The Cleveland Guardians may be coming off another AL Central title, but that hasn’t stopped national outlets from casting doubt on their chances of doing it again.
MLB.com recently took an early look at which division winners from last season have the best odds to repeat in 2026, and Cleveland didn’t exactly receive a vote of confidence. In fact, the Guardians were grouped into one of the most uncertain situations in baseball.
Writer Will Leitch summed up the state of the AL Central in blunt fashion.
“Your guess is as good as mine in this division. Is it possible that every team in this division — with the possible exception of, uh, the White Sox — is going to be worse than it was last season? Every team has huge questions, particularly on offense, and picking a winner feels like a roll of the dice. Will the Royals push forward? Will the Twins surprise? Will the Tigers have Tarik Skubal all year? Will the White Sox keep improving? Will the Guardians basically just do the same thing they did last season? I have no idea. It could be the Guardians, sure. But honestly: Pick a name out of a hat,” Leitch wrote.
It’s not hard to see why the division is being viewed this way. Kansas City surged last year but still has to prove it can sustain that level. Minnesota remains talented, but inconsistent. Detroit always remains a threat, but are facing big questions about Tarik Skubal’s future. Even Chicago, despite being in a rebuild, is slowly trending upward.
And then there are the Guardians.
Cleveland’s formula hasn’t changed much. Strong pitching. Elite defense. Aggressive baserunning. And an offense that often does just enough to survive. That approach has worked before, but it doesn’t always inspire confidence from outside the organization.
The bigger issue, as Leitch pointed out, is offense. Power remains the elephant in the room. Until the Guardians prove they can consistently hit for extra bases, national projections will continue to treat them as fragile contenders rather than a true favorite.
From Cleveland’s perspective, the thinking is simple: the team already knows how to win this division. They just did it. Much of the roster is returning. Young players are expected to improve. Internal reinforcements are on the way.
But perception matters, and right now the Guardians are viewed as just one name in a hat.
That’s nothing new for this franchise. Cleveland has spent years outperforming expectations while being picked behind flashier rosters on paper. The disrespect can be frustrating, but it has also become part of the organization’s identity.
If the Guardians do repeat, it won’t surprise fans in Northeast Ohio.
It will just surprise everyone else.
NEXT: Brayan Rocchio Is Celebrating Special Day On Tuesday
