3 players for Cleveland Guardians to target this offseason
By David Hill
The 2022 season has to be considered a success for the Cleveland Guardians.
They were expected to fall back into the pack in the AL Central. The White Sox were the favorites in the division, the Tigers felt that they were ready to contend once more, and the Twins made several moves capped off by signing Carlos Correa. Meanwhile, the Guardians did almost nothing, content to stay the course and give their young players a chance. And it worked as they won the division and pushed the Yankees to five games in the ALDS before being eliminated from the postseason.
Three players for Cleveland Guardians to target during offseason
But the postseason also showed the Guardians’ flaws. For all of their pitching and excellent defense, it is impossible to win a game 0-0. Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan were their only offensive threats far too often. They also were essentially playing with seven spots in the lineup as catcher and center were black holes. However, budgetary concerns could curtail exactly how much the Guardians are willing to spend on the roster.
The Cleveland Guardians have plenty of work to do in order to improve their lineup. Let’s take a look at three players they could target.
Sean Murphy
Austin Hedges is an excellent defensive catcher with a decent amount of power. There is also no universe in which he should be the starting catcher for a playoff team.
And yet, that was the case last season. Hedges hit seven homers and saved eight runs behind the plate, but he also posted a 42 OPS+ while serving as one of the black holes in the Guardians’ lineup. This was something that the Guardians recognized as well as they sought to bring Sean Murphy on board at the deadline.
Although the Guardians felt they were close to a trade several times, Murphy ultimately remained in Oakland after the deadline. The expectation is that talks will continue during the offseason as the Guardians look to bring in a long term answer behind the plate.
Murphy would be a step in the right direction towards improving the lineup. He posted a 120 OPS+ with 18 homers and 37 doubles in his 612 plate appearances, numbers that easily outshine Hedges. His defense was excellent as well as the former Gold Glove winner threw out 31% of would-be base stealers as he was a finalist for the award once again. The Guardians’ desire for an excellent defensive lineup would not change.
The Cleveland Guardians need to add more pop to the lineup. Sean Murphy would immediately upgrade one of those black holes.