Cleveland's ideal Winter Meetings checklist

This story was excerpted from Mandy Bell’s Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

For the first time since 2019, baseball executives will once again be able to gather in one building for three days in person, hoping that conversations or ideas they’ve had over the previous weeks can suddenly pick up steam.

Officials for all 30 teams will begin rolling into San Diego this weekend before Winter Meetings get underway on Monday. And now, the Guardians have some pressure of having expectations to build on a surprisingly successful 2022 season.

Entering this year, the club decided to rely on its young talent, stuck to a payroll that was the lowest in the AL Central and leaned on the AL Manager of the Year Terry Francona to turn a rebuilding season into a 92-win journey that lasted all the way until Game 5 of the ALDS.

That strategy worked in 2022, but now fans are ready to see this team build on its solid foundation. How can the Winter Meetings help with that? Let’s take a look at the ideal checklist for Cleveland:

1. Make progress on acquiring a catcher
A deal doesn’t need to be done in San Diego to make this a successful trip. The Guardians can utilize this time to allow whatever plan they’ve been concocting to continue stewing. The team has been tied to Sean Murphy and Alejandro Kirk -- both of whom would be acquired via trade. Being able to have quicker in-person conversations with the Oakland or Toronto front offices could help Cleveland make headway in boosting the production it’s received behind the plate.

If all else fails, the team has already said it’s open to a reunion with free agent Austin Hedges. He may be an excellent leader for a pitching staff with above-average defense, but the Guardians need to first look for some extra offensive help.

2. Determine the best route to boost the lineup
Speaking of extra offensive help …

Part of what made this team so successful this year was its understanding that its identity couldn’t be swinging for the fences. The young group of inexperienced rookies with underwhelming power (finishing with the second-fewest homers in the Majors) made the most of base hits and exceptional baserunning to stay in the win column. But that doesn’t mean that has to remain the Guardians’ calling card.

The easiest area to add some pop to the offense would be first base, finding a right-handed slugger who could platoon with Josh Naylor, who hit a mere .173 with a .512 OPS against lefty hurlers this season. Maybe a free agent like Trey Mancini could fill that void. Maybe the team can figure out a trade to help the offense. But the next few days can help determine which path is the best to take to better this team in 2023.

3. Figure out what’s best for coaching help
Suddenly, the Guardians are down a pair of coaches heading into next season. On Thursday, the Royals announced that they hired former Cleveland bullpen coach Brian Sweeney as their pitching coach. Sweeney had been the Guardians’ pitching coach since 2020 and was praised constantly for his innate ability to relate to players and not only create an effective game plan based on his knowledge with analytics, but break it down for his relievers in a way that was easy to understand.

The Guardians have watched two pitching gurus in Ruben Niebla and Sweeney leave the organization for pitching coach roles the past two offseasons and the club -- which is loaded with a strong player development staff -- will now need to determine who will take Sweeney’s spot.

Just moments after Sweeney was announced in Kansas City, Cleveland lost Justin Toole, the team’s former hitting analyst, who was hired by Seattle as its director of player development.

Whether the Guardians decide to fill these vacancies with internal staffers or by looking outside the organization is unknown. However, it’s now another decision the front office will have to make in the near future.