The Cleveland Guardians don’t usually spend too much on elite free agents, so they need internal development to thrive.
If they want to take the next step, they need some of their young players to break out and offer more than they have been contributing.
These three players are all talented, but have underachieved in recent seasons and face a make-or-break 2026 campaign with their future in the organization severely questioned.
Gabriel Arias
When Arias put up a 115 wRC+ in the first month of the 2025 campaign, Guardians fans believed his breakthrough was finally coming.
Arias is very talented, yet he has never had an above-average offensive season in MLB.
For a guy with a .751 career OPS in the minors, a .630 mark as a major leaguer is highly disappointing.
He strikes out 33.3 percent of the time, yet his career-high in homers is 11, set last year in 471 plate appearances.
Cleveland needs more from its starting middle infielder, and given the fact that he has gotten chance after chance in the last few years, 2026 might represent the last one for him if he doesn’t improve.
Nolan Jones
Jones said it himself: he was ‘surprised’ to enter spring training as part of the Guardians organization.
He knows he has been subpar in each of the last two seasons, finishing with a 69 wRC+ in 2024, his last season in Colorado, and a 72 mark last year in his return to the Guardians.
He is also well aware that he probably wouldn’t survive a third disappointing season.
Jones was already a non-tender candidate in November and somehow survived the cut.
For a guy who strikes out 28 percent of the time as he did in 2025, he needs to hit more than just five home runs in 403 trips to the plate.
Angel Martinez
Despite being just 24 years old, Martinez has been a member of the Guardians organization since he was a 17-year-old kid in 2019.
He has been the definition of a pro, learning new positions to make himself available for selection and give the manager more options at the time of deploying his lineup.
However, hitting is what keeps players in MLB organizations’ plans, and Martinez just hasn’t shown enough.
His 77 career wRC+ and 74 mark in 2025 are the definition of underwhelming, and he doesn’t offer enough power or speed for a guy who managed to walk just 4.8 percent of the time last year.
If he doesn’t improve considerably this season, the Guards might look to move on.
NEXT: Details Emerge About Guardians' Plans For Angel Martinez
