Cleveland Guardians offseason checklist heading into 2022

The next time Progressive Field opens its doors for a major league game, it’ll be as the home for the Guardians, a celebration of a new era of Cleveland baseball.

But before they get there, the Guardians’ front office must navigate what is sure to be a crucial offseason, rife with difficult decisions and question marks on the roster.

A youthful roster finished the 2021 season 80-82, unable to overcome a string of injuries that decimated the starting rotation. Cleveland has been steering a difficult course, balancing goals of competing now while also setting up tomorrow and at the same time operating with a low payroll.

Lessons learned: The top 5 things learned from Cleveland’s 2021 season

Still, through it, the Guardians are set up in a better position than the Indians were last spring, though the 2021 season ended up as collateral damage of a young team that wasn’t ready to withstand that kind of a barrage to its 40-man roster.

Here’s a look at everything Cleveland’s front office must navigate this fall and winter:

Decide on the club options on Jose Ramirez and Roberto Perez

Of the two club options the team holds for 2022, one is an absolute no-brainer. The other was seemingly a lock a few years ago but is now on shaky ground at best.

Cleveland holds club options for 2022 and 2023 that will surely keep Jose Ramirez as a member of the Guardians for the next two seasons, barring something truly substantial or a trade. He’s the only player on the roster that is set to make more than $10 million in 2022. And according to MLB Network, the club has already picked up the option on Ramirez for 2022

Story continues

Whether the club will exercise the club option on Roberto Perez, though, is an iffy proposition. Perez has a $7 million club option and a $450,000 buyout, so the Guardians could save $6.55 million by declining it, which would make Perez a free agent and offer him the chance to negotiate with all 30 clubs, Cleveland included (for less than what his option would have been).

Perez had a breakout 2019, the first season in which he handled the primary catching duties after Cleveland dealt Yan Gomes to the Washington Nationals. He hit 24 home runs, more than he had in five seasons combined up to that point, and maintained his elite defensive play behind the plate. Had his 2021 season followed that path, picking up his option would be an easier decision. But in the past two seasons, Perez has struggled to remain healthy, and he’s hit .165 and .149, respectively, and played a total of 76 games.

Cleveland has long put a premium on a catcher’s defensive abilities, but the club has also valued any chance to save money and potentially have it available elsewhere. Plus, Austin Hedges is on the roster, offering the Guardians at least one elite defensive option.

Figure out the 40-man roster crunch

This is what will likely keep President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti and General Manager Mike Chernoff reaching for the Tylenol for the next several weeks.

The Guardians are entering an offseason in which they simply don’t have enough 40-man roster spots to protect all of the players that they’d like. It’s a problem many teams around the league have after 2020 didn’t offer as many chances for evaluations without a full minor league season, but it still added a year to every player’s professional clock.

It will put a premium on every 40-man roster spot ahead of the Rule 5 Draft, when teams can select unprotected players from other franchises. Trevor Stephan, for example, was Cleveland’s Rule 5 selection from the New York Yankees a year ago. Any player drafted before the age of 19 with five years of professional experience and any player drafted after 19 with four years of experience are eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 Draft. Those selected must remain on the new team’s active MLB roster all season.

Tyler Freeman (now the club’s No.1-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline), George Valera (No. 2), Brayan Rocchio (No. 7), Bryan Lavastida (No. 13), Richard Palacios (No. 14), Cody Morris (No. 22), Joey Cantillo and Konnor Pilkington, who was acquired at this year’s trade deadline in exchange for Cesar Hernandez, would all be targets to be added to the 40-man roster before the deadline. That’s five of the team’s top 22 prospects and two players acquired in trades (Cantillo was acquired in the Mike Clevinger deal). It’s possible Cleveland will have to work a deal with some of that talent for prospects who aren’t yet eligible for the Rule 5 Draft or potentially include them in larger trades to fill holes on the major league side rather than simply leaving them unprotected and eligible to be drafted.

Cleveland was on the other side of this situation when, at the 2019 deadline, they acquired reliever Hunter Wood and infielder Christian Arroyo from the Tampa Bay Rays. This upcoming roster crunch also played a role in Cleveland including catching prospect Yainer Diaz in a package (along with reliever Phil Maton) for Houston Astros outfielder Myles Straw.

It’ll lead to at least a little roster maneuvering to protect some of the club’s top prospects. For example, Cleveland has three utility infielders on the 40-man roster — Owen Miller, Ernie Clement and Yu Chang. It’s possible one of them will be a 40-man roster casualty. It also remains to be seen if Oscar Mercado and Harold Ramirez did enough to warrant a spot. On and on, difficult decisions will cause some migraines, and it could all bleed into the club’s trade efforts.

“As we start to forecast where we might be on Nov. 20, it does seem like we will add more players [to the 40-man roster] than we would typically add at least in the recent past,” Antonetti said on a Zoom call recently. “In our view, that creates a lot of headaches and some challenges but at the same time, it’s actually a reflection of a really healthy farm system where we have a lot of players that are under consideration and potentially deserving of being added to the 40-man roster.

“If you ask me or any of our baseball leaders, we’d much rather have that problem than scratching our heads saying, ‘Hey, we don’t really have any players that are good enough to add to our roster.’”

Figure out how the outfield will be addressed

For several years, Cleveland has been home to collectively one of the least — if not the least — productive outfields in baseball. As a group, Cleveland’s outfield has an 86 wRC+ (a stat that measures overall offensive value to a lineup, with 100 being league average) between 2019 and 2021, which ranks last in the game over that time.

Straw was acquired at the deadline to be the team’s long-term answer in center field, which has featured a lengthy list of options over the last few years that didn’t pan out as the club had hoped.

Josh Naylor seemed to figure some things out the plate just before his gruesome ankle injury and the resulting surgery that has put his Opening Day status in serious jeopardy. It’s unclear when the Guardians will be able to welcome Naylor back to the lineup.

And Franmil Reyes did play 11 games in right field without being a total liability defensively. He’s still in line to be the everyday designated hitter in 2022, but it’s possible Antonetti and Chernoff could have some flexibility if needed and move him to right field at least part of the time moving forward.

But still, the outfield is one of the target areas this offseason, either via a trade or in free agency, whether it means an outfielder or a hitter who pushes Reyes out of the DH spot every day. Cleveland made progress on the biggest trouble area on the roster the past few years, but work remains to be done.

Decide how to handle Amed Rosario and the middle infield

The Guardians will have some flexibility with how they handle the middle infield.

Amed Rosario put together a nice 2021 season, hitting .282 with a .731 OPS and finishing with 2.7 fWAR, which was second on the team. But he wasn’t the centerpiece of the Francisco Lindor deal with the New York Mets, at least not from a long-term perspective. That was Andres Gimenez, who struggled early but had a strong finish, as he hit .308 with a .922 OPS in the last two weeks of the season, displaying — albeit in an extremely small sample size — some of the offensive potential Cleveland had been hoping to see.

3 up, 3 down: Anthony Gose earning more looks, Andres Gimenez showing potential

With that in mind, it’s possible the Guardians want Gimenez to settle in at shortstop sooner rather than later, though he could also man second base while Rosario plays shortstop. Rosario could also move into the outfield as he did to open the 2021 season, though this time it’d be at a corner spot with Straw entrenched in center.

Rosario has two years of club control left, and considering the bevy of options amongst middle infielders (Gimenez, Freeman as the team’s No. 1 prospect, Miller, others), it’s possible the front office could look to sell high on Rosario in a trade rather than pay his upcoming salary increase in arbitration. Considering the many options with what path the team could take, Rosario is one of the key variables to this offseason and how Opening Day roster might be configured.

Explore any offers for Jose Ramirez (and probably say no to all of them)

There are two things to always remember when looking at how Cleveland operates. The first is that the future and how any move sets up tomorrow will always be considered. The second is that the team obviously won’t pull the trigger on every offer, but Antonetti will just about always at least pick up the phone.

For a team trying to contend and build for the future at the same time, along with operating with a low payroll, it’s simply impossible to not at least explore every potential avenue. With that in mind, a potential Ramirez trade is always at least a possibility.

Ramirez already has three MVP-finalist seasons under his belt and finished 2021 with 6.4 fWAR, which ranked third among American League position players (though Shohei Ohtani had 8.1 if you include his pitching value, which would push Ramirez to fourth). He’s one of the most underrated stars in the game and is under club control through 2023 on a team-friendly deal. Though it also means he’s one of the few players not under club control for longer (much of the roster won’t hit free agency until after 2025 or 2026).

Ramirez is 31 years old and will be a highly sought after player. He’s certainly due for a raise, which could price him out of Cleveland, but the club has emptied his payroll to the point that an extension with Ramirez (and possibly Shane Bieber) is entirely possible. But until a possible extension happens, Antonetti and Chernoff will be able entertain any possible offers, which would have to be borderline bonkers to seriously be considered.

Ramirez’s value is sky high, and there is enough room in the payroll to conceivably keep him in Cleveland a few more years. He’ll also potentially be one of the highest value players who could be available at some level, simply because Cleveland can’t afford to not at least pick up the phone and see if a team gets desperate and offers a haul of talent that can’t be ignored.

Plan out the 2022 bullpen

There is much to sort out regarding the Guardians’ Opening Day bullpen.

Emmanuel Clase had a tremendous season, particularly in the second half, and is securely set in the back-end of the bullpen. James Karinchak will be, too, though he struggled to the point of being sent down for a few weeks and will need to find a way to regain his former self.

From there, a plethora of options and needed decisions exist. Bryan Shaw recently became the franchise’s all-time leader in games pitched, with 459, passing Cody Allen. He had a resurgent season after his career had seemingly derailed, finishing with a 3.49 ERA and a 4.53 FIP and 81 games pitched. He’s also entering free agency, along with Blake Parker.

Nick Wittgren is eligible for arbitration and is perhaps a candidate to be non-tendered after struggling to a 5.05 ERA this season after providing Cleveland with two solid years in a middle relief role.

Nick Sandlin will return from the 60-day IL after his season ended with a shoulder strain. When healthy, he certainly has a spot. Stephan ended with a 4.41 ERA and 5.49 FIP in 63⅓ innings and is another young, controllable reliever. Cam Hill and Justin Garza are in similar boats. Alex Young, a lefty, is also an option already on the 40-man roster, though the Rule 5 roster crunch could quickly change that.

Then there are three lefties still to consider, all of whom will be out of options and all of whom took very different paths to where they are now. Sam Hentges seemed to benefit from a move to the bullpen. Logan Allen had a let-down of a regular season after such a torrid spring seemed like he was on the verge of a breakout, but the team has kept working with him on unlocking the talent that once had him as a top-100 prospect. Both could make the move to the bullpen with the five spots in the rotation (barring any injuries) locked down.

And there’s Anthony Gose, who completed a roughly five-year journey to make it back to the majors after making the conversion from the outfield to the mound. He said he was simply ‘too stupid to quit’ on his dream. In a limited sample, Gose allowed just one run and two hits in 6⅔ innings and struck out nine. He did everything within his power to make his case that he should be given a 2022 roster spot.

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Indians at www.beaconjournal.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Guardians offseason checklist heading into 2022

Source