Coming into 2025, the talk surrounding the Cleveland Guardians was about how cheap ownership was coming off the heels of an ALCS run despite a depleted pitching staff.
Outside of that, however, was how the offense would replace the production of Josh Naylor, who the team sent to Arizona for Slade Cecconi and a competitive balance Round-B pick. Cleveland signed Carlos Santana almost immediately. Santana was coming off a productive platoon season with Minnesota, but with it being a one-year deal and Santana being 39, the answer was clearly short-term. The questions being asked even with Naylor on the roster were always long-term anyways.