This is an article to politely ask Guardians President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti and General Manager Mike Chernoff to stop repeating a new talking point they have offered to media twice, now. If you’re wondering why I am writing this… well, they haven’t done anything else for us to talk about, so blame them.
Speaking of not doing anything, Guardians’ front office obviously knew when they emerged from their mid-December to mid-January winter’s nap, they would be asked why they did nothing
to address an offense that ranked 28th in MLB in 2025… aside from re-signing Austin Hedges, who is the worst hitter in MLB since his debut among players with similar plate appearance numbers. I have to say, addressing this issue would be a challenge for the most skilled of communicators. They obviously cannot tell the truth, which is very clearly that they have been given instructions to limit the amount of money the team has committed for 2026 and 2027, given the likelihood of a lockout producing a shortened or canceled season in 2027, resulting in reduced revenues for a team that is – apparently (?) – strapped for cash.
So, one approach they have both attempted is to emphasize that the team doesn’t want to sign someone who will block their younger players. Ok. Brayan Rocchio, Juan Brito, Travis Bazzana, Chase DeLauter, C.J. Kayfus and George Valera need a clear runway to prove themselves as major leaguers. For sure, the team will not, then, leave any of these players in Columbus until May or June to gain an extra year of team control/avoid super-2 issues. Surely. But, aside from that, any Guardians’ fan with access to FanGraphs knows that the team is STILL missing some right-handed thump, and, someone who can competently play centerfield, hopefully a right-handed hitter.
Antonetti and Chernoff have responded to the latter concern saying that even though they have made competitive offers for right-handed outfielders who can play centerfield, they have just been too gosh darn honest with those players, letting them know they will have to platoon, and those players have chosen to play elsewhere with better chances of increased playing time. Leaving aside the fact that at least one of these players would have chosen to compete for time in Cleveland if offered more MONEY to do so, I guess we are supposed to admire our front office for their exemplary honesty. Surely, they’ve always been upfront and forthright with players and fans and never had to hide any motivations the team might have that conflict with their interests. Surely. Props to them. Ok.
But, anyway, the real problem I have with these two gentleman is a talking point Chris Antonetti brought up at the Akron Rubber Ducks’ dinner and Mike Chernoff repeated to Cleveland dot com columnist, Terry Pluto. Here’s Antonetti:
“Prior to the 2022 baseball season what Major League free agents did the Cleveland Guardians sign? …Why am I bringing that up? Those are not the names everyone is talking about. Both 2022 and ’24 we won the Central Division finding young players opportunities. In 2022, we chose not to sign the Eddie Rosarios of the year.””
And here’s Chernoff:
“We won the (Central Division) title in 2022 and 2024, I’ll give you 100 bucks if you can name the free agents (hitters) we signed.”
Coincidentally, Antonetti, whose wallet is apparently a bit tighter than Chernoff’s, ended up paying CtC’s own Tommy Pecoraro that $20 for giving the answer that in 2022 the Guardians signed Bryan Shaw and Luke Maile. As Tommy has pointed out, Antonetti has now paid him more than he has any major league free agent outfielders this offseason. For 2024, the answer was Austin Hedges and Ben Lively (Terry Pluto wrote that it was Ramon Laureano, who was an arbitration signing, but ANYWHOO…).
Chernoff, also, in a mind-blowing quote (to me), told Pluto, “We don’t play (try to sign) top tier free agents.” Um… is he allowed to say that? Does MLB PA have some sort of grievance here to file about a team that receives revenue sharing openly saying they simply are not going to sign top-tier free agents? I honestly don’t know.
I realize that Antonetti and Chernoff are working in the perfect market to try this… junk… to be polite. The media isn’t going to push back hard on this (with apologies to Zack Meisel of the Athletic, who does push back, and Paul Hoynes, who will occasionally make a run at resisting the company narrative) and it’s not going to be discussed AT ALL on sports radio airwaves who would prefer to spend discuss the drama around the Browns’ defensive coordinator than the only superstar in Cleveland history who has taken a huge paycut to make sure he can play an entire Hall of Fame Career in this city.
The Guardians’ brass are using 2022 and 2024 as their examples, presumably because the team made playoff runs in both years. I wonder why they aren’t using 2016 when they made a World Series run? Could it be because their signings of veteran stopgaps Mike Napoli and Rajai Davis as well as trades of numerous top prospects for Andrew Miller ended up propelling that run? No one should expect their favorite team to hit on every veteran signing. However, when there is a hole on the roster, small market teams should – at the very least – target affordable veterans to fill that hole and raise the floor of a roster that has playoff potential. Sometimes, you hit on Napoli and Davis (and even Juan Uribe was helpful in giving a young Jose Ramirez confidence in 2016). Sometimes you don’t. But it needs to be attempted.
It’s, frankly, condescending to expect that fans can’t remember signings like Mike Zunino, Cam Gallagher, Josh Bell and Luke Maile. The most rabid fans among us spend all offseason futilely HOPING for some kind of activity and start immediately trying to imagine how these kind of additions might turn out to be brilliant moves. Additionally, bringing up how inconsequential these moves are is an odd choice given that the teams of 2022 and 2024 did not win a pennant or a title. What if you’d actually spend some money, Chris? What if you’d signed someone who made an all-star team and led us to another win or two in the playoffs, Mike? Even the casual fans would remember that player’s name. Hey… maybe we should try that instead of these cute little trivia contests? I am completely open to a Rhys Hoskins or Randal Grichuk late offseason Hail Mary to simply increase this team’s floor against LHP by even the tiniest bit.
But, hey, my writers can always use some extra money. So, go ahead with this PR campaign of asking about your pitiful attempts to dabble in free agency, I guess. It’s not like I am going to change their feelings with another blog post. Thank goodness we have Jose Ramirez, and I am now going to go back to being excited about seeing the exciting young players they have in the organization in 2026. I sincerely hope that this gambit on internal development pays off for the team and they can laugh at this article and others for years to come. No one will be happier than I will if that happens. But, running the lowest payroll in MLB and touting your track record of getting the most out of the least is a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for ‘em.
