Guardians not considered a top landing spot for veteran outfielder

The MLB offseason has hit a bit of a lull, with players who most thought would sign with a team by now remaining without a new contract. One such player would be veteran outfielder Anthony Santander. The switch-hitting Santander is fresh off one of his best seasons as a pro, hitting a career-high 44 home runs, which has resulted in a list of potential landing spots, a list that interestingly enough does not include the Cleveland Guardians.

Of the 10 possible teams that could be in the mix for Santander's services, Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller does not believe that the Guardians are a fit. Cleveland is absent from this list despite two of their American League Central rivals making an appearance.

The Kansas City Royals (5) and Detroit Tigers (4) are considered to be possible suitors for Santander's service, in Miller's opinion. Being left off this list entirely is bad enough, to have two teams that are looking to dethrone the Guardians to be in the Top 5 landing spots is incredibly frustrating.

Now, this is no fault of the individual compiling the list, it is an evaluation of the way the organization operates, combined with the belief that the Guardians are willing to enter next season with their current outfield group. This is not necessarily an unsurprising development, just a disappointing one.

To be clear, Steven Kwan is not the problem, as he is the only legitimate full-time outfielder on the roster now. It is the group consisting of Lane Thomas, Will Brennan, Jhonkensy Noel, Tyler Freeman, and any other who may make the occasional appearance in center or right field (Angel. Martinez, Daniel Schneemann). Bringing Santander into the mix would allow the Guardians to use Brennan as a backup/fourth outfielder, limit Noel's action in right and have him focus on first base/DH duties, and allow Freeman to take on a type of super utility role.

Bumping everyone down a spot should result in the Guardians getting the most out of everyone here and give them a much higher offensive floor. The unfortunate part of this is that even though the Guardians should be looking to take a route similar to this one, they seem to be more than content with the way everything is constructed currently. This could ultimately make it more difficult than it has to be to match or exceed what they were able to achieve last season and may, in fact, allow one of the above-mentioned teams to take their place atop the AL Central.