Here are all of the 2025 Guardians players hitting free agency once the playoffs end

While the MLB playoffs are still in full swing, the Guardians season came to an end last week, which means it's time to shift our focus toward the offseason and how the Guardians can build a team that could get back to the postseason next year.

And, as a part of that, the Guardians will need to make a decision about these four impending free agents. 

The Guardians will need to make a decision about these four impending free agents

C Austin Hedges 

Even if Hedges hit just .161 in 68 games this year, he finished in the 94th percentile or better in framing and caught stealing and helped guide pitchers to a 3.72 ERA with him behind the plate. 

The Guardians have brought him back in back-to-back seasons on a one-year, $4 million contract, but this could be the offseason where they have to make a decision about his future with the team. 

Prospect Cooper Ingle is a rising star within the organization and is knocking on the MLB doorstep, and Bo Naylor ended the season on a hot streak that made it seem like he’s ready to be the veteran behind the plate. 

Hedges is an important part of the Guardians’ current core — it's not a coincidence that they’ve made the postseason in every season that he’s been on the roster since 2022 and missed it in the one year he played elsewhere. 

But the Guardians need to upgrade their offense after finishing 29th in baseball in OPS, and making a change behind the plate seems like a quick way to do that. 

RHP Jakob Junis 

The Guardians signed Junis to a one-year contract right before the start of spring training, and he rewarded them with a 2.97 ERA in 66 2/3 innings. Now he’s set for a raise in free agency at a time when the Guardians need to fortify their bullpen in a post-Emmanuel Clase landscape. 

While he doesn’t have an overpowering fastball, he posted a quality walk rate (6.6%) and barrel rate (6.1%) and provided some versatility with an ability to go multiple innings. 

The Guardians always do a good job of filling in the cracks of their bullpen with internal additions (Cade Smith, Erik Sabrowski, Nic Enright, etc.), but it’s not hard to see how Junis could help them in the future. 

LHP John Means 

Means signed a one-year deal with the Guardians for 2025 that includes a club option for next season. While Means made five starts at Triple-A for the Guardians, he posted a 7.97 ERA and never appeared in a major league game. 

We didn’t hear any news about the former All-Star as the Guardians made their march toward the postseason, so the front office will need to make a decision about what to do about him next season without getting a chance to see him in big league action. 

If Means had made it to the Guardians and pitched well then picking up his club option would have been a no-brainer. That’s not the case any more. 

OF Lane Thomas 

Thomas’ time in Cleveland will always be a case of “what if.”

Though he supplied two signature moments in last year’s postseason, Thomas largely underperformed in his 1 1/2 seasons in Cleveland and is entering free agency after a nightmare walk year. 

Although Thomas has said that he’d be interested in returning to Cleveland next season, the Guardians have a variety of young players who deserve a shot in the outfield so they may not be interested in having Thomas take at-bats away from them. He could end up being a productive outfielder again — it just likely won’t happen in Cleveland.