Guardians’ demoralizing loss in Wild Card Series showcases obvious roster flaws

The 2025 Cleveland Guardians are going to be remembered for a few things. Their amazing comeback in the American League Central. Their loss of Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase due to gambling suspensions. Chase DeLauter’s record-setting debut. 

But even if we aren’t able to look into a crystal ball to see how things are going to unfold in the future, it also seems like this year is going to be remembered as a transitional year that helped set the Guardians up for future success. 

The Guardians will have some work to do in the offseason

It’ll be the year Kyle Manzardo took over at first. The year that nine Guardians made their major league debut (Zak Kent and Will Wilson were the first when they debuted on a cold April afternoon against the Yankees; DeLauter was the last when he made his record-setting debut on a crisp October afternoon on baseball’s biggest stage). It’ll be another strong season in José Ramírez’s Hall of Fame résumé. 

But, as Thursday’s loss shows, there are still some clear holes on the roster. They had the second-worst offense in baseball per OPS and their bats went quiet when they needed them most in the postseason. 

Outside of Wednesday’s big eighth inning, the Guardians could only muster five runs in their three games against the Tigers. While Cade Smith did an admirable job filling in at closer after Clase got suspended, the Guardians still need another reliever or two to fill the hole that Clase left on the roster. 

For most of the year, it was evident that they needed one or two (or five) impact bats in their lineup. In the end, they only had two everyday players who ranked above league-average by measure of OPS+ (Manzardo and Ramírez). They also gave nearly 400 at-bats to 39-year-old Carlos Santana and had a black hole in right field all year. 

In 2022, Terry Francona’s bloop troop stayed steady all year on its way to the American League Division Series. Last year Stepehen Vogt’s crew dominated from start to finish and coasted to a division title. At some points this year, they looked more like a bottom-feeder than a postseason team, but they had just enough magic and timely hitting to make it to the postseason (even if it ended up being a short stay in October). 

But fixes could be on the way soon. They should benefit from a full year of C.J. Kayfus, George Valera and DeLauter, and Travis Bazzana should make his debut at some point in the season. 

But even if they don’t make a ton of upgrades to their offense, they’ll enter next season as a postseason contender thanks to their stellar starting rotation that’s led by Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee and Parker Messick.

While the Guardians making the postseason this season is an abject win (especially when you consider the depths they were at certain points during the season), it doesn’t take away from the sting that comes with bowing out this early in the postseason. 

If the Guardians end up putting together a long run toward the postseason at some point in the near-future, this season will likely be viewed as the building block to that.