All-Time MLB Teams Pt. 3: Cleveland Guardians
Today we have the Cleveland Guardians!
Rotation
Bob Feller
Bob Lemon
Corey Kluber
Sam McDowell
Early Wynn
As you might be able to imagine, Cleveland’s starting rotation will be putting in a lot of quality innings for them. The staff begins with its unquestioned ace and one of the best pitchers in MLB history, Bob Feller. Following him, the always-solid Bob Lemon and Corey Kluber come in at two and three, respectively. Both were fairly easy choices to make here, as Lemon is often considered to be the second-best pitcher in franchise history, and Kluber was simply dominant during his stint in Cleveland. Sam McDowell comes in after him, and I was very surprised to see how consistently great he was throughout his lengthy career—definitely deserves more respect when talking about the greatest pitchers of the 60s and 70s. Finally, the rotation wraps up with Early Wynn, a Hall of Famer who dominated alongside Feller and Lemon in the 50s.
Lineup/Bench
Kenny Lofton, CF
Jose Ramirez, 3B
Jim Thome, 1B
Manny Ramirez, RF
Albert Belle, LF
Victor Martinez, C
Lou Boudreau, SS
Larry Doby, DH
Nap Lajoie, 2B
Bench:
INF: Francisco Lindor, Al Rosen
OF: Earl Averill, Tris Speaker
C: Sandy Alomar
As for the offense, most of it was relatively easy to fill out as well. Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, and Albert Belle all felt like no-brainers at their respective positions, and those three especially offer a ton of power for the offense. I had to go with Lou Boudreau as the starting shortstop due to his legendary status, but Francisco Lindor is first off the bench. However, I decided to give the nod at third to Jose Ramirez over Al Rosen. Deciding what to do with center field was easily the hardest decision to make, but I decided to give Kenny Lofton the start due to his speed and defensive abilities. That means Tris Speaker is moved to the bench, however Larry Doby stays in the starting lineup as the DH. I was tempted to insert a more traditional DH in Travis Hafner into the lineup, but I didn’t want to kick Averill off the team, who actually had decent power for an older player. Overall, I think Cleveland’s lineup has nice depth and variety, and they’ll be led by their outfield both offensively and defensively.
Bullpen
Cody Allen, CL
Andrew Miller
Doug Jones
Jose Mesa
Ray Narleski
Rafael Betancourt
Bob Wickman
Dave LaRoche
The bullpen utilizes more modern arms, with Cody Allen and Andrew Miller being two of the recent shutdown relievers to pitch for Cleveland. Mesa and Jones both had a few elite years with the team as well, and Ray Narleski, Rafael Betancourt, and Bob Wickman round out a fairly easy-to-decide bullpen squad. The only trouble I had was with the last spot, which I ended up giving to Dave LaRoche, despite him spending most of his career with the California Angels. I had to give him the spot though, as he was simply amazing during his short tenure with the Guardians—it was easily the best few years of his career. I was very tempted to include James Karinchak here, however.