3 more Cleveland Guardians who won’t be back after tough exit against the Yankees

What was a magical season for the Cleveland Guardians came to an end in excruciating fashion. Nobody expected the Guardians to make a run to the ALCS, so getting there was an awesome achievement, but the fashion in which they lost will haunt Guardians fans for a while.

Cleveland's bullpen, which was dominant all regular season long, blew up in October. Virtually every high-leverage arm that Stephen Vogt turned to against the New York Yankees, with the exception of Tim Herrin, turned into a pumpkin. Vogt was far from perfect, and their offense didn't score enough for much of October, but the bottom line is that this bullpen imploded at the worst possible time.

Much of this Guardians core including most of their absurdly talented bullpen will be back in 2025, but changes, in some capacity, are needed to get this team over the top. Those changes start with letting some players go. FanSided's Cody Williams listed three players who won't be back in 2025, and that's just the start.

Here are three more Guardians who will likely be wearing another team's uniform come Opening Day.

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3. Carlos Carrasco's second stint with the Guardians wasn't pretty

Carlos Carrasco spent his first 12 full seasons with the Guardians, so it was fitting to see him ink a minor league deal to return to Cleveland this past offseason. Expectations were low, especially after his brutal 2023 campaign with the New York Mets, and the right-hander showed why little was expected of him.

Carrasco wound up making 21 starts for Cleveland, posting a 5.64 ERA in 103.2 innings of work. It was abundantly clear all season that his stuff is nowhere near as good as it once was, and the results showed just that.

The Guardians DFA'd Carrasco in September and he accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Columbus to finish out the regular season. He was left off of Cleveland's postseason roster, obviously, and now, at age 37, it makes no sense to bring him back.

For the Guardians to take a step forward, they'll likely need to bolster their rotation somehow. Their bullpen is elite, but part of why they struggled so much against the Yankees almost certainly had to do with the fact that they were relied upon so heavily to pitch constantly, especially in October. Improving over a pitcher like Carrasco is very easy to accomplish, and must happen for this team to take a step.

2. Matthew Boyd will command more than the Guardians should be willing to pay

The Guardians didn't make a major trade deadline move to bolster their rotation, but they did make a couple of moves that they hoped would pan out. The Alex Cobb trade did not, but the Matthew Boyd signing did.

Boyd was available in free agency after missing much of the 2023 campaign and part of 2024 due to injury, and in his short stint with Cleveland, he showed why, despite some mixed results, the Detroit Tigers believed in him as much as he did. In eight regular season starts for Cleveland, he pitched to a 2.72 ERA, covering 39.2 innings. In the postseason, he allowed a total of one run in 11.2 innings of work covering three starts.

The 33-year-old pitched well in Cleveland, obviously, and will look to cash in on his production. Still, while he pitched well, he totaled just over 50 innings of work combining the regular season and the postseason. He hasn't made more than 15 starts or thrown more than 80 innings in a season since 2019, battling several ailments over the years. For a team as hesitant to spend as Cleveland, shouldn't they want more reliability than what Boyd can provide? The upside is evident, but will he be healthy and productive when it matters?

Bringing Boyd back on the right terms would be great, but the Guardians need more certainty than what Boyd can provide them knowing how weak their rotation is right now.

1. It wouldn't be surprising to see the Guardians trade Josh Naylor

This is the big one. The Guardians shouldn't want to even entertain the idea of trading Josh Naylor, but given the franchise's past, it wouldn't be shocking at all to see him end up in another uniform come Opening Day.

Naylor has blossomed into a star and had the regular season numbers to back it up, as he slashed .243/.320/.456 with 31 home runs and 108 RBI in 152 games played. Trading away that kind of run producer especially after the offense came up small in October would be a bad look, but again, this is the Guardians we're talking about.

The 27-year-old will be in his final year of club control in the 2025 campaign. Sure, the Guardians don't trade every star player on an expiring contract, but do they want another Shane Bieber situation on their hands? Bieber, their ace, was kept this past offseason despite entering his final year of club control and wound up undergoing Tommy John Surgery after making just two starts.

Trading Naylor this offseason ensures that they get a meaningful return for a player that they likely won't pay for in free agency, and the fact that Kyle Manzardo is waiting in the wings might only expedite the process. Naylor is a great player who absolutely should not be traded assuming the Guardians try to compete in 2025, but given the franchise that we're discussing, unfortunately, it cannot be ruled out.