Jim Bowden echoes Guardians fans frustrations in his MLB offseason report card 

This offseason has featured one extreme high for Cleveland Guardians fans and not much else. 

While the Guardians front office inked a seven-year, $175 million extension with José Ramírez that all but confirms that he’ll end his career as a Guardian, they didn’t do much to put anyone of significance around him. 

And although we’re going to need to wait until the season starts to see how that inaction will help (or hurt) the Guardians’ quest to repeat in the American League Central, it didn't receive high marks from one former MLB decision marker, as former MLB GM Jim Bowden gave the Guardians’ offseason a ‘D” grade in his offseason MLB report cards for The Athletic. 

Former MLB GM Jim Bowden gives Guardians failing grade in latest MLB report card 

The basis for Bowden’s subpar grade is due to Bowden not being a fan of their lone big league signings being three unheralded relievers, which has been a refrain Guardians fans have been repeating all offseason. 

Even though the Guardians’ bullpen was clearly an area of need thanks to Emmanuel Clase having likely thrown his last pitch ever for the club, it was still in a good spot thanks to the presence of Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis and others. 

Meanwhile the Guardians’ moves to address their offense this offseason have been signing Stuart Fairchild and Carter Kieboom to minor league deals. That’s not going to cut it for a team that opened the postseason with a lineup that featured four hitters who finished the regular season with a batting average under .200. 

While it’s still important to mention that part of that inaction is because the Guardians have a bevy of promising prospects waiting in the wings in the form of Chase DeLauter and Travis Bazzana (among others), banking on them to be consistent players in the lineup is a dangerous game considering every rookie is going to run into struggles across the long MLB schedule. 

The good news for the Guardians is that Bowden wasn’t a huge fan of anyone else in the division, which may be the reason why the Guardians played it safe this offseason. 

The Royals got the highest grade of a B thanks to a quietly consistent offseason where they signed Lane Thomas and added high-leverage reliever Matt Strahm, but they also have outfield problems they didn’t address through conventional means. 

The White Sox got a grade of a B- due in large part to their decision to sign Munetaka Murakami to a short-term contract that could end up looking like a steal so long as his power translates to MLB. 

The Tigers bested the Guardians in the Wild Card Series last year but only got a grade of a C+ from Bowden due in large part to their inability to agree to arbitration terms with Tarik Skubal, which could damage the club’s relationship with him. 

But even if the rest of the teams in the American League Central haven't made the same kind of upgrades that the teams in the American League East have, the Guardians’ inaction has still been incredibly frustrating, and Bowden’s report card shows how the rest of the baseball world views that.