30 Teams In 30 Days: The Cleveland Guardians Aren't Good, But They Have Potential

I feel like I’ve been traumatized by the Cleveland Guardians. I don’t know many people expecting much out of this ball club, but they always scare me. Terry Francona, who, for my money, was the best manager in baseball, decided to call it quits. In comes first-time manager Stephen Vogt. We’ll see what happens there. This was a team that took a massive step backward last year following a surprising run in 2022. Nobody’s really talking about them, and I kind of feel like that’s when they thrive. Cleveland rarely ever has some big, explosive offense, but they have their system. Their pitching is always consistently good, and they develop starting talent, as well as any organization in sports. For a team that I have ranked in the 20s, they’re the ones that I feel might have the highest upside. 

There's just a whole lot of "I don't know" with the Cleveland Guardians. They've had a good farm system for a while, and if some of those guys can ascend through the minors and start hitting at the big-league level, then we could be talking about a team that might surprise some people. In any other division, I would probably write this team off as one that will be a third-place group at best, but considering how awful the American League Central is, they have the potential to hang around. This is a division that rewards mediocrity. The Twins won 87 games a year ago and didn't do much in the offseason to get any better. 

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I feel like I'm talking this team up more than I should. This was an offense that was near the bottom of every single statistical category in baseball last year, and it's not like they did a whole lot to get any better in the offseason. Jose Ramirez is an amazing player, and I think he's going to end up being in Cooperstown one day, but he's been around for a minute now. He's not getting any younger, and you wonder how many more years you can rely on him to be at his prime. He's carried the offense on his shoulders for years now. There's too much uncertainty for this team on offense for me to declare them a legitimate contender, but they are an organization I've seen do more with less in the past.