CLEVELAND, Ohio — It is as constant as the sun and sand in the Arizona desert. When spring training begins for the Guardians in February, Chris Antonetti is going to say that the organization’s goal next season is to win the World Series.
Those aren’t just words to Antonetti, president of baseball operations. He means them, but it hasn’t happened since he joined the Guardians’ front office.
“I’ve been doing this for 27 years,” Antonetti said at the end of the 2025 season. “I’m 0 for 27 for the final goal. Next year we’re going to try to make it 1 for 28.”
Antonetti is certainly not alone in batting .000 for his goal.
The last executive to lead Cleveland to a World Series championship was Bill Veeck, owner and general manager of the then-Indians in 1948. That was 77 years ago, representing baseball’s longest World Series drought.
The Guardians, under one name or another, have been playing baseball in the American League for 124 years. They have won two World Series: the first in 1920, the second in 1948. So, this is not an annual event like the buzzards returning to Hinckley.
Yet it’s not like they’ve been banned from premises of the Fall Classic. Cleveland has reached the World Series in 1954, 1995, 1997 and 2016.
They just haven’t won them.
As they head into another offseason, there seem to be two schools of thought about whether the Guardians are doing enough to get there.
Some fans feel that the Guardians, playing in one of MLB’s smaller markets, are doing just fine, making the playoffs consistently and the American League Championship Series every several years. There was even a seven-game World Series loss to the Cubs in 2016.
On the other side are fans who feel the Guardians use being a small-market team as an excuse to let their top players leave in free agency. They feel the team owes it to the fans to spend more money when the time is right and go all-in to win a World Series championship — something they haven’t done in recent years.
So, who’s right?
Point: Yes, the Guardians are doing enough to win a World Series
To be saddled with a World Series drought is one thing. To be a poorly run franchise is quite another.
The Guardians are a long way from that. They are one of MLB’s model franchises, and probably the best run professional team in Cleveland.
They have found a way not only to exist, but also to thrive in a league where there is no salary cap, and teams from the big cities, supported by huge local media contracts, can spend with little or no restraint.
The Guardians won the AL Central this year with a opening-day, 26-man payroll of $100 million. It was the smallest payroll among the 12 teams that made the playoffs.
Milwaukee ($108 million), Cincinnati ($112 million), Detroit ($145 million), Seattle ($145 million), Cubs ($191 million), Boston ($195 million), San Diego ($210 million), Toronto ($242 million), Philadelphia ($284 million), Yankees ($288 million) and the Dodgers ($329 million) all had bigger payrolls than Cleveland.
The Guardians have overcome that to a degree by developing quality starting pitching, the lifeblood of the industry, and consistently sending teams to the postseason. Since 1995, 48% (15 of 31) of Cleveland’s teams have made the postseason. Over the same period, Toronto has sent only six teams to the postseason.
As an organization, they are nimble and get a lot out of a little.
In 2024, they won the AL Central despite their normally strong pitching rotation struggling with injuries and performance issues. They did it thanks to a historically strong bullpen, great defense and an opportunistic offense.
In 2025, after an offseason spent repairing the rotation, they came from 15 1/2 games back to repeat as AL Central champions on the final day of the regular season. They did it with a rejuvenated rotation, a bullpen that lost its closer, Emmanuel Clase, to a gambling scandal, and one of the weakest offenses in franchise history.
In other words, the Guardians did what they do best: They patched holes, dipped into the farm system, found good value at clearance-sale prices and kept winning.
From 1995 through 2001, the Guardians won with a star-laden roster and a sizable payroll. When Larry Dolan purchased the team from Dick Jacobs in November of 1999, the stars and the big salaries all but disappeared, as did the trips to the postseason.
Right-hander Tanner Bibee is one of the pitchers produced from the Guardians’ pitching factory.Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com
Starting in 2013, the Guardians forged a different path.
They leaned on the draft to produce younger and less expensive players. They turned into The Pitching Factory, churning out young, affordable starting pitchers who arrived in the big leagues ready to win. Their relievers weren’t bad either.
When they felt they had a chance to make a deep postseason run, they added a veteran or two. In 2016 it was reliever Andrew Miller, who helped pitch Cleveland to Game 7 of the World Series. In 2024, they added outfielder Lane Thomas, who helped the Guardians beat the Tigers in the ALDS to reach the ALCS.
