It’s early in the offseason, but when Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff cite trading Cal Quantrill as the reason they could afford Scott Barlow, I can’t help but suspect that Cleveland doesn’t have a lot of money allocated from ownership to spare in pursuit of offense.
Now, maybe the Front Office meant that they are trying to conserve enough money to sign Teoscar Hernandez to a 3 year, $40 million deal. Regardless, whether or not I agree with financial austerity measures because of uncertainty over the TV deal (I do not), I want to try to approach the offseason from a similar perspective as the one I believe the Guardians’ front office shares.