National MLB writer holds Guardians ownership’s feet to the fire as offseason begins

We’re on the cusp of what will be an important offseason for the Cleveland Guardians. Although the Guardians shocked the baseball world by overcoming a 15 1/2 game deficit to win the American League Central, they still have plenty of obvious holes on their roster to fill if they want to stay competitive for 2026. 

But just because they have those holes doesn’t mean they’re going to fill them. The biggest reason that frustrating lack of spending is front and center this offseason is largely because of the Guardians’ ownership group, which is one of baseball’s cheapest. 

The Guardians only have five contracts on the books for 2026 and have eight players who are eligible for arbitration. The ownership group has the roster and financial flexibility to build a winner, but the ownership group taking advantage of that is far from a guarantee. 

That thinking was put on full display earlier this week when Fansided’s Chris Landers wrote a story highlighting every MLB team’s biggest question mark for the offseason. His one for Cleveland was simple: “How serious is this ownership group?”

“The Guardians defied gravity to steal the AL Central from Detroit, but their loss in the Wild Card round revealed just how far away this team really is from contention. And they'll remain that way so long as they run payrolls at or near the bottom of the sport. Get a bat or two around Jose Ramirez, and this pitching staff could make some serious noise. But they'll need to defy recent history to do so: The largest free-agent contract the club has ever handed out was Edwin Encarnacion's three-year, $60 million deal way back in 2017,” Landers wrote. 

The Guardians’ ownership group needs to make a big move this offseason

While the lack of spending would be frustrating regardless of the situation, it’s even more frustrating given the Guardians’ roster set up. They have one of the best players in the sport in Ramírez and a generational manager in Stephen Vogt, but there’s not enough around them. 

Their starting rotation finished the season on a tear and their bullpen is highlighted by plenty of stellar arms (even if the loss of Emmanuel Clase hurts), but their lineup is a bit overwhelming. 

Ramírez and Kyle Manzardo were the only two full-time Guardians who finished the year above league-average by measure of OPS+, and they opened the postseason with a lineup that featured two players hitting under .200. 

But if they do make a signing, it likely won’t be more than the aforementioned three-year, $60 million deal that Encarnación signed ahead of the 2017 season. There are plenty of solid budget options in this year’s free agent class, but there’s also some white whales out there who could turn the Guardians into a truly legitimate contender.  

But those kinds of signings are not locks for the offseason, and likely never will be as long as the Guardians’ current ownership group stays in place.