The Cleveland Guardians opened Spring Training on Saturday with two split-squad games that resulted in two wins over the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers. It’s nice to begin 2-0, but there is a long way to go before Opening Day and a lot of things for manager Stephen Vogt to sort through to put this team in the best possible position to three-peat as AL Central champs.
Vogt has a talented roster to work with and a lot of moving parts that need to find their places, mainly in the outfield and the rotation, where there are a number of prospects who are ready to crack the roster and get cooking. As intriguing as the roster is, Vogt has perhaps his biggest challenge as Guardians manager awaiting him this year.
Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes recently wrote about Vogt’s biggest challenge, which is the lack of aggression from ownership. Cleveland has an estimated $75 million payroll, which is a substantial dip from last year when the payroll was still just $100 million.
“The Guardians’ opening day payroll, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, is an estimated $75 million. That’s $25 million less than last year when Cleveland overcame a 15 1/2-game deficit to win the Central on the last day of the regular season,” Hoynes wrote.
The largest free-agent contract this team gave out this offseason was just $1.5 million, and it’s obvious the plan is to rely on internal upgrades from some of the young guys. High-upside prospects like Chase DeLauter, Parker Messick, Joey Cantillo, and a handful of others have clear paths to success if they’re ready to seize the moment, and big seasons from them would justify the front office’s frugality.
Cleveland has been quietly building up an impressive farm system for years, and this is the year where the tree could start to truly bear some fruit. Beyond DeLauter, Messick, and Cantillo, CJ Kayfus, George Valera, and eventually Travis Bazzana could surface to completely revamp this team.
It’s an exciting time to be a Guardians fan. Despite the disappointment of essentially punting on the entire offseason, there are a lot of reasons to believe in this group.
NEXT: Chase DeLauter Off To Good Start In Spring Training
