Guardians Have Already Accomplished One Offseason Goal

The Cleveland Guardians had a couple of glaring holes heading into the offseason. 

Yes, the lineup was (and still remains) one of those priorities, but Chris Antonetti and Stephen Vogt each made it clear at different points throughout the offseason that the Guardians needed to address the bullpen and add depth to the reliever core. 

Halfway through December, and about 60 days until spring training games, the Guardians have undoubtedly accomplished at least one of their offseason goals. Cleveland, in a matter of a few weeks, has completely rebuilt its bullpen and has a new reliever core to complement some of the team’s already elite arms.

Since the start of the offseason, the Guardians have added:

• RHP Connor Brogdon (Free Agent)
• RHP Peyton Pallette (Rule 5 Draft)
• RHP Colin Holderman (Free Agent)
• RHP Shawn Armstrong (Free Agent)

Will all of these pitchers end up being high-leverage arms the Guardians can count on getting a strikeout in a key moment? Probably not.

That said, they each have some encouraging underlying metrics, with favorable skillsets the Guardians have had success with in the past, such as arm extension. One would think at least two of these arms will turn out to be quality pieces around the existing core of Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, and Erik Sabrowski. 

Cleveland went with the quantity over quality approach, and with Cleveland’s pitching staff, there’s a good chance that at least two or three of these arms turn out to be quality options out of the bullpen. 

At the very least, Vogt said the Guardians needed to add three or four arms, simply for depth and to cover innings, especially with Jakob Junis, Kolby Allard, and, of course, Emmanuel Clase’s future up in the air. 

Now that the Guardians have achieved one of their big tasks of the offseason, what’s next?

The front office must take a long look at the lineup and determine whether they believe it could win the American League Central and go on a playoff run. Even if the team believes Chase DeLauter

The front office has shown a willingness to go outside the organization to add pitching depth; now it’s time they do the same for outfield and some more hitting.