the trade deadline before recalling him after Rhys Hoskins got hurt. 

He seems like a logical non-tender. 

1B Rhys Hoskins
.179/.306.376, 13 HR, 38 RBI, 100 K in 95 games

The Guardians signed Hoskins to a one-year deal in the offseason in the hopes he could bring the best of his “three true outcomes” approach to Cleveland. 

He got on base at a good clip and struck out a lot, but the power wasn’t really there. He may have spent most of the season hanging near the top of the Guardians’ home run leaderboard, but that was more a testament of the Guardians’ lack of power than Hoskins’ approach. 

His season came to an end in August due to a back injury. 

Hoskins may not be the same kind of player he was with the Phillies prior to when he tore his ACL, but his lone season with the Guardians was a flop. They should let him walk in free agency 

UTL Daniel Schneemann
.210/.276/.332, 7 HR, 30 RBI, 84 K in 91 games

Schneemann seemed to take a step forward in 2025 after he played in a career-high 131 games, but all that momentum went by the wayside this season in another rough year at the plate. 

He’s a great defender who can play above-average defense at pretty much every position, but his offensive struggles have gotten tough to ignore. 

Schneemann has a 78+ OPS in 834 career at-bats to go along with a career strikeout rate of 29%. That’s not going to cut it for a Guardians team that still needs offense. 

The Guardians already seem to have an heir for Schneemann's utility role in Angel Genao, so they’d be better off giving his spot on the roster to a player with a bit more offense.

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