In 2025, while staging the biggest regular-season comeback in MLB history, the Guardians didn’t add anyone at the deadline. In fact, they traded former Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber, recovering from Tommy John surgery in the Guardians’ minor leagues, to Toronto.
But they still won, going 20-7 in September to capture their 13th Central Division title since the division was formed in 1994. It was a remarkable rally, but it wasn’t a World Series title.
Manager Stephen Vogt acknowledged as much after the Guardians’ season ended against Detroit in the AL wild card series.
“We want more,” said Vogt after losing the third and deciding game, 6-3. “We show up every year to win a World Series. We’re close, but we’re not quite there yet.”
Counterpoint: No, the Guardians aren’t doing enough to win the World Series
Some Guardians fans are not impressed with the 13 division titles, three AL pennants and 15 trips to the postseason over the last 31 years. Before 1995, Cleveland had made one postseason appearance in 41 years — the 1954 World Series.
It raises the question: Is good enough still good enough for Guardians fans?
After the Guardians’ wild card loss to Detroit, a fan paid for a full-page ad in The Plain Dealer. The ad urged owner Paul Dolan, Larry Dolan’s son and current owner, to take advantage of All-Star José Ramírez’s golden years by adding legitimate talent from outside the organization — or sell the team.
The ad targeted Dolan, whose family has owned the team longer than any other entity in franchise history, saying he had “No vision and no investment.”
Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti (right) celebrates with manager Stephen Vogt after defeating the Texas Rangers and earning a berth in the AL wild card playoffs.John Kuntz, cleveland.com
Ramírez is the Guardians’ only legitimate star. Despite watching All-Star after All-Star leave through free agency or trades, he decided to stay in Cleveland. Ramirez turned 33 in September and his contract, the largest in club history, expires in 2028.
When Ramirez signed his seven-year, $141 million contract in 2022, complete with a no-trade clause that he insisted on, he cited four future goals:
finish his career in Cleveland;win a World Series in Cleveland;have his No. 11 retired;and make the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
So at least he’s aligned with the Guardians regarding winning the World Series.
“It’s our No. 1 goal,” said Antonetti, at the team’s end-of-the-season press conference. “It’s all of ours. Yes, José is an important part of that, but we absolutely feel urgency and want to win a World Series. That is the goal every year.”
What Ramírez needs is help, real big-league help.
To do that, the Guardians need to increase their projected $100 million payroll by adding a hitter or two who already knows the ins and outs of doing damage to a baseball in critical situations.
If they don’t pursue free agents, the only other way to add outside help is through trades. They took that course last year to improve the rotation, but they did it by trading players from the big-league roster in position players Andrés Giménez and Josh Naylor.
Giménez won three straight Gold Gloves at second base for the Guardians from 2022 through 2024. After hitting .297 with 17 homers in 2022, they signed him to a seven-year $106.5 million extension in March of 2023.
When Giménez’s offense faded, the Guardians traded him Toronto in December of 2024. He was only two years into his extension and scheduled to make $10 million in 2025, $15 million in 2026 and $23 million a year from 2027 through 2029.
Naylor, acquired in 2020 from San Diego, played parts of five seasons in Cleveland. From 2022 through 2024, Guardians’ fans watched him turn into a solid run producer, who gave Ramírez protection in the lineup. He had his best year in 2024 when he hit 31 homers with 108 RBI.
The Guardians traded him to Arizona last December as he was entering his fifth and final season before free agency. The Diamondbacks paid him $10.9 million to avoid arbitration, and traded him to Seattle at the trade deadline.
Naylor, after helping the Mariners win the AL West for the first time in 24 years, and performing well in the postseason, filed for free agency at the end of the World Series. But he quickly signed a five-year $92.5 million deal with Seattle.
If the Guardians do decide to make a trade this winter, it could be Gold Glove-winning left fielder Steven Kwan. He drew a lot interest at the trade deadline, but the Guardians didn’t move him. He’s two years away from free agency, and so far the Guardians haven’t been able to sign him to an extension.
Kwan is eligible for arbitration and is projected to make $8.8 million for 2026 the 2026 season. In a game built on power, Kwan’s calling card is contact and patience at the plate. Over four big league seasons, he’s a .281 hitter with a .351 on-base percentage.
A multiyear contract for Kwan could be worth $15 million annually over five to seven years.
For as much success as the organization has had in developing pitching, it has been unable to match that when it comes to hitters. Outside of Ramírez and Kwan, the Guardians’ recent lineups are predominantly young, platoon-oriented and bereft of power. Perhaps that will change as young hitters such as Kyle Manzardo, Chase DeLauter, Travis Bazzana, CJ Kayfus and George Valera get acclimated to the big leagues.
