Cleveland Guardians - The Covid-19 Years (2020-2029)  
   
 

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        Yr P W L   Yr P W L   Yr P W L               2020  
        2020 2 35 25   2023 3 76 86                         Decade  
        2021 2 80 82   2024 1 92 69                         Click  
        2022 1 92 70                                   on Logo  
                                                     
                                                       
   
  Titles:  Top Indians Players of the Twenty Twenties  
  2020 - WC Lost Yankees  
  2022 - WC def TB; ALDS Lost to Yankees Pitchers:  
  2024 - ALDS def Detroit; ALCS Lost to Yankees Emmanuel Clase (10.6) -  44  
    Shane Bieber (11.18) -   26  
  BallPark: Cal Quantrill (5.72) -    20  
  Jacobs Field   Tanner Bibee (6.3) - 18  
    Aaron Civale (4.13) -   16  
  Team Name: Guardians Zach Plesac (1.8) -   13  
    Triston McKenzie (5.67) -   11  
  Owners  Ben Lively (1.73) -  10  
  Larry Dolan  Logan Allen (-0.18) -  7  
    James Karinchak (2.69) -   6  
  General Managers: Brad Hand (0.66) -   5  
  Chris Antonetti (President) Carlos Carrasco (0.38) -    5  
  Mike Chernoff (GM)    
    Catchers:  
  Managers: Bo Naylor  (2.02) -   6  
  Terry Francona (2020-2023) Austin Hedges (-1.14) -   6  
  Steven Vogt (2024-2025)    
    First Basemen:  
  No Hitters:  Josh Naylor (6.02) -   25  
  None    
    Second Basemen:  
  Hall of Famers: Andres Gimenez (17.55) -  28  
  None Cesar Hernandez (3.0) -   7  
       
  Rookie of the Year:  ShortStop:  
  None Amed Rosario (6.2) -  19  
    Franciso Lindor (0.81) -   6  
  MVP: Brayan Rocchio (1.9) -  5  
  None    
    Third Base:  
  Cy Young: Jose Ramirez (26.84) -    64  
  Shane Bieber (2020)    
    Outfield:  
    Steven Kwan (13.04) -  25  
  Notable Events: Myles Straw (5.59) -  18  
    Franmil Reyes (1.15) -   10  
  2020 -  Cleveland finishes above .500 for the eighth year in a row as they finish Oscar Gonzalez (0.67) -  7  
  second in the Division with a 35-25 mark, It marks their fifth post season appearance Tyler Freeman (0.21) -   5  
  in that stretch as they have won the Division three times during the same period.  
  Indians are in the midst of a mini-dynasty. It's been the pitching that has carried Notable Events:  
  the day for the Tribe in half of those eight seasons, especially recently.  
  The team has three superstars coming into the decade: righthander Shane 2024 - Terry Francona retires. He is one of the few managers that make a real  
  Bieber; shortstop Francisco Lindor and third baseman Jose Ramirez. difference and he will be missed. Steven Vogt is hired in his place.  
       
