Cleveland Guardians Criticized for Controversial Offseason Decisions
The Cleveland Guardians have come under fire for several contentious moves they made during the MLB offseason. Despite coming off a strong 2023 campaign, where they won the AL Central and advanced to the ALCS, the Guardians’ offseason transactions have left many fans disappointed.
One of the most talked-about moves was trading All-Star first baseman Josh Naylor to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for pitcher Slade Cecconi. This, along with the trade of outfielder Myles Straw to the Toronto Blue Jays, has been widely regarded as the team’s most regrettable decisions, especially when considering who they brought in to replace these players.
Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller summed up the situation: “The sequence of events was trading Josh Naylor to Arizona for Slade Cecconi, signing Carlos Santana a few days later, trading Myles Straw to Toronto for a player to be named later, and signing Paul Sewald shortly after. Financially, it essentially turned into a straight two-for-two swap, with outgoing salaries of $17.3M almost matching the incoming costs of $18M.”
While Santana has shown improvement recently, his overall performance has been subpar, and Sewald — who arrived with injury concerns — has already been sidelined. As Miller noted, “Santana has posted an OPS 180 points lower than Naylor’s performance in Arizona, Sewald has a 6.14 ERA before hitting the IL, and Straw has been worth 0.9 bWAR in Toronto, while the Guardians’ outfield (aside from Steven Kwan) has struggled.”
Cleveland’s current record of 26-22 is respectable, but it pales in comparison to their position at this time last year. Furthermore, they find themselves in a highly competitive division, where the Detroit Tigers currently hold a six-game lead over them (five in the loss column).
Naylor has been thriving with the Diamondbacks, and although it’s tough to criticize the Guardians for parting ways with Straw, he’s certainly shown promise with the Blue Jays as well.
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