Guardians identified as potential suitor for World Series Champion pitcher

With the book now closed on the 2024 season following the conclusion of the World Series, the offseason is upon us. The 29 teams that were not the last team standing will be looking for ways to get better this offseason, and if there is one area that stands out for the Cleveland Guardians, it is their starting rotation.

The Guardians were working with a pieced together on the fly and still managed to win 92 games, the American League Central, and advance to the ALCS, not bad for a pitching group that clearly overachieved their collective talent level. If they are going to match and surpass their success in 2024 next season, they will need to add at least one starting pitcher. With that in mind, it is not a surprise to see Cleveland named as a potential landing spot for Walker Buehler.

Appearing as one of 10 spots in a list compiled by Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller, Cleveland comes in at the 8 spot in Ranking Dodgers' Walker Buehler's Top 10 Landing Spots Ahead of MLB Free Agency. It is the state of Cleveland's rotation and the pitching pipeline that is tapped out currently as to why they make the list.

With Shane Bieber out of the picture and both Logan Allen and Triston McKenzie having rough 2024 seasons, this rotation gets problematic in a hurry beyond Tanner Bibee—with basically nothing down on the farm ready to contribute any time soon, either.

Obviously, the fit makes sense, but as Miller also points out, very few expect the Guardians to spend this much money on a free agent pitcher, calling it laughable and pointing out the last time they did it was Kerry Wood all way back in 2008 (two-years $20 million). Going off past track record in this particular situation makes sense, and considering the fact that Cleveland has been able to rely on their pitching pipeline for so long, it has allowed them to do so. However, with no reinforcements on the way, they are going to have to step out of their comfort zone, and now is the time to do it.