The Guardians kept their longtime ace but traded their everyday first baseman ahead of his final season of club control. Their offseason featured a blend of creative trades to trim payroll and acquire controllable talent, plus some short-term spending on veterans to replace some of the big leaguers they traded away. It was a vintage Cleveland offseason that should keep them in the mix in what'll be a tightly contested AL Central.
Major League Signings
- Shane Bieber, RHP: Two years, $26MM (opt-out after 2025 season)
- Carlos Santana, 1B: One year, $12MM
- Paul Sewald, RHP: One year, $7MM (includes buyout on 2026 mutual option)
- Jakob Junis, RHP: One year, $4.5MM
- Austin Hedges, C: One year, $4MM
- John Means, LHP: One year, $1MM (club has $6MM option for 2026, no buyout)
2025 spending: $37.5MM
Total spending: $54.5MM
Option Decisions
- None
Trades and Waiver Claims
- Acquired RHP Slade Cecconi and Competitive Balance Draft Pick (Round B) from D-backs in exchange for 1B Josh Naylor
- Acquired 1B Spencer Horwitz and OF Nick Mitchell from Blue Jays in exchange for 2B Andres Gimenez and RHP Nick Sandlin
- Acquired RHP Luis Ortiz, LHP Josh Hartle and LHP Michael Kennedy from Pirates in exchange for 1B Spencer Horwitz
- Traded RHP Eli Morgan to Cubs in exchange for OF Alfonsin Rosario
- Traded RHP Peter Strzelecki to Pirates in exchange for cash
- Traded OF Myles Straw to Blue Jays in exchange for PTBNL
Notable Minor League Signings
- Vince Velasquez, Kolby Allard, Parker Mushinski, George Valera (re-signed), Luis Frias, Riley Pint, Dom Nunez
Extensions
- None
Notable Losses
- Josh Naylor, Andres Gimenez, Matthew Boyd, Alex Cobb, Nick Sandlin, Eli Morgan, Myles Straw, Peter Strzelecki, James Karinchak (non-tendered), Pedro Avila (outrighted, elected free agency)
The Guardians entered the 2024-25 offseason looking to bolster a roster that made an unexpected run to the American League Championship Series. Cleveland faced decisions on some players with dwindling club control and, as is always the case, some notable payroll limitations. In a departure from most offseasons, however, the Guards found themselves in an unfamiliar position: needing to acquire starting pitching.
Cleveland has emerged as one of the industry leaders in maximizing its rotation output. At times, it feels as though they have an almost magical ability to produce quality starting pitchers out of thin air. In fact, when the Guardians signed righty Ben Lively to a one-year, $800K deal in the 2023-24 offseason, it was the first time they'd signed any free agent starter to a major league contract since inking Gavin Floyd back in 2014. Midway through the 2024 season, they did so again, signing Matthew Boyd to a major league contract.
Both moves worked out splendidly. Boyd started eight games down the stretch and produced a sub-3.00 ERA. Lively finished second on the club with 151 innings and notched a 3.81 ERA and stuck with the club as an arbitration-eligible player. He'll be back in the 2025 rotation. Boyd, however, hit free agency and did so alongside former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber and trade deadline acquisition Alex Cobb.
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Getting out of the Gimenez and Straw contracts and netting Ortiz from it was genius. If only they reinvested more of that $ into players.
It certainly wasn’t because of $. A lot of good 5 million and under players this year. Must feel they are set with what they had.
Yup, good general management, great player development, and weak ownership support… vintage Cleaveland.
Offensive Production:
The trade of Josh Naylor, and the addition of Carlos Santana creates a question mark. Santana is a veteran, and his production is projected to decline. This area would likely receive a C to C- grade.
Middle Infield Stability:
The Guardians are relying on internal options, and young players to fill the void left by Giménez. This creates a large amount of uncertainty. Therefore, this area would likely receive a C- to D+ grade.
Starting Pitching Depth:
The Guardians have added pitching depth, but the overall quality of the rotation remains to be seen. The health of Shane Bieber coming off of injury is a large question mark. This area would likely receive a C+ to B- grade.
Bullpen Maintenance:
The Guardians have reinforced their bullpen, which is a strength. This area would likely receive a B+ to A- grade.
Overall Evaluation:
Based on these assessments, the Guardians’ offseason would likely receive a grade in the C range. This indicates that while they addressed some areas, significant questions remain about their offense and middle infield.
I predict a 75-80 win season.
All these evaluations miss the fact that Cleveland has an extraordinary amount of young talent with either a fair amount of MLB experience or on the cusp of MLB. Most of them have a strong prospect pedigree.
Gavin Williams, Logan Allen, and Luis Ortiz were all top 100s, and have some experience.
Among position players, Brayan Rocchio, Bo Naylor, Kyle Manzardo, Gabriel Arias, and Tyler Freeman were all top 100s, all now with some experience under their belts. An org should expect a natural improvement from its highly thought of kids as they gain experience.
Then, Juan Brito, Travis Bazzana, and the since injured again Chase Delauter are all top 100s on the verge of making their debuts.
While an org can’t count on any one of the kids to improve, it can make plans based upon several of them doing so. But if you dont play them, it can’t happen.
The loss of Josh Naylors offense probably won’t be offset by Santana, but improved production from Manzardo would fill the gap. The other kids may not break out, but a slight bit of improvement across the board would give the Guardians an improved overall offense…and that kind of minimal improvement should be expected.
High off season grades are passed out for major, or multiple, free agent signings. But Cleveland, even if they did have a bigger budget, probably didn’t need to make outside player position additions, because the improvement is already in house.
On the pitching side, everybody knows by now that young, cost controlled starting pitching is the hardest thing to acquire. Cleveland managed to acquire four of them, two with MLB experience.
That, all by itself, gets a very high grade.
WhoAzcue says CATS with the win…yet again.
C
Did what was needed. Enough to contend for division. Smart to get out of those contracts. Had to trade Naylor. Instantly replaced Santana. Moves look brilliant only because there’s so many awful ran teams. It’s sports management 101.
Bieber got an incredibly player friendly contract. Risky for team. See how it works out. He could be good but will he play enough to justify contract. Their drs know better than anyone.