Last year, the Cleveland Guardians spent most of the season hanging around the middle of the pack. Sure, they went on a couple runs and had one huge swoon in July, but they spent most of the season hovering around .500 — which led to them hanging around the middle of most publication’s power rankings.
But then that changed at the end of the season when the Guardians finished the season with a 20-7 September that pushed them to their second-straight American League Central title.
But all of the momentum they gained as a part of that wild run has disappeared over the past three months thanks to a quiet offseason that’s been limited to signing some relievers to cheap deals.