Guardians Planning To Raise Payroll, Exploring Rotation Market

The Guardians are planning to increase payroll for the 2027 season and have been exploring the market to add starting pitching, reports Zack Meisel of The Athletic. Jon Heyman of the New York Post, meanwhile, reports that Cleveland has some interest in left-handed reliever Tim Hill, who’s spent the past two and a half seasons with the Yankees but reached the open market at season’s end. A payroll increase is a welcome development for Guards fans, though there’s really nowhere to go but up. Cleveland opened the 2026 season with a payroll around $75MM, and that’s before factoring in José Ramírez’s $10MM in deferred salary or the $6MM salary that closer Emmanuel Clase didn’t collect while spending time on the restricted list during the ongoing federal probe into his gambling/pitch-rigging scandal. President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti didn’t provide a specific number to Meisel but did explicitly state payroll would increase. Much of that will be natural. Tanner Bibee’s five-year contract calls for his salary to jump from $4MM to $7MM. More notably, Cleveland has a sizable 13-player arbitration class. Key players like Steven Kwan, Gavin Williams, Cade Smith, Brayan Rocchio and deadline pickup are due particularly significant raises. Kwan and Adell are projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to cost a combined $20.9MM. Williams, Smith and Rocchio are all arb-eligible for the first time. They’ll go from costing Cleveland under $3MM combined to a projected $13.4MM. Cleveland’s arb class has some non-tender candidates, but they’re all on the lower end of the pay scale. The 13-player group checks in at a combined $48.7MM. Even with a few small-scale subtractions, that arb class is going to cost them more than $40MM, barring a trade. Antonetti has already downplayed the idea of trading Kwan, stating late last month that “as we sit here today, we’re expecting Steven Kwan to be a big part of a contending team next year.” Other clubs will surely inquire and try to change their minds, however, recognizing Cleveland’s perennially small payroll and frequent trades of players as they near the end of their club control window (e.g. Francisco Lindor, Corey Kluber, Josh Naylor). With or without a notable trade from the arbitration class, Cleveland’s roster is organically becoming more expensive — even before any holes are addressed. Cleveland saw Foster Griffin, Nathaniel Lowe, Rhys Hoskins and Austin Hedges all reach free agency at season’s end. That creates some needs at first base and backup catcher, even if the organization expects top prospect Ralphy Velazquez to debut in 2027 and take most of the at-bats at first base, which is likely the case. Most notably, Griffin’s departure opens a hole in a rotation that somewhat deceptively lacks depth. Cleveland managed to make it through the 2026 season with virtually no injuries on the starting staff. Williams, Bibee, Joey Cantillo and Rookie of the Year runner-up Parker Messick all made 30-plus starts. Slade Cecconi made 21 starts and gave way to Griffin when he was acquired at the deadline. Making it through an entire season with not only nearly flawless health but also average-or-better results from all five members of a rotation is borderline impossible in today’s game. The fact that Cleveland was able to achieve that rarity in 2026 played a huge role in their division title, but no team can bank on that level of health and performance in two consecutive seasons. The Guardians’ impeccable health in 2026 was crucial, given the surprising lack of MLB-ready depth in the upper minors. We’ve come to expect Cleveland will churn out quality pitchers on a near-annual basis, but injuries have depleted the top end of the Guardians’ crop of starting pitchers. Khal Stephen underwent UCL surgery this past season. Daniel Espino, once the top pitching prospect in the sport, was finally able to debut after missing nearly three full seasons due to injury, but he pitched all of 52 innings between Triple-A and the majors last year. It’s hard to know what to expect from him this year. Depth starters Logan Allen, Austin Peterson and Yorman Gomez all posted ERAs between 4.41 and 4.72 in Triple-A. The rotation right now currently projects to include Williams, Messick, Bibee, Cantillo and Allen. The latter two are out of minor league options. Cantillo is locked into a spot, but Allen could be used in a swing role or could be traded or even jettisoned from the 40-man roster. Cleveland shouldn’t be expected to spend at the top of the market, but lower-cost veterans are abundant within this year’s free agent class and the trade market isn’t lacking for lower-salaried starters. Meisel notes that Antonetti didn’t expressly rule out a reunion with Griffin, but his cost seems like it’ll probably be prohibitive. Even if he falls shy of the three-year, $39MM contract predicted by MLBTR on our annual Top 50 free agent rankings, Griffin seems like a lock to command a multi-year deal with an annual value north of $10MM. As MLBTR’s Contract Tracker shows, the only time Cleveland has signed a free agent starter to a multi-year deal in the past two decades is when they re-signed Shane Bieber a couple offseasons ago. As for other needs, Heyman’s mention of Hill suggests an interest in bringing some cost-efficient relief help aboard. Whether that needs to be left-handed, specifically, isn’t clear just yet — but the team has already scooped up lefty Antoine Kelly on a minor league deal. Hill, 37 this winter, is coming off a down season that saw him record a 4.60 ERA in 58 2/3 innings. The soft-tossing side-armer yielded a career-worst 1.84 homers per nine frames with the Yankees in 2026. However, he’s the game’s premier ground-ball reliever (68.8% in ’26) and regularly avoids hard contact with his sidearm delivery and is all but impossible for opposing lefties to hit. Meisel suggests Cleveland could also pursue a right-handed bat to mix in at first base and designated hitter. David Fry is on the roster as one such option but could be a non-tender candidate after hitting just .201/.313/.364 in 2026. Paul Goldschmidt is the top lefty-mashing first base/DH on the market who could be had in a part-time capacity and within Cleveland’s typical price range. The trade market could include Andrew Vaughn or change-of-scenery candidates like Mark Vientos or Jake Burger.