Guardians clinch first AL Central title since 2018
ARLINGTON, Texas — A sturdy pair of goggles was mandatory attire Sunday in Cleveland’s clubhouse, where impromptu showers of Champagne and beer broke out inside a thick haze of cigar smoke.
The Guardians, baseball’s youngest team, finished an unexpected run to the top of the AL Central.
Rookie Steven Kwan hit a grand slam and drove in a season-high five runs as the Guardians clinched a division championship no one thought possible six months ago with a 10-4 win over the Texas Rangers.
When catcher Luke Maile squeezed Josh Smith‘s foul pop for the final out, the Guardians began celebrating a title that actually became official 15 minutes earlier following second-place Chicago’s loss to the Detroit Tigers.
Tied for first place Sept. 4, the Guardians have won seven straight and ripped off 18 wins in 21 games to open a 10-game lead and run away with the division.
“This team’s good. We’re not just young. We’re pretty good,” said starter Cal Quantrill, the club leader with 14 wins. “I don’t think anybody’s excited to face us right now. We’re playing our best baseball. We’re playing baseball the right way.”
This is Cleveland’s 11th Central title since the division’s inception in 1994 and its fourth in 10 years under manager Terry Francona, who battled health problems the past two seasons but has enjoyed this ride with a team that may have surprised early on but is now being viewed as a legitimate World Series threat.
“For what our guys did, and when you’re doing it with people that you absolutely care about and love and respect, it means a lot,” Francona said before his statement was interrupted by a bone-chilling dousing.
“I’m amazed by these guys,” said Chris Antonetti, the team’s president of baseball operations. “They came together and played the game the right way.”
This season wasn’t supposed to happen.
After dropping Indians as their team name following the 2021 season, a move that rankled a sizable portion of Cleveland’s fan base, the Guardians did little to upgrade their roster in free agency as the front office decided 2022 would be devoted to seeing what it had.
As it turned out, Cleveland’s kids were more than all right.
Maybe no one more so than Kwan, a 25-year-old with a game way beyond his years. He made the roster in spring training and has been the Guardians’ pesky leadoff hitter from opening day, working pitchers into deep counts before slapping hits and becoming an annoyance on the base paths.
It was fitting that it was Kwan who led the way to the Sunday clinch.
“Help any team I was on whether it had been Triple-A or the majors,” Kwan said of his goals this season. “I think that helped me in college, travel ball, whatever. I know if I focus on helping the team and others, then everything will fall into place.”
Kwan’s slam in the eighth inning barely cleared the wall and bounced back into play. He wasn’t sure it was out until signaled by first-base umpire Bruce Dreckman. He said his reaction was “blackout.”
With bigger games ahead, Kwan wasn’t ready to reflect on what he and his teammates have accomplished.
“I definitely want to keep my head down, keep it rolling,” he said. “Maybe in a superstitious kind of way don’t want to take my eyes off anything. Keep it going forward.”
The Guardians have defied the odds from the start and became the first team to win a division with at least 16 rookies making their major league debuts.
The season began with low expectations everywhere but inside Cleveland’s clubhouse. Maybe it was naivete, but the Guardians believed they could be special, and that’s exactly what’s happened.
“From day one, they’ve come together,” Antonetti said. “You go around the clubhouse, the tone our veteran players set like José Ramírez, Amed Rosario, Shane Bieber, Austin Hedges. ‘Tito’ [Francona] said just find a way to help the team win.
“They embraced that mentality.”
The Guardians have done it with an offense that puts the ball in play, solid and often spectacular defense and a lights-out bullpen anchored by closer Emmanuel Clase (a big league-best 39 saves).
Cleveland strikes out less than any team in the majors, and nobody goes from first to third better.
Amid the clubhouse chaos, Antonetti made a point to credit the 63-year-old Francona, who won two World Series with Boston and may have had his best season after dealing with serious medical issues.
“To think of what he’s overcome personally to get to this point,” Antonetti said. “This is a special moment for Tito.”
The Cincinnati Reds on Monday acquired veteran infielder Gavin Lux from the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Los Angeles will receive a Competitive Balance Round A pick (around No. 37) and outfield prospect Mike Sirota in the deal for Lux, 27, who hit .251 last season with 10 home runs and 50 RBIs.
The Reds have been looking for infield help after they dealt second baseman Jonathan India to the Kansas City Royals in November. Cincinnati added veteran right-handed pitcher Brady Singer from the Royals in the India deal.
Lux played in 139 games for the Dodgers last season, and 129 the season before. In Los Angeles’ run to the World Series title last season, he had one home run and four RBIs in 12 games.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — After some uncertainty, the Tampa Bay Rays now support a $55.7 million city plan to repair hurricane-shredded Tropicana Field in time for the 2026 season opener, while the team prepares to play this year at the New York Yankees‘ spring training home in nearby Tampa.
Matt Silverman, the Rays’ co-president, said in an email to the St. Petersburg chief administrator that the team wants to “clear up” any questions about its support for the reconstruction. The city must pay for the work under its current contract with the Rays.
“While we had been open to considering a scenario in which the city bought out of its obligation to rebuild the ballpark, the Rays support and expect the city to rebuild Tropicana Field in accordance with the terms of the current use agreement,” Silverman wrote.
Hurricane Milton tore the Trop’s fabric roof to pieces when it came ashore Oct. 9, causing water and other damage to interior parts of the now-exposed ballpark. Work has been ongoing to ensure no further damage is caused by weather but there had been questions about the full repair in part because it would eventually be torn down to make way for a new, $1.3 billion ballpark under current plans to keep the Rays in St. Petersburg another 30 years.
Time is of the essence, Silverman said in his Dec. 30 email to the city, which released it Monday. Even a partial 2026 season at Tropicana Field “would present massive logistical and revenue challenges for the team,” he wrote.
“It is therefore critical that the rebuild start in earnest as soon as possible” with a realistic construction schedule to be ready by Opening Day 2026, he added.
The city had no immediate comment on the email. Its own architect presented the repair proposal initially Dec. 12 but it has not yet been fully approved. Members of the city council have balked at the cost, especially with residents and businesses still recovering from Milton and Hurricane Helene before that.
St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch has said that insurance and Federal Emergency Management Agency funds should cover the bulk of the cost. Silverman said Major League Baseball has told the team it will hire its own adviser to monitor the repair work and timeline.
The planned new downtown Rays ballpark is part of a $6.5 billion project that will include affordable housing, a Black history museum, retail and office space, restaurants and bars. The project is known as the Historic Gas Plant District, which was once a thriving Black community displaced by the construction of the ballpark and an interstate highway.
The Rays are preparing to play 2025 home games at Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees’ 11,000-seat spring training location in Tampa. Once Tropicana Field is repaired, Silverman acknowledged the Rays are obligated to play there three more seasons under the contract with St. Petersburg.
“We look forward to a grand reopening,” Silverman said.
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