The 2024 Cleveland Guardians were nothing like the 2025 edition - at least, not for the vast majority of the campaign. Last year's Guardians were a dominant, but small ball of gas, growing more inevitable by the day. They were powered by an impenetrable bullpen and a thousand cuts. This year's team was dealt body blow after body blow. Their bullpen leaked. Their closer disappeared. Their rotation swapped pieces in and out. And yet, even a 15.5-game AL Central deficit was somehow not enough to kill them.
Depressingly, both seasons, so gleeful at their peaks, have managed to end in the exact same manner: with a Hunter Gaddis meltdown in an essential postseason game.