The Cleveland Guardians have already refreshed Progressive Field, but one analyst thinks the next step could be much bigger.
Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer said the Guardians could be the next club to chase a major stadium upgrade, especially as other teams around the league line up for new homes. He pointed to the Athletics’ planned move to Las Vegas and the possibility of a new venue for the recently sold Los Angeles Angels as part of that broader picture.
“The Guardians have already gone the renovations route with Progressive Field, unveiling new improvements in 2024 and 2025. Those have helped modernize a ballpark that started as retro and was beginning to feel more like just plain old.
Yet since Progressive Field is MLB’s 10th-oldest stadium, the relative oldness is still a thing. Maybe it won’t happen soon, but the Guardians belong on list of teams to eye for a new stadium after the A’s, Rays, Royals, White Sox and Angels get theirs,” Rymer wrote.
Progressive Field opened in 1994, and it arrived right as one of the best stretches in franchise history began. In the five seasons that followed, the team then known as the Indians reached the World Series twice, the ALCS once and added two more AL Division Series trips.
The ballpark, originally called Jacobs Field, also made an immediate splash with a record-breaking run of 455 straight sellouts, a streak that lasted into the 2001 season. After the name change in 2008, the stadium still saw eight more seasons of playoff baseball, including a trip to the 2016 World Series.
That’s a strong resume for any venue, especially in a city where the baseball club once shared Cleveland Stadium with the NFL Browns. Still, the league’s stadium landscape has slowed dramatically since the boom years.
Only two new MLB parks have opened in the last 20 years: Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves, in 2017, and Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers, in 2020. Before that, 23 stadiums opened from 1989 to 2012, a stretch that included Cleveland’s ballpark between Camden Yards, which opened for the Baltimore Orioles in 1992, and Coors Field, home of the expansion Colorado Rockies, in 1995.
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Cleveland, meanwhile, gets a cleaner look at the standings picture with the Orioles still sitting behind the Guardians and coming up next for a three-game series. Robert will not be part of that matchup, which strips some of the urgency from Baltimores latest gamble and leaves its roster decision hanging into the offseason. The Orioles still have to sort out his contract beyond this year, and the early signs suggest they may be headed toward a buyout rather than bringing him back on the club option. [Read more 🡒]
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His most visible work came later, when he led Boston to a playoff run in 1988 during a four-season managerial tenure. For Cleveland fans, his passing is a reminder of how many former players and baseball men passed through the organization before finding another chapter elsewhere, and how those connections can surface again only when a life in the game comes to an end. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Face A Rotation Decision They Cant Get Wrong
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Slade Cecconi, Logan Allen, Ben Lively and Austin Peterson are all in the mix if Cleveland decides a change is needed. The Guardians have options, but this is the kind of rotation call that can shape the stretch run, especially for a club trying to squeeze every last bit of value out of its pitching staff without giving away innings it may need later. [Read more 🡒]