Guardians located in predictable spot in FanSided’s first power rankings of 2026 

Last year, the Cleveland Guardians spent most of the season hanging around the middle of the pack. Sure, they went on a couple runs and had one huge swoon in July, but they spent most of the season hovering around .500 — which led to them hanging around the middle of most publication’s power rankings. 

But then that changed at the end of the season when the Guardians finished the season with a 20-7 September that pushed them to their second-straight American League Central title. 

But all of the momentum they gained as a part of that wild run has disappeared over the past three months thanks to a quiet offseason that’s been limited to signing some relievers to cheap deals. 

On Friday, we got another example of exactly how some in the baseball world view the Guardians’ underwhelming offseason thanks to Chris Landers’ newest MLB power rankings for FanSided, where he had the Guardians listed at No. 15 — smack dab in the middle. 

“Can someone please get Jose Ramirez some help? Barring a surprise sell-off of someone like Steven Kwan, the Guardians should return most of last year's division winners, and they always seem to churn out pitching and find a way to punch above their weight. But it took a miracle to capture the AL Central, and while the farm system is exciting (and growth from guys like Kyle Manzardo, Brayan Rocchio and Chase DeLauter should help), there's still just not enough offense here,” Landers wrote.

While we’re a bit more bullish on the Guardians’ young bats than Landers, he’s right in that Cleveland’s lack of offensive additions has been inexcusable, especially given how many clear holes they have. 

The Guardians are going to be a middle-of-the-pack team until they add to their offense

Along with having two black holes in center field and right field, the Guardians are also going to enter 2026 with a bit of an underwhelming middle infield picture that consists of Gabriel Arias and Brayan Rocchio, neither of whom set the world on fire last season.

But even with that, it’s hard to imagine a world where the Guardians aren’t in the hunt for a postseason spot thanks to the presence of Ramírez and the team’s strong pitching staff.

Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee headline a deep, dominant rotation, while the addition to those aforementioned bullpen arms adds even more depth to a unit that handled the loss of Emmanuel Clase with aplomb.

Last year the Guardians were able to make the postseason by going on a historic run while taking advantage of a historic collapse by the Tigers.

It’s an unsustainable model of winning, and the front office clearly thinks that the best way to build a winner in 2026 is to build a team based around strong pitching and young outfielders. 

Their middle-of-the-pack inclusion on Landers’ list shows just how much work they’ll need to put in to show that’s the right formula.