The Guardians and Myles Straw have agreed to a five-year contract extension, with club options covering the 2027 and 2028 seasons, per Zack Meisel of The Athletic. The deal is worth $25MM, per Mandy Bell of MLB.com, with the options valued at $8MM in 2027 and $8.5MM in 2028. This is the third extension for the club in recent days, following the deals for Emmanuel Clase and Jose Ramirez.
Straw was drafted by the Astros in the 12th round in 2015 and earned attention in the minors for his speed and defense. He stole at least 20 bags in the minors in his first three season in 2015-2017, before swiping 70 bags between Double-A and Triple-A in 2018. He was ranked by Baseball America as one of Houston’s top 20 prospects in 2018 and 2019. That latter season, he saw his first extended stretch of MLB action, hitting .269/.378/.343 in 56 games, along with eight steals.
At last year’s deadline, he was acquired by a Cleveland team that was looking to fill an outfield that had been mired in uncertainty for quite some time. Between the two teams, he hit .271/.349/.348. That production was just barely below league average (98 wRC+), though Straw was better after the trade than before. He also stole 30 bases on the year and provided excellent defense, coming in seventh among center fielders in the 2021 Fielding Bible Award voting. Desperate that average-ish batting line, he was still worth 3.7 wins above replacement, in the estimation of FanGraphs, due to his athleticism in the field and on the bases. He should now give the team a stable presence in the middle of the outfield for years to come.
Straw finished last year with two years and 112 days of service time, just four days shy of the 2.116 Super Two cutoff for the most recent offseason. That means he wasn’t going to qualify for arbitration until after this year. This deal will cover his four remaining years of team control and at least one free agent year, with the options potentially accounting for two more. The 27-year-old Straw will be 31 in the final guaranteed year, with the options covering his age-32 and age-33 campaigns.
Prior to this extension, and the deals for Clase and Ramirez, the Guardians had a clean slate on their payroll beyond this year. Now all three of them could potentially form a core for the club to build around, with each player under control through 2028. (Ramirez’s deal is guaranteed, while Clase and Straw are each guaranteed through 2026 with the two club options.) The majority of the rest of the roster is young players who have either not yet reached or just recently qualified for arbitration.
With the White Sox still looking like division favorites, the Twins aggressively reloading after a down year and the Tigers and Royals both coming out of rebuilds, the division looks like it is on the cusp of becoming stronger in the years to come. Even with these deals, the Guardians still have plenty of payroll flexibility, even for a typically low-spending club like them, with Ramirez still earning the only significant salary in the years to come.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Wow, nice job with developing some extensions, Guardians. Hopefully this is the beginning of a new commitment to keeping their core personnel over the next several years.
Winning ALWAYS starts at the top. Part of establishing a winning culture requires the top to basically say to the lower levels, “I/We believe in you. We’re in this together”. That then spreads to the players and it can help a player do very well. That player can then come up big for the team when they really need something to happen. In fact, there was a great Yankee that I’m sure you know all about named Bernie Williams, Bernie who didn’t fit the mold: not a strong throwing arm, didn’t steal a lot of bases, etc but they showed him loyalty and commitment. We all know what Bernie went on to do. They didn’t trade him. I’m not saying the players extended by the Guardians are as good as Bernie or will be as good as him, but Straw has speed for days and he hit .285 while playing for Cleveland last season. Could they have something there? Maybe. There’s only one way to find out.
Who said we don’t pay our players?
You do… as king as it’s below market!
*long*.
This is the straw that broke the camels back
At least the Guardians didn’t “bale” on him…
Make hay while the sun shines.
Ramirez, Clase, now Straw. Great job Cleveland. Establish and extend your core. Smart way for a small market team to build..
Bieber is the most important of them all to re-sign but he’s going to be the hardest one to do so unless Cleveland is willing to open up the pocketbook for him. My guess is that he’ll end up being traded within the next year or so.
Dorothy, you really think they’ll trade Bieber that soon if they are winning? I see the Indians as legitimate competitors right now possibly, and with all the young talent due to graduate this year, they could be very good in 2023-24 (Bieber’s last arbitration seasons). I would think they would want to keep him on those teams, provided he’s still healthy and pitching like an ace. You could be right, though.
Bieber will be a Brave this season, so no.
Maybe Justin will, Cleveland isn’t trading Shane this year. He’ll end up resigning.
Yes because they did the same thing with Clevinger not too long ago. If the value is there they’ll ship him out.
They traded Cy Young award winners back to back seasons with CC and Cliff Lee, they moved Kluber, Bauer, and Clevinger instead of paying. Bieber will be moved unless he signs a team friendly extension for far below market
Yes……
When they moved Kluber the main guy they got back from the Rangers was a little known relief pitcher named Emmanuel Clase.
Bauer was getting put of control as well as expensive. He sure did OK there for a few years, and then…. – meanwhile they got back Franmil Reyes and a number of guys that never panned out.
Fortunately Preller wanted Clevinger – who has been injured pretty much since. Cleveland got back Austin Hedges, Josh Naylor, Cal Quantrill, and minor league players Gabriel Arias, Owen Miller, and Joey Cantillo.
