The Guardians’ potential loss of Austin Hedges could linger throughout 2027 season

At this time last year, Austin Hedges had already inked his customary one-year, $4 million contract with the Cleveland Guardians.

That’s not the case this year. While Hedges is once again a free agent, he has yet to sign a contract with the Guardians for 2027. But the thinking that Hedges could be gone also stems from the comments from both Hedges and some other members of the Guardians. 

Perhaps the most damning comment came last week from Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, who was clear in how he feels about Vogt (and what could be coming). 

“I’m so thankful for Austin and very little of it has to do with baseball,” Vogt said, per Cleveland.com’s Joe Noga. “He was the leader of the clubhouse in my first managerial job, and he’s been there every day with me for three years.”

Notice how Vogt used past tense when talking about Hedges. Now, part of that may stem from the fact he was talking about a season that was already over. But part of that could also stem from everyone seeming to understand that Hedges could end up elsewhere after posting a career-best season in 2026. 

That loss may not hurt the Guardians on the diamond, but it would be a huge blow to their clubhouse culture under Vogt. 

Austin Hedges could play somewhere other than Cleveland in 2027

Hedges finished 2026 with a career-best .702 OPS with six home runs and 25 RBI in 76 games. Normally that kind of league-average production (99 OPS+) would be a death knell for a player in a walk year. But it could result in Hedges cashing in with the largest contract of his career since he entered the year with a career OPS of .556. 

The Guardians gladly took that middling offensive production because of what he was able to do on defense and in the clubhouse, but this season was the best of both worlds. 

But it takes two to tango, and it’s fair to wonder if the Guardians would want to go to the dance floor with Hedges given they have some promising talent in their catching pipeline. 

While Cooper Ingle is the biggest name since he comes with some top-100 prospect pedigree and has already made his big league debut, Kody Huff is another catcher to know after a productive season at Triple-A. 

The main factor that could determine what direction the Guardians want to go in behind the plate could stem from what they need out of the position behind Patrick Bailey. All of Ingle’s appearances in his short big league cameo came in the outfield so he’d be a good option if they want some utility out of their backup catcher position, while Huff is a more traditional catching option. 

But no matter who they pick, they’d be filling a huge void left by Hedges. It may not look like a huge void on the diamond, but it’s going to be a big one off it.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow