Guardians Faced With Difficult Reality in MLB Free Agency

The Cleveland Guardians are being painted into a corner in MLB free agency.

Sep 25, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt (12) reacts in the eighth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians entered the MLB offseason full of uncertainty, which may seem strange given that they just made it all the way to the ALCS.

However, with the Guardians being a historically frugal organization, it's difficult for them to actually make any significant moves.

Now, it may have just become even harder.

Cleveland just watched as Matthew Boyd—one of the team's 2024 heroes—signed a two-year, $29 million contract with the Chicago Cubs.

Think about that for a minute: $14.5 million annually for a guy who made eight starts this past season and has not even made 20 starts in a single campaign since 2019.

It just goes to show how much of a premium there is on starting pitching, which just so happens to be the Guardians' most pressing area of need.

The fact that Boyd landed that type of deal means that even middle-of-the-road starters will be getting paid this winter.

That's bad news for a Cleveland organization that ranked 23rd in baseball in payroll in 2024 and doesn't seem to be in any sort of hurry to expand it.

And that's just the thing. The Guardians are in a position where they have to seek out shrewd trades or reclamation projects (hello, Ben Lively) in order to fill out their roster.

While many starting pitchers on the open market seemed to make sense for Cleveland after the season concluded, those same arms are probably now out of the Guardians' price range.

It's a brutal reality for Cleveland, which just came within three wins of reaching a World Series and will be playing in a wide open American League in 2025.

The Guardians aren't a franchise that tends to deviate from its norms, so the chances of Cleveland suddenly opening its wallet and spending big don't seem all that extraordinary.

More than likely, the Guardians will be forced to go bargain hunting and fill out their starting pitching staff—and their lineup, which also needs help by the way—with "affordable" talent.