Spring training is here, but it\u2019s not clear the Guardians ever got the memo that the offseason began. Despite winning the AL Central in 2025, they made practically no additions and will enter the year with one of their lowest team payrolls \u2014 if not the lowest \u2014 in more than a decade.<\/p>\n
Major League Free Agent Signings<\/p>\n
Total spend: $11.9MM<\/p>\n
Option Decisions<\/p>\n
Trades and Waiver Claims<\/p>\n
Extensions<\/p>\n
Jos\u00e9 Ramirez<\/a>, 3B: Four years, $106MM<\/a> (on top of preexisting three years, $69MM; contract includes $70MM in deferred money which actually\u00a0lowers the amount Cleveland owes Ramirez in 2026)<\/p>\n Notable Minor League Signings<\/p>\n Notable Losses<\/p>\n Cleveland went on an improbable run to its third AL Central title in four seasons in 2025, rattling off a blistering 20-7 record in September to edge out Detroit, who\u2019d led the division for much of the summer. Strong play from the Guardians alone wouldn\u2019t have gotten the job done; they needed the Tigers to also collapse in epic fashion. Detroit obliged, going 7-17 in September to squander what been an 11-game division lead as deep into the season as Sept. 4.<\/p>\n Entering the offseason, it was easy to presume that a Cinderella run of this nature, coupled with practically no long-term commitments and one of the lightest slates of 2026 financial obligations of any team in the sport would have emboldened the Guardians to add to what was an anemic offense. Any such presumptions have been proven incorrect.<\/p>\n The Guardians hit .226\/.296\/.373 as a team last season. The resulting 87 wRC+ (indicating their offense as a whole was 13% worse than average) ranked 28th in the majors. Cleveland ranked 28th in baseball with 643 runs scored and 29th in each of batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Superstar third baseman Jos\u00e9 Ramirez<\/a> and and slugging first baseman Kyle Manzardo<\/a> (who was heavily platooned) were the only members of the roster to manage even a league-average offensive line, by measure of wRC+. Left fielder Steven Kwan<\/a> was short by the narrowest of margins, at 99. Outfield prospect George Valera<\/a> hit fairly well but did so in a sample of 48 plate appearances.<\/p>\n Not only was no one else on Cleveland\u2019s roster even a league-average hitter \u2014 virtually no one else was even close. First baseman\/outfielder C.J. Kayfus<\/a> hit .220\/.292\/.415 \u2014 good for a 96 wRC+ in 138 plate appearances. No one else on the roster was even within 10% of average. Cleveland gave a total of 2757 plate appearances to Angel Martinez<\/a>, Gabriel Arias<\/a>, Daniel Schneemann<\/a>, Bo Naylor<\/a>, Nolan Jones<\/a>, Brayan Rocchio<\/a> and Hedges. That\u2019s 46% of their team-wide plate appearances. Those seven players combined for a .212\/.280\/.346 batting line (76 wRC+). They\u2019re all back in 2026.<\/p>\n Cleveland does have some hope for better offense in 2026. They could receive a full year of outfield prospects Valera and Chase DeLauter<\/a>, but betting on them to this extent is an immense risk. DeLauter was a first-round pick in 2022 and has been a top prospect since. He\u2019s also been regularly injured. Since being taken in the draft three and a half years ago, he\u2019s played all of 138 minor league games. His two playoff games with Cleveland in 2025 marked his big league debut. It\u2019s a similar story with Valera, a former top prospect out of the Dominican Republic who has only once played 100 games in a season despite signing back in 2017. He played 60 regular-season games in 2025 between the big leagues and the minors.<\/p>\n The Guardians also have 2024\u2019s No. 1 overall pick, second baseman Travis Bazzana<\/a>, very likely to make his big league debut early in the 2026 season. Twenty-four-year-old infielder Juan Brito<\/a> could also get a look, though he got into only 31 minor league games last season due to injury. Catching prospect Cooper Ingle<\/a> could make his debut in 2026 as well, and he\u2019d have only the lowest of bars to clear with the bat in order to be an upgrade over the current Naylor\/Hedges tandem.<\/p>\n That group unequivocally gives Cleveland some near-term upside, but banking on them as the sole means of offensive improvement is the type of strategy one might see from a rebuilding club or a cost-conscious team whose payroll is already pushing franchise-record territory. Neither is the case in Cleveland. The Guardians are aiming to contend, despite their lack of investment in the club. And while projections will peg their payroll around $80MM or so, that doesn\u2019t include the $10MM of deferred money for Ramirez or the $6MM they won\u2019t be paying to closer Emmanuel Clase<\/a> while he faces trial for rigging pitches in a gambling scandal that rocked the franchise (and also included starting pitcher Luis Ortiz<\/a>).