Guardians Still Have Difficult Decisions Before Opening Day

Even back during Winter Meetings, the Cleveland Guardians knew that Spring Training would be full of position battles all over the diamond, and that’s exactly what’s played out.

As the Guardians get down to the wire and wrap up their final 2026 Cactus League games, manager Stephen Vogt is hiding from the fact that Cleveland has some tough decisions looming ahead in the coming days.

“We still have some really difficult decisions to make,” explained Cleveland’s skipper on Thursday.

“It's been a really competitive camp. We were hoping that we would have this problem. We don't like it. 
It's not fun to have these conversations, but at the same time, we're getting down to it, and we know we've got some decisions to make here in the next few days.”

One of the most notable decisions the Guardians must make regarding their roster is who will fill the final spots on the Cleveland outfield depth chart. Steven Kwan is a lock, and Chase DeLauter should be too, but who else gets the nod between Angel Martinez, CJ Kayfus, Stuart Fairchild, and Nolan Jones?

Of course, contracts and options could factor into all of this, and George Valera’s injury and unknown availability only complicate the matter, too.

It’s not much clearer on the pitching end of things, where the Guardians must decide who gets the final three spots in the rotation between four vastly different candidates in Logan Allen, Slade Cecconi, Joey Cantillo, and Parker Messick.

Plus, the bullpen has plenty of competition, too, with players such as Colin Holderman, Connor Brogdon, Codi Heuer, and Peyton Pallette all bringing a little bit of a different look to the table.

One thing is for sure, and that the Guardians don’t make impulsive moves, and take a team to come to a final consensus. 

“It's a very collaborative discussion here,” continued Vogt. “Major League staff, front office, and, I think there's a lot of people that have input, and we want to hear everybody's input because we're trying to construct [the roster].”

With all the talk about the Opening Day roster and the many difficult decisions ahead, it’s important to remember that a Major League roster, both position players and pitchers, is almost never the same from game to game 162. 

Vogt continued, “We put a lot of stock in the Opening Day roster, as well we should, it's an honor. But at the same time, we've used over 50 players the last two years, and we know that the team we leave here with won't necessarily be the team we have at the end of the year or a week from now or a month from now.”

So, even though the Guardians had some hard decisions up ahead, even though a player may not be taking the field next Thursday in Seattle, it doesn’t mean they won’t have a role with the team at some point this year. 

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