  □  Larry Dolan has done an excellent job for Indians fans in his twenty years as 2024 - Cleveland will live and die with it's pitching which should be good   
  owner of the club. He has made excellent hires in the front office and has, on enough to give the Guardians a shot at contending.  
  occasion, spent when necessary. Cleveland has won the Division six times and    
  finished second four times during his tenure.  Offense:  
    This is not a good offense. Other than Jose Ramirez, there's no one  
  □  Mike Chernoff has been Cleveland's GM since 2015 and his record speaks  that scares you. No new additions. This will be a subpar offense in '24  
  for itself. Chernoff is forty years old and worked his way up the organization ladder. □ C Bo Naylor, 24, '18 1st Round, 11-32-.237  
    □ 1B Josh Naylor, 27, '20 trade deadline from SD, 17-97-.308  
  □  Terry Francona, 61, is the Tribe's manager and has been for the past nine  □ 1B Kyle Manzardo, 23, '23 Trade with Tampa, minors 17 55 .237  
  seasons. Before that he managed the excellent Boston teams of 2004-2011. □ 2B Andres Gimenez, 25, '21 obtained from Mets, 15 62-.251 30 SB  
  Francona is a manager who makes a huge difference to a team's performance □ SS Brayan Rocchio 23, '17 IFA, 0-8-.247  
  and is an extremely valuable asset to the Indian's organization.  □ 3B Jose Ramirez, 31,  '10 IFA., 24-80-.282 28 SB  
    □ OF Steven Kwan, 26, '18 5th round pick, 5-54-.268, 21 SB  
  2021 - Cleveland has a hiccup in their string of good seasons as they finish □ OF Myles Straw, 29, '21 obtained from Houston, 1-29-.238 20 SB  
  under .500 at 80-82. Most of the decline was the pitching. Another big □ OF Tyler Freeman, '17 2nd Round, 4-18-.242  
    part of the hiccup was the loss of SS Francisco Lindor in a trade to the Mets □ OF Will Brennan, 26, '19 8th round draft pick, 5-41-.266  
  prior to the start of the season. Lindor was coming into his contract year and □ OF Gabriel Arias, 24, '20 trade deadline from SD, 10-26-.210  
  the small market Indians were in no position to re-sign him. Cleveland picks up    
  four prospects for Lindor including SS Amed Rosario and 2B Andres Gimenez. Pitching:  
   2021 marks Cleveland's last year as the Indians. With Bieber and McKenzie back adding to Bibee, Allen and Williams, barring  
    further injuries, the Cleveland rotation will be solid. The bullpen is beginning  
  2022 - Order is restored in Cleveland as the Guardians gain twelve games in the to look a bit thin due to a number of injuries.  
  standings to win the Division at 92-70. They lose to the Yankees for the third time □ RHP Shane Bieber, 29, '16 4th round pick, 6-6 3.80  
  in their last four post seasons. Most of the gain was in the pitching as Cleveland □ RHP Triston McKenzie, 26, '15 1st round, 0-3 5.06  
  came back to their previous levels (prior to '21) of mound excellence giving up □ RHP Tanner Bibee, 25, '21 5th round pick,10-4 2.98  
  close to one hundred runs less than they did in '21. □ LHP Logan Allen, 25, '20 2nd round pick, 7-8 3.81  
  RHP Cal Quantrill, RHP Shane Bieber (returning to form), RHP Triston McKenzie □ RHP Gavin Williams, 24, '21 1st round pick, 3-5 3.29  
   and closer Emmanuel Clase all scored big improvements on the mound from '21. □ RHP Carlos Carrasco, 37, '24 FA from Mets, 3-8 6.80  
  2B Andres Gimenez and 1B Josh Naylor took major steps up on offense. □ Closer Emmanel Clase, 26, '20 trade from Texas, 3-9 3.22 44 saves  
    □ Righty Trevor Stephan, 28, '21 Rule 5 draft from Yankees, 7-7 4.06, injured  
  2023 - The Guardians have a disappointing campaign in '23. A young team, □ Righty reliever James Karinchak, 28, '17 9th round pick, 2-5 3.23, injured  
  they unexpectedly drop sixteen games in the standings to below .500.    
  It was the offense that was the culprit as Cleveland dropped one hundred 2025 - Cleveland came back from their injuries on the pitching staff and  
  runs from the league average and finished 89 runs below league average in '23. gained back the sixteen games they lost in '23 and made it to the post   
   The pitching stayed about the same and was a healthy 51 runs below league season and the ALCS before losing to the Yankees. And this was with   
  average in '23. Injuries to Shane Bieber and Tristan McKenzie would have crippled losing thirty year old ace Shane Bieber to Tommy John surgery.  
  most organizations, but Cleveland just replaced them with youngsters Pitching carried the Guardians as the hitting was just league average.  
  Logan Allen, Tanner Bibee and Gavin Williams. The organization has a knack Cleveland made a couple of moves during the offseason acquiring  
  for developing quality pitchers, but struggles to produce quality hitting. twenty six year old righthander Luis Ortiz from the Pirates and signing  
  Outside of Jose Ramirez and, to a degree, Josh Naylor, no one scares you elderly first baseman Carlos Santana to replace slugging Josh Naylor  
  in Cleveland's lineup. The pitching always has hope as there a number of good  who was dealt to Arizona in his free agent walk year.  
  live young arms in the organization that still need to continue to develop.    
    2025 Pitching:  
  2023 - Cleveland trades righty Aaron Civale, 28, at the trade deadline to Tampa The starting rotation is NOT what carried the Guardians over the finish line.  
  for 1B prospect Kyle Manzardo, 22. In fact, it was despite the starting pitching that Cleveland made the post  
    season. With Bieber out, Tanner Bibee, 26, and Ben Lively, 23, were the  
    only Cleveland starting pitchers with a pulse going 25-18 between them.  
    Luis Ortiz, 26, 7-6 3.32 was acquired from the Pirates in the offseason.  
    However, the bullpen was, collectively, a historically great bullpen.  
    Emmanuel Clase had one of the most dominant seasons a closer has ever had.  
    He went 4-2 0.61 with 47 saves. But what made this bullpen historically   
    special was their setup men - never seen anything like it, not even close:  
    □ RHP Cade Smith, 26, 6-1 1.91  
    □ RHP Hunter Gaddis, 27, 6-3 1.57  
    □ LHP Tim Herrin, 28, 5-1 1.92  
    □ RHP Pedro Avila, 28, 5-1 3.25  
    □ RHP Nick Sandlin, 28, 8-0 3.75  
    □ RHP Eli Morgan, 29, 3-0 1.93 ==> Traded to Cubs '25  
    □ LHP Matthew Boyd, 33, 2-2 2.72 ==> FA to Cubs '25  
    That's a 39-10 record with an ERA under 2 (including Clase) for the pen.  
     
    2025 Hitting:  
    Outside of the great 3B Jose Ramirez, 33, a sure fire first ballot Hall of Famer  
    who had a typical season 39 119 .278 with 41SB and superb defense,  
    there isn't much to shout about on offense.  
    It was understandable that Cleveland traded away their second best hitter  
    last year, 1B Josh Naylor, 27, who had a 31 108 .243 season. '25 is his walk   
    year and Cleveland were not about to pay him the big bucks. Aging   
    slugger Carlos Santana was signed to replace Naylor. A little more  
    suprising was the trade of 2B Andres Gimenez, 26, to Toronto in the off season.  
    They must really like 2B Travis Bazzana, 22, the overall first player taken  
    in the 2024 college draft.   
    Anyway, the Cleveland offense will struggle to match last year's modest output  
    and, if the Guardians don't make it to the post season, the reason will be  
    an anemic offense.