How The Cleveland Guardians Escape Spending Shame

Before the start of the 2022 season, the Cleveland Guardians signed star third-baseman Jose Ramirez to their largest contract in franchise history, extending him for five years at $124 million.

Even though the baseball world feels as though Ramirez has been undervalued in his new deal (ranking 36th in total value, 26th in AAV), it is actually their largest contract in franchise history. And not by a small margin.

Prior to Ramirez’s deal, Edwin Encarnacion being signed for $60 million was the team’s largest signing.

In fact, excluding Ramirez’s earnings this year, the Guardians payroll would drop from 28th-most in the MLB to 2-million above the last spot in the league, according to SportsTrac.

But being at the bottom of the list in terms of league-wide payroll is nothing new for the Guardians, as over the last 4 years, Cleveland has represented a bottom-third team in terms of spending.

But, why don’t we hear about them in the same tone as teams like the Baltimore Orioles or Oakland Athletics?

For one, the team does not play to the level of their payroll.

Player Development

After the extension, Ramirez and Bryan Shaw are the only two players on the Guardians roster that are not in arbitration or pre-arbitration years. For comparison, the 2022 top spenders (Los Angeles Dodgers) have 14.

Of this young roster (average age of 26.8), seven of their 14 pitchers in 2021 posted an ERA+ 100 or higher.

Although there were only three hitters with an OPS+ of 100 or better, this was enough for them to fall just one game shy of a .500 season, at 80-82.

The only team to spend less than them last year? The Baltimore Orioles, who finished 52-110 while spending just $8 million less.

The Guardians are one of the best teams at developing pitching, which has been enough to keep them treading water since their decrease in spending.

So, without a constant reminder of the team’s lack of talent due to a strong farm system, Cleveland has been playing with house money when it comes to the success of the franchise.

Divisional Opponents

Another way the media does not bring up the Guardians when questioning their payroll is because of the lack of an outlier in the AL Central.

This season, their divisional foes’ payroll spending is as follows. Chicago White Sox at 15th, Minnesota Twins at 17th, Kansas City Royals at 21st, and the Detroit Tigers at 24th.

While the rest of these teams may have made some acquisitions during the free agency frenzy following the lockout, the White Sox (10-1 to win the World Series) find themselves as the only team above the MLB average.

This is why an East coast team like the Orioles or a West coast franchise like the A’s see more of this ridicule on a national scale, especially when both of them are surrounded by teams in their division who have shown recently they are not afraid to sign larger contracts.

Recovering from the COVID-19 Season

While the spending was already on a downward trend for the previous two seasons, the COVID-19 pandemic really accelerated the trajectory.

The shortened 2020 season was a hit for just about every team, but the lower you are on the list of local television contracts, the bigger of an impact no fans in attendance truly is.

Even though they made the postseason, Guardians President Chris Antonetti stated in a press conference, “On the team level, the losses are in the tens of millions of dollars.”

The Dolan family, majority-owners of the Guardians, are valued as the 7th-wealthiest owners in the MLB in terms of net worth. That being said, considering the family sold their cable television company Cablevision on Long Island in 2016, the Guardians have become one of, if not the top income source for the family.

While the value of the team has appreciated 258% since purchasing in 2000 (according to LA Times), we have seen that most teams that utilize the franchise as their primary income were hesitant to spend in the 2021 season.

From the looks of the 2022 payroll as we enter the second week of the MLB season, it does not seem as though that is going to change.

But, positive roads may be ahead for the spending of the Gaurdians’ front office. According to Craig Edwards of Fangraphs in 2020, the Guardians are in the final year of their 10-year, $400 million contract with Bally Sports.

As television deals significantly impact the amount of spending per Major League franchise, it is safe to assume that after another year of staying under the Competitive Tax threshold, a new deal presumably on the way, and a young roster with years of team control, the Guardians may be a landing spot for some larger-tier free agents in 2023.