The Guardians are concerned with their lack of depth. Stephen Maturen / Getty Images
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Cleveland Guardians, a team that finished 28th in the league in runs and 29th in OPS, are naturally in hot pursuit of … bullpen help?
They boasted the league’s best bullpen ERA (2.86) following the midseason exodus of closer Emmanuel Clase, but the Guardians are concerned with their lack of depth. No, signing Connor Brogdon last week to a one-year, $900,000 deal was not the grand solution to their weeks of internal dialogue about that area of the roster.
“We need a lot,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “We need depth in the bullpen. We have four, maybe five guys in our bullpen, and we need eight. It’s an area we’re addressing, for sure.”
Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, Erik Sabrowski, Tim Herrin and Matt Festa were presumably the five Vogt had in mind. After that, it’s pretty thin.
Connor Brogdon: He joined the Guardians after the Los Angeles Angels cut him loose. He’ll compete for an Opening Day spot this spring.
Franco Aleman: The Guardians still think he has the pure stuff to pitch in high leverage, but he had a rough year in Triple A. He’s on the 40-man roster, so he’ll be in big-league camp.
Daniel Espino: Thanks to a pair of shoulder surgeries, he didn’t pitch between April 2022 and September 2025. The Guardians plan to talk to him and the team’s medical staff to determine whether he’ll start or relieve in 2026. Vogt has only ever seen him play catch once and can’t wait to watch him in action this spring. Espino was throwing in the upper 90s in the Arizona Fall League.
Andrew Walters: He essentially missed the entire 2025 season because of a couple of injuries and is expected to be lagging behind the other pitchers this spring, from a timeline standpoint.
Trevor Stephan: Cleveland owes him $3.5 million in 2026 (and then, presumably, another $1.25 million in the form of a buyout), but he was outrighted off the 40-man roster over the summer when his velocity didn’t fully return following Tommy John surgery.
Expect the Guardians to add multiple relievers in the next few months, and not just the type who parlay a non-roster invite into a seventh-inning assignment (though there will likely be one or two of those). There are a lot of names to sort through, and few teams would scoff at a bullpen upgrade, so it’s not as though the Guardians are alone in their pursuits.
Cleveland president Chris Antonetti wouldn’t divulge particulars about the club’s projected payroll — a rite of passage each December — and instead said players’ fits on the roster, especially on the position player side, would determine their activity level, not just salary.
If they fill out the rest of the roster with players earning the league minimum, that’d push their payroll to about $66 million, but there’s also a decent chance they’ll wind up wiggling out of Clase’s contract. Either way, there should be ample flexibility.
On that note, Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff separately joked this week that they had just returned from meeting with Kyle Tucker’s representatives before chatting with reporters. Alas, Tucker won’t actually be coming to Cleveland … because the Guardians are too left-handed in the outfield as it is. Yeah, we’ll go with that.
The lineup would seem to need some reinforcements, though. Will they sign a couple of hitters to alleviate some of the pressure on a pitching staff that carried the club to a division title?
The Guardians have been mulling in recent weeks — including for three hours in their suite Monday morning at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando — the proper way to approach improving an attack that only looked remotely competent when rookies such as George Valera and C.J. Kayfus started contributing in September. You might have heard this one before, but the Guardians are reluctant to add certain hitters if it would prevent those younger options — and you can toss Chase DeLauter, Juan Brito and Travis Bazzana into the equation — from receiving opportunities.
That should rule out an aging veteran aiming to unleash one last bit of major-league production that the team has settled for in years past, such as Carlos Santana, Eddie Rosario, Domingo Santana or Hanley Ramirez. Someone with a specific skill set of need — such as a righty who has tormented southpaws and hasn’t exhibited declining skills, in the ilk of Austin Hays or Rob Refsnyder — might better match their appetite.
This is a team, by the way, that has won three of the last four American League Central titles and employs a face of the franchise in Ramírez, who is 33 years old and is signed to a well-below-market deal. It seems like a group worth building on — and soon.
“It’s finding that right balance of patience and urgency,” Antonetti said. “We have urgency. We want to win as many games as we can and compete for a World Series, but with each individual, have enough patience to give them an opportunity to be productive players.”
One potential nugget of interest on the position player side: Vogt mentioned Brayan Rocchio will patrol shortstop with regularity this spring, while Gabriel Arias will bounce around defensively, “just to be ready for it.” What is “it,” you ask? Well, it’s the eventual presence of Brito and, especially, Bazzana, or even an external addition, a placeholder at the position until the 2024 No. 1 draft pick is ready for the big leagues.
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