The one thing the Guardians need to come out of the Winter Meetings with

Baseball's Winter Meetings are in full swing, and with it comes the opportunity for teams to make acquisitions that improve their chances of winning. When it comes to the Cleveland Guardians, there is one area in particular that sticks about above the rest that the organization must improve upon. Power in the outfield.

The Guardians deployed a group that totaled just 11 home runs last season from the three most frequently played outfielders (Steven Kwan 5, Will Brennan 5, Myles Straw 1). This is far from resembling something that anyone would consider acceptable. Finding a way to improve the over-the-fence power production is an absolute must for the Guardians during the Winter Meetings.

This is not a new issue, as Cleveland has seen just two players eclipse the 20 home run mark since 2010, Shin-Soo Choo's 22 in 2010 and Michael Brantley's 20 in 2014. The last two players to even hit 15 home runs in a single season were Jordan Luplow and Oscar Mercado, both occurring in 2019. Taking the decade and a half of mostly underwhelming outfield power into account, it would be an encouraging sign to see this issue addressed during a perfect time to do so.

Even though there are a few intriguing prospects in the Guardians' system, banking on them being the answer to the obvious problem in this lineup is not the best idea. While Cleveland is out of the mix for any of the top options in free agency or trade, there is still a world that results in the Guardians improving their lack of power in the outfield.

Cleveland will more than likely be living a few tiers below the top end of the free-agent pool. These are players who are capable of providing a relatively unexciting level of offensive output or boom-or-bust-like level of production. Taking a chance on someone who has incredible highs is definitely worth the gamble, considering the genuine lack of long-ball power in their outfield.

If the Guardians are able to add an outfielder with power during or shortly after the Winter Meetings it would be considered a success. If not, it would lead to significant questions being asked about their intent to win in the first year under new manager Stephen Vogt, a scenario that no one anywhere wants to happen. With that being said, the best way to avoid that situation is to make a genuine attempt to infuse this roster power in the outfield. Should that happen, there is absolutely no reason to be concerned about their power output. If it doesn't, this team will again be stuck as one without enough home runs from the outfield.