Guardians are notably absent in MLB Trade Rumors’ extensive 2027 free agent predictions

Every year, the wonderful staff at MLB Trade Rumors puts out an extensive list of the top 50 free agents in baseball along with their predictions for where each player is going to sign. They may not be on the same level as some of the sport’s big insiders, but their wall-to-wall coverage of pretty much every MLB transaction means they have an unrivaled idea of the free agency market. 

And, according to their insight, the Guardians are going to sit out yet another free agency. That team published their list of the top 50 free agents earlier this week, where the Guardians were predicted to sign… one free agent. And it wasn’t even like it was a consensus prediction. 

The lone time the Guardians were mentioned in the story came at the end when Anthony Franco predicted Cleveland would sign reliever Paul Blackburn, their No. 41 prospect who was predicted to sign a two-year, $15 million contract. 

Meanwhile, at least one writer on their panel predicted the White Sox would sign Trevor Rogers and Freddy Peralta (the No. 2 and 3 free agents on their list) while one of them had the Tigers signing Luis Arraez and two of them had the Tigers signing Jazz Chisholm Jr. 

Blackburn may be a solid fit in the Guardians’ pitching staff since they’re in dire need of a swingman, but they’re going to need to add more than just him if they want to truly be a contender in 2026. 

Paul Blackburn would be an solid (if not underwhelming) addition for the Guardians

After opening his career as a starter with the Athletics (he was their All-Star representative in 2022), Blackburn’s career found new life with the Yankees as a bullpen option. He initially signed with the Yankees in 2025, and finished the 2026 campaign with 1.69 ERA in 85 innings out of the bullpen. He also added six scoreless innings in the postseason. 

And while he worked exclusively as a relief arm last season, he went 1+ innings in 32 of his appearances and could have been used as an Aaron Ashby-type arm had the Yankees gone further in the postseason. 

Blackburn’s never going to be the biggest name in a team’s pitching staff, but he’s a valuable innings eater who could end up being the difference between whether a team makes the postseason or not. 

Meanwhile, it seems like the White Sox and Tigers are planning on each making at least one impact move in this year’s weird, truncated offseason. 

That doesn’t always work (which the White Sox learned when they traded for Luis Castillo), but either of them adding an impact bat would make things tougher for the Guardians. 

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