The Cleveland Guardians have had a sneaky good off-season, even if they still haven’t made that substantial investment on the roster.
They have traded for impact pitching, re-signed some key veterans and are putting their trust on their young guys on offense.
Still, there is an item left to check off the list, in the form of a deadline.
According to MLB insider Mark Feinsand, Thursday at 1:00 pm ET marks the deadline to extend arbitration figures.
The Guards have two key players left to settle their 2025 salary, and they are both regulars.
“The #Guardians still have two players remaining to sign and avoid going to arbitration. Both outfielders in Steven Kwan and Lane Thomas. Kwan is projected by @mlbtraderumors to receive $4.3MM while Thomas was at $8.3MM,” Guardians Prospective posted on X.
The #Guardians still have two players remaining to sign and avoid going to arbitration. Both outfielders in Steven Kwan and Lane Thomas. Kwan is projected by @mlbtraderumors to receive $4.3MM while Thomas was at $8.3MM. https://t.co/KxK7Na0a3A
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) January 9, 2025
It is well known that the arbitration process can be taxing and stressful for players.
The damage that the team is inflicting on them is often not worth the few dollars they can save if they win the arbitration process.
We have seen many relationships between organization and player being ruined over a few bucks.
The hope is that Cleveland can find a way to agree to deals with Thomas and particularly Kwan, who is seem as a prominent figure for the future of the franchise and an extension candidate at some point.
The idea is to avoid the troublesome arbitration process, in which the two parties exchange figures and an arbitrator decides which side wins.
NEXT: Key Sign Might Indicate Guardians Are Out On Roki Sasaki
