I have tried to make sense of the Guardians trading their cleanup hitter after an ALCS appearance and only adding a 39 year old to replace him and I've come up with this simple answer: "Yes, Virginia, the Guardians believe there is a Santa Claus."
When you think about Jhonkensy "Big Christmas" Noel's 2024, you can neither dismiss his 162 wRC+ from June-August nor can you pretend his 0 wRC+ in the month of September never happened. You can't ignore his incredible homer in game three of the ALCS or hand wave his 8 strikeouts in 24 plate appearances during the Guardians' playoff run.