CLEVELAND, Ohio — For the Guardians, the 2025 season was like a week worth of walk-off homers in extra innings. It won’t happen again, which is why they need help to pursue their annual but elusive goal of winning a World Series in 2026.

Sticking with the same players, especially on offense, who overcame a major-league record 15 1/2-game deficit in July to win the AL Central on the final day of the season isn’t going to work. When it comes to miracle finishes, it’s usually one to a customer.

More: The Guardians’ biggest goal is a World Series victory: Are they doing enough to get there?

Especially when that customer managed to win a division despite hitting .226, the lowest team batting average in the franchise’s 124-year history. That isn’t supposed to happen once, much less twice.

Prospects, prospects, prospects

It’s clear what the Guardians want. They have a roster loaded with young position players. They want to let them play at the big-league level without a middle-of-the-road free agent blocking their path for a couple of years.

The idea worked with Steven Kwan, who became one of the best left fielders in baseball as a rookie in 2022 after spending the previous season at Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus. Unfortunately, that did not start a trend.

The majority of Guardians position-player prospects who have arrived in the big leagues over the last few years have acted like prospects. Gabriel Arias, Brayan Rocchio, Johnathan Rodriguez and Jhonkensy Noel have bounced between Cleveland and the minors. The same with Kyle Manzardo, although he did hit 27 home runs last season.

Catcher Bo Naylor made his big-league debut in 2022, but has yet to find a consistent swing that will make him an everyday catcher.

Switch-hitting Angel Martinez, who made his big-league debut in 2024, hit 11 homers and drove in 45 runs last season. But he hit only .224 (100 for 446) with 110 strikeouts and was also optioned to Columbus.

C.J. Kayfus, a first baseman and outfielder, made his big-league debut in August. He hit .220 (27 for 123) with 10 doubles, four homers and a .707 OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage).

Chase DeLauter, Travis Bazzana and George Valera are the next wave of prospects. DeLauter and Valera made their debuts last season, with DeLauter’s coming in the wild card series against Detroit. Bazzana was the No. 1 overall pick in 2024, but for now all three have made more news with their injuries than anything they’ve done on the field.

What the Guardians have is a collection of young players who can play multiple positions based on who is pitching for the other team. It helps the organization control payroll, but it’s hard to determine how good they are or will be.

Besides All-Stars Jose Ramirez and Kwan, even their more experienced players such as David Fry and Daniel Schneemann can bounce all over the diamond. Versatility is a good thing, especially for a team that uses the platoon advantage as much as the Guardians, but it also prevents players from getting regular at-bats, which is essential in becoming better hitters.

Hitters wanted

What the Guardians desperately need are one or two experienced hitters to pair with Ramirez and Kwan. If they hit right-handed, so much the better because of Cleveland’s predominantly left-handed hitting lineup, but the Guardians have never been known to turn away an available left-handed hitter.

The top hitters on the free agent market are Kyle Schwarber, Kyle Tucker, Pete Alonso, Cody Bellinger and Alex Bregman. The small-market Guardians can’t afford to shop in their aisle.

Still, it was interesting to see former Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor sign a five-year contract with Seattle for $92.5 million to start this winter’s free agent signing period on Nov. 15.

Naylor ended the 2024 season with the Guardians. They traded him to Arizona last December rather than let him play his fifth and final year in Cleveland before he became a free agent. The Diamondbacks traded him to Seattle where he helped the Mariners win the AL West and reach Game 7 of the ALCS before losing to Toronto and filing for free agency.

Guardians payroll for 2026

The average annual value of Naylor’s deal is $18.5 million. Would the Guardians consider signing a hitter to a similar contract this winter? During spring training in 2023, they signed Andrés Giménez to a seven-year $106.7 million extension, so it wouldn’t be new ground for the front office.

Guardians ownership should have some financial flexibility.

In the last four years, they have won three AL Central titles, played in 20 postseason games and drawn over 2 million fans in consecutive years for the first time since 2007 and 2008.

Cleveland, at the moment, has just over $40 million committed to seven players for 2026. Their 26-man payroll is expected to be similar to last season’s opening-day total of $100 million, which ranked 26 out of 30 teams.

The total includes $6.4 million to closer Emmanuel Clase, though his ability to collect that salary is uncertain due to a federal indictment on gambling and fraud charges and an ongoing MLB investigation.

They also owe $3.5 million to right-hander Trevor Stephan, who is on the Columbus roster and $1 million to Myles Straw, who is now playing in Toronto.

Despite the limited payroll, the Guardians can’t afford to sit on their hands this winter. They certainly didn’t do that last year when they signed free agents Shane Bieber (two years, $26 million), Carlos Santana (one year, $12 million), Paul Sewald (one year, $7 million), Jakob Junis (one year, $4.5 million deal) and catcher Austin Hedges (one year, $4 million).

On the trade front, they acquired pitchers Slade Cecconi and Luis Ortiz. Cecconi arrived from Arizona for Naylor, while Ortiz, indicted in the same federal case as Clase, came from the Pirates.

Last winter, the Guardians were intent on improving their pitching staff. The work they did paid dividends. This winter they need to have the same resolve toward improving the offense.

While the elite free-agent hitters may be out of their reach, several hitters in the lower tiers are still unsigned. Here are three who could help.

• CF Harrison Bader, 31: He played for the Twins and Phillies last season, hitting .277 (124 for 448) with 17 homers and 54 RBI. He’s a right-handed hitter with pop, who could help the Guardians add production in center field.
• INF Jorge Polanco, 32: The Guardians know all about the switch-hitting Polanco from his years with the Twins. Last season he hit .264 (125 for 524) with 26 homers and 78 RBI with Seattle. He’s not the best defender, but he would help the offense.
• 1B Paul Goldschmidt, 38: He got off to a hot start with the Yankees last season, but faded. Goldschmidt, a right-handed hitter, hit .336 (50 for 149) with seven homers and 16 RBI against left-handers last season. The Guardians struggled against lefties last year.

There are other hitters on the market. The Guardians may also be able to find offensive help through trades. They do not part easily with their young players because they realize that they represent the future of the organization.

But if they can’t improve the offense through free agency, they don’t have a choice. No doubt, some of their young hitters will improve in 2026, but some will plateau and others will regress. That’s what prospects do.

Pitching-wise, the Guardians could use some depth in the rotation and another durable arm in the bullpen. But the focus has to be on the offense.