Six Factors That Could Be Keys To The Cleveland Guardians’ Season
Life without Terry Francona The Cleveland Guardians, the oldest team in the major leagues, are set to begin their season with a new manager, Stephen Vogt, replacing Terry Francona who retired after the 2023 season. This marks the first time the Guardians have played a regular season game without a manager since October 3, 2012. Vogt's appointment was met with rave reviews from multiple sources. The team's rotation is considered one of the best in the American League, but it is also fragile due to injuries to key players such as Gavin Williams, Trevor Stephen, Sam Hentges, and James Karinchak. Despite this, there is a good chance that Jose Ramirez will become the most popular player in Cleveland baseball history.
Published : 4 weeks ago by Jim Ingraham in Sports
For the last few years the Cleveland Guardians have been the youngest, or one of the youngest teams in the major leagues.
The 2024 Guardians will begin their season tonight in Oakland, and they will be younger still.
Tonight in Oakland, for the first time since October 3, 2012, the Guardians will play a regular season game with a manager not named Terry Francona.
The 64-year-old Francona retired after the 2023 season. The Guardians’ new manager is Stephen Vogt, who is 39. So you could say the Guardians have gotten 25 years younger with their managerial change.
As the Guardians begin their new season under a new manager, here are six questions, the answers from which will go a long way in determining the outcome of Cleveland’s season:
Is Vogt the right man for the job?
Following in the footsteps of Francona, an almost certain Hall of Fame manager, is a daunting task for any manager, much less a rookie manager, who is taking over a team that has not won a World Series in 75 years. However, Cleveland officials did their homework, and when the vetting was complete, the choice was Vogt, who, despite never having managed at the big-league level, drew rave reviews from multiple sources contacted by Guardians bloodhounds.
Can a team whose outfielders only hit a combined 18 home runs last year be taken seriously?
Well, if you can’t out-hit your opponents, out-pitch them. When healthy, Cleveland’s rotation should be among the best in the American League. But the team did nothing over the winter to bolster its run-scoring ability, which is a shame because last year they lost 31 games by one run. In three of the last four years the Guardians have ranked last, or second last in the league in home runs. In other words, in an era when everyone is hitting home runs, the Guardians – relatively speaking – aren’t hitting any.
It is traditionally one of the top rotations in the league, but it is also, for whatever reason, one of the most fragile. In the last three years Cleveland needed 14, 12, and 11 starting pitchers to get through the season. That’s not counting the relievers. The injuries have already started this year, with promising starter Gavin Williams (elbow inflammation), bullpen setup man Trevor Stephen (elbow surgery), and relievers Sam Hentges (middle finger inflammation) and James Karinchak (shoulder inflammation) all starting the season on the injured list.
The 2020 American League Cy Young Award winner has finished seventh or higher in the Cy Young voting in three of the last five years. But he is also a free agent at the end of this season, and the Guardians have a long history of letting their most expensive stars leave as free agents. Bieber figures to be the next one out the door. The only question is whether Cleveland trades him at the trade deadline, or keeps him for the full year and then waves goodbye. Either way it will leave a major hole in the rotation.
Will ownership Ok the addition of a trade deadline pickup, perhaps an expensive one, that can bolster the American League’s least-threatening lineup?
It is unlikely. Guardians owner Paul Dolan has a well-established preference for making money over winning games. The Guardians are also contributing $67.5 million to the $202.5 million makeover of Progressive Field that is currently underway, and will take two years to complete.
Can Jose Ramirez, Major League Baseball’s most underappreciated star, have another Jose Ramirez-type season?
Do not bet against it. When it is all said and done, there is a good chance that Ramirez will become the most popular player in Cleveland baseball history. Why? He is the one Cleveland star who could have left as a free agent, probably should have left, but decided to stay with the organization that scouted him, signed him, and made him the most comfortable – despite being grossly, but willingly, underpaid.
In 2022 Ramirez signed a seven-year, $141 million contract, when he probably could have gotten twice that amount had he entered the free agent market. But he did not. He chose to stay in Cleveland, where the fans adore him, not just because he is a great player, but because – when he could have gone elsewhere and made far more money – he stayed in Cleveland.