The idea that the Cleveland baseball team was not seeking to rebuild has always been a farce.
Sure, we bought it the last couple of years because the team was still technically in contention, but narrowly missing the playoffs in 2019 and last year’s flameout — all while the payroll declined year over year — have laid bare the truth of the matter. The team is in full-on rebuild mode now and has been laying the foundation for the rebuild for a while now.
So, coming into 2021 Cleveland was at a crossroads: Keep up the ruse that the team could reload with youth and perpetually contend, or drop the pretense and blow it up.