Cleveland Guardians All-Stars: Building the Best Guardians All-Time Lineup

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Willie Mays Hayes. Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn. Pedro Cerrano. None of those “Major League” characters could hold up to the actual legends in The Land. 

And while there’s still no World Series title on the shores of Lake Erie since 1948, the Cleveland Guardians have managed to field some incredible teams.

Manager: Terry Francona

Terry Francona rose to prominence with the Red Sox, which is completely understandable: he was their manager from 2004 through 2011, was at the helm for two World Series winners and is ranked second all-time in franchise victories. With Cleveland, Francona didn’t pick up another championship, no, but he’s ranked first in team history in wins (921) and playoff appearances (six). His time in Boston ensured there’d be more chances to manager, but Cleveland is where Francona picked up the bulk of the wins that’ll push him to the rarified air of 2,000 in his career.

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Starting pitcher: Bob Feller

Bob Feller spent all 18 seasons of his career with Cleveland. And not just the big-league parts: Feller pitched in the era where MLB clubs had minor-league teams, but he skipped all that, instead debuting in the bigs at 17. Two years later, still a teen, he made his first All-Star team, and then led the majors in pitcher WAR in three of his next four full seasons. Despite losing nearly all of four years to World War II, Feller is Cleveland’s all-time pitcher WAR leader, a World Series champion, eight-time All-Star, and was the proto-Player Association’s first-ever president, too.

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Reliever/closer: Emmanuel Clase

Emmanuel Clase is 27 years old. He’s in his fifth season with Cleveland. He’s already made three All-Star teams and is the all-time leader for the Guardians in saves (175) and games finished (280), both of which he wrested from Cody Allen. Whether he leaves as a free agent in the next few years or the Guardians trade him, he’s already the greatest reliever in franchise history, on account of a 1.80 ERA over five years. The strikeouts are there, but Clase keeps the ball on the ground, and when those work in tandem he’s difficult to hit.

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Catcher: Sandy Alomar Jr.

Sandy Alomar Jr. didn’t have the Hall of Fame career of his younger brother, Roberto, but don’t let that take away from his accomplishments. Alomar played for seven teams across 20 years, but Cleveland the longest and at his best. He spent 11 years there, and it’s where his bat was at its best: six All-Star nods, Rookie of the Year honors — Alomar was the first rookie backstop to ever start the All-Star Game — and even in the years his offense wasn’t there, his defense was. When the offense was there… well, that’s why he’s here.

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1B: Jim Thome

Jim Thome played for six teams in 22 years while mashing 612 taters, and yet his time with Cleveland was a career unto itself. Thome went deep 337 times in their uniform over 13 years while batting .287/.414/.566, good for a 152 OPS+. Over 1,000 career walks, just with Cleveland. Nearly 1,400 games and 5,800 plate appearances, 593 of them ending in an extra-base hit. Thome played another nine seasons, and with one exception — his final year, in which he was still above-average — he was always Jim Thome. Just never more so than with Cleveland. 

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2B: Nap Lajoie

Nap Lajoie’s career didn’t start with Cleveland, but neither of the Philadelphia teams he played for renamed themselves in his honor. Nor were they lucky enough to have him around for 13 years in which he hit a combined .339: of his five career batting titles (one very much disputed), four came with Cleveland, and he led the majors in average in three of those years. Lajoie did much of that while serving as a player-manager, too: from 1905-1909, Lajoie managed the team, too, and ranks eighth in franchise history in wins in addition to first in WAR and hits. 

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3B: Jose Ramirez

Is Jose Ramirez the greatest player in Guardians’ history? The answer depends on when you’re willing to hand over the crown: now, confident it’ll be his title eventually, or later when he crosses whatever threshold is deemed necessary. Ramirez could be just the ninth 300 home run, 300 stolen bases player in MLB before the end of 2026. The second 350/350 or 400/400 player is in the cards for the 32-year-old, too, but even if he doesn’t get there, what we do know is that he remains tremendous right now, in position to ascend above all past Guardians.

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SS: Omar Vizquel

It’s hard to argue with Omar Vizquel’s defense at shortstop. He made a few All-Star teams in his day, