The Cleveland Guardians had a clear reason for addressing the bullpen over the offseason.
The Cleveland Guardians were fairly active addressing one of the areas of their roster this offseason, even though it wasn’t the position group fans were hoping the team would spend some money on: the bullpen.
Chris Anonetti recently spoke about why Cleveland felt they needed to add more depth to the bullpen, and a little bit about the pitchers they brought in.
"We lost a couple of pitchers last year to some unfortunate circumstances, and then we had a couple of guys become free agents. So this was an area that we felt we wanted to try to supplement,” explained Antonetti (quote via Mason Horodyski of WEWS).
“The group, by and large, did a really good job last year, but we didn't want to rest on that. We wanted to try to add some options, because we know it's an area that will be tested over the course of the season. We don't, we're going to need far more than just eight relievers to start the season with. We're gonna need to be 13, 14, 15, or more deep.”
Jun 1, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt (12) and pitching coach Carl Willis (51) sit in the dugout in the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn ImagesCleveland, as a group, had a reliever ERA of 3.44, which ranked third in MLB, and a WHIP of 1.23, which ranked third in the American League.
However, as Antonetti noted, the Guardians will very likely be without Emmanuel Clase moving forward, and Jakob Junis, Nic Enright, Sam Hentges, Kolby Allard, and Zak Kent are off to their next team, leaving plenty of innings for the team to fill.
The Guardians did need to add some more arms to the reliever core, and to the front office’s credit, they do do just that by adding Shawn Armstrong, Colin Holderman, Connor Brogdon, and Rule 5 selected Payton Pallette.
It remains to be seen exactly how all of these pieces fit together, but the Guardians have certainly given Stephen Vogt and the rest of the staff options to go to througohut the season.
There will definitely be a nice competition throughout spring training to see which arms start on the big-league roster, who will begin at Triple-A, and which pitchers may not have a role with the Guardians in 2026.
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