5 Guardians on Thin Ice This Offseason

3. James Karinchak

James Karinchak gained a lot of support by being one of the Guardians' best relievers in 2022. After all, that was the season that the former 2017 ninth-rounder went 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA and 14.3 strikeouts per nine innings, only giving up two HRs all year, too.

But Karinchak was far from that reliable in 2023. Struggling to keep the Guardians in games more often than not, he pitched to a 2-5 record while tallying career worsts in ERA (4.15) and WHIP (1.359) across 44 relief appearances. It didn't help that he was walking opposing batters nearly twice as much as the MLB average (16.4% vs. 8.6%).

It's a pretty big fall from grace from the same player who finished sixth in AL Rookie of the Year voting back in 2020.

Karinchak is under team control through 2026, but he's also 28 and likely is who he is at this point. It's entirely possible that his lights-out 2022 campaign was more of an anamoly than the rule.

At this rate, a fresh start elsewhere might be best for the former Bryant University product.