Cleveland Guardians Should Have Seen This Massive Bust Coming

The Cleveland Guardians have been decent enough over the first month of the season, as they are right there with the Detroit Tigers for the AL Central lead, as many expected.

However, it's pretty clear that the Guardians have some significant holes, and it's not just limited to their shaky starting rotation.

Cleveland also has a very wobbly offense, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise seeing as how its lineup was pretty maddening last year, and that was with Josh Naylor on the squad.

But now, Naylor is gone, as the Guardians traded him for a confounding return back in December. And who did they bring in to replace the All-Star first baseman? None other than Carlos Santana.

Cleveland fans are very familiar with Santana, who is now participating in his third go-around with the franchise. The difference is that in his first couple of stints with the Guardians, Santana was legitimately a very solid hitter. Heck, he made an All-Star appearance with Cleveland in 2019.

This season, however, Santana has struggled mightily, slashing .219/.300/.295 with two home runs and seven RBI. He has just four extra-base his in total on the year.

But should we really be shocked? Santana turned 39 years old earlier this month, and while he did hit 23 homers for the Minnesota Twins last season, he hit .238 with a very average .749 OPS. He last tabbed a .750 OPS with the Guardians in 2019 (.911).

The Guardians signed Santana to a one-year contract, hoping he would represent a passable stopgap for Naylor. Trading Naylor was part of Cleveland's modus operandi. The 27-year-old is set to hit free agency after this season, and the Guardians did not want to pay him.

But honestly, Cleveland should have had a better contingency plan in place, because Santana simply isn't cutting it at the plate this season.

Will Santana's OPS remain under .600 all year long? Probably not, but it's hard to imagine the Dominican native suddenly breaking out. He's almost 40 years old. His best days are clearly behind him. The Guardians should have known this could have happened.

Cleveland will almost surely remain in contention in the division race due to the fact that the AL Central simply isn't very good, but if the Guardians really want to put themselves over the top, they will have to address their lineup at some point this season. And to be quite frank, that is something they should have done over the winter.

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