Cleveland Guardians looking to bolster bullpen during MLB Winter Meetings

Stephen Vogt is making the rounds at the MLB Winter Meetings in Orlando, Florida, and in his press conference, Vogt had high praise for a key member of his coaching staff.

Amid speculation of him stepping down following the 2025 season, pitching coach Carl Willis will return for his 16th season and 9th straight.

When Vogt talked about Willis, it was all smiles for the Guardians’ manager as the team looks to bolster and develop their pitching staff.

“There is no one I’d rather watch baseball with than Carl Willis. I love sitting next to him, I love his humor, the teammate, the human being that he is. Carl Willis is the best pitching coach in baseball, and I am so fortunate that I get to work with him every day. So when he shared that he wanted to come back, heck yeah, Carl, this is awesome.”

After a season in which the Guardians ranked fourth in all of baseball with a 3.70 ERA, welcoming Willis back to continue to develop pitchers like Gavin Williams could be huge.

In a separate interview at the Winter Meetings, Vogt praised Gavin Williams’ work ethic and breakout season.

“Gavin made like three or four delivery changes, he added a pitch. I mean, the things that Carl Willis and this pitching team asked him to do, and he was able to go out and do it. Man, was he a horse for us. There was no one we wanted on the mound more than Gavin Williams, and we probably wouldn’t have said that early in the year, but he made the adjustments, he put in the work, and Gavin has all the ingredients and the demeanor and the mindset to be one of the best in the game for a long time.”

The six-man rotation that was implemented down the homestretch of the season was a key for the Guardians. Not only did it help keep players from sailing over their innings limits, but it also allowed each pitcher to show their true value. Logan Allen was improving later in the year. Parker Messick made a name for himself, going 3-1 with a 2.72 ERA in seven starts. Slade Cecconi and Joey Cantillo were both reliable back-end starters.

This doesn’t even get into the bullpen that saw the game’s best closer, Emmanuel Clase, get removed from the roster in the middle of the season and not miss a beat. Cade Smith really stepped up. Hunter Gaddis stepped up. The bullpen as a whole was third-best in baseball with a 3.44 ERA.

Now, at the Winter Meetings, the Guardians are focused on adding to their bullpen, already signing Connor Brogdon to a deal last week. So far, the Guardians have lost Jakob Junis, Nic Enright, Sam Hentges, and Kolby Allard to free agency. The Guardians are also planning on not having Emmanuel Clase back this season due to the ongoing federal and MLB investigations.

Guardians president of baseball operations, Chris Antonetti, has said, “We don’t have as many options as we’d like to have.” One should expect a handful of signings or deals made to bolster the bullpen ahead of Opening Day.

Willis is truly one of the best there is in the game, and Vogt will never not let him know that that is the case again.

“That’s why we made the comeback. That’s why we won the division, because of the starting pitching.”