A year that begins with hope and ends in disappointment is not unusual for Cleveland’s pro sports teams. But hope always entices us to take another bite of the apple.
The Guardians and Cavaliers were division champions in 2025. Both stormed into the postseason with momentum. Both made quick exits from the playoffs. The ending was disappointing both times, but each team provided thrill after thrill while they played. Because of those thrills, each team also provided plenty to write about and talk about in the offseason.
As the calendar flips to 2026, here are our top 10 pro sports stories from 2025:
1. Guardians historic season
The Guardians won the A.L. Central title in 2024 and advanced to the ALCs before being eliminated by the Yankee in five games.
The chances of repeating as division champions seemed bleak when the Guardians were 15 1/2 games behind the Tigers on the morning of July 7, but they stormed back to win the division on the final day of the regular season. It was the biggest comeback by any team since the start of divisional play in 1969.
Pitching — no surprise — carried the team. Specifically, starting pitching, as you will see from No. 3 on our list. The Guardians finished 28th of 30 MLB teams with 643 runs scored, 29th in batting average at .226 and 29th with a .373 slugging percentage, yet still went 88-74 to finish one game ahead of Detroit.
The Tigers got the last laugh, though, when they eliminated the Guardians in the wild-card series. The Tigers advanced to the ALCS before being knocked out by the Blue Jays.
2. Cavaliers historic season
The Cavaliers finished 64-18 in 2024-25 — the second-best record in franchise history. They finished 66-16 in 2008-09, when LeBron James was MVP and Mike Brown was Coach of the Year. The 2008-09 team was eliminated by the Orlando Magic in six games in the Eastern Conference finals.
The 2024-25 Cavs jumped to a 15-0 record under first-year head coach Kenny Atkinson. No Cavs team ever won its first 15 games until last season. The Cavs also enjoyed a 16-game winning streak last season, and, like Brown, Atkinson was voted Coach of the Year. Also like the 2009 Cavs, the 2025 playoffs did not match the regular season success. The Cavs were eliminated by the Pacers in five games in the conference semifinals in May.
The Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell during the first half against the Pacers during Game 2 of their second-round playoff series May 6 at Rocket Arena. (Tim Phillis – For The News-Herald)
Atkinson was not the team’s only award winner. Evan Mobley was voted Defensive Player of the Year.
3. Ortiz, Clase caught in betting scandal
The Guardians were stunned on July 3 when starting pitcher Luis Ortiz was put on non-disciplinary paid leave while Major League Baseball investigated a betting scandal in which Ortiz allegedly intentionally threw pitches out of the strike zone to start an inning on two occasions. Ortiz was scheduled to start that night in a game with the Cubs. The investigation was supposed to last through the All-Star break.
As bad as it was to lose Ortiz, it got worse for the Guardians on July 28 when closer Emmanuel Clase suffered the same fate as Ortiz for the same reason. Neither pitched for the Guardians again in 2025, and it would be surprising if either throws another pitch in the Major Leagues.
Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase leaves Brooklyn federal court Nov. 13 in New York. (Yuki Iwamura – The Associated Press)
Both players were indicted in November on various fraud charges involving rigging certain pitches. Each player faces more than 60 years in prison if convicted of all charges. The Guardians had to pay both players while they were banished. Clase is under contract for $6.4 million in 2026. Since a person is innocent until proven guilty, The Guardians might still be on the hook for his salary in 2026, pending a resolution between MLB and the players’ union once punishment has been decided.
4. Browns draft Shedeur Sanders
Some storms are easy to forecast — like the one that formed when the Browns selected Sanders in the fifth round (144th overall) of the 2025 draft after they already took quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the third round.
Every decision the Browns make/made regarding Sanders has been scrutinized by his legion of fans. That has never happened with a fifth-round Browns pick before. No surprise since he is the son of Hall of Fame player Deion Sanders, who coached his son at Jackson State and the University of Colorado. The younger Sanders has 2.7 million followers on Instagram.
Shedeur Sanders, shown against the Steelers on Dec. 28, has made six starts heading into the season finale Jan 4. (Tim Phillis – For The News-Herald)
Shedeur has been a distraction all season, even though most of it has not been of his own making. He sat for four games while Joe Flacco started and six more while Gabriel started. Every time Sanders sat, his prominent loyalists in the media accused Coach Kevin Stefanski of sabotaging him.
Sanders made a successful debut as a starter when the Browns beat the Raiders, 24-10, in Las Vegas on Nov. 23. He is 2-4 with a game in Cincinnati to end the season. He has completed 109 of 190 passes (57.4 percent) for 1,289 yards with seven touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. Whether he is the starter next year might depend on what the Browns do in the draft.
5. Browns last again
The Browns have one game remaining in another disappointing season. They upset the Steelers, 13-6, on Dec. 28 to end a four-game losing streak and improve to 4-12. They finished 3-14 last season.
Preseason projections had the Browns winning no more than five games, but to watch the season unfold as it has angered and frustrated fans. Ironically, beating the Steelers dropped the Browns to sixth in the 2026 draft order. Had they lost to the Steelers, coupled with a loss to the Bengals in the final game, they would have picked no lower than second in the draft. With one game left, the future of Stefanski is undecided. He was Coach of the Year in 2020 and 2023, but in six seasons, his overall record is 44-56.
