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

Cleveland Guardians v Kansas City Royals
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4. Eddie Rosario

A few years ago, the Cleveland Guardians found themselves in a situation extremely similar to their current one. They needed production from their outfield, but the run-of-the-mill variety would not do. They specifically needed power. This is why back in 2021, the team decided to pluck Eddie Rosario from the Minnesota Twins.

This was a rather underwhelming experience that saw Rosario hit only seven home runs in 78 games and ultimately being traded to the Atlanta Braves. Rosario's OPS jumped nearly 220 points while hitting the same number of long balls with the Braves in less than half of games played while with Cleveland (33) following the trade. 2022 was a disappointing outing from Rosario, as he was limited to just 80 games, but 2023 was the version of Rosario that Cleveland thought they were getting when they signed him nearly three years ago.

The 32-year-old would finish what could be his last season in a Braves uniform with 24 doubles and 21 home runs with 74 runs driven in with his highest full-season OPS since 2019 (.755) and a weighted runs created plus of 100, which amounts to league average in 142 games. As enticing as some of these numbers could be, it would be best for the Guardians to not explore Round 2 of Eddie Rosario. There is a very good chance that his highest home run total since 2019 may very well be an outlier at this point in his career.

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