Cleveland Guardians

Off-season Overview:

What a great low-key off-season. This team remains largely intact going into 2023. Cleveland lost catchers Austin Hedges and Luke Maile, along with relief pitcher Bryan Shaw. The Guardians made a great move replacing those 2 catchers with Veteran Mike Zunino. Zunino had a down 2022 season, but in 2021 he received MVP votes and Cleveland hopes he can return to that form. At the very least, Zunino is worth the flyer and a great defensive catcher for their outstanding Pitching staff. The Guardians also add 1B Josh Bell and look to repeat the 2022 playoff appearance with a similar, but more equipped offense. The pitching staff remains solid and is, arguably, the deepest in baseball. Cleveland didn't part with any of their quality arms and no additions were necessary. The roster is full of young talent and the future is bright for the Guardians.

Ceiling:

A World Series title. While they are far from the favorite, Cleveland absolutely has a chance to win it all. The Guardians pitching is elite and that includes the top prospects waiting to join the rotation this year. Offensively, Cleveland is young but improved from a successful 2022 campaign. Look to a guy like Jose Ramirez to be the leader of the offense and Cleveland added power bats Josh bell and Josh Naylor as supporting cast. If 2B Andres Gimenez can build off of his breakout year and Steven Kwan continues to get on base for the middle of this lineup, Cleveland could do some more damage above just being the AL Central favorite. If everything clicks, and with some playoff magic, this team has the talent to bring home some hardware.

Floor:

A 3rd place finish in the Central. While the Guardians show much promise, the AL Central is not without teams that can compete. Specifically, the Twins and the White Sox are much improved and can make the the AL Central more competitive at the top. It only takes a few guys taking a step back from the 2022 season and Cleveland's offense will be bleak.

My Prediction:

This is a tough one to predict, but I'm going to go with an AL Central championship followed by an early exit in the Wild Card series. This pitching has it in them to compete with anyone but the top of the league is stacked. I don't think the Guardians offense will be good enough to score against good pitching staffs in a longer, meaningful series. Cleveland will have a great season and the future is bright, but Cleveland is still a year away and a big contract away from having a true championship team.

-- Cyrus Beermann