Guardians fans still confounded by team eliminating easy offseason win

At some point over the weekend, the World Series will end and we’ll be back in a cold, baseball-less world. And while the start of the 2026 season will be here before you know it, we’re still staring down the barrel of three months without any hardball. 

In years prior, the Guardians (like some other teams in MLB) have had a fanfest in the middle of winter that helps break up the offseason while also providing fans with an ability to interact with some of their favorite players. 

That won’t be the case this year, as the Guardians announced last offseason that they were moving ‘Guards Fest’ to a triannual event, and that it won’t be held again until after the 2026 season. 

While the Guardians said they made the decision after conducting “fan outreach,” it’s still a confusing decision given what it was able to do for Cleveland baseball fans. 

The lack of Guards Fest this winter is a bit confusing 

Now it’s worth noting that Guards Fest likely is a huge undertaking. Not only does the team have to rent out a space (in years prior it was at Huntington Bank Convention Center in Downtown Cleveland), but they also have to get the players and personalities back in Cleveland for a weekend. 

Not the easiest thing to do in the dead of winter. 

But all of that pales in comparison to what it does for the fanbase. It provides fans an ability to come together as a fanbase while also getting an up close and personal look at players they mostly see on TV or in a seat far away from the diamond. 

It can't be overstated how much of an easy win it would be for ownership or the front office. The front office was lambasted last year after they cut from the roster following the Guardians’ run toward the American League Championship Series, but having Guards Fest would likely have cut down on the amount of anger in the fanbase. 

The same could be said for this offseason given there’s a greater than 0% chance they could end up trading Steven Kwan at some point this winter. 

The Guardians seem poised to lean fully into the youth movement for 2026, and Guards Fest would give fans an ability to learn more about some of the unheralded players on the roster who aren’t household names.

They were the talk of baseball across the final month of the 2025 season thanks to a fantastic run toward the American League Central crown. The lack of a Guards Fest this year ruins any chance they’d have to build on that momentum.