The Guardians reached agreement with all seven of their players eligible for arbitration before it got to the point where an arbitrator had to side with either the player or the club. Compromise is always the best solution.
Here is the list of the seven players with new contracts, showing what they made in 2023 and what they will make in 2024:
• Pitcher Shane Bieber: $10.1 million in 2023, $13,125,000 in 2024.
• Pitcher Triston McKenzie: $739,000, $1.6 million.
• First baseman/DH Josh Naylor: $3.35 million, $6.5 million.
• Reliever Scott Barlow: $5.3 million, $6,7 million.
• Reliever James Karinchack: $1,5 million, $1.9 million.
• Reliever Sam Hentges: $730,200, $1.162,500.
• Reliever Nick Sandlin: $726,000, $1,075,000.
The increases total $9,617,300. Perhaps now that he has that figure in mind, president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti will know how much if any he can spend to acquire a bat to add some power to the Guardians’ anemic outfield.
Randal Grichuk, 32, hit 16 home runs and drove in 44 runs for the Rockies and Angels in 434 at-bats in 2023. Grichuk is a free agent. He’ll never be confused with Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, but 16 homers is four more than the Guardians’ starting outfield of Steve Kwan (five), Will Brennan (five) and Myles Straw (1), combined for in 1,532 at-bats last season.
Antonetti during a wrapup news conference at the end of the 2023 season said he wants more production from center field and right field. He is content to leave Kwan in left field. He especially wants more from center field. Straw is an excellent defender, but he hit a paltry .238 and drove in 29 runs in 147 games.
Straw walked 42 times and struck out 97 times. Striking out more than twice as many times as he walked for a hitter with zero power is unacceptable. To compare, Jose Ramirez walked 73 times and struck out 73 times. He led the team with 24 home runs. Josh Naylor led the Guardians with 97 RBI. He was very disciplined at the plate. He batted a team-best .308 and struck out 68 times. He drew 33 walks.
