Fun Fact: Only one team wins the World Series every year. Which means 29 teams don’t win the final game of the year which according to Moneyball means their season didn’t fucking matter. When a team gets eliminated from winning the World Series I’ll do a profile of their season.
Today’s Team….Cleveland Guardians
How Did They Get Eliminated
After making the greatest regular season charge in modern history to win the AL Central the Guardians wouldn’t be able to finish off the rival Tigers and fell to Detroit in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series 6 -3
They would force that game 3 by having a late inning outburst in Game 2 which would hopefully build into Game 3, but the bats didn’t come around until late and they were eliminated by their division rival.
What Do I Know About This Team Because I Only Follow the Brewers and Pay Attention to Playoff Baseball?
This is actually where baseball is kind of cruel and sports media in general. The Guardians go on one of the greatest runs in baseball history to win the Division. The Tigers have a complete 180 from what they did last year in the second half of the season to give up the division lead. But at the end of the day, the thing that will be remembered is how the Tigers went to Cleveland and moved on to the NLDS.
I get it. As a Brewers fan it was an amazing season. They had large winning streaks, have a really fun team and have the best team in baseball. But if they don’t take care of the Cubs its going to feel like a really big let down. That’s sports. That’s baseball. The higher the highs the harder the crashes when your team can’t reach the promised land.
But that’s why we watch, that’s why we play the game. Brian Anderson was on a radio show I listen to all the time and he said this is the time of the year that separates the Joes from the Pros. And he was referring to the fans. The Joes are always doom and gloom. If you lose game 73 because your closer gave up a walk off home run the narrative is “This team can’t do anything.” If you win game 104 against the worst team in the league by 1 run: “We need to beat that team by at least 6. We can’t be serious contenders.” This carries its way to the end of the year where momentum is the buzz word. The TIgers had about as much momentum as a sled sitting on a dirt road, but they came through when it mattered. That is the thing about momentum, it can sometimes stop at the worst possible time, like brake checking your friend who fell asleep in the front seat.
The pros, the fans that know what baseball is all about, keep the faith, they keep cheering, they ride the ups and downs. Yes, it can feel like your heart has been ripped out of your chest, believe me been there the last 2 years with the Brewers. But there are times like a walk off in Game 5 of an NLDS, there are the unexpected heroes that hit home runs on the road. Its what the game is all about. You never know what can happen. Every pitch you hold your breath, and no matter what happens when you exhale the emotion behind it will be more flavorful and have more bite than any breath you will take in your life.
Steven Vogt brought this team back from 10.5 games back to a home playoff game and has made the playoffs in his first two seasons as a manager. There will be a time in the near future where Steven Vogt will be at the end of his contract with Cleveland and there will be a team wanting him to turn their team around. Counsell did this when he went to the Cubs and I could see it happening to Vogt. He could find himself as one of the top paid managers in the big leagues.
Cleveland traded Shane Bieber to the Blue Jays at the deadline because they couldn’t see the future where they actually make the playoffs, let alone win the division.
In Game 2 they started a Centerfielder who had not played at all in the majors and actually hadn’t played a game of minor league baseball since July because of a wrist injury. He got his first ever major league hit in the playoffs, but I’m pretty sure he still has to get one in the regular season to be on the board for career hits.
So Now That I’ve Actually Done Some Research How Did They Make the Playoffs and What Led to Their Demise?
The Guardians would go on the ultimate heater in the month of September going 20-7 and a +49 run differential. They had a 5 game winning streak where they essentially put the Rays and Royals out of the playoff hunt. They then would rattle off a 10 game winning streak which included a sweep of the Tigers in Detroit and taking care of business against the lowly White Sox and Twins. They’d take another 2 of 3 from the Tigers and have the most dramatic send off for the MLB season with a walk off home run to end the season on the highest note you can as you head into the playoffs.
This was mostly accomplished through their pitching. In the month of September they struck out the second most batters, and had the best ERA at 2.61. No other team in the majors had a team ERA that started with a 2. They also locked down games having 8 saves in September. They also didn’t let opponents get hits as opponents batted .214 in September, second best in the league.
On the season the starting pitchers had the 10th best ERA and their relievers had the 3rd best ERA. The pitching kept them rolling through this stretch and the bats got hot at the best time possible. On the season, they were in the middle of the pack for most of the offensive categories which is why they hung around .500 up until September.
