Cleveland Guardians Over/Under Win Total Bet Picks

The Cleveland Indians have officially become the Cleveland Guardians after the end of last season. They currently have the longest championship drought in all of baseball but will be hoping to work towards a new future with their new name and logo.

The Guardians appear to be in a rebuild mode and are hoping to build their new franchise around Jose Ramirez and Shane Bieber. Guardians’ fans should expect just that in win totals this year, as well, as the MLB lockout has ended and Spring Training is beginning.

Let’s take a look ahead at the 2022 MLB season and what it looks like for the Guardians in 2022.

Odds

The Guardians are projected to win right around 77 games this season. The issue with this number is that it will heavily depend on if the Guardians will keep Jose Ramirez. Ramirez being traded from the team would significantly impact the amount of wins that the Guardians would have this season.

The odds to bet the over or the under on 76.5 games won this season by the Guardians is -110. I think you need to bet the under on this due to the fact that Ramirez may not be with the team for the full season, depending on how big the Guardians organization want to rebuild.

Guardians Payroll

One reason that their expected win total is so low is due to how little their payroll is compared to other MLB teams. It currently sits at a measly $35.6 million, which ranks third to last, just in front of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles.

They spent a record $135 million on their payroll in 2018, which was a franchise record with players like Francisco Lindor, but couldn’t win the World Series or afford to keep Lindor with that size of payroll. This is likely due to the ownership forcing the front office to forgo some of their key players to reduce their overall costs and increase the revenue for the team.

If the team isn’t winning in a smaller market like Cleveland, ownership will not be able to keep key players around since it is a business. Fans and the team look down greatly on these owners during these times because they feel as if the owners are being greedy and putting their money above the success of the team for the city.

Conclusion

Sadly, for Guardians fans, a rebuild period in baseball takes a good 3-5 years to amount to anything, and that may not even be enough. For a team that just got a new name and logo, it will not be an easy time to be a fan. 

Ownership has made it clear that they are refocusing the team towards young talent, and their moves to lower the payroll may not even be done with the rumors of a Ramirez trade. Guardians fans will be hoping for any hope from the upper management that they are working to put a team on the field, now, that can win for the city of Cleveland.

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