Guardians Connected To Three Enticing Pitchers In Free Agency

The Cleveland Guardians may want to explore signing one of these pitchers in MLB free agency.

Sep 17, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (17) pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians obviously need starting pitching, but how they go about addressing the problem this offseason is anyone's guess.

The Guardians could explore the free-agent market, but they aren't known for spending a whole lot of money. They could also seek trades, but they may not want to surrender their top prospects.

Well, Caleb Moody of Just Baseball has identified three enticing—but realistic—options for Cleveland in free agency: Luis Severino, Walker Buehler and Nathan Eovaldi.

"Names like Luis Severino, Walker Buehler, Nathan Eovaldi or even bringing back [Shane] Bieber could make a lot of sense here," Moody wrote. "And they’d all offer clear upgrades from what Cleveland has now but wouldn’t cost the ace-level money the top-three on the open market would stand to make."

The positive here for the Guardians is that all three of those arms could likely be had on short-term deals. That especially applies to Buehler, who made just 16 starts and pitched to the tune of a 5.38 ERA with the Los Angeles Dodgers this past season.

Severino enjoyed a resurgent campaign with the New York Mets, going 11-7 with a 3.91 ERA. However, he has a very checkered health history, and between 2019 and 2023, he had reached 100 innings just once.

Meanwhile, Eovaldi had yet another impressive year for the Texas Rangers. Over 29 starts, he went 12-8 with a 3.80 ERA. The 34-year-old has experienced some injury troubles throughout his career, as well, but he has been able to remain relatively healthy the past several seasons.

It would be fantastic if Cleveland were able to land multiple starters, but the most likely scenario is that the Guardians come away with just one—if any at all.