Guardians Don’t Close Door on Bringing Back These Free Agents

The Cleveland Guardians earned widespread praise for their out-of-character trade deadline moves, bringing in a handful of veteran players to supplement a fairly young lineup.

These trades did come with a risk, though. In the case of adding Foster, Cleveland gave up future assets, fully knowing that the player was on an expiring contract.

Now, following the Guardians’ loss in the ALCS, Griffin and Lowe are free agents and will be able to sign with any team of their choosing

Who’s to say that each or both players won’t end up back in Cleveland in 2027? It’s possible. In fact, the Guardians head decision-maker, Chris Antonetti, didn’t shut the idea down of bringing either of the players back.

Neither player’s numbers were great for the Guardians in their regular-season stints after the August 3 trade.

"Obviously both guys are free agents, so we'll, you know, continue to stay engaged with them over the next few weeks, as we develop, you know, what our off season might look like, and they begin to understand their alternatives," Antonetti said.

Those are the comments of an executive who could definitely be open to bringing the players back. 

Foster Griffin was one of the best starting pitchers in baseball during the first half of the season, but ended up with an ERA over 5.00 and a WHIP over 1.50 during his nine in the regular season starts with the team.

Lowe had a strong start with Cleveland, but quickly leveled off and finished with a

That said, both players came up with some big moments in the postseason. Griffin gave up just four earned runs in 10.1 innings pitched and struck out a staggering 15 batters for a strikeout rate of 34 percent.

Lowe’s big moment came in Game 1 of the ALCS, when he drove in the go-ahead run in an improbable situation; an at-bat off a healthy.

Looking at both of these players, it makes more sense, as of right now, for the Guardians to prioritize bringing back Griffin over Lowe.

Lowes is a fine player in his own right, but Cleveland has somewhat of a logjam at first base with David Fry and Kyle Manzardo still in the picture, and top prospect Ralphy Velazquez likely to join the mix at some point early on in 2027.

On the other hand, the Guardians’ starting pitching depth is somewhat questionable right now. Cleveland has enough pitchers to make it through a 162-game season, but the postseason exp

As Stehoen Vogt said, Griffin essentially became Cleveland’s third starter in October, although it came in more of an opener-bulk innings role.

If the Guardians and Griffin can find some middle ground, it would be worth bringing him back. At least right now, Cleveland appears open to that.