Grade for Guardians' offseason activity better than expected

The Cleveland Guardians were active in a way most thought they would be this winter. Cleveland retained the services of a few of their own players, but as per usual, the biggest moves of their offseason came through trades. This is an approach that resulted in cutting payroll while adding multiple arms to their pitching staff, with both aspects playing a factor into how they offseason was graded.

The staff over at The Athletic (subscription required) compiled a list of grades for all 30 MLB teams and their assessment of the Guardians being better than most would have anticipated. Cleveland received a B grade for their work this winter, tied with the Detroit Tigers for the best in the American League Central division.

The trades of Andres Gimenez and Josh Naylor, which would net them multiple pitchers, highlighted by Luis Ortiz and Slade Cecconi. This helped the Guardians reduce their organizational financial commitments, which in turn allowed them to re-sign Shane Bieber and bring back fan-favorite slugger Carlos Santana. These transactions were viewed favorably in the article, with Cleveland's proven track record with pitching development being mentioned specifically.

Not everything the Guardians did this offseason was viewed highly, however, as there is a reason why they did not receive a grade higher than B. "But did the Guardians get better, or merely cheaper, in dropping to 25th in payroll at about $100 million?" stands out as a less than enthusiastic evaluation of their team building approach.

Additionally, the decision to use some of their limited savings to sign a player at a position of strength was not considered to be the best idea. "Similar to last offseason’s trade for reliever Scott Barlow, spending $7 million on the 34-year-old Paul Sewald, while a reasonable price for a setup man, seems like an odd splurge for a team with a $100 million payroll.", is a very valid criticism considering the limited financial flexibility the Guardians have. Perhaps signing a starting second baseman, outfielder, or non-injured starting pitcher would have resulted in a better grade here.