The Cleveland Guardians had an issue scoring runs last season. They ranked 12th in the American League in runs scored in 2023 and were last in the league in home runs.
The Toronto Blue Jays scored the least runs of the teams that made the post-season, and they scored 84 more times than Cleveland did. Although pitching is the name of the game in Major League Baseball, you have to score runs to win in the regular season.
The off-season player movement cycle has moved slower than normal this year in the sport because everyone is waiting for Shohei Ohtani to sign, which he did about a week ago.
To date, the Guardians’ front office has done nothing to improve the hitting and frankly, seems to be depending on the young starting pitching getting better through experience.
The Guards were 10th in on base percentage and 14th in slugging percentage. So they need help, and a lot of it in both areas.
We have said this before, but we feel you need seven solid bats in a lineup to have an contending team’s offense. Right now, we would say Cleveland has five: Jose Ramirez, Josh Naylor, Steven Kwan, Andres Gimenez, and Bo Naylor, although remember, the younger Naylor has less than a full season’s experience.
Right now, the lineup would look something like this:
Kwan LF
Gimenez 2B
Ramirez 3B
J. Naylor DH
Laureano RF
B. Naylor C
Manzardo 1B
Arias SS
Straw CF
Of course, that what the Guardians will likely do, not what we would do. We understand folks are high on Kyle Manzardo, who came from Tampa Bay in the Aaron Civale deal, but the reality is he doesn’t have a single big league at bat.
As for Arias, we don’t think any hitter with a 32% strikeout rate will ever wind up being a solid bat, no matter how hard he hits the ball when he does make contact. And we have seen Straw the past two seasons, with his OPS under 600 in each of those years.
Laureano will likely platoon with Will Brennan in right field, and both are similar, neither has a lot of pop, and neither walk a lot. Those two attributes make up to be a mediocre offensive player.
Given the financial restraints (although they are not as severe as the ownership says they are) of the Guardians, what free agents would make sense for Cleveland?
We would be intrigued by Brandon Belt, but he plays the same position as Josh Naylor, and we believe the Guardians have to give Manzardo a shot unless he is terrible in spring training.
A one-year deal for a veteran like J.D. Martinez (33 HR and 893 OPS with the Dodgers) would make sense, if he is willing to take one year. Martinez could DH and play some LF (with Kwan sliding over to CF) and provide some right-handed power the Guardians sorely need.
Mitch Garver, formerly of the Twins and Rangers is also intriguing, although he is more of a catcher/DH which would make it tougher for Manzardo to get at-bats. Garver hit 19 dingers in 344 plate appearances for Texas last year.
Even though he’s a left-handed hitter, what about taking a chance on Austin Meadows, who has battled injuries the last two seasons, playing just 42 games for Detroit. In his last full season in 2021, he did hit 27 homers and knock in 106 for Tampa Bay. He’s likely looking for an incentive laden “prove it” deal.
There have been reports that Tyler Freeman has started working out in the outfield in Goodyear, and no doubt we would love to see the front office give him a full shot at an everyday spot based on his minor league numbers. Our guess is they are looking at him in LF with again Kwan moving to the middle of the outfield.
In any case, Cleveland’s offensive needs are exactly what they were when the regular season ended. And spring training will start six weeks after the holiday season ends.
The Guardians’ fans are waiting.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 