The Cleveland Guardians have taken a rather cautious approach to the offseason.
Nobody will mistake them with the Los Angeles Dodgers, as spending sprees don’t come very often in Cleveland.
However, they’ve made some solid moves in the offseason, especially with what pertains to the rotation.
That’s why Jordan Shusterman of Yahoo Sports believes they deserve a ‘B’ grade for their offseason so far:
“While they might not be splashing around nearly as much cash as the three other semifinalists from last year’s postseason, the Guardians have been plenty busy this winter. Keeping Bieber, who reportedly turned down more lucrative offers to remain with the organization that drafted and developed him, was a huge victory. But with Bieber not expected to return from Tommy John surgery until later this summer, Cleveland recognized its immediate need for rotation help and got rather creative in addressing it,” Shusterman said.
Losing Andres Gimenez was most definitely a controversial move.
On the one hand, his offensive regression was worrisome, and the need to bolster the rotation with a promising hurler like Luis L. Ortiz might be a net positive.
On the other hand, they now have some big questions at second base, not to mention the fact that they lost one of the most talented and impactful defensive infielders in the game.
Moving on from Josh Naylor and Myles Straw freed the team of plenty of cash from their future payroll, and they also managed to get a draft pick and several promising prospects.
Adding Paul Sewald was also an intriguing move.
If they can get him back to his former level, he will add another reliable and strong arm to their already elite bullpen.
While there are some legitimate concerns, they got him at a fair price.
The Guardians will never be big spenders, but it’s not like this team was that far off last season.
Hopefully, they’ll be able to pick up things where they left off in the previous campaign.
NEXT: Guardians Insider Suggest Team Will Rotate In 1 Key Position