Over the years, the Guardians have increased their big league hitting staff from one coach to four. But for young players, unless they are exceptionally talented, it takes time to learn how to hit at the big league level.
What they did to win a division title this year was remarkable considering where their offense ranked among MLB’s 30 teams in several critical categories:
20th in home runs.28th in runs scored.29th in batting average.29th in on-base percentage.29th in slugging percentage.29th in OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage).
The Guardians, outside of a slight uptick in offense in 2024 (14th in runs, 12th in homers), have won the Central in three of the last four years with a shadow offense.
But in the postseason, their lack of power has played a big role in them not reaching or winning a World Series.
In 2022 and 2024 when they faced the Yankees in the AL Division Series and AL Championship Series, respectively, they were out-homered 19-8 while being eliminated in each series.
That has to change if the Guardians are going to end their 77-year championship drought.
Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez reacts after being tagged out at second against the Detroit Tigers in the eighth inning of the AL wild card game 3.Joshua Gunter, cleveland.comWhat do the fans say
Cleveland.com asked subscribers to its Guardians Subtext service (sign up here) if they are doing enough to win a World Series.
Fans were asked if they agreed, strongly agreed, had no opinion, disagreed or strongly disagreed.
The poll drew just over 100 responses:
75% of the Subtext users disagreed or strongly disagreed that the Guardians were doing everything possible to win a World Series. 20% agreed or strongly agreed that the team was doing everything possible to be the last team standing at the end of the season.
Here’s what a couple of them had to say.
Rory McIntyre, Columbus: “I’m so sick of hearing about getting ‘great prospects’ when we trade talented proven players. In return we get more great prospects, develop them and trade them for more great prospects. Does this owner want to win or not?”Tim Johnson, Rockville, Indiana: “They either need to sign some guys to extensions or go get some free agents. I know in today’s game some players will want to test the market, but there has to be some that are willing to stay. They need to extend Steven Kwan and Kyle Manzardo, who is going to be a 30-homer guy. They need to extend Cade Smith, a couple of their starting pitchers and trade or sign a free agent who can hit 25 to 30 home runs.”We’ve been here before
Comparing eras is always tricky, but in 1993 the Indians were in a similar situation to where they are today regarding Ramírez and the quest for a World Series title.
The records were nothing alike — the 1993 Indians finished in sixth place in the AL East at 76-86, while the 2025 Guardians won the AL Central at 88-74.
But the rosters of both teams needed help.
The 1993 Indians were powered by Albert Belle, who hit .290 (172 for 594) with 38 homers and an MLB-leading 129 RBI. Carlos Baerga was right behind Belle at .321 (200 for 624) with 21 homers and 114 RBI. Setting the table for them was Kenny Lofton, who hit .325 (185 for 569) with 42 RBI, 116 runs and an MLB-high of 70 stolen bases in 84 attempts.
Kenny Lofton (left), Albert Belle and Carlos Baerga helped turn the Indians in a consistent playoff contender in the 1990s with their offensive ability.ASSOCIATED PRESS
The problem was they had no pitching. Jose Mesa, before he went to the bullpen, led the team with 10 wins.
Rather than waste another year of offense by Belle, Baerga and Lofton, the Indians signed veteran free agent pitchers Dennis Martinez and Jack Morris, while No.1 pick Charles Nagy won 10 games. When the 1994 season ended due to a players’ strike, they were one game out of first place in the newly formed AL Central.
In 1995, they added Orel Hershiser to the rotation to start a run of quality baseball that is still going today.
The lone flaw in that long run has been a World Series title.
Which means this debate is still hanging over the plate like a curveball waiting to get hit.
The Cleveland teams of the early 1990s could hit, but couldn’t pitch. Over the years, they added pitching and even more hitting to recharge a franchise.
The Guardians’ most recent teams can pitch, but have been challenged offensively. Still, both editions found a way to consistently get to the postseason even though they never won a World Series.
That is the hard part, the part that drives this argument. Not only does a team have to be fortunate to win a World Series, it has to be good.
The Guardians haven’t experienced that kind of good since 1948. The question is will they ever get a chance to feel that way again?
Coming Tuesday: Cleveland.com Guardians reporters Paul Hoynes and Joe Noga present their view on whether the Guardians are doing enough, or not.