Unwarranted disrespect hurled toward Cleveland Guardians

It should come as no surprise that the Cleveland Guardians are not viewed highly when being compared to some of the star-studded teams that reside in much larger markets. With that being said, there is a distinct difference between making a fair assessment of a team and being outright disrespectful.

It turns out that the latter approach was taken in The Athletic's MLB Preseason Power Rankings (subscription required). The Guardians are ranked 21st overall in this ranking, behind every team in the American League Central execept the lowly Chicago White Sox.

While it is acknowledged that it is a "low blow" for the Guardians to be ranked in the bottom third of this ranking, that did not prevent it from happening. Grant Bisbee was responsible for the details attached to Cleveland's entry and would go on to write the following about their placement on this list.

"But if the Cleveland front office really cared about our preseason power rankings, they’d have swung bigger this winter. Instead, it was out with Josh Naylor and Andrés Giménez, in with Carlos Santana and Luis Ortiz, and that was about it.", wrote Brisbee, as he was quite critical of their offseason activity.

Being critical of how the Guardians approached their roster construction process this past season is incredibly valid, and it has been a viewpoint that is shared by many, but the way this particular assessment does not seem as objective as it should be. It would be different if the Guardians did not bring in any major league-caliber talent, as Carlos Santana and Luis Ortiz should be capable of providing league-average production from their respective positions.

This alone should have been enough to keep Cleveland in the top half of this list, but apparently, Cleveland's approach only resulted in being ranked ahead of nine teams with little-to-no chance of making the playoffs and having far less collective talent on their rosters.

Is the path back to the postseason for the Guardians more difficult than anyone would like? Sure, but this is still a team that has the highest talent floor in the AL Central. The projected 29.7 chance of qualifying for the postseason is quite low, and if Cleveland can get the in-season help they usually rely on, there is no telling how far this team can go.