5 Guardians Leaving Cleveland in the New Year
By Joe Summers
3. Daniel Norris - RP
If the Guardians planned to bring Norris back, they likely would have by now. Frankly, they shouldn't want him back given his struggles the last couple of years.
Norris had a 5.68 ERA with the Guardians in limited appearances, giving up three home runs and walking 12 batters in 12.2 innings of relief work. He was once a reliable arm out of the bullpen, but his high walk rate and poor advanced metrics don't paint an optimistic picture about what he'll be moving forward.
Daniel Norris earns a salary of more than $3 million as a baseball player, and while many of his teammates live in big mansions and drive luxury cars, he drives and sleeps in his van. Many wonder what he does with all that money... but, for him, the answer is very simple. pic.twitter.com/t8f8o0gz4m
— lajong11 (@lajong11) December 26, 2023
Norris is certainly an interesting character, so he'll be missed in that sense. I'd rather have a quality player than a fun story, though, and the Guardians will be better served finding a higher-upside reliever to support a promising group of starters.
Emmanuel Clase can still be one of MLB's premier closers. Find the right guys in supporting roles and get a bounce-back year from Sam Hentges and Eli Morgan, then you're really cooking with gas.