CLEVELAND — As the Guardians brass met with local reporters for a season wrap-up session on Oct. 7, they reflected on the historic comeback that recaptured the division title, but also the quick playoff exit that became the story of their 2025 season, and the why behind it all.

They also expressed some amazement to think about how different the tone of that day could have been.

As of late July, the Guardians were floundering. They needed binoculars to see the divisor-leading Detroit Tigers, they had just lost their second pitcher to a gambling investigation and, with the trade deadline looming, appeared to be a sinking ship that was still taking cannon fire on the way down.

All of it only seemed to galvanize the Guardians, who were among baseball’s best teams with arguably the best pitching staff over the final two months of the season. No team had ever pulled off such a run. And, yet, their run came to an end at the hands of those same Tigers in a 2-1 Wild Card Series loss.

“There was so much adversity the group collectively faced, and there were times when the season could have taken a very different direction, and we would be sitting here talking about a very different out come at the end of the year,” president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said.

It was a remarkable turnaround. The Guardians finished with 88 wins, when for much of the season it looked like they were headed for a rebuilding year. But a feel-good September wasn’t the end goal. After all, manager Stephen Vogt already has an American League Central banner.

“I’m so proud of our group for coming back and winning the division — that isn’t enough,” Vogt said Oct. 7. “I don’t care how many American League Central pennants we hang, that really doesn’t matter to me. It’s a step in the direction we need to go.”

Therein lies the difficult balance for how the Guardians can evaluate a roller-coaster 2025 season. Moving forward, it may be that they again lean into the notion they are building a foundation, even if they couldn’t replicate a 2024 run that put them three wins shy of the World Series.

The quick October exit wasn’t the ending they wanted. But their unique circumstances brought with it some momentum as well.

“I do believe in the resiliency that this group demonstrated and built over the course of the season, and when you look at the roster and we expect to have a lot of continuity moving forward,” Antonetti said.

How will Chase DeLauter, George Valera fit into Guardians future lineups?

It might have been too late for all of them to really find their footing, but Chase DeLauter and George Valera occupying key spots in the playoff lineup was a step forward for an offense that finished 28th in the majors in runs scored in 2025. Top overall draft pick Travis Bazzana, Juan Brito, Cooper Ingle and others are getting closer to their debuts.

It’s the cycle in which the Guardians often find themselves, balancing the ceiling of highly regarded prospects in their development with a timetable that demands urgency.

The Guardians cannot allow arguably the game’s best pitching staff from top to bottom — at least for the final few months — to be something on which they again don’t capitalize. That means bolstering the lineup is the No. 1 focus this winter.

“That’s a clear area where we feel like that’s going to have to improve going into next year,” general manager Mike Chernoff said.

Guardians’ top offseason priority is bolstering the offense

But how does that mission take form?

Antonetti stressed the Guardians will continue to operate as they have the last several years, which largely means leaning into a youth movement and relying on player development while, at the same time, trying to contend for a playoff spot. It’s a difficult tightrope to walk.

“What we ask of Vogter and the coaching staff is almost unfair because we’re asking them to not only find ways to help the team win games, but help a group of players continue to develop,” Antonetti said. “And winning games while developing players at the major league level is incredible hard to do, and it takes an incredible amount of work.”

Antonetti singled out center field and right field as two spots out of which the Guardians simply need more production moving forward. DeLauter, Valera, C.J. Kayfus and others could be answers there, but it would also, again, leave Cleveland relying on young players to take major steps forward in unison.

They could go the route of dealing some prospects that don’t fit into their immediate plans as much, especially in the middle infield, to bolster the outfield. Or, they could add security for the lineup via free agency.

Guardians payroll heading into 2026

That brings into the age-old question surrounding Cleveland baseball: How much will they spend?

“It’s probably too early to answer that with specificity, other than to say that since in the time I’ve been here, ownership has consistently poured back all of the revenue that we’ve generated back into the operation, whether that’s at the major league level or throughout the infrastructure and player development, scouting, player acquisition,” Antonetti said. “I don’t have any reason to think we’ll operate any differently than we have in the past. Now, exactly where that leaves us with payroll, it’s hard to say.”

The Guardians’ payroll has hovered right around $100 million for three consecutive seasons, but heading into 2026 there’s plenty of room left to even get to that number before Opening Day.

Aside from arbitration and league-minimum salaries, the Guardians have very little committed on the books for 2026. Jose Ramirez will make $21 million. Tanner Bibee is set to make $4.4 million. Trevor Stephen, coming off Tommy John rehab, is slated for $3.5 million. That’s potentially the end of the list.

Emmanuel Clase is set to make $6.4 million, but if MLB hands down its suspensions from the gambling investigation, the Guardians might be freed of that obligation. The club also has an option on John Means, returning from his second Tommy John procedure, for $6 million. They’ll have until five days after the World Series to make a decision there.

They have eight arbitration-eligible players this winter who are projected to collectively earn around $19.8 million, according to MLB Trade Rumors, and it seems unlikely that Cleveland signs all eight.

If Clase and Means aren’t with the organization in 2026, and even if the Guardians do sign all eight arbitration-eligible players, their Opening Day payroll would still only be projected at roughly $62 million.

Cleveland received criticism last winter for not adding much from outside the organization after a run to the ALCS. Coming off two consecutive division titles while averaging 90 wins and bringing in more than two million fans each year followed by a severe drop in payroll would only exacerbate that frustration from the fan base.

The Guardians could spend more than $30 million this winter, and it’d simply be maintaining their current structure.

Some of that could go toward long-term extensions — for Kwan, Gavin Williams and others — if deals can be reached. But the runway for some spending exists, especially with Jose Ramirez expressing some frustration with the spending habits as his career progresses, and the length of his remaining contract decreases.

“Yes, I think Jose is an important part of that, but we absolutely feel urgency and want to win a World Series,” Antonetti said. “That’s the goal every year. I mean, the overwhelming sentiment initially at the end of the year was disappointment, and felt like getting punched in the gut because we didn’t achieve that end result we were seeking to, and that’s to win a World Series.

“I’ve now been doing this for 27 years. I’m 0 for 27 for the final goal. Next year, we’re going to try to make it 1 for 28.”