They were the hottest team in baseball and were going up against the team that was arguably the coldest team heading into the playoffs. Everything was lining up for them until it wasn’t.
But the mediocre offensive would also be the demise for the Guardians. They only scored 1 run in Game 1 which came on an infield single that was actually overturned from initially being called out. They wouldn’t score their runs that won them the game until the 8th in Game 2. And while they did score 3 runs in Game 3, 2 of those came in the 9th when they were already down 6-1.
Will they Make the Playoffs Next Year?
The Guardians were built to be a young team and they have a ton of guys under team control heading into next year. They are bottom third in team payroll which means they can possibly spend a bit more in the offseason or keep the salaries low and hope the young players who got them to the playoffs will continue to grow.
Jose Ramirez will be your top guy that they will continue to build around. Bo Naylor is their catcher of the future as Austin Hedges heads to free agency. CJ Kayfus could be their first baseman next year as he played there during the playoffs, but they could probably go out and find a better/veteran bat at that position. Brayan Rocchio had the go-ahead Home Run in Game 2 and should be another player you’ll see a lot more of over at Second Base.
Steven Kwan was fun to watch during the playoffs and will anchor the outfield as Lane Thomas hits Free Agency.
Tanner Bibee who went 5 strong in Game 2 will probably be the Opening Day starter, the Guardians won 7 of his final 10 starts including the playoffs. Gavin Williams is a strong number 2 guy who went 12-5 on the season and took a tough loss in game 1 against the Tigers despite his 7 inning start where he only gave up 2 runs.
They have the 5th best farm system in the bigs with 2 of their top prospects getting playoff experience. Steven Vogt knows the right buttons to push which means they have the ability to make the playoffs again next year
Just one postseason award.
Because of the surge at the end of the year and overtaking the Tigers, Steven Vogt should win Manager of the Year again. He might have to compete against Dan Wilson for what he did out in Seattle, but it should go to Vogt again.
Hey Grok, in 100 words summarize the 2025 Cleveland Guardians. Please don't be racist.
The 2025 Cleveland Guardians season was a historic, rollercoaster ride culminating in an AL Central Division Championship with an 88-74 record. Trailing the Tigers by a record 15.5 games in July, the team, known for its superb bullpen and clutch hitting despite a team batting average of just .226, staged an unprecedented comeback to secure the division title on the final weekend. However, their momentum ended abruptly as they were defeated by the Detroit Tigers in the best-of-three AL Wild Card Series, losing in the decisive Game 3.
Even Grok knows the offense got hot at the right time and then cooled when it mattered the most.
Did the Savannah Bananas Play at their Field?
They didn’t! They did play a year before but forgo Cleveland for Cincinnati this year.
Is there a baseball movie featuring this team that has dumb baseball logic I need to vent about?
Major League!
A great baseball movie that features the great Bob Ueker. I came into this section with a line that stuck in my head when I would watch this movie. Lou is talking to Charlie where he is about to learn that Racheal Phelps wants them to lose so she can move the team. Lou says, “60-61 isn’t bad, we got some potential All-Stars.” Now this line stuck out to me because saying you have All-Stars when you are clearly past the All-Star Break is some logic I can’t go along with. But then after reading the script I realized I was wrong. He was referring to the future of these players and how they could be All-Stars later. So need to forgive that.
Okay next, They are 60-61 and then they do the big speech revealing to the team that they will be replaced with losers next year if they don’t finish last. In the next scene Lou mentions that they probably need to win 32 wins to make it to the playoffs. Once again, this threw up some red flags from a logic stand point, but its not that crazy. Given their record that means they would need to finish 32-9 which puts their final record at 92-70.
Now the Guardians this year went 25-16 to make the playoffs, with most of those wins coming in September. Now is that out of the realm of possibility? No, is it likely? Probably not. Kind of running into the same logic with Angels in the Outfield. This wasn’t that bad of a team and they got hot at the right time. That’s pretty sound logic actually.
Also, I’m pretty sure there was only 1 out in the final scene with the bunt to score the winning run. Great that Jake is running it out and is called safe, but he just needed to get the bunt down and go hard. If he’s out that’s fine. But it was dramatic and that’s great.
How Will Your Team Do Next Year?
The Tigers are going to be tough again next year, and the Royals could make some strides as well. I will pick the Guardians to take the top spot next year: 94-68 Win the Central.
Next on the Chopping Block
The next team that booked offseason plans were the San Diego Padres so they will be up next.