The Cleveland Guardians need to add a bat this offseason. Preferably someone who can mash home runs and be an overall power threat. The organization used to have someone with that skillset and now they apparently want to return to Progressive Field.
Franmil Reyes posted on Instagram earlier on Thursday of him taking the field in Cleveland with the caption "Only God Can Make It Possible." Clearly, he wants to make an MLB return.
Should the Guardians give him another shot? Does he fix the team's biggest issues?
Franmil can be a 30-home run-a-season type of player. Cleveland fans saw this in 2021 when he hit this many home runs while also posting an OPS+ of 128. Reyes was an elite hitter at his peak and yes, if Franmil can recreate this type of season, he would be an obvious upgrade in Cleveland's lineup.
The slugger is only 28-year-old so it's not entirely outlandish to think that the Franimal could come back and be a productive hitter once again.
The only problem with this is that recency bias is not on Reyes' side. He had a quick stint in 2023 with the division rival Kansas City Royals receiving 65 plate appearances in 19 games. Franmil had a batting average of .186 and an OBP of .231 time with his biggest weakness on full display.
Reyes has always been prone to striking out. Even in the season where he hit 30 homers, Franmil still held a K% Of 32%. He held a K% of 36.9% with the Royals which is way too high to have as a middle-of-the-lineup bat.
There also doesn't appear to be an everyday spot for Reyes either. Josh Naylor was Cleveland's first baseman and designated hitter last year and Kyle Manzardo will (hopefully) be the other half of the tandem in 2024. That fills up the DH position.
Yes, Franmil has played the outfield before, but that doesn't make him a reliable option to play there every day. Reyes has a -12 run value in the 1,420 career innings he's played in the outfield, per Baseball Savant.
It'd be fun to see the Guardians give Franmil a minor-league contract or an invite to Spring Training and prove everyone wrong. I for one would love that!
But anything beyond that doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.
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