How the Guardians became one of baseball's most consistent franchises

Since the turn of the century there has been one consistent in baseball: the teams that spend the most win the most.

Of the nine winningest teams of the century, eight have won a World Series and six have won multiple titles. Seven of those eight teams have had multiple years with a top ten payroll since 2020. The lone exception? The Guardians Guardians, who have won the sixth-most games this century despite not having a payroll that's ranked the top half of the league since 2009.

In most seasons, you can put a list of highest payrolls next to the best records and see how similar they look. While a team like the Rays or Royals will break the mold and overachieve every once in a while, that success usually ends up being pretty fleeting.

And, for every low-budget team that overachieves, there are also multiple teams who have had virtually no success because of their spending habits like the Pirates or Reds.

All of that begs the question: How have the Guardians remained competitive every season while never increasing their spending habits? Although there are numerous factors to this success, these three areas have been the biggest reason for their success.

The Guardians stand out as one of the baseball's best franchises despite not having a large payroll

The pitching development

The 2025 season showed the Guardians' pitching development in full effect.

After being a question mark at the start of the season, the Guardinas' pitching staff ended up becoming the team's strength by the end of the season.

Unheralded arms like Parker Messick and Slade Cecconi became above average starters and Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee found extra levels to become borderline aces. Pitching in Cleveland has been at a premium all century, as the team has had five Cy Young winners along with having multiple other pitchers earn Cy Young votes Along with the rotation.

Cleveland has also consistently boasted a solid bullpen, helping them win an astonishing amount of close games.

Success on the trade market

While not every trade the Guardians have made has been a winner (Junior Caminero for Tobias Myers stands out), most of Cleveland's trade over the past 20 years have been winners.

Not only have that they made some moves improve the team at the deadline — like adding Andrew Miller in 2016 and Jay Bruce in 2017 — they've also been great at making moves in the offseason. In 2008 they traded C.C. Sabathia to the Brewers for a return that included Michael Brantley. In 2010 they traded Jake Westbrook for Corey Kluber.

The last part of this equation has been their ability to trade veterans even if the moves comes with a PR hit. In 2020 they made a somewhat surprising move by Kluber for Emmanuel Clase. In 2009 they traded the reigning Cy Young, Cliff Lee for a package that included Carlos Carrasco. 

While those moves weren't received well in the moment, they all turned into winners.

José Ramírez

When Ramírez first joined the Guardians, maybe people viewed him as a short-term option who was being used to manipulate the service time of Fransisco Lindor.

In fact, he was so bad that #FreeLindor began trending on Twitter in 2015 with people begging for the organization to get rid of Ramírez. What happened next is almost unheard of.

In 2016 he became one of the Guardians best players on their quest toward the World Series, as he's he's finished in the top-10 in MVP voting seven times in the nine years since (this year's voting will most likely make it an eighth time). His consistent presence in the lineup has made up for a lack of threats in the lineup. His willingness to take a major discount on his contract extension 2022 has left the door open for the front office to make some aggressive moves to improve (even if they haven't done that quite yet).

The Guardians' consistency this century has been remarkable, and that likely won't change as we head into 2026. While they're likely still a move or two away from being a true World Series contender, the front office has established a culture of winning. Maybe this will be the offseason they'll merge that culture with some spending in an attempt to end the franchise's championship drought.