The Guardians’ season ended with another October letdown, and the noise around what comes next is already getting louder. After Cleveland was eliminated in the ALCS by the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, analyst Adam Gerstenhaber said the organization needs a sweeping overhaul on the hitting side.
Watching a season-long offensive struggle carry into the playoffs, Gerstenhaber argued that the answer is not a tweak here or there. He said it’s time to “clean house” in the team’s hitting infrastructure.
“They have to fire everybody in the hitting infrastructure in the organization, from the hitting coordinator in the system to the major league hitting coach, Grant Fink, to his assistant hitting coach, to the hitting coaches at the upper levels. I would clean house across the board,” Gerstenhaber said.
That criticism lands in a season where Cleveland’s offense lagged behind the rest of the league. The Guardians finished 24th in the majors in runs scored and batting average, 26th in OPS, and 27th in home runs and slugging percentage.
The personnel already in those jobs includes Craig Massoni, Cleveland’s hitting coordinator, who was promoted to that role this season after joining the organization in 2020. Fink has served as the major league hitting coach since the 2024 campaign after playing in the minor leagues and returning as a coach in 2017. Junior Betances, his assistant, was promoted from Triple-A this year and has been with the franchise since 2000.
Even with those offensive numbers, the Guardians still won the AL Central for a third straight year and reached the ALCS for the second time in those three seasons. But the postseason again ended short of a championship, and the club now faces a familiar question: what has to change to get over the top?
There is at least one caution worth remembering. Among playoff teams, Cleveland’s offense sat in the middle of the pack and looked comparable to Tampa Bay’s over the course of the postseason. The stat lines were nearly identical, but the Rays got the better of a tiring Guardians pitching staff, winning the last three games and scoring 17 runs in that stretch.
What happens next could go in a couple of directions. Cleveland could choose to make internal changes and try to fix the offense from within, or it could look outside the organization for help with the bats.
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Steven Kwans Guardians Comments Mean More Than Fans Might Think
Steven Kwans season finished on a far better note than it began, and the broader view matters here as much as the numbers. After a rough first half, he settled in and finished with a strong 114 wRC+, reinforcing why he remains one of the more valuable everyday pieces on the roster. Along the way, he also made clear how he feels about the group around him, praising the Guardians young core and sounding genuinely energized by what the club could become.
Those comments carry extra weight because Kwan is no ordinary talking point for the front office. He is moving toward his contract year in 2027, which puts Cleveland in the familiar position of weighing whether to extend a homegrown player or eventually cash in on his value. For a team built around young, controllable talent, Kwans outlook is a reminder that the Guardians may soon have to decide whether their vision for the future includes one of their most reliable bats for the long haul. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Near-Miss Put Three Roster Problems Front And Center
A familiar postseason frustration has pushed Cleveland right back into roster-building mode. After falling to Tampa Bay in six games in the American League Championship Series, the Guardians enter the winter with the same basic mandate that has shadowed them for stretches of the season: find more offense and shore up the starting rotation if they want to take the next step.
Those needs also narrow the priorities. Cleveland could use help in the outfield, with Jarren Duran among the names worth tracking, and the rotation has room for another arm such as Michael Detmers. There is also the more obvious hole at first base, where the Guardians still need a reliable everyday answer, and solving even one of those issues would go a long way toward making the lineup and staff fit together better. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Face A Tough First Base Call After ALCS Run
The Guardians run ended in the American League Championship Series, and the next phase of the offseason is already starting to come into focus. Along with the usual list of contract decisions, Cleveland has a few familiar names headed toward free agency, including Nathaniel Lowe, Austin Hedges, Rhys Hoskins and Foster Griffin, while Shawn Armstrongs situation sits in the middle with a mutual option to sort through.
First base is one of the more interesting calls on the board. Cleveland has to decide whether to keep Lowe in the mix or let him walk, and the answer could shape how quickly a younger option gets a real look. Ralphy Velazquez is among the prospects the organization is weighing for future contributions, which makes this a position to watch as the Guardians try to turn an encouraging playoff finish into a more settled roster plan. [Read more 🡒]