The Cleveland Guardians have been quite active in the market for relievers. Their offense, however, seems to be at the bottom of their priorities list. That’s why team analyst Justin Lada just couldn’t take it anymore.
Talking on his Locked on Guardians podcast, he put the front office on blast for missing out on a guy like Rob Refsnyder:
“My rage went up to 11 on Monday when I found out Rob Refsnyder signed with the Mariners for a 1-year, $6.25 million. I would’ve been okay giving Rob Refsnyder $6.25 million. The problem is the Guardians’ inaction. It’s the lack of options for them to turn to. It’s the lack of faith that they’re going to add in this offense. The problem with losing out on a guy like Rob Refsnyder is that he checked so many boxes for the Guardians,” Lada said.
That makes perfect sense. For starters, we’re talking about someone on a reasonable contract and a short-term deal, which is usually right down the Guardians’ alley. This time, however, they didn’t even seem to be interested in a guy who would’ve provided them with an offensive punch in a position of need for this team.
Of course, the Guardians are never going to be the type of team that will just try to spend big bucks or engage in bidding wars with other organizations; that’s not the way they do business. Even so, the fact that they didn’t even try might be a little infuriating.
As things stand now, it looks like the front office is just banking all of its hopes on the young players. That makes sense to a degree, given that they’re incredibly talented and already showed glimpses of superstar-caliber play last season in the minors and the majors, but they’re unproven players nonetheless. The Guardians have an elite farm system, and these young men might turn out to be even better than anticipated.
That being said, they may also need more time, and this is a dangerous gamble to make.
NEXT: Guardians' Young OF Faces Clear Path To Opening Day Roster
