CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Guardians have made their plans for scoring runs in 2026 clear. They’re sticking with the players that produced one of the worst offenses in the big leagues last year.
These are the players they drafted, signed, developed or acquired through free agency or trades.
Many of them helped the Guards win two of the last three AL Central titles. In their way of thinking, it makes sense to stand by them for another year as they develop.
On the other hand, those players did hit .226 as a team, barely averaged four runs per game and finished the season with a negative run differential.
They needed the biggest comeback in MLB history and an epic collapse by the Tigers to win the Central on the last day of the regular season. It seems safe to say we will not see a repeat of that in 2026.
Guardians’ pitchers and catchers, at least those not involved in the World Baseball Classic, report to Goodyear, Ariz. on Feb. 10 for spring training. There will be new faces, especially among the relievers, but the position players will mostly be the same because that’s the way the front office planned it.
Eugenio Suarez hit 49 homers last season for Seattle and Arizona.(Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com)
Over the weekend, Cincinnati signed third baseman Eugenio Suarez to a one-year $15 million deal, while the White Sox, one of Cleveland’s rivals in the AL Central, signed outfielder Austin Hays to one-year $6 million deal.
They are both right-handed hitters, who could have helped balance the lefty-leaning Guardians’ lineup. The Guardians, based on their projected 26-man payroll, could have signed both players and still been below last year’s opening-day payroll of just under $100 million.
Suarez hit 49 homers and drove in 118 runs last year for Arizona and Seattle. He struck out 196 times, but 49 homers and 118 RBI for $15 million is a steal in MLB’s overheated salary structure.
The deal with Cincinnati includes a $16 million mutual option for 2027.
Yes, Suarez plays third base, the same position as Jose Ramirez, who just signed a seven-year $175 million extension. So he wouldn’t have played there, but Cleveland has an opening at DH. Last season, Ramirez made 26 starts at DH, so Suarez could have slid over to third base on those days while Ramirez served as DH.
The key to the equation was Suarez’s bat. He hit .228 (134 for 588) last season, but his power numbers and a .824 OPS added thump. He hit .252 (108 for 429) with 36 homers and 95 RBI against righties and .164 (26 for 159) with 13 homers and 23 RBI against lefties.
Other than Ramirez and Kyle Manzardo, who hit 30 and 27 homers, respectively, last year, no other Cleveland player hit more than 14 homers.
Suarez would have been a nice fit in the fourth or fifth spot in Cleveland’s lineup, but he’s returning to Cincinnati where he played seven years from 2015 through 2021. He is expected to get most of his at-bats at DH because the Reds have Gold Glover Ke’Bryan Hayes at third base.
The Guardians have eight outfielders on the 40-man roster, and six of them bat left-handed. Hays could have been a nice platoon option in center or right field.
Last season for Cincinnati, he hit .266 (101 for 380) with 15 homers, 64 RBI in 103 games. He hit .249 (72 for 284) with 13 homers, 47 RBI and a .708 OPS against right-handers and .319 (25 for 91) with two homers, 17 RBI and a .819 OPS against lefties.
Hays is a career .282 (208 for 733) hitter against lefties.
The Guardians haven’t had a lot of luck recently with the free agents they’ve signed. It’s been a while since they’ve received the kind of return that Mike Napoli or Jason Giambi gave them.
Is that the main reason they ignored an offense that finished 28th in runs, 29th in batting average and 29th in OPS last year? Is that why they’ve decided to hand their core position players the reins to the offense this season?
Probably, but the expiration of the basic agreement after the 2026 season and a possible change in ownership from Paul Dolan to minority owner David Blitzer might be playing a role as well.
The one thing that can’t be denied is that players like Manzardo, Gabriel Arias, C.J. Kayfus, Angel Martinez, Nolan Jones, Bo Naylor, Brayan Rocchio, Johnathan Rodriguez, Daniel Schneemann and George Valera are getting an opportunity that may never come their way again.
What they do with it will be there for all to see in a season that opens on March 26.