The Cleveland Guardians need starting pitchers ahead of the 2025 campaign.
That is not really a secret: you could see in the playoffs that they didn’t trust most of their starters and it ended up affecting the bullpen.
Free agency is here, and the Guards have a great chance to add some talent to the unit.
The problem is that they aren’t really big spenders and never have been.
The squad would look great with, say, Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell or Max Fried, but they probably won’t spend that much.
Instead, The Athletic’s Jim Bowden predicts they will end up with Michael Wacha on a three-year, $45 million deal.
Happy Opening Day to the #MLB offseason: https://t.co/sli1Yrn1P2
— Jim Bowden⚾️ (@JimBowdenGM) October 31, 2024
Jim Bowden of The Athletic predicts Wacha will sign a $45M deal with the Guardians. pic.twitter.com/AcZeXDEm6d
— Guardians Nation (@GuardiansNation) November 2, 2024
Wacha was one of the key cogs of the Kansas City Royals rotation in 2024.
He helped them capture a postseason berth with a 13-8 record and a 3.35 ERA in the regular season.
Staying healthy has been a recurring problem for Wacha throughout his career, but he mostly achieved that goal in 2024 with 29 starts and 166.2 frames.
Wacha is also very consistent when healthy: in the last three years, his ERA was never lower than 3.22 but also never higher than 3.35.
He is also a combined 38-14 in the last three seasons.
Wacha is the kind of pitcher who would fit in perfectly with the Guardians: consistent, with talent and maybe even a bit of untapped upside.
The only issues are Cleveland’s willingness to go to the market and spend nearly $50 million on a pitcher and his injury history, one that includes a series of shoulder woes.
All things considered, he would be a solid target for a team in dire need of consistent starters.
NEXT: Guardians Young Prospect Starts Swinging A Bat After Summer Wrist Fracture
