The Cleveland Guardians are coming off a 2024 season in which they won the AL Central title, beat division rival Detroit in the Division Series, with the season ending with a loss to the New York Yankees in the ALCS.
Cleveland made some significant personnel moves in the offseason, most notably trading Andres Gimenez to Toronto, and Josh Naylor to Arizona. They also signed Jose Ortiz who pitched last year for the Pittsburgh Pirates. P Slade Cecconi was acquired in the Naylor trade. Both pitchers, especially Ortiz, have the opportunity to made their way into the starting rotation. Carlos Santana once again returns to the Guardians as the favorite to occupy 1st base.
Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, and Ben Lively look to be locked into the starting staff with Ortiz, while there are still questions as to whether Triston McKenzie can return to the form of a couple of years ago.
In the everyday lineup, a couple of spots are up for grabs. 2nd base and RF each have a number of candidates, while Santana and Kyle Manzardo look to split time at 1st. Gabriel Arias could get the nod at 2nd, while Will Brennan and Jhonkenzy Noel look to be competing for the RF spot.
There are some significant injuries that the team must overcome, namely Shane Beiber, David Fry, Sam Hentges, Andrew Walters, Trevor Stephan, Eric Sabrowski, and #2 prospect Chase DeLauter. All except Walters are expected to be out for extended periods.
Manager Stephen Vogt won the AL Manager of the Year Award in 2024, and he will have a team that could find itself more offensively challenged without Gimenez and Naylor, but the success of the team as usual will be its pitching staff which has it's own issues, particularly the starting rotation. The AL Central will be tougher to stay on top, with improving Detroit, Kansas City, and Minnesota which is likely to return to being a serious contender. Chicago is still in rebuild mode.
All things considered, the Guardians should be competitive, but there are some issues that need settled early on for Cleveland to make another run to the top.
