Cleveland Guardians bucking fan perception with extensions

The Cleveland Guardians continue their run of extensions.

When Jose Ramirez signed a new deal with the Cleveland Guardians, many were over the moon, but some were mad that it was too little. The Guards have been accused of not spending money since the Dolans took over the team in 2000, but that’s always been a false narrative. The fanbase has really hit on this obnoxious mistruth a lot over the last three seasons, but with the Ramirez extension, that seems to have gotten some of the more notable people to stop the misguided dogma.

And if the Ramirez extension didn’t, the fact that the Guardians just gave Myles Straw a five-year extension and closer Emmanuel Clase to a five-year extension as well, is proof that the Guardians are in fact investing in their team. They’re just not going to throw money at over-valued free agents. That’s fine by me.

Depending on how the deal with Straw breaks down, he’ll be under contract until he’s at least 32, with the deal likely expiring in 2028. Clase’s deal will see Clase under contract for at least the following six seasons, not expected to see free agency until he’s 30.

The Guardians have always been known as a team to try and retain their pieces

Jim Thome, Francisco Lindor, Travis Hafner, Jose Ramirez, Grady Sizemore, Corey Kluber, and so many others have been offered and/or agreed to new deals since the Dolans have owned the team. The times they couldn’t get a deal done, the player in question never lived up to the contract he got.

Thome was replaced by Ryan Howard after just two years after he left Cleveland for Philadelphia and while he had some good years after Cleveland, he never had a season that warranted his then-massive $85 million deal. The Guardians gave him a deal worth $60 million.

Thome left, not for the money, but because he thought the Phillies were closer to a World Series. Thome would not be on a club that won 90 games until 2009. Two years after the Guards would go to the ALCS and mount a 3-1 lead over the Boston Red Sox.

That was a team that had Kenny Lofton on int. One can only imagine what that team would’ve looked like had Thome been part of the team, hitting behind or in front of Travis Hafner.

While we can lament the past, the fact is the Guards are now in a position to lock up Shane Bieber and maybe make a play for another top-tier guy via trade. The Guardians don’t sign free agents, they’re more likely to trade for a guy, and that may be what ends up happening this season.