Cleveland Guardians Urged to Make This Major Move Next

The Cleveland Guardians are being pressed to consider targeting this major move next.

Oct 19, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians pitcher Tanner Bibee (28) reacts after a double play during the fifth inning during game five of the ALCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Progressive Field. / David Dermer-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians have to be feeling good about the offseason they are putting together so far. However, it's hard to believe that they're done just yet.

After coming up just one series win short of the World Series, the Guardians have been very aggressive so far this offseason.

To start things off, they were able to bring back ace pitcher Shane Bieber in free agency despite a lot of interest from other teams. Following that move, they pulled off a shocking trade that sent Andres Gimenez out of town.

They also made a trade to flip a player that they received in the Gimenez trade, Spencer Horowitz, to the Pittsburgh Pirates to add another quality starting pitcher in Luis Ortiz.

Now, Cleveland is being urged to make another move their next priority.

Justin Lada of Locked On Guardians believes that the team needs to focus on extending the contract of starting pitcher Tanner Bibee.

“The Guardians have money to reinvest after trading Giménez, but what will they do with it? I think it makes more sense to reinvest the money internally. It’s imperative to keep Tanner Bibee.”

Bibee took over as the team's ace last season with Bieber out due to the elbow injury. He performed admirably in that role.

Throughout the course of the 2024 campaign, Bibee ended up making 31 starts. He compiled a 12-8 record to go along with a 3.47 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP, a 4.3 K/BB ratio, and 173.2 innings pitched.

At just 25 years old and 26 at the start of the 2025 season, Bibee is a piece that the Guardians should do evereything they can to lock up for the foreseeable future.

Cleveland could very well go from the rotation being a weakness to being a major strength. A rotation headlined by Bieber and Bibee looks pretty good on the outside.

All of that being said, the Guardians are going to be interesting to keep an eye on. They clearly want to make a major push in 2025, which makes it seem likely that they're still looking for moves to make and ways to improve.

Extending Bibee should definitely be on the priority list for Cleveland this offseason if they can get a deal done.