This winter will provide a true look into what the Guardians think of Tanner Bibee

The Guardians postseason run this fall unearthed plenty of positives about the Guardians’ roster, it also seemed like the beginning of the end of Tanner Bibee’s time in Cleveland thanks to him making just one appearance during that postseason run. 

That topic came up during Stephen Vogt’s end-of-the-year presser, where he offered some seemingly positive insight into Bibee’s future with the Guardians. 

"Tanner is going to be a huge part of this team for a long time, and I’m really excited about that," Vogt said, per MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins. 

That may seem like lip service right now because the Guardians’ actions in the postseason go against that, it’s a better step than Vogt being noncommittal (or worse) around Bibee. That may answer one question around Bibee, but it opens up another question: should the Guardians have Bibee on their roster in 2027? 

Will Tanner Bibee be on the Guardians' roster in 2027?

For what it’s worth, both Vogt and general manager Mike Chernoff also spoke about what they think it would take for Bibee to get back to his 2024 self where he looked like a frontline ace. 

Chernoff said that he doesn’t think it’s a “massive overhaul,” while Vogt said that the goal is have Bibee get back to being the best version of himself. 

Bibee’s struggles over the past two seasons have been confusing for a variety of reasons, but the top one may be the fact that he’s regressed while pretty much every other pitcher in the Guardians’ rotation has reached new heights. Gavin Williams finally reached his strikeout potential and just finished an amazing postseason, while rookie Parker Messick morphed from a crafty lefty to bonafide ace with a plus-fastball. 

Bibee may have led the Guardians in appearances and innings pitched, but he’s clearly in third place in the rotation hierarchy. 

The one thing that could save Bibee is the fact the Guardians need pitching depth. They may have had one of the most stable rotations in MLB, but they restructured their rotation at the deadline by trading for Foster Griffin (an impending free agent). 

Williams and Messick are going to be at the top of the Guardians’ rotation, but the rest of the picture is murky. Bibee and Cantillo would make sense as the No. 3 and 4 starters in the rotation, but they seemed to fall down the trust tree in the postseason. The same can be said for Cecconi, who lost his spot in the rotation when the Guardians added Griffin. 

Even though Bibee struggled last season, he would still have a pretty solid trade market since he’s on an affordable contract and is just two years removed from an ace-like season. 

Vogt, Chernoff and Bibee all made it seem like they were in agreement about next steps in their postseason comments, but it’s one thing to say that and another to actually do it. This winter will show us whether they really believe that or not. 

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