Guardians' recent track record shows why these offseason moves could be huge wins

While the Guardians have yet to make a big splash this offseason, they’ve been busy making moves on the margins on the roster thanks to their additions to relievers Connor Brogdon, Peyton Pallette and Colin Holderman. 

While Brogdon and Holderman have 10 combined years of MLB experience, neither of them are household names given the fact they’ve struggled with injuries and have mostly worked in lower-leverage opportunities. And then there’s Pallette, who has yet to make his MLB debut but was selected by the Guardians in the Rule 5 Draft. 

At face value, those additions make a ton of sense considering Emmanuel Clase is still on paid leave and Jakob Junis, Nic Enright and Kolby Allard departed in free agency. 

But, even if they make sense, having them be the offseason acquisitions is a bit underwhelming considering the Guardians are coming off back-to-back American League Central titles and will have another golden opportunity to win the division again in 2026. 

But there’s also a case to be made that those acquisitions are the Guardians’ front office doing what they do best — buying low on hampered pitchers to help turn them into aces. 

The Guardians are among baseball’s best at getting the most out of unheralded pitchers

This isn’t the first time the Guardians have done this in recent memory. After the 2023 season, the Guardians signed Ben Lively to a one-year deal worth $750,000 after he posted a 5.38 ERA with the Reds in a season marred by injury. That still stands as one of the shrewdest moves in recent Guardians history, as Lively posted a 3.81 ERA in 151 innings in 2024. 

In fact, he ended up being the anchor of the Guardians’ rotation at multiple points during the season while the rest of Cleveland’s rotation struggled with injuries and inconsistency. 

Later that year, the Guardians once again struck gold with an injured pitcher by signing Matthew Boyd in the middle of the season while he was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Boyd ended up posting a 2.72 ERA in 39 2/3 innings with the Guardians in 2024 and just put together an All-Star campaign with the Cubs. 

Last season the Guardians dipped into the veteran pitcher pool with their offseason signing of Junis and early-season trade for Matt Festa, both of which were wins. While neither pitcher had the injury track record of Lively or Boyd, neither pitcher was a household name. 

Junis ended up finishing 2025 with a 2.97 ERA in 66 2/3 innings, while Festa pitched in seemingly every game after the Guardians picked him up on waivers after the end of April. 

Holderman and Brogdon are both in the unique position where they fall into both categories. While they both are coming off seasons where they were negative players by measure of bWAR — Brogdon had a 5.55 ERA with the Angels and Holderman had a 7.01 ERA with the Pirates — they’re also coming off injuries. 

Holderman missed around nine weeks last season due to a right knee sprain and right thumb inflammation, while Brogdon was working his way back to full health last year after missing almost all of 2024 due to plantar fasciitis.

Earlier this week, Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes reiterated that exact same theme in a reader Q&A who responded to a question about Brogdon and Holderman by reiterating the Guardians’ track record of getting the most out of “undervalued” relievers. 

Even if the Guardians’ signings of those three relievers loses a bit of luster when you think about the lack of action around the outfield, signings like this are the kind of moves that have helped push Cleveland into the postseason in back-to-back seasons.