3 Truths about the 2023 Cleveland Guardians fans don't want to hear

1 of 3

The 2023 season is entering its final days, and there are a few things about this Cleveland Guardians team that fans do not want to hear.

1. Regression was inevitable

2022 was a magical season for the Cleveland Guardians as they managed to win the American League Central by a comfortable margin. Thanks in part to a late surge and timely hitting in the clutch down the stretch, Cleveland's death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts approach was able to propel the team past the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Wild Card series and into the Division Series, losing to the New York Yankees in five games.

The harsh reality is that this is not a sustainable way to win games consistently. There is a certain level of home run power required to be a winning ballclub, and the Guardians do not have nearly enough of it. Cleveland is going to finish with the least amount of home runs in all of baseball when the year is over, with their lackluster total having a direct correlation to their disappointing record.

It is incredibly difficult to win games powered by singles and extra-base hits that do not clear the fence, and the Guardians' guaranteed losing record is evidence of that.

2. They should have shopped Shane Bieber more aggressively

There was a very real chance that Shane Bieber and not Aaron Civale would be the pitcher that the Cleveland Guardians moved at the trade deadline. Unfortunately, an ill-timed injury forced the front office to adjust their plans, sending Civale to the Rays in exchange for highly regarded first base prospect Kyle Manzardo. But the fact of the matter is that the Guardians should have been more active in trade talks involving Bieber.

At the time of Bieber's final start before landing on the injured list, the Guardians were 45-45 and were somehow half of a game ahead of the Minnesota Twins. Even though they held a slight lead in the division, it was very clear that this was not a good team. This was a club that hovered around .500 for a very long time and was seven games under at two different points before Bieber's injury. The front office should have recognized that even if they made the postseason they would not advance far, if at all.

There is something else to take into account when it comes to Bieber, his contract situation. Bieber will be entering his final arbitration eligible season next year. The potential return for Bieber via trade would be higher by selling a trade partner on the possibility of two postseason runs rather than only one. It is not likely that the Guardians will be able to extend Bieber's stay in Cleveland, and they should have been more aggresive on the trade market before and early in this season.

3. They did not give up on the season at the deadline

Contrary to popular belief and the narratives of local sports radio, which prefer to talk about football as soon as possible, the team did not give up on the season at the deadline. The reality is that there was not really anything to give up on as this was not a good enough team to take the opposite approach and be buyers.

There is more to evaluating a team in any sport than the standings. With the American League Central being the worst division in baseball, it is important to understand that advancing to the postseason by winning it is not the accomplishment some make it out to be.

This Guardians team was more than a few players away from making a serious run to the and through the postseason. The team was struggling to win games with Amed Rosario, Aaron Civale, and Josh Bell on the roster. Making it incredibly difficult to justify the Guardians having a different approach at the trade deadline. The team would have to trade away some, if not all of their best prospects to acquire players to make a meaningful dent into the areas of where they were lacking.

While it may have been a lot more exciting to see them add a quality player to their lineup rather than make the bargain bin moves for Kole Calhoun, Ramon Laureano, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, and Matt Moore, they will be better off in the long run by not mortgaging the future for a team that was never going to do much of anything in the playoffs.