Cleveland Guardians Hire Former Cy Young Winner Corey Kluber as Special Assistant

After getting drafted by the San Diego Padres in 2007, Kluber was traded to Cleveland in 2010. He made his big league debut in 2011, and became a staple in the starting rotation by 2013.

Kluber was one of the most accomplished pitchers in baseball from 2014 to 2018. In that span, he finished seasons atop the league leaderboards in wins, winning percentage, ERA, WHIP, ERA+, FIP, innings pitched, complete games, shutouts, hits allowed per nine innings, walks allowed per nine innings and strikeout-to-walk ratio.

On top of winning AL Cy Young in 2014 and 2017, Kluber also placed third for the honor in 2016 and 2018 and earned a ninth-place finish in 2015. Kluber had a 2.85 ERA, 1.016 WHIP and 10.1 strikeouts per innings across those five seasons, averaging 17 wins, 246 strikeouts and a 6.4 WAR each year.

Injuries caught up with Kluber as he entered his mid-30s, as he made just seven starts in 2019 and one in 2020, at which point he had been traded to the Rangers. After working his way back up to 16 starts with the Yankees in 2021 and 31 with the Rays in 2022, Kluber once again crumbled in 2023 after joining the Red Sox.

Kluber finished what turned out to be his final MLB season at 3-6 with a 7.04 ERA, 1.636 WHIP and -0.8 WAR. He made nine starts and six relief appearances before getting sent down the minors and falling victim to more injuries.

For his career, Kluber went 116-77 with a 3.44 ERA, 1.129 WHIP, 1,725 strikeouts and a 34.0 WAR. The righty racked up $85.6 million in career earnings.

As he set out to do upon his retirement, Kluber now has a chance to pass down his knowledge to the next generation of pitchers. With Shane Bieber, Ben Lively and John Means all on the injured list, Cleveland doesn't have a single active starting pitcher over the age of 26.

The Guardians drafted Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Logan Allen and Doug Nikhazy after Kluber had left the organization, while Luis L. Ortiz still hasn't cleared 300.0 career innings between his time in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Kluber could very well help usher in the next generation of Guardians starters, all while the banged-up squad remains in contention atop the AL Central.