Guardians offseason predictions: 3 players Cleveland should already be targeting

3) Reliever Michael Fulmer

Overall, Cleveland’s bullpen has been pretty good. They have a 3.40 ERA, which is seventh-best in baseball. However, as they say, you can never have too much pitching, and with having a young bullpen, they could always use a veteran. The Guardians are also familiar with Fulmer since he had spent his entire MLB career with the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland’s divisional rival. Now, he is with one of their other divisional rivals, the Minnesota Twins.

On the season, Fulmer has appeared in 45 games with a 3.14 ERA. He also has a 3.38 FIP, a 1.256 WHIP, and an average of 6.7 hits, 4.6 walks, and 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

Last season, he was even a closer for Detroit, as he had 14 saves in 52 appearances (four starts) with a 2.97 ERA.

He’s still young, as he will turn 30 during next Spring Training, but with being a reliever, he will still be cheap and a good setup man for closer Emmanuel Clase. He’ll likely only need a one-year or two-year deal as well.

Adding these three players will help Cleveland address some needs for their team without breaking the bank and without having to trade anybody. Cleveland has one of the best farm systems in baseball (#2, according ESPN’s update earlier this week)