National pundit surprisingly gives Guardians a passing grade for 2025 performance 

The Cleveland Guardians’ performance in 2025 was one of drastic swings. 

While the Guardians made the postseason for a second straight season in 2025 on the back of a historic comeback in the American League Central, they followed that postseason berth up with a quiet offseason for a second straight winter, much to the chagrin of most of the fanbase. 

But not everyone seems to agree with that assessment. 

On Monday, Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller published a story where he graded each team’s 2025 performance based on how things went for them in the regular season, postseason and offseason (so far). 

And even though it may seem like Cleveland’s quiet offseason is worthy of an “F”, Miller gave the Guardians a “B” thanks to the fact they did better than their preseason wins projection and ended up making the postseason. 

“While the overall grade is merely a B, what Cleveland did this season—rallying from a 15.5‑game deficit in early July to author a 74‑game surge—was the stuff of legend and won't soon be forgotten. Of course, the first 88 games were wildly disappointing, and in the quest to prevent a similar start in 2026, they've thus far invested less than $8 million in a trio of relievers,” he wrote. 

Miller’s write up views the Guardians’ 2025 from an interesting lens in that they essentially salvaged everything thanks to a great eight weeks at the end of the summer and beginning of the fall. 

Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller gives Guardians a “B for 2025 performance 

The start of the 2025 season was pretty disastrous given the Guardians underperformed on the field, lost Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz to paid leave as part of a sports betting investigation and seemed destined to lose Steven Kwan at the trade deadline. 

But then something clicked, and the Guardians rattled off win after win and miraculously made the postseason. 

But it didn’t take long for those good vibes to dissipate thanks to a disappointing offseason. While Cleveland’s front office was smart to address the bullpen (which had become a liability after Clase left the fold), they still haven’t touched the outfield outside of bringing Stuart Fairchild in on a minor league contract and designating Jhonkensy Noel for assignment. 

The good news is that part of the reason they haven’t really added to that picture is due to the fact they (seemingly) want to give Chase DeLauter and George Valera as much of an opportunity as possible to earn everyday playing time after making their debuts late in 2025. 

While they should be lauded for showing a kind of aggressiveness they haven’t really shown with top prospects in years prior, that doesn’t give them a pass for not adding at least some kind of external help. 

The Guardians still have two months to make a move that could help turn that “B” into an “A”, but it remains to be seen if that could happen.