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The FO seems to know what they’re doing. The sarcastic comments from the fans here show they don’t.
I also never stated what my opinion was on the deals themselves, just stating their track record.
they moved Kluber, Bauer, and Clevinger instead of paying.
==============================================
It wasn’t “instead of paying them”.
Bauer had a respectable 3.79 ERA when the indians traded him. He didn’t take the next step until he discovered the Spider Tack.
Kluber was hurt.
Clevinger was likely hurt.. Even if he wasn’t, he was only getting paid $4.1M
Lol! 0-2 Sammy!!!!
JoeBrady;
I don’t know about a “Spider Tack”. Bauer has forever played around with things each year.
In 2018 Bauer had a 2.21 ERA, with 221 K’s in 175 innings. It seemed that was his breakout season.
In 2019 he began regressing some. At one point Francona went to the mound to take him out of a game after Bauer had given up a number of hits and runs. Bauer was mad at himself. He turned around and threw the ball over the CF fence as Tito approached the mound. It was one of the few times I’ve seen Tito mad. He’s a players manager, is patient and puts up with a lot of things. But he won’t put up with his players not respecting the game and not comporting themselves a professionals. I believe it was at that point that he went over the edge with Bauer.
As the season progressed Cleveland was looking to move some of their players coming up for raises to get multiple prospects. SOP for small market teams. They had an abundance of controlled cheap starting pitchers. Between his salary and his being high maintenance Bauer was the best candidate to move.
That was against the Royals. It was a lot of fun watching us smack him around that game. Didn’t they trade him to Cincy like a week later?
Dorothy_Mantooth;
Bieber will not be a FA until 2025.
Why do they have trade him in the next year?
Yup, @hockeyjon.
Locked up some important players. That’s always smart: big, medium, or small market. Extending key guys early has been one of Cleveland’s go-to plays, however. They are really good at that.
Landing Straw in the first place was savvy.
Locking him up just makes it more so. Cleveland is obviously trying to stay relevant here. Good. Too many teams are jumping on the tank train. Which is a drag on the entire game.
The Straw that stirs the drink.
Those were the days …
{heavy sigh}
So if Reggie was the straw that stirred the drink, that would make Judge the umbrella in an expensive foofie cocktail. Or, am I being unfair?
It’s hard to figure out whom I am supposed to be pissed at here. Cash? Hal? Rizzo? Judge? Hey – at least I have options.
You should be mad at Judge’s agent. I seriously doubt he gets close to his rumored ask price. One could argue whether or not Hal could ante up another $10M, but this is like Betts. You can quibble over a couple of bucks, but when Betts’ counteroffer was $425M, there is no reason to negotiate any further.
If Judge is asking for $34-35M for 9-10 years, you have to chuckle (maybe laugh at loud) and walk away.
That’s probably a fairly accurate measure of it, Brady.
Thankfully the red sox suck so at least my world view remains consistent.
Nice one.
I heard this is the dude killing all the turtles
I see what they’re doing….locking up the youngsters at cheap salaries so they don’t have to pony up later. Smart for the right players. I like Straw but guys with no power whatsoever tend to fizzle out pretty quick. Guess Ernie Clement will be next. 40 mill for 7 years step right up.
Agreed, there is some risk, but a $5MM AAV is so low that he’s worth that price even if he becomes a 4th OFer.
Ehhhh he was already controllable for 4 more years, when he’ll be 32 years old. not much risk in letting that play out either but guess we shall see.
Brett Butler did not fizzle out. This guy is Brett Butler II
Lol really Brett. Give him a few more years before you throw that name around.
Yeah, I agree. Butler was pretty underrated and flys under the radar when people talk about really solid players from the 80s and 90s. Nearly 50 WAR with 558 steals, a career 110 OPS+. Straw has a long way to go to be compared with Butler.
Wish the As could give out a contract
But 5M a year is crazy numbers!!
extending the right people.. following in the footsteps of the 90s cleveland teams. too bad those teams had way more talent.
Straw is an incredibly valuable player. Smart to get this guy under contract. Serious lack of good CFrs these days
Smart on both sides. These guys are learning to take advantage of early, guaranteed money too. That’s smart imo, especially for those non-premier types. Much easier to stomach an unsettling FA if you’re already a multimillionaire.
“incredibly valuable” is a stretch, at least for now. He is a good defender with speed and if he can replicate 2021 you will be right. But with only one season like that under his belt it may be too early to garner that praise. Make no mistake – I’m not saying you will be wrong I’m just wanting to see one more good full season before I’ll agree.
I’m basing that on the lack of his particular skill set around the league, but you’re right, he could regress, that wouldn’t be outside of the realm of expectations
I get your point. For ex, last off-season there was really only one centerfieldrr on the free agent market in Starling Marte. But I like Straw and I am hopeful that you’ll be right. If he has another season with a good BA, high OBP to go along with strong D and speed, his lack of power won’t matter. I just hop he won’t try to change his game in order to become more flyball-oriented. Chicks may dig the long ball, but that would be a serious mistake IMO.
