Building bullpen depth a key aim for Guards this winter

The Guardians have a surplus in their starting rotation this offseason after they ended 2025 with a six-man staff. The bullpen is a different story.

Outside of any potential additions to complement a group of up-and-coming hitters and to bolster a lineup that struggled this past season, acquiring bullpen help stands as Cleveland's most pressing need this winter.

“We need depth in the bullpen,” manager Stephen Vogt said at the MLB Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla., this week. “We have four, maybe five guys in our bullpen, and we need eight.

“It’s an area we're addressing for sure.”

In fact, president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti surmised on Tuesday that the bullpen is likely the area Cleveland’s brass has spent the most time on -- not only the past few days, but the past few weeks.

The Guardians have been examining multiple avenues through which they could acquire relievers, whether it be Major League or Minor League free agency, the trade market, the Rule 5 Draft (which is set for Wednesday) or otherwise.

“We’ve spent a lot of time on that,” Antonetti said. “We want to examine all those options and alternatives, and it's a long list of guys. So it takes a lot of time to work through.”

For now, as Vogt alluded to, there are only a handful of guys whom you could likely pencil into the bullpen picture: Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, Erik Sabrowski, Matt Festa and Tim Herrin. The Guardians also signed right-hander Connor Brogdon to a one-year Major League deal last Wednesday, and he will compete for a spot in Spring Training.

The Brogdon signing is only a start, considering half of the relievers from Cleveland’s end-of-season bullpen are no longer in the organization. Jakob Junis, Kolby Allard and Nic Enright are free agents, and Zak Kent was claimed off waivers by the Cardinals on Friday.

The Guardians also have to plan as if they won’t have Emmanuel Clase, who went on non-disciplinary paid leave in July and was federally indicted in November.

By nature, relievers are more volatile year over year. It can make assessing a potential free-agent addition, for example, and what they could contribute more difficult than with other players. And as Antonetti noted, the Guardians don’t merely focus on a guy’s ERA from the previous season.

“You look at a lot of different things,” Antonetti said. “[You look at] a lot of the other underlying components -- what the stuff quality looks like, how well does a guy attack the strike zone. Sometimes it's just even the narrative of what his season was. Did he go through adversity? What was his usage pattern like?”

Put simply, the Guardians are looking for guys who can get outs. What that looks like can evolve over a season, too, as was the case with Junis. He had a good track record in attacking the strike zone, and the Guardians initially envisioned him as a guy who could pitch multiple innings, perhaps even as a spot starter.

Junis ultimately recorded a 2.97 ERA over 57 appearances (all in relief), and he wore a number of hats. He pitched every inning from the third through the 10th, made 14 high leverage appearances and logged 18 outings of more than three outs.

“He did whatever we asked of him. He just wanted to pitch,” Vogt said. “Those guys are invaluable, [guys] that can do a number of different things.”

The Guardians are exploring the various avenues available to find that value.

Among those already on the 40-man roster, Franco Aleman is another potential bullpen option. He had a down 2025 with Triple-A Columbus (7.85 ERA over 37 appearances) following his stellar ’24 campaign (1.99 ERA over 24 appearances), but has great stuff -- including a sinker that approaches triple digits.

Elsewhere, Andrew Walters (the Guardians' No. 20 prospect) is just initiating his buildup following the right lat surgery he underwent in June and will be behind other pitchers in camp.

Trevor Stephan is set to be in camp next spring and is an intriguing bounce-back candidate. Stephan (who had a 3.73 ERA over 180 appearances from 2021-23) was on the comeback trail from March ’24 Tommy John surgery this past season, and Cleveland outrighted him to Columbus on Aug. 15. He will be coming off a normal offseason this time around.

There’s some depth in the organization, but the Guardians are working to add to their mix.

“Our goal,” Antonetti said, “is just trying to find guys that can get outs, ideally outs at meaningful times. But what that looks like can take very different shapes, profiles.”

Anthony Castrovince contributed to this report from Orlando.