Offseason activity primary factor in Guardians dropping in power ranking

It has been quite an offseason for the Cleveland Guardians, but not in the way that most would have hoped. The Guardians have executed a couple of salary dump trades involving Andres Gimenez and Josh Naylor while re-signing Shane Bieber and bringing back a fan favorite in Carlos Santana. These moves are very risky and are clearly a factor in Cleveland's current placement in a recent MLB Power Ranking.

The Guardians have dropped from their end-of-season ranking of six all the way to 10 following these transactions in a power ranking appearing on ESPN. This is not necessarily a surprise, considering very few have said anything remotely positive about Cleveland's activity, and dropping in a power rankings list is an expected result.

ESPN's Dave Schoenfield did give the Guardians some credit for acquiring a few arms that could bolster their rotation, but the cost to do so could be an issue, "They did need more starting pitching depth, so those moves addressed a need, but they're going to miss Gimenez's glove -- and going from Naylor to a 39-year-old Santana could backfire.". That second part might seem a little harsh to some who might not want to hear it, although, sometimes the truth is.

By trading Gimenez, they've willingly signed up for a repeat of what they experienced at shortstop last year, with multiple players vying for playing time at one position could become a problem if no one is capable of taking it and running with it. Brayan Rocchio sort of won the starting shortstop job by default, and if a similar series of events takes place at second base, it could be a very big problem for the Guardians.

The decision to swap Naylor for Santana is a very risky one. Sure, Naylor's performance at the plate has fluctuated throughout his career, and injuries have been somewhat of a recurring theme, but Santana is more than 10 years older than him, and eventually, having an advanced age catches up to everyone. At best, this is a lateral move that has more chances for downside than upside, and the Guardians getting knocked for this switch is more than valid.

Perhaps Cleveland would have stayed closer to their end-of-season ranking if they kept Gimenez and Naylor while adding multiple starters to their rotation. This would have signaled that the front office understands where they were on their competitive timeline and were acting with a sense of urgency to capitalize on an open contention window. Instead, it appears they are content with making any genuine strides forward and prefer to allow things to work themselves out on their own rather than try to make it happen on their own. It might work in 2025 but the odds are stacked against them and it is more than fair to question their approach.