3 horrible moves that doomed the Cleveland Guardians in 2023

3. Free agent swings and misses

Identifying that their death by a thousand paper cuts approach was unsustainable, the Guardians front office went out and signed two players, which they believed could help bolster their overall lack of power. Unfortunately, both signings were complete whiffs, as they are no longer with the team.

The hope was that Mike Zunino would be able to provide enough power to offset his shortcomings defensively. Zunino was not able to accomplish what was asked of him, as he managed just seven doubles and three home runs in 42 games before being designated for assignment by the Guardians.

Cleveland's second big signing had red flags written all over him, and they chose to ignore them anyway. Josh Bell was disappointing from the start, and while buyer's remorse may not have set in for most early on, it was clear that the Guardians did not get what they paid for.

Bell struggled in his time with the Guardians, and it was obvious that he was not a fit with this team. Cleveland was hoping to get home run power from Bell, and he gave them 11 in 97 games. While's Bell's luck has improved since being traded to Miami, he currently sits at 21 home runs, and that is still on the lower end of what would have been considered acceptable given his profile and contract.