Yahoo Sports senior MLB analyst Jordan Shusterman and Jake Mintz explain why they are giving the Cleveland Guardians such a poor offseason grade. Hear the full conversation on the “Baseball Bar-B-Cast” podcast – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.
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Video Transcript
The Cleveland Guardians, they brought back Austin Hedges before free agency, like, even started.
No one else had an opportunity to sign Austin Hedges because the Guardians made it so.
They extended Jos Ramrez, and they added a couple bullpen pieces.
D+ for me.
This, was disappointing.
D for disappointing.
Extending Jos Ramrez is awesome, doesn’t make you better in 2026, and that should be the goal for a team that is finally trying to break through and not just be a surprise AL, “Oh, wow!
Oh, we didn’t think the Guardians were this good.”
Well, okay, let’s, let’s, let’s go farther than that.
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This team deserved more investment because they have proven to actually be good, unlike teams like the A’s and the Pirates and the Marlins.
This team is good, and Steven Vogt and his crew deserves a little bit more, financial investment and aggressiveness, whether that is in free agency or via trade.
You be harsh, I’d be harsher.
F. F, F, F, F, F, F, F, F. F, F, F, F, F. Here’s, here’s my reasoning.
I’ve said this before, I will say it again.
When you have Jos Ramrez, a generational player, a future Hall of Famer, willing to stay in town for frankly below market value, you owe it to him, to the fan base, to your entire franchise, to do everything you can to win while he’s there, to make the best of the unicorn window.
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And once again, the Guardians have failed to do that.
Now, look, I understand the rationale between leaving enough places open for guys to prove themselves.
However, you gotta make some choices already.
You see, like- … and it’s not even like, they didn’t even supplement the group, right?
If they had gone out and signed Harrison Bader- Right?
Mm-hmm.
A guy who made a ton of sense for this roster.
They had nobody who could play center field.
They needed a right-handed bat.
I would’ve not F’d them.
I would’ve not handed them the F. But instead, I’m, I’m gonna give them a big fat F.