6. Cleveland gets a WNBA team
Cleveland on June 30 was awarded an expansion team in the WNBA to begin play in 2028 at Rocket Arena. The team will be owned by Dan Gilbert, who also owns the Cavaliers. A nickname has not been chosen.
This will be the second go for the WNBA in Cleveland. The Rockers, a charter member in 1997 when the WNBA was an eight-team league, folded in 2003 because of a lack of interest. The 2028 Cleveland team will be the 16th team to join the current WNBA.
To show how much interest Caitlin Clark and other stars have sparked in women’s basketball in recent years, the Golden State Valkyries, which began play this season, paid $50 million for their franchise in 2023. The expansion fee for the Cleveland team, as well as an expansion team in Detroit (2029 startup) and Philadelphia (2030), was $250 million.
Fans who wish to place a $28 initial payment for a future Cleveland WNBA team membership can do so at WNBACleveland.com.
7. Domed stadium hits snag
The plan to build a domed stadium in Brook Park hit a roadblock one day before Christmas when Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Bill Sperlazzato issued a 14-day temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the state of Ohio from handing $600 million to the Haslam Sports Group for stadium construction.
The money was to come from a pool of unclaimed funds. The TRO expires Jan. 7. A hearing for a preliminary injunction, which could further delay the $600 million payment, is set for Jan. 8 while lawyers argue in court whether the state can use unclaimed funds for stadiums, arenas and other entertainment centers. The timing of the judge’s ruling is important because the Browns were scheduled to receive the $600 million in early February.
Until the judge’s Christmas Eve ruling, it seemed a $100 million settlement to the city of Cleveland proposed by the Haslam Sports Group had paved the way for stadium construction to begin. The proposal was approved by Cleveland City Council on Dec. 1.
The new home for the Browns will open in August 2029 if the project stays on schedule. The plan is for construction on the 67,000 seat stadium to begin in March or April 2026.
This rendering provided by HKS shows a proposed domed stadium for the Browns. (HKS/Cleveland Browns via Associated Press)
The estimated cost of the stadium is $2.4 billion. HSG is paying for half of it. The plan is for another $1 billion for hotels, office space and other facilities on the 176-acre site to be funded from private investment. HSG is counting on the $600 million from the state as part of the construction cost.
8. Tom Hamilton honored in Cooperstown
Tom Hamilton, the radio pitch-by-pitch announcer of Indians/Guardians games since 1990, was presented with his profession’s highest achievement on July 25 when he received the Ford C. Frick Award during a ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y., home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Guardians radio announcer Tom Hamilton received the Ford C. Frick Award at the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 26 in Cooperstown, N.Y. (Seth Wenig – The Associated Press)
Hamilton teared up during his acceptance speech.
“I’ve always said I’ve had the best job in the world,” Hamilton said in his speech. “For 36 years, I have had the privilege of narrating the Cleveland Indians and now the Cleveland Guardians. For over three and a half decades, Cleveland and Northeast Ohio has made us feel like family.
“You great fans have welcomed us into your homes, your cars and your back porches. It’s a passionate fanbase, and it has been everything we could have ever wanted in raising our family. Thank you, Cleveland, for being our Camelot.”
Hamilton is 71 years old.
9. Vogt repeats as Manager of the Year
Stephen Vogt has managed the Guardians for two seasons. He led the team to two AL Central titles. He is also 2-for-2 in being named American League Manager of the Year.
Voting is done by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Vogt received 113 points in the voting, followed by John Schneider of the Blue Jays (91 points) and Dan Wilson of the Mariners (50 points).
Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and manager Stephen Vogt celebrate after winning the AL Central on Sept. 28. (Tim Phillis – For The News-Herald)
Significantly, the Blue Jays (94-68) and the Mariners (90-72) finished with better records than the Guardians’ 88-74 mark. But neither Schneider nor Wilson had to overcome a 15 1/2-game deficit more than halfway through the season. Nor did either lose his closer for the final two months and playoffs because of a gambling probe.
10. Garrett seeks sack record
This story would be higher on the list if Myles Garrett had sacked Aaron Rodgers even once on Dec. 28 when the Browns beat the Steelers, 13-6. But he didn’t get close enough to take Rodgers down.
The NFL record for sacks in a 16-game season is 22 1/2 set by Michael Strahan of the Giants in 2001. Garrett has 22 sacks heading into the season finale Jan. 4 in Cincinnati.
Myles Garrett rushes during the Browns’ loss to the Titans on Dec. 7.
(Tim Phillis – For The News-Herald)
The fact that the record has eluded him is news of a sort because he had 18 sacks through 11 games. He has 4.5 in his last five games.
“Every single opponent that goes into the game, I promise you, on Wednesday morning, they have a picture of Myles Garrett and they say, ‘We can’t let this guy wreck the game,” Stefanski said on Dec. 29. “They call them game wreckers. You identify the guys that make those disruptive plays. So, he’s the focal point of every offensive game plan, from the beginning of time.”
T.J. Watt of the Steelers shares the single-season sack record with Strahan, but Watt needed 17 games to do it. Garrett will have the 17-game record to himself if he sacks Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow even once.