Guardians Fans Desperate For Exciting News As Opening Day Approaches

After a rebrand that hasn’t sat well with lots of fans and an off-season without a splashy move, there isn’t much hype around this season beginning.

Depending on the hour, Cleveland baseball fans seem to waver between anger and apathy.

Neither align with the “hope springs eternal” mentality most baseball fans have this time of year.

With Opening Day one week away in Kansas City, the Cleveland Guardians are about to launch their first season after a massive rebrand and the roster looks nearly identical to what it did last summer.

Would that be an unmitigated disaster? Let’s not go that far. But it’s certainly not drumming up the same energy and support that we usually see this time of year. Heck, as of this writing, there are still several thousand seats available for the Home Opener (which typically sells out within several hours).

It’s a bit of a strange time to be a fan right now, if we’re being honest with each other.

As far as the rebrand is concerned, it’s going to take some time for lifelong fans to get used to the new identity. Some have vowed to never call the team by its new moniker. Personally, I have friends who’ve made comments to me that they don’t know a single person that was offended by the former team name.

No matter where you stand on it, it’s a frustrating and divisive issue that will take some time to work through.

But the old adage from legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi fits appropriately here: “Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.” If the Guardians go out and win a bunch of games and compete for a post-season spot, much of that frustration will fade.

The fact is, this team was decimated by injuries last year (particularly to the starting rotation) and had they encountered better fortune, there’s a reasonably good chance they would have been in the playoffs … despite having the lowest payroll the franchise had in more than two decades.

LOOK: Cleveland Baseball Insider's 2022 Top 50 Guardians Prospects: Nos. 11-20

Instead, they limped to the finish line without a playoff appearance and went headfirst into an off-season full of uncertainty.

Things haven’t exactly gotten drastically better since the team was last on the field in September. Still, as the season nears, they also aren’t that far away from competing.

Some of what fans are feeling right now probably stems from lingering disdain over the public way the latest CBA negotiations played out. But with those well in the rear view mirror at this point, the disappointment has been refocused back at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.

There are several pieces on this current roster that seem like the kinds of players you want to build a team around. Jose Ramirez, Franmil Reyes, Shane Bieber and Emmanuel Clase are all exceptionally talented. But none of those four - or any of their teammates - have a guaranteed contract beyond this season.

Again, spring training numbers should be taken with a grain of salt but could #Guardians new hitting coach Chris Valaika's approach be working?

2021 spring training

Games - 29
AVG - .261
Runs per game - 4.8

2022 spring training

Games - 12
AVG - .323
Runs per game - 7.0
.

— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) March 30, 2022

To be fair, paying a lot of money to great players doesn’t guarantee anything. And if there is a franchise that has been the model of squeezing the most out of what they have, Cleveland is it. It’s not as though they’ve been non-competitive.

But it’s not exactly good for the hype around the team that payroll is expected to be in the bottom four across Major League Baseball again this year with the seemingly-always-rebuilding Pirates, Orioles and Athletics.

I’m also not sure that it’s fair to point all the blame at any one person. Ownership is an easy target, but I don’t believe that’s always the end of the conversation. The Guardians front office has had a ton of discussions this offseason around trades and free agency, including several with notable players. But for a variety of reasons, those haven’t come to fruition.

As the season approaches, fans are left to hope that Cleveland’s highly-touted farm system will continue to produce top-end talent.

The 40-man roster is also in disarray with enough middle infielders to field several teams, but without a single one that strikes legitimate fear into opposing pitchers. The expectation is that the Major League rosters will expand to 28 during the month of April because of shortened spring training. The team still has some tough calls to make on who to keep and who to either send to Triple-A, or let walk.

No matter who’s on the field though, there’s only one way to win fans over right now.

Just win.

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