Read This if You Hibernated this Offseason

If you haven’t caught up with the team over the winter, here is your chance to do so

It’s almost that time of the year again.

After making it through January, the most grueling month of the year for a baseball fan, the baseball calendar is about to turn over as pitchers and catchers are soon to report to Spring Training. As the days count down until the entire baseball world has their beloved game return to them, it would make sense to give a “State of the Guardians” address for those who would like to catch up with the team. So, if you haven’t been up to speed on some of the big moves over the winter, or if you’ve missed some under-the-radar transactions since the season ended, this is just for you.

The Guardians made some very unprecedented moves this winter, dealing some key players from their 2024 ALCS run.

Andres Gimenez and Nick Sandlin were dealt to the Blue Jays for OF Nick Mitchell and INF Spencer Horwitz, with Horwitz being flipped to the Pirates for lefties Josh Hartle, Michael Kennedy, and righty Luis Ortiz. Josh Hartle was listed as the Bucs’ No. 17 prospect, while Ortiz has a good reputation of his own. Ortiz posted a solid 3.32 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 4.25 FIP in his 2024 campaign for the Pirates. He’s also entering his age 26 season, so the Guardians pitching factory may have a really good project to bolster their rotation.

The Guardians also traded Josh Naylor, who was on an expiring contract this season, to the Arizona Diamondbacks in return for righty pitcher Slade Cecconi and a Competitive Balance round B draft pick. Cecconi used to be ranked No. 6 in the D-Backs’ Minor League system by MLB Pipeline, and although his stats during starts in 2024 are shaky, he still hasn’t been given much of a run in the bigs.

The Guardians also traded away righty reliever Eli Morgan to the Cubs and received OF prospect Alfonsin Rosario in return. They went on to free up a decent amount of money by trading away Myles Straw to the Blue Jays for a PTNBL or cash considerations. Lastly, righty reliever Peter Strzelecki was dealt to the Pirates for cash considerations.

Now, it’s definitely demoralizing to see some of the most loved players within the Guardians fanbase go, especially after the type of run they had in 2024. But the team did end up bringing back some familiar faces as well.

Probably the biggest signing the team made over the winter was with Shane Bieber, who agreed with the Guardians on a one-year, $13 million deal with a $13 million player option. The team chose to bring back Austin Hedges on another one-year, $4 million contract, as well as old friend Carlos Santana on a one-year, $12 million deal.

Those were all the main acquisitions and trades the team made over the winter, and in terms of personnel, a couple significant changes happened. The Guardians lost hitting coach Chris Valaika to the Reds, becoming a returning member of Tito’s coaching staff (Yes, Terry Francona came out of retirement to manage Cincinnati). Grant Fink, an internal hire, will replace Valaika as the new hitting coach. Lastly, Craig Albernaz was promoted from bench coach to be associate manager to Stephen Vogt.

Offseason moves are surely not done yet, however. There could me more trades or signings in store, and people will definitely be anticipating some extensions being signed come March, but all that goes without saying.

Now that you’re all caught up, it’s pretty clear that the Guardians put themselves in a very different position than they were in previously. Since November started, there were a lot of hard moves to make that may or may not help the team. This isn’t the team saying that they don’t have a chance to win it all in 2025, but it’s more like them saying that a re-tool is needed for the club to have a better chance to do so. They’ve also saved a lot of money now and in the future, so all-in-all, the Guardians can be better off in the long-term.

But anyways, baseball will be played this month. It will usher in the warmer weather as people start to come out of hibernation and get to the ballpark, as the magical sport returns for another six months.