<\/p>\n Cleveland\u2019s payroll is going to clock in around $65MM. Their franchise-record mark for Opening Day was about $70MM higher than that, back in 2018. They\u2019ve been between $90-100MM in each of the past three seasons. The last time they trotted out a payroll this low was in 2021, the first year coming off the pandemic-shortened season when they\u2019d just absorbed substantial losses. If we\u2019re willing to set that aside due to unique circumstances, Cleveland hasn\u2019t been this thrifty since 2011-12.<\/p>\n For a team coming off a division title and that type of late-season surge, it\u2019s hard to reconcile. President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said in a recent appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM<\/a> that the Guardians need to leave space for young players to step up and that their clearest path to contending involves young hitters like Bazzana, DeLauter and Valera helping to carry the offense. There\u2019s some truth behind those comments, but Antonetti surely didn\u2019t want his priciest offensive addition of the winter to be a reunion with Hedges, either. It\u2019s abundantly clear that this front office had little to no money to work with this winter, and that\u2019s borne out when digging deeper into their slate of moves.<\/p>\n Hedges\u2019 $4MM deal to return to the Guardians was surprising at the time and looks all the more confounding in the wake of an offseason devoid of activity. Cleveland seems to place a higher premium on catcher defense than just about any team in the game. In Naylor and Hedges, they\u2019ll have one of the sport\u2019s top defensive duos but also perhaps the least-productive catching tandem in baseball from an offensive standpoint. That pair is generally keeping the seat warm for the aforementioned Ingle, who slashed .260\/.389\/.419 with more walks than strikeouts as a 24-year-old in Double-A and Triple-A last season. Ingle should make his debut at some point in 2026.<\/p>\n The only other move to address the lineup was a late non-roster deal with first baseman Rhys Hoskins<\/a>. The former Phillies standout had two pretty pedestrian seasons in Milwaukee in 2024-25 after returning from an ACL tear that cost him the 2023 season. He hit .223\/.314\/.418 with 38 homers in 221 games while calling the hitter-friendly American Family Field home. Hoskins was a perennial 30-homer threat in Philadelphia from 2018-22, hitting .241\/.350\/.483 with 130 round-trippers in 2665 plate appearances. He hasn\u2019t approached that level of output since, which is why the market largely checked out on him this winter. He\u2019ll make just $1.5MM if he cracks Cleveland\u2019s roster. There\u2019s obvious bargain potential there, but the 2024-25 version of Hoskins is more of a league-average bat than the difference-maker sorely lacked by Cleveland.<\/p>\n Whether ownership-driven or a conscientious decision by the baseball operations staff \u2014 the former seems much likelier \u2014 improvements in the lineup will have to come down to the Guardians\u2019 young players. Beyond Ingle, names to watch include:<\/p>\n Travis Bazzana<\/a>, 2B (No. 1 pick in 2024): .245\/.389\/.424, 17.6% walk rate, nine homers, 17 doubles, five triples, 12 steals in 84 games between Double-A and Triple-A In addition to the lack of big league experience, one thing that stands out among that group is a lack of games played in 2025 \u2014 at any level. Valera (60 games in 2025) and DeLauter (42 games) have been consistently hurt throughout their minor league tenures. A pair of oblique strains limited Bazzana to 84 games in his first full season. Brito played 31 games due to thumb and hamstring surgeries. Kayfus logged 130 games \u2014 the only one of the bunch close to a full season.<\/p>\n Cleveland needs so much to go right that it\u2019s hard to see this club being even an average MLB offense. DeLauter and Valera seem ticketed for Opening Day outfield roles but need to prove they can both stay healthy and hit big league pitching. The options behind them (Angel Martinez<\/a>, Nolan Jones<\/a>, Johnathan Rodriguez<\/a>, Petey Halpin<\/a>) don\u2019t inspire much confidence. Bazzana is probably starting the year in Triple-A, meaning the Guardians will go with a combination of Gabriel Arias<\/a> (.220\/.274\/.363 in 2025) and Brayan Rocchio<\/a> (.233\/.290\/.340) in the middle infield.