Cleveland Guardians executive Chris Antonetti recently made the encouraging statement that the team plans to increase its payroll for the 2027 season. However, that does not necessarily mean that they will be big spenders on the free agent market.
Instead, a lot of that additional salary will come as a result of the MLB arbitration process. With 13 players eligible for a raise, including standouts such as Steven Kwan, Jo Adell, Gavin Williams and Cade Smith, the Guardians’ budget could disappear quickly.
With whatever money they do have left to spend, insider Joe Noga of Cleveland.com revealed a move that could take the Guardians to the next level, and that would be to add a front-line starting pitcher.
“I would look for pitching up front. I would definitely. It seemed like the rotation kind of got worn down a little bit at the end of the year,” Hoynes said.
The Guardians had four pitchers make at least 30 starts last season, the only team in the majors to do so. Cleveland was able to rally over the final month to overtake the Chicago White Sox and win the AL Central for a third year in a row, but that workload may have caught up to it in October, particularly in the ALCS loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
For example, Parker Messick pitched well enough making 32 starts in his first full major league season to become the runner-up for AL Rookie of the Year and a finalist for the Cy Young Award. But he was ineffective in four playoff starts, and the Guardians wound up using an opener four times in 11 postseason games after rarely doing so before that.
Cleveland seems unlikely to re-sign starter Foster Griffin as a free agent after he was acquired at the trade deadline. That would leave them with a rotation led by Gavin Williams and Messick, with Tanner Bibee, Joey Cantillo, and Slade Cecconi also able to return to the rotation. Daniel Espino, Logan Allen, Austin Peterson, and Yorman Gomez have been named as options, and the Guardians have been linked to free agent Casey Mize.
Cleveland.com points out that the Guardians’ arbitration class is on track to cost close to $50 million, which is more than two-thirds of its total payroll from last year, so there may not be that much to spend on pitching help after all.
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