Guardians Predicted To Sign Former All-Star Pitcher

The Cleveland Guardians are being predicted to sign this former All-Star pitcher to a rather surprising deal in MLB free agency.

Oct 5, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; Kansas City Royals pitcher Michael Wacha (52) throws a pitch during the second inning New York Yankees during game one of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians' primary need heading into the offseason is in the area of starting pitching, but the problem is that the Guardians are a very cost-conscious franchise.

That probably rules out the biggest names like Corbin Burnes, and even options such as Yusei Kikuchi may prove to be too rich for Cleveland's blood.

However, Jim Bowden of The Athletic has identified a target for the Guardians: Kansas City Royals right-hander Michael Wacha.

In fact, Bowden is predicting Cleveland to sign Wacha to a three-year, $45 million deal.

Would the Guardians pay that much for Wacha? It doesn't seem like a very Cleveland-esque thing to do, but considering the Guardians just made it all the way to the ALCS, they may feel more of a sense of urgency to make some bigger moves.

Wacha is coming off of an impressive 2024 campaign in which he went 13-8 with a 3.35 ERA, allowing 154 hits while registering 145 strikeouts over 166.2 innings of work.

The 33-year-old broke into the big leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals back in 2013 and made an All-Star appearance in 2015 after going 17-7 with a 3.38 ERA.

Since then, however, Wacha has largely had an up-and-down career checkered by injury issues and inconsistent performance.

The last few years, Wacha has appeared to find his groove again, as he also logged ERAs of 3.32 and 3.22 with the Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres, respectively, in 2022 and 2023.

However, there is no question that Wacha comes with significant risk, and whether or not the historically frugal Guardians would want to take that sort of gamble remains to be seen.