Guardians Pressed To Address Glaring Weakness

The Cleveland Guardians must address this major weakness in order to make a World Series run next season.

May 16, 2023; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Shane Bieber (57) reacts after being relieved during the fifth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images / Matt Marton-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians have a lot to think about after being eliminated by the New York Yankees in the ALCS.

It's pretty clear that the Guardians have some significant issues after the loss, and while they were good enough to embark on a deep playoff run in 2024, they must fill some major holes if they want to finish the job next season.

Bleacher Report's Tim Kelly has identified the biggest weakness for every MLB team heading into the offseason, and for Cleveland, he named starting pitching as the No. 1 area of concern.

"The Guardians had one of the best bullpens of all time in 2024, but they—specifically closer Emmanuel Clase—ran out of gas in the ALCS," Kelly wrote. "Ultimately, you can't expect your bullpen to pitch five innings every night. What manager Stephen Vogt needs is at least a starter or two he can count on to pitch deep into the game."

In the Guardians' ALCS loss to the Yankees, their starting pitchers failed to make it out of the third inning in three of the five games. That is not going to get it done if you want to win a World Series.

The problem is that Cleveland is a very cost-conscious organization that is not known for making big free-agent splashes, so it will likely have to approach the issue very shrewdly over the winter.

Kelly notes that the Guardians could always re-sign Shane Bieber, who missed just about all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery. However, Bieber has a checkered injury history overall, and he may not be back on the mound until midseason in 2025. It also stands to reason that he could land a far more lucrative deal elsewhere.

However Cleveland does it, it needs to repair this clear problem.