Whenever a team falls short of the World Series, like the Cleveland Guardians did this season, it is fair to analyze what went wrong and identify who might be to blame. But it is also important to avoid a knee-jerk reaction to the disappointment.
After being eliminated in the ALCS by the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, that evaluation is about to arrive for the Guardians. There are already strong opinions from fans and media on what to do and how quickly to do it.
Watching Cleveland struggle on offense all season and in the playoffs, analyst Adam Gerstenhaber is calling for major changes after the Guardians’ Game 6 loss, saying it’s time to “clean house” on their hitting staff.
“They have to fire everybody in the hitting infrastructure in the organization, from the hitting coordinator in the system to the major league hitting coach, Grant Fink, to his assistant hitting coach, to the hitting coaches at the upper levels. I would clean house across the board,” Gerstenhaber said.
The #Guardians season is over, and @adamthebull is calling for some MAJOR changes! 👀⚾
Following Cleveland's 4-2 ALCS series loss to the #Rays, Bull says everyone involved in the organization's hitting infrastructure needs to be fired! 😳
▶️https://t.co/I9LP2XljY7 pic.twitter.com/BV1P0hXRQi
— Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show (@ultCLEsports) October 20, 2026
For those who are unfamiliar, Cleveland’s hitting coordinator is Craig Massoni, who was promoted to that role this season after joining the organization in 2020. Fink has been the major league hitting coach since the 2024 campaign, after playing in the minor leagues and returning as a coach in 2017. His assistant, Junior Betances, was promoted from Triple-A this year and has been with the franchise since 2000.
While it is very easy to sit on a couch and call for people to lose their jobs, this is likely to be a topic of discussion throughout the offseason. This year, Cleveland ranked 24th in the majors in runs scored and batting average, 26th in OPS, and 27th in home runs and slugging percentage.
Despite that, the Guardians were able to win the AL Central for a third straight year and advanced to the ALCS for the second time in those three seasons. But after falling short of a championship again, it is clear they need something else to take the next step.
It is fair to point out that among playoff teams, the Guardians’ offense was in the middle of the pack and compared favorably to the Rays overall. The teams had virtually identical statistics during the postseason, yet Tampa Bay was able to take advantage of Cleveland’s tiring pitching staff to win the final three games, scoring 17 runs in the process.
It will be interesting to see if the Guardians rely on internal changes to improve their offense, or if they will try to improve the playing personnel from the outside instead.
NEXT: Brayan Rocchio’s Postseason Struggles May Have One Explanation