Following the John Hart model.
Nice move by CLE…..
Doubt they will get Franmil to sign anything (since he became a Boras client) but if a couple of the pitchers can get signed, this begins to feel like the time in the early 90s when a boatload of players (include Belle, Lofton, Baerga, Nagy, and others) got inked to deals. Those moves where all announced in one massive announcement…
The AL Central could get interesting in the next couple of years. That division might go from punching bag to heavy weight.
Absolutely. The Sox should be good for another 5 years. Detroit is ready to start winning and Cleveland is good with the Twins refusing to rebuild and the Royals coming out of one. Lots of good young talent in that division.
Another great signing, kudos!
Go, Guardians, go! Whether you’re a fan of them or not, as a baseball fan it’s good to see a team that has been arguably the cheapest in the game the past decade spend some money and really make an effort to contend. I think they are one of the more exciting up-and-coming teams in the game now. That farm system is stacked, and they have their cornerstones locked up now. I think they might take more of a wait-and-see approach with Bieber, but with the way they’re going right now maybe he is next.
Everyone seems to forget that Cleveland had a payroll of $100 million for four consecutive years when their window was open, including a year of $140 million. They brought in guys like Edwin, Andrew Miller, Hand, and Donaldson. They are definitely towards the bottom in terms of total spending over the last decade but not nearly as bad as people think they are.
*SPIDERS
Good for Myles, really liked him coming up through the system and was sad when we dealt him.
Guardians are collecting quite a Tribe of signed players.
(I’ll let myself out).
I see what you did there.
Who drew the short end of the straw here ?
I was always impressed by his flat out hustle. It was hard to get him enough playing time behind Springer for the first few years. Was kind of shocked tbh when they traded him last year because his defense is a nightly highloght reel. Now that he know’s going to be playing every single day I expect his offense will come around to league average or better. He was just log jammed behind a superstar for a long time. He tends to get a little bit jumpy in the outfield but makes up for it with his speed. Great deal for both sides I feel. He gets a legit shot at playing every day on a contract that he obviously feels comfortable with. He’s also a very humble guy and really enjoys interacting with the fans. Especially kids. Saw him walk by several adults on more than one occasion just to go give the kiddos autographs and talk to them about being excited to be at the park. Glad to see CLE extending so many youngsters to build around. Give this guy a complete season without wondering when the other shoes gonna fall and I expect good things from him. Good luck Miles, you deserve it!
Similar to when Mets locked up Juan Lagares 8 years ago.
Nice move for the Spiders. They got him cheap and locked up his key years.
I’m in favor of calling them the Spiders. Not out of annoyance because they changed their name, but because they missed a great opportunity to pick a more fun name and one with a connection to Cleveland’s past. It’s also the name Cleveland fans wanted. Force them to change it.
Many Cleveland fans also did not want Spiders. A connection to the worst MLB team is not a wise connection. There were several much better names than Spiders or Guardians, but Guardians it was.
Or connection to a NL team that preceded the current AL organization into town…
As a an active skier, I’ve been a huge fan of Spyder outdoor apparel – before they went cheaper in quality like everyone else. However, I don’t think it would’ve been the better name choice because some people, kids in particular, have negative associations with spiders. This site is populated with adult males so the name doesn’t quite face the same resistance.
I preferred a rather obvious but appropriate name: the Lakers. They probably had an issue with it because I think that’s the name of a team in a different sport. If I remember correctly.
Used to ski. You’re a fairly new father if I remember right. I’ve a hunch your skiing days may be winding down.
The Indians were one of the first if not the first team to sign young core players to long term contracts thus buying out arbitration years back in the mid 90’s.
In that respect John Hart was ahead of his time. The cost certainty definitely helped keep the team competitive from the front office’s perspective. For the players arbitration was a much different animal back then and since the salary explosion hadn’t happened yet players weren’t getting tens of millions in arbitration dollars
The last Straw
Idk that straw is worth 25 million. One dimensional player. The speed goes and he’s worthless
He’s only 27 though sipped should be there for at least another 3 years. I think this contract reflects more than his stat line. Don’t know much about him but it seems like he is an all out gamer from what I hear. Can’t say I catch many Spiders games.
A DH who doesn’t field might be a one-dimensional player, but not a player who’s among the defensive leaders in the league. How soon do you imagine “the speed goes” when he’s only 27 years old?
The white Kenny Lofton
Cleveland should be so lucky if Straw turns out half as good as Lofton was for them
A nice get considering the CF up incoming market
Cle was really banking on Zimmer to be the man for them, kinda suppressed the urgency to look outside the org for OF help a tad too much imo these past coupe years .
Reminds me of Colby Rasmus (and his dad) saga in Stl a decade ago
Refreshing to see a path formulating on that Cle grass
Now they just need to find a live chicken for some JoBu voodoo magic for Franmil pregame
I always liked Straw. Good deal!
This is one place where it’s okay to have Straw man arguments.
He’s played SS as well, should be mentioned