The Guardians are set to open the 2027 season against the Cubs, and that’s the kind of schedule wrinkle MLB seems determined to keep revisiting.
After Cleveland welcomed Chicago for its home opener in April this year, the league is doubling back and putting the matchup right at the front of next season, too. This time, though, it won’t be a home opener in Cleveland. The Guardians are slated to begin in March in a place known for brutal wind and cold, then move on to Detroit for a series against the Tigers, which could be just as icy.
That April series at Progressive Field carried obvious meaning because it came 10 years after the Cubs beat the Guardians in the 2016 World Series. Chicago celebrated on the infield in Cleveland, so the home opener had some extra juice built into it. Apparently, that was enough for the schedule makers to want another round.
There is, of course, the giant asterisk hanging over all of this. The 2027 schedule could still be affected by the lockout expected once the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires on Dec.
- If that happens, MLB and the Players Association would have to work through a labor dispute before the season could move forward.
The last time this happened, after the 2021 season, the lockout lasted three months, three weeks and one day before an agreement was reached on March 10, 2022. MLB canceled the first two series of the regular season on March 1, though those games were later made up during the season.
If the next lockout drags on that long, Cleveland’s series against the Cubs would be the first one in danger.
Even without the labor issue, the timing feels forced. A Guardians-Cubs series has enough emotion attached to it already, but putting it in Opening Week strips away some of what makes that matchup work. It’s the kind of series that would probably land harder in the middle of summer, when the weather is better and the rest of the league isn’t crowding the calendar.
This year’s home opener against Chicago got one good-weather game before the final two turned cold. Next year’s version, if it survives the lockout cloud, looks like it could be more of the same.
No one asked for it, but it's what we're going to get.
In Other News...
Former Guardians Starter Just Hit A Brutal New Low
Aaron Civales season has gone from uneasy to ugly, and the latest move only underscores how far things have fallen for the former Guardians starter. After landing with the Athletics, he was already trying to find his footing on a pitching staff that has been in flux, and a recent shakeup around the club has only added to the sense that nothing is stable right now.
Civales struggles have been a mix of poor results and bad health, with a rough run since coming back from the injured list and an earlier shoulder issue that knocked him off track in late May. For Cleveland fans who remember him as a dependable part of the rotation, seeing him get pushed into this kind of uncertainty is a stark reminder of how quickly a pitchers value can change when performance and injuries both start piling up. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Fans Know Exactly The Deadline Move Cleveland Rarely Makes
With the trade deadline drawing near, the market for impact bats has already started to thin, and that has put a premium on players who can do a little of everything. Spencer Steer has fit that description for Cincinnati this season, moving around the diamond while giving clubs a look at a bat that could help against left-handed pitching. For Cleveland, a player like that naturally stands out because he could help smooth over some of the lineups rough edges at first base and left field.
The bigger question is whether the Guardians would be willing to pay the kind of price that usually comes with a useful, controllable hitter this time of year. Cleveland has been careful about preserving prospect depth, and with several teams showing interest, any pursuit would likely come with real competition. That is where the deadline gets tricky for this front office, because the fit is easy to see, but the cost is the part they rarely rush to meet. [Read more 🡒]
One New Deal Just Changed The Guardians Conversation On Bazzana
Travis Bazzanas rise has already put the Guardians in a familiar spot: weighing how aggressively to lock up a young player before the price keeps climbing. After appearing in the 2026 MLB All-Star Game, Bazzana joined Chase Burns as one of just three members of the 2024 draft class to reach that stage, which only sharpened the attention on how Cleveland might handle its own long-term planning.
Burns new seven-year deal with Cincinnati has added another layer to the conversation, giving clubs around the league a fresh example of how quickly a top young talent can be secured. For the Guardians, the question is no longer just whether Bazzana fits into their future, but whether the timing and structure of a deal can be worked out before the market, and the sports labor picture, make the decision even more complicated. [Read more 🡒]