The Cleveland Guardians are fresh off consecutive AL Central titles and head into the 2026 season with expectations that they will take the division once again. The other teams in the division haven’t made many big moves in the offseason, so there is no reason to believe that the Guardians can’t improve upon last year’s performance by leaning a bit more on the young talent coming up through the minors.
The minor-league talent slated to surface over the next year or two is substantial, and it’s possible this is a big reason the front office has been so conservative in free agency and the trade market this offseason. Some fans are certainly frustrated with the fact that Cleveland is in the mix to have one of, if not the lowest, payrolls in MLB, but Bruce Drennan recently spoke up in support of the approach. During a recent episode of Bonus Time with Bruce Drennan, he spoke about the team’s lack of aggressiveness this offseason.
Drennan doesn’t think the team needed to do anything significant, particularly in the outfield.
“They haven’t made any moves, but, as I’ve been telling you, I didn’t think that they necessarily had to. I’d like to see a right-handed bat in the lineup, but where do you put him and still play all these young outfielders that are so good to go with Kwan,” Drennan said.
"They haven't made any moves but I didn't think that they have to."
Bruce agrees with the Guardians *dormant* offseason to date.
Presented by @drinkgaragebeer https://t.co/UsJc4UIb6p pic.twitter.com/WOqDFKZVLH
— Bruce Drennan Show (@Bruce_Drennan) January 20, 2026
Drennan agrees that the young talent on the way up is substantial, but that doesn’t dismiss the fact that this was one of the worst offenses in baseball last season, and it’s asking a lot of unproven young guys to lead the charge to fix that. Cleveland had a .226 team batting average and had just two players hit more than 14 home runs, so as exciting as guys like George Valera and Chase DeLauter are, this front office should probably still bring in more power.
Cleveland has truly done absolutely nothing this offseason, and while there is still time left for that to change, there’s no reason to believe that it will.
Hopefully, the youngsters are ready, because they are likely to be prominent figures in this lineup right out of the gate.
NEXT: Guardians Are Favorites To Sign Promising SS Prospect
