The Guardians are in the market for bullpen help.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Guardians are looking for relievers. They just signed free agent Connor Brogdon to a one-year big-league deal, but they say they need more arms. “We need a lot,” said manager Stephen Vogt.
“We need depth in the bullpen. We have four, maybe five, guys in our bullpen and we need eight.Two years ago, the Guardians won the AL Central and reached the ALCS on the backs of a bullpen that was nearly unhittable. The foundation of that pen was built on Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin, Emmanuel Clase and Cade Smith. Overall, the pen went 42-12 and led MLB with a 2.57 ERA.Healthy Travis Bazzana eyes World Baseball Classic: Guardians takeawaysJeff Kent’s Hall of Fame election raises questions about Contemporary Era Committee process The 2025 pen had a hard time reaching that bar. It was especially difficult when Clase, their All-Star closer, was put on non-disciplinary leave at the end of July for gambling allegations that turned into a 23-page indictment by federal prosecutors in November.They ended the season at 37-24 with the third best ERA in the big leagues at 3.44. They finished tied for first in the AL with 47 saves, while the opposition hit .234 against them. Smith, who replaced Clase as closer, went 8-5 with a 2.93 ERA. He made 76 appearances, while saving 16 games in 22 attempts. The opposition hit .201 against him. Gaddis turned in another heavy-duty season, going 2-2 with a 3.11 ERA in 73 games. He pitched 66 2/3 innings and saved three games in seven attempts. Herrin had an up and down season but still managed to make 54 appearances. He went 5-4 with a 4.85 ERA. Vogt and the Guardians pitching group mixed and matched the rest of the way. Matt Festa made 63 appearances. Jakob Junis appeared in 57 games.Among the other contributors were Kolby Allard, Erik Sabrowski, Nic Enright, Paul Sewald and Zak Kent. Sabrowski is the only one still on the roster. The Guardians are taking an interesting approach to the 2026 season. They won the AL Central last season despite having one of the weakest offenses in the big leagues. But they are not taking any drastic measures to fix it. Instead, they are counting on the players who hit .226 as a team last season — the worst batting average in franchise history — to get better. “I know you get sick of me saying this, but we’re going to take it a day at a time,” said Vogt. “We’re working hard. We had great exit meetings with them. We’ve had great follow-ups with them. “I love the hitters that we have. We had a really good offense the last month of the season, and we need to build on that, and we need to hit the ground running.” Chris Antonetti, president of baseball operations, said it’s all about blending patience and urgency.The Guardians have hitters several hitters requiring patience and urgency. There’s Gabriel Arias, Kyle Manzardo, Angel Martinez, Bo Naylor, Brayan Rocchio, Johnathan Rodriguez and Daniel Schneeman. There’s another group behind them with Petey Halpin, George Valera, Chase DeLauter and, perhaps, Travis Bazzana. It would not be a surprise if the Guardians added a mid-level hitter to that group through free agency or a trade. In the meantime, they’ll be leaning hard on a starting rotation that is coming off a solid season and a bullpen that could be in for a new look before the season opens on March 26. “What we want to do is build on the group that we have,” said Antonetti. “We have a lot of position players that we want to give a runway to. We want them to take the opportunity and build on the experiences they had last year. “So, whoever we bring in, what opportunities does that take away from the group we have?We spent three hours on that this morning. On the pitching side it’s a little clearer. We want to build and add to our bullpen. We don’t have as many options there as we’d like to have.”Paul Hoynes, born in Cleveland, has been the beat writer for the Indians/Guardians since 1983. He attended Cathedral Latin High School in Cleveland and received a journalism degree from Marquette University. He...
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