Five former players the Guardians should not attempt to bring back to Cleveland

2. Carlos Carrasco

Once upon a time it seemed like Carlos Carrasco was going to play his entire career in a Cleveland Guardians uniform. Carrasco would eventually be part of the package that went to New York in a deal that was headlined by Francisco Lindor going to the Mets, ending that possibility.

It has been a rough go of things for Carrasco since landing in Queens, as his 5.21 ERA, 1.461 WHIP, and 8.2 strikeouts per nine in 61 games for the Mets are not up to the same level he was able to show in Cleveland (3.77 ERA, 1.196 WHIP, 9.5 K/9). Injuries have played a factor for Carrasco in New York, but it appears age has caught up to him as well.

There are only so many starts that a team should expect from Carrasco at this point in his career, and there are even fewer that are likely to have him not give up too many runs. Half of Carrasco's 10 starts with the Mets last season saw him give up four runs or more, five of which had five runs allowed and three being of the six-run variety.

The possibility of Carrasco coming back to Cleveland would be a lot more likely if this was a Guardians team that was navigating the waters of irrelevancy and was looking to do right by a fan favorite, but that is not the current state of the organization. This is a team that is looking to get back to being competitive and return to the postseason in 2024. Because of this, it is better to remember the previous appearances of Carrasco in a Cleveland uniform rather than expect any more to happen in the future.