OUTLOOK: Why the Cleveland Guardians Road to ANOTHER Division Title is More CHALLENING Than Ever

19 comments

1. I think Cleve projecting to finish 3rd is fair. I see them fighting the Twins for 3rd.

2. Thanks for the show! I agree with you that Detroit and KC have better lineups, but Minnesota? I love Buxton, and he had a solid 2025, but he's played over 100 games only 3 times in the last ten seasons. Keaschall will most likely be solid as will be Bader and Lee, but I think that if, and I know that these are big ifs, Fry and DeLauter are healthy and Manzardo doesn't have a sophomore slump, we will have a better solid five at the top of the lineup. That said, just as insurance as an outfield righthanded bat, would it make any sense to pick up Tommy Pham? He wouldn't cost much and Mookie Betts said that he was one of the best clubhouse guys around.

3. Detroit has to be our biggest threat to the division

4. You guys are sounding a little bit like the guys on the ultimate Cleveland sports show. You're forgetting one aspect and that's heart and a winning culture. Detroit will not win this division…..Cleveland will. Cleveland is the better team because of the culture and they have more heart. Bottom line. Love your show !!!

5. Much like your cat, Jeff… this season will be a climb. I think it will be a bit humbling. Would you guys talk about Zion Rose, not in relations to a guardians target… just in general as a player?

6. It's better to be down now and be surprised during the season. Than be over optimistic and be disappointed later.

7. I find it funny that we couldnt bring in any free agents bc we cant promise them playing time. In other words, players HATE platooning, and yet we INSIST on platooning them. At 1 or 2 positions, it’s ok, but we are talking just about every position outside of LF and 3B. It’s too much. It’s why agents come here and fall off a cliff, and it’s why our top prospects get promoted and production disappears. Let them play

8. Every preseason, the Guardians are viewed as mediocre. Pitching and JRam proves everyone wrong most of the time. Glad Jeff mentioned how fortunate Detroit was to wiggle out of the wild card series after their implosion last season.

9. Speaking of college baseball, I am hoping to go see Coastal Carolina vs. College of Charleston next week. I am sure Flukey won't be pitching, but any players on either side I should watch out for?

10. Cleveland is injury proof. They have enough high quality depth, that injuries barely impact the team. Losing Ortiz allowed Parker Messic to flourish — they improved. Losing Clase hurt — or not (throwing games?).

    Cleveland depends on emerging talent. They purposely play below their talent level ( unless players emerge) into June. Their floor is a .500 team.

    They evaluate the team and put their best foot forward in the 2nd half. Manzardo (ceiling) replaces Santana (floor).

    They always have a ready supply of capable floor guys, so they don't dip below .500.

    Losing ceiling guys like Clase hurts, but not enough to become a bad team. Players, who emerge can offset losing ceiling players so win totals actually improve.

    Antonetti has sent a clear message downstream. 2 guys must emerge in 2026 or heads will roll.

11. Great show gentlemen. On paper, I completely agree with Jeff. It's really hard to see Cleveland being much more than a 3rd place team. The other teams in the division spent the off-season looking for ways to improve their teams. Cleveland other than Shawn Armstrong, are a list of… well if this person… I do like parts of the team and we all know, what is on paper rarely is what happens. I always like when Cleveland is an underdog. They play loser and seem to have this us vs everyone mentality. Whether they come in 1st or 3rd, I will have have a fun time this year. Time to see what the kids can do. Additionally, in regards to Valera, he is out of options correct? I was surprised to read Tim Stebbins piece and he barely talked about him. Feel like he is more a lock to make the team than Chase.

12. If young bats stay healthy i would say playoffs. If young bats underachieve it could be a long season

13. It’s on the young guys this year. I’m excited to see how it goes but also….ive been a Cleveland native for 45 years…..ain’t nothing I’m not used to if we fall flat on our face. Lol I just can’t believe we didn’t add ONE FUCKING BAT….like at all. Lol

14. Where is Jeff's Cleveland pitching conspiracy theory?

15. Thanks LoG! Appreciate the division rundown.

    I do agree with Jeff on the Royals-Guardians comp: higher ceiling for Royals, higher floor for the Guardians.

    Also, on the injury dimension: I think there is more variance than people sometimes account for. Yea, Chase has an injury history, but how many injuries are unexpected as well. Its not a "three-standard deviation outlier" or something if the Guardians stay healthy and several Tigers get injured, e.g.

16. Every year Vegas says this team will win 78-82 games and finish 3-4th in the division, then tons of casuals claim they’re taking the under. Meanwhile those of us who understand baseball laugh as we watch the team win 84-96 games and finish first or second in the division. Cleveland’s record vs the over/under the last 10 years is 7-2-1. It’s not blind luck. They know when to go after big additions, and more importantly they know when NOT to go after big additions. This team is still incredibly flexible in how they manage their roster and how they build their lineups. I love what we did this offseason. I’d have liked to get a short term bat who can play both CF and 2B (Jazz Chisholm) but short of that perfect fit, I don’t think there was anyone (including Donovan or Hayes) who significantly changes the outlook of this team. Whether they finish with the 15th best offense or the 25th doesn’t really matter (except for fans enjoyment). The success of this team is based on the rotation and bullpen. Plus when we get to June and Valera/Bazzana/Kayfus/DeLautet have replaced 45% of the lineup we can talk about whether they made the right offseason choices. I don’t see a reason to think that DeLauter can’t play 100 games if managed correctly. His past injuries have all been successfully overcome and he has no current health concerns. Even if he doesn’t, it just takes getting league average production from 2 of the young guys for the lineup to completely change complexions. That isn’t a huge ask. I don’t care what the projections say, because it’s the same story every year. Projection systems don’t like this team, but it’s because much of what leads to Guardians success is difficult to measure and I don’t think that’s just lip service.

17. You talk about the “ifs” in our lineup, but then you point at the tigers and talk about guys like Tork, Greene, and Gleyber Torres! These dudes are the biggest “ifs” in baseball! They have good years and then they have terrible years, and they all have MASSIVE holes in their swing and are strikeout kings. They don’t have a JRam, who they KNOW will be a rock in the middle of the order. Hell they don’t even have a Manzardo, who they can count on for 20+ HR and a manageable k rate. Tigers most trustworthy guy honestly is probably McGonigal (who had 1 magic year in the minors across multiple levels) and you harp on the unreliability of our prospects. I do t see the Tigers lineup as significantly better than ours, at least not against decent pitching (guys like Greene and Torres build their season stats on bad pitching and strikeout against decent stuff annually).

18. Ya know, there's a reason they play the games and don't just talk about what will happen.

19. Mia making an impact 👌