The Cleveland Guardians are mostly set for next season. Of course, they still need to sign some reinforcements, but the foundation is laid for the most part. With that in mind, and knowing that the front office isn’t going to write big checks or go after the most prominent names in free agency, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com dug deep into the free-agent market to determine the best potential fits for this team.
And, upon further review, he made a strong case for the Guardians to go after Miguel Andujar:
“Andujar, who will turn 31 on March 2, has moved between the corner infield and corner outfield spots during his career, and he’s played more left (1,375 1/3 innings) than right (142 innings). But he could be a fit in right field against left-handed pitching, and move around elsewhere as needed. Andujar has a career .807 OPS against lefties. His .986 OPS and 171 wrC+ against them in 2025 each ranked seventh in the Majors (minimum 90 plate appearances). Overall, he had a good season with the A’s and Reds, in which he slashed .318/.352/.470 with 17 doubles, 10 homers and 44 RBIs over 94 games,” Stebbins wrote.
Andujar might not be the type of player who’s going to move the needle or draw most eyeballs and hot takes. That being said, the Guardians don’t need him to be that guy, either.
They just need him to be a consistent source of offense whenever he’s at the plate. The bar is low, but that would already make him a massive improvement for this team.
The Guardians had no business making the playoffs last season with that type of offense. Not many people thought they stood a chance, and they reached the postseason despite ranking near the bottom in most offensive metrics. Of course, that proved to be unsustainable, and their offensive woes were too big to ignore at one point.
That’s why they need to make some minor tweaks to make sure that doesn’t happen again, and Andujar is the type of low-risk/high-reward pickup that could help steer this team in the right direction.
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