Predicted contracts for 2 Guardians free agents appear to be in Cleveland's comfort zone

There is no doubt that everyone in Cleveland will be paying close attention to how the Guardians handle their free agents. This is an organization that has been criticized fairly often about its approach in this area and deservedly so (for the most part). Despite the near-universal doom and gloom outlook most have regarding how things will play out, a recent entry appearing in The Athletic has provided some hope that the Guardians will be able to buck the trend of letting their free agents walk.

Appearing in Jim Bowden's Top 45 MLB free agents for 2024-25 with contract predictions, team fits: Will Soto get $600M+?, some insight is provided as to what Cleveland's only two players appearing on this list might get in free agency. The projected salary for each player is definitely within reach for what the Guardians might be able to offer when it comes toa free agent contract.

15. Shane Bieber

As the 15th-ranked player on this list, one would think that Shane Bieber would have a large salary projection. However, Bieber pitching all of two games after a down couple of years has severely impacted his value on the open market, and that is reflected here.

Rather than have an actual dollar figure for Bieber, Bowden goes with a broad statement that seems pretty likely to happen, "Low base salary with incentives for games started and innings pitched, plus option years.". This is not anything earth-shattering, most have been expecting Bieber to get this type of offer when taking everything that has transpired over the past few years into consideration. A contract of this type would be mutually beneficial as Bieber would be able to rebuild his value while the Guardians would hopefully be able to reinsert him into their rotation and have a more stable group in 2025.

44. Matthew Boyd

Before the 2024 season began, there was not a single living person who envisioned a scenario with Matthew Boyd being on a list like this, but here we are. The Guardians took a chance on Boyd after witnessing their starting rotation fall apart in real-time, and they were rewarded. Boyd pitched to the tune of a 2.72 ERA, 1.134 WHIP, and 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings and has definitely put himself in a much better position to land a much more lucrative contract than anyone could have imagined.

Bowden projects Boyd to get a one-year deal worth $10 million. Age (34), past injuries, and overall inconsistent performances throughout his career have resulted in Boyd being a year-to-year type option for teams seeking starting pitching but who are unable to break the bank. This is exactly the type of arm that the Guardians will be in the market for. Cleveland knows where they are in their competitive cycle, and it is unlikely they would be unable to replicate their run from this past season if they experience similar issues with their starting rotation again next season. Getting out ahead of that and ensuring they have more than enough options to turn to in the event they have starting pitching issues once again would be a wise decision for the Guardians and one they should aggressively pursue.