5 Guardians on Thin Ice This Offseason

The 2023 World Series is firmly in the rearview, meaning the MLB offseason is officially underway.

The Cleveland Guardians have a lot of work to do this offseason. After coming within one victory of making the 2022 ALCS, the Guardians failed to qualify for the 2023 playoffs by going 76-86, marking their lowest win total in a 162-game slate since the 2012 season (68).

In other words, things must change this offseason if Cleveland doesn't want to begin a playoff drought. That means Mike Chernoff must do whatever it takes to give first-year manager Stephen Vogt the best roster possible, starting with getting rid of the deadweight.

Keeping that in mind, here are five Guardians who are on thin ice this offseason.

1. Zach Plesac

What happened to Zach Plesac's once-promising MLB career?

The 28-year-old showed promise early on during his Guardians tenure, going 22-14 with a 3.93 ERA across 54 starts between 2019 and 2021. Fast forward to the last two seasons where Plesac looks like a completely different player, pitching to a 4-13 record and 4.76 ERA in 30 games (29 starts) since the start of 2022.

Bone-headed injuries could be a key reason why Plesac's development stalled. Between breaking his hand by punching the mound and fracturing his thumb by tearing off his jersey, it isn't crazy to think that he's been his own worst enemy.

Nevertheless, Plesac's career reached a new low this season. After pitching to a 7.59 ERA through five April starts, the Guardians removed him from the 40-man roster before he went unclaimed on waivers. One none of the other 29 teams are willing to take a risk on a one-promising player, something must be wrong.

Whether it's for his poor play or off-field antics, Plesac has become more of a headache than an asset. Maybe it's time to move on before another season-long struggle.