5 free agents the Cleveland Guardians should consider for Shane Bieber's vacant rotation spot

1. Johnny Cueto

38-year-old veteran pitcher Johnny Cueto was a member of the Miami Marlins last season, and things did not go particuarly well. Cueto dealt with multiple injuries, the first of which came after pitching just one inning in his Marlins debut. Another injury while on a rehab assignment pushed back his return date even further, making his return in the middle of July. Cueto would finish the year with just 13 appearances in Miami (10 starts), compiling a career-worst 6.02 ERA and 1.261 WHIP.

Understandably, this may not seem like the best idea for the Cleveland Guardians at this time. They are already dealing with the loss of their Ace, and bringing in someone off an injury-filled season of their own may not work out. However, it must be said that Cueto was quite effective in 2022 during his time with the Chicago White Sox. Cueto ended up with a 3.55 ERA and 1.225 WHIP in 158.1 innings for Chicago that season, showing that he can still be an effective pitcher in his advanced age. The only real area of concern from that campaign was his career-low 5.8 strikeouts per nine. This did increase by nearly one full strikeout last year in Miami to 6.7, a number that is a little bit easier to manage for someone his age.