Cleveland Guardians: Three Things That Need to Happen Now

40-42. Swept by the Cardinals. 3-7 in their last ten games. -47 run differential. The list goes on and on.

Unfortunately, the severe ramblings and evaluations on X are not translating from the fans to the players or coaches. No fight. No emotion. Lifeless at-bats.

They want us to be patient. They want us to "trust in their guys". Time is running thin, however. Not for the season - but to decide whether this season will end up being a "gap" year before competing again in 2026. So, what needs to be changed right now? 

Play Nolan Jones Everyday

I know this might sound crazy coming from me; but it is just the truth. 

Jones is hitting .248 since May 1st. His OPS since May 25th is .756. 

Guardians' manager Stephen Vogt must stop with the platooning shenanigans. They just aren't working. Young players cannot develop and get into any kind of groove only seeing one side of the mound. With young outfield prospects knocking on the door, it's now or never to play Jones every single day to see if there is legitimately something that needs to be said about advanced metrics such as exit velocity.

Trade/Release Carlos Santana

Who doesn't love Los? 

Fan favorite and Cleveland lover - this one might be a harder pill to swallow, especially coming from a player-friendly organization. 

It's clear as day Kyle Manzardo needs every single look defensively he can get at first base so he doesn't look like a little leaguer out there anymore. He also needs every day at-bats. If David Fry is going to stay on this roster, all he can do is DH. Great. Another logjam and I we didn't even mention CJ Kayfus yet. Santana's .486 OPS since June 1st is just not worth it given their current situation.

There is plenty of love to go around in the fanbase for Carlos Santana, but it is beyond time to fix what was a bad baseball move in bringing him back in the first place.

Call Up Either Chase DeLauter/CJ Kayfus

Beggars can't be choosers - trust me, I get it.

All I'm asking for is one of DeLauter/Kayfus. 

We all know Chase DeLauter - and most of us have known him for longer than one week. I could go on and on about why he deserves to be up here, but we can let his .282 AVG and .902 OPS do the talking. DeLauter has also managed to get on base in every single Clippers game he has appeared in this season. Every single one. It's beyond time. 

Kayfus is another big-time prospect rotting in AAA in the Guardians organization. His minor league line this year is a whopping .319/.414/.988 and it seems like as of late he's hitting a grand slam every other day. 

If the goal truly is to go all in and compete in 2026, wouldn't you want to get them as much big league experience this year as possible, even if they struggle? I digress, for now. The messages being sent from the top down to Vogt on the field scream that they aren't trying to win. Weird, however, considering they made it all the way to the ALCS last year.

Was it luck? Fate? Expected? Who knows. All we know for now is that 2025 is getting away from them quick, and they need to make changes now before it completely unravels.