Guardians Executive Has High Praise For Cade Smith

A few days ago, we discussed the AL Reliever of the Year award in this space, saying that Cleveland Guardians closer Cade Smith’s biggest rival for the honor wasn’t Bryan Baker of the Tampa Bay Rays, but instead Louis Varland of the Toronto Blue Jays. The world saw Smith as the favorite, though.

Somewhat surprisingly, but still deservedly, Varland took home the award in a tight vote. Smith was awfully close to winning, but fell 146 to 133.

Regardless of the results of this specific award, the entire league became acquainted with Smith and what he can do on the mound. He has been dominating since making his MLB debut in 2024, but was almost unhittable in 2026, particularly in the playoffs.

Chris Antonetti, the Guardians’ President of Baseball Operations, had nothing but good things to say about the fireballer.

“He’s established himself as one of the best relief pitchers in baseball, and that has come from an incredible determination to get better every single day, whether that’s physically, mechanically, mentally,” Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti told reporters at the General Manager Meetings. “He is relentless in his pursuit of being great. What he’s demonstrated is he’s capable of pitching really effectively in the biggest moments of the baseball season, and that’s really, really hard to do. We’re lucky to have him.”

The Guardians are, indeed, lucky to have Smith. Of course, they had a hand in his development after being drafted in the 16th round (!) of the 2017 MLB Draft, 466th overall, but his talent and dedication are the primary reasons behind his enormous success.

Smith posted a 1.95 ERA in 74 regular-season frames this year, racking up 100+ strikeouts for a third straight year. Then, he was used in almost every postseason game and posted a brilliant 2.38 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 11.1 innings.

Besides two home runs allowed to Miguel Vargas and Junior Caminero, a couple of gifted hitters who got multiple looks at him and his stuff, Smith was almost flawless in October. We would say that the entire world witnessed his ascension to stardom, but the truth is that he has been one of the league’s best relievers since his debut campaign.