Assessing what the Guardians should do with their impending free agents

At the start of the season, the Cleveland Guardians were staring down the barrel of having to make six decisions in the 2025 offseason about impending free agents. 

But now we’re a little more than a month away from the start of the season and they’ve been able to cut that number in half thanks to some shrewd moves at the deadline (see ya, Shane Bieber and Paul Sewald) and one waiver wire move (thanks for everything, Carlos Santana). 

But just because they already made a decision with those three players doesn’t mean they won’t have any roster questions to answer in the offseason. Here’s what they should do with their impending free agents. 

C Austin Hedges
Let him walk in free agency, but get him on Stepehen Vogt’s staff whenever he retires

Hedges may not bring much to the table in the way of offensive production, but he’s still great at calling a game (93rd percentile in framing and 94th percentile in caught stealing) and is a great presence in the clubhouse. 

The Guardians elected to bring him back this year on a one-year, $4 million contract, and he’ll likely have his pick of similar contracts this offseason from contenders across MLB. But, at this point, it shouldn’t be from the Guardians. 

Bo Naylor has all the talent in the world, but he’s hitting just .180 this year and is a career .200 hitter. It’s time he got some legitimate competition behind the plate. 

Luckily for the Guardians, that competition can come internally with prospect Cooper Ingle and David Fry, who should be able to get back to catching next season. 

Hedges has been an invaluable piece to the Guardians for most of the past four seasons, but it’s time to move on from him.

RHP Jakob Junis
Bring him back on a two-year contract 

The Guardians decided to bring Junis in on a one-year, $4.5 million contract at the start of spring training, and it’s been a clear win. 

Junis entered the weekend with a 2.85 ERA in 60 innings working in a variety of roles out of the bullpen. Essentially, he’s done everything the Guardians were expecting Sewald to do. 

The Guardians are going to have plenty of questions to answer about their bullpen in the offseason thanks to the suspension of Emmanuel Clase, so bringing back Junis seems like a no-brainer given the success he’s had this year and his familiarity with Cleveland’s pitching coaches.

LHP John Means
Pick up his team option and see what he has 

While Means isn’t set to be a free agent in the same way Hedges and Thomas are, the Guardians have the ability to dictate his offseason fate by deciding whether or not to pick up his $6 million team option for next season. 

Means is on the Guardians on a one-year, $1 million contract as he recovers from Tommy John surgery, and is approaching the end of his rehab assignment. If all goes well, he’ll likely be able to make four or five appearances with the Guardians before the end of the season. 

Not the desired amount of time you’d want to see a guy before making a $6 million decision about him, but that’s just the reality of the situation. 

Earlier this week we saw some reporting from ESPN’s Jeff Passan that made it seem like the Guardians were “unlikely” to pick up Mean’s option, but they should only do that if he gets hurt and/or implodes when he returns to a major league mound. 

Means was an All-Star when he was healthy and has a no-hitter on his résumé. It’s worth taking a $6 million gamble on that kind of talent.

OF Lane Thomas
Bring him back… but only at a discount 

By every measure, this year has been a failure for Thomas. He’s only been able to play in 39 games thanks to three different stints on the injured list, and is running out of time to work his way back from his latest rehab assignment. 

And, if he does come back, who knows how much playing time he’ll get considering the Guardians have plenty of other controllable outfielders who they’re going to want to see play down the stretch. 

Thomas seemed poised to net a lucrative multi-year contract in his first foray into free agency, but now he’ll likely have to settle for a one-year deal somewhere to serve as fourth outfielder.

If his price tag ends up dipping low enough then the Guardians should seriously consider going after him in free agency, so long as they’ve figured out what they want to do with the rest of their outfield. 

And, to be clear, there could be a spot for him. 

Nolan Jones hasn’t been able to match his tantalizing advanced stats up with his on field production, while Steven Kwan was in the thick of trade rumors at the deadline and that likely won’t stop once the offseason rolls around. 

In a perfect world the Guardians would likely want Chase DeLauter manning right field for them next year, but his injury history is enough to give anyone pause. Thomas would be a good insurance policy for that, so long as he falls into the Guardians’ price range.