Don’t Look Now But The Guardians Are The Hottest Team In Baseball And Definitely Better Than Your Favorite Team
The Guardians have a roster full of guys you have never heard of before, a name and branding you probably find goofy as hell, and an MVP candidate who packs dips bigger than the baseballs he mashes on a nightly basis. They have won six straight series and after last night’s thrilling extra innings win, they are now in first place in the AL Central and are the hottest god damn team in baseball.
You might say June baseball can’t feel like the playoffs, but just watch the reactions when soon-to-be All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase gets this save on a deep fly last night. This young team knows just how big these games are.
“But Will, the Yankees are 17-3 in their last 20 games and the Guardies are only 16-4!” Oh yeah, well numbers are for nerds so fuck off. Besides, the Yankees have lost 2 of their last 3 and have a payroll that is slightly higher than the Guardos…and by slightly I mean $193 Million more.
Also, the Yankees and their dirtbag fans come to Cleveland next week so we can settle this on the field. Don’t expect our fans to shower the field with garbage like those classless chumps did in the Bronx either. Us Clevelanders would NEVER do something like that at a sporting event. It is beneath us and quite frankly you should be ashamed of yourselves.
But back to the hottest team in the majors. The craziest part about this is no one saw it coming, not even the Guardians themselves. During the offseason the front office went after some premier relievers but when those deals fell through they basically decided they would just see what they have in the young guns and play for next season.
According to Spotrac, the Guardians spent a total of $3.9 Million on free agents this offseason, the second lowest figure in the majors behind only the lowly A’s. What front office spends that small amount of cash to bolster their roster if they think they have any realistic shot at competing?
That’s like me taking Margot Robbie on a date to Taco Bell and thinking I have a chance to smash. Not only am I saying I know I definitely won’t get any but I don’t mind the shit that is going to come along with that decision.
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In an era where teams are willing to trade strikeouts for home runs, the Guards have the third fewest dingers in the majors and the fewest strikeouts. The front office looked at everyone zigging and had the balls to zag. And it’s paying off. They are legitimately a power bat and reliever away from serious contention and that help might be on the way.
Last week David Blitzer bought in as a minority owner and should provide an influx of cash for Cleveland to be buyers at the trade deadline. With a legit MVP candidate in Jose Ramirez, some fresh skrilla in their pocket, and a farm system loaded with talent the sky is the limit on who they could go out and make a deal for.
And for once the organization doesn’t seem to be hanging on to players at the major league level just to delay the clock on thier younger talent. This week alone they DFA’d Oscar Mercado and moved Bo Naylor, who seems to be the catcher of the future, up to AAA. Those are moves that in the past would have come two months too late.
We dove deep into all this on the latest episode of the Pound Town Podcast. Give it a listen and a follow so the powers that be don’t DFA my ass.
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Logic would say the Guardians can’t stay this hot forever but I am going to enjoy this while it lasts. And with a legitimate path to improving this roster on the horizon you better get used to seeing that goofy flying G baseball logo because it seems destined for the postseason.