CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Guardians have mastered making the playoffs, winning two consecutive American League Central titles. But a fierce debate has emerged among fans: Is that enough for a small-market team, or should they be spending more to finally win that elusive World Series?

In the latest episode of Terry’s Talkin’ podcast, cleveland.com columnist Terry Pluto and host David Campbell tackled this issue that’s dividing the fan base.

“It seems like there’s two schools of thought among Guardians fans,” Campbell explained. “One group of fans is like, ‘Listen, this is a smaller market team. They don’t have a lot of payroll money. They’re doing great.

“… And then there’s another school of thought… ‘Listen, spend some money and bring in some offense through free agency.’”

A Guardians fan in the second school of thought even felt strongly enough to purchase an advertisement in The Plain Dealer challenging owner Paul Dolan to spend money and bring in some players — or sell the franchise.

Is the team truly handcuffed financially?

Pluto’s analysis suggests they have more flexibility than they’re using.

“I looked at their payroll for this upcoming year and you got Jose Ramirez at $21 million. Then you have Steven Kwan at $8.8 million; and the third-highest-paid player in the team at the moment is Emmanuel Clase, $6 million,” Pluto revealed.

“So therefore you do have room to spend because this payroll is pretty low and they have room to go out and try and make a bold move or two.”

This limited payroll structure becomes even more concerning when considering that Emmanuel Clase might face a suspension after being indicted on gambling charges, potentially freeing up additional money that could be redirected toward offensive help.

The Guards’ front office, led by Chris Antonetti, consistently states their goal is to win a World Series. But their approach to free agency has often involved one-year rental deals for aging bats who rarely pan out.

“Last year they spent $12 million on Carlos Santana. It didn’t work,” Pluto said. “And they’ve, they’ve kind of, when they, when they’ve tried to do these sort of one-year rentals with these bats, they haven’t worked, other than perhaps Mike Napoli.”

The organization’s renowned “pitching factory” has consistently developed quality arms, finding diamonds in the rough like Ben Lively, who turned his career around in Cleveland. But their inability to do the same with hitters has become a glaring weakness.

“Well, they need to get a batting factory going,” Pluto argued. “I’m sure they need a batting factory and I know they’ve looked at this stuff, but they need to have it where they can get some of these guys that have come in that maybe been good, and suddenly they’re off, and they stay off when they come here.”

Some fans suggest patience is needed for prospects like Kyle Manzardo and Chase DeLauter to develop.

But with Kwan as the only established outfielder and a lineup that struggled to generate consistent power, the team’s cautious approach frustrates many fans who see a championship window that may close before it fully opens.

Here’s the podcast for this week:

If you have a question or a topic you’d like to see included on the podcast, email it to sports@cleveland.com, and put “Terry’s Talkin’” in the subject line.

You can find previous podcasts below.