<\/p>\n The entire Guardians offense hinges on superstar third baseman Jos\u00e9 Ramirez, so perhaps it\u2019s fitting that he was at the center of the only truly notable transaction Cleveland made this winter. Ramirez signed an extension that guaranteed him four years and $106MM in new money (on top of his preexisting three years). He\u2019s now locked up through age 39. It\u2019s fair to wonder whether this was really necessary. He was already under club control through his age-35 season. If Ramirez slows down and this turns into a Miguel Cabrera<\/a>\/Tigers situation, the Guardians could live to regret the deal.<\/p>\n In the short term, it seemed to pay some dividends. Ramirez agreed to defer $10MM annually over the seven years of his contract. He has a $25MM salary for the upcoming season, but only $15MM will be paid out this year. In theory, that should\u2019ve given Cleveland more room to add to the roster, but that didn\u2019t pan out. As such, the most consequential deal of their offseason actually subtracted from the 2026 payroll.<\/p>\n Ramirez might be the most singularly important player to his roster of any team in Major League Baseball. An injury to him would decimate Cleveland\u2019s entire offense, but there\u2019s no real fallback plan if he gets hurt. They\u2019ve been fortunate to keep him as healthy as they have. Ramirez has missed only four games in each of the past two seasons. Dating back to 2020, he\u2019s played in an incredible 96.5% of Cleveland\u2019s games. He\u2019s a true iron man, but he\u2019s now 33 years old. If he were to incur an injury, the infield would likely include a combination of Brito, Rocchio, Arias and Bazzana to the left of Manzardo.<\/p>\n The Guardians\u2019 pitching staff is in better shape, as is frequently the case, but it\u2019s not as dominant as it was when the Guards were habitually churning out borderline Cy Young candidates. The sextet of Gavin Williams<\/a>, Tanner Bibee<\/a>, Logan Allen<\/a>, Parker Messick<\/a>, Slade Cecconi<\/a> and Joey Cantillo<\/a> gives manager Stephen Vogt<\/a> six solid options, but no one from the group feels like a true No. 1 starter. Williams\u2019 3.06 ERA gives him that look on the surface, but he walked more hitters than any qualified pitcher in baseball last year. Metrics like SIERA (4.35) and FIP (4.39) are far more bearish.<\/p>\n There\u2019s some depth, primarily in the form of righty Austin Peterson<\/a> and lefty Doug Nikhazy<\/a>. Both are on the 40-man roster. Peterson had a strong showing in the upper minors but has yet to debut at 26 and isn\u2019t an especially touted prospect. Nikhazy struggled in the upper minors and in the majors last year. Non-roster options include Kolby Allard<\/a> and old friend Pedro Avila<\/a>. Former top prospect Daniel Espino<\/a> is finally healthy again, but he\u2019s pitched a total of 19 innings since the 2021 season ended. Anything he contributes will be a bonus, but it\u2019s hard to rely on him given that injury track record.<\/p>\n The one area Cleveland made some small additions is in the bullpen. Veteran Shawn Armstrong<\/a> is coming off a big year in Texas. His overall body of work since 2020 is strong, but it\u2019s been a roller coaster in terms of year-to-year ERA marks; he\u2019s ranged everywhere from 1.38 in 52 innings with the \u201923 Rays to 6.75 in 36 frames with the O\u2019s and Rays in \u201921. On a cheap one-year deal, he\u2019s a nice addition \u2014 particularly for a club that has a good track record of coaxing strong performances out of unheralded pitchers.<\/p>\n That ability will be pivotal with the Guardians\u2019 other big league signing in the \u2018pen, too. Connor Brogdon<\/a> had a nice run with the Phillies from 2020-23 (3.55 ERA in 142 innings) but has struggled since. He still sat better than 95 mph with his heater and notched an impressive 13.2% swinging-strike rate in 47 innings with the Angels last year, even while limping to a 5.55 earned run average. If the Guardians can help to curb his susceptibility to home runs (2.11 HR\/9 with Anaheim), he could be a nice bullpen piece both in 2026 and 2027, as he\u2019d be arbitration-eligible next winter.<\/p>\n
\nGeorge Valera<\/a>, OF (international free agent out of the Dominican): .220\/.333\/.415 in 48 MLB plate appearances, plus .318\/.388\/.550 in 170 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A
\nChase DeLauter<\/a>, OF (2023 first-rounder): .264\/.379\/.473 with a matching walk and strikeout rates of 15.8% in 177 minor league plate appearances (mostly in Triple-A)
\nJuan Brito<\/a>, INF (acquired from Rockies in 2022 Nolan Jones<\/a> trade): .243\/.355\/.437, 12.8% walk rate, 23.1% strikeout rate in 125 minor league plate appearances (mostly Triple-A)
\nC.J. Kayfus<\/a>, 1B\/OF (2023 third-rounder): .220\/.292\/.415 in 138 MLB plate appearances, plus .300\/.390\/.539 with 14 homers, an 11.9% walk rate and 25.2% strikeout rate in 369 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A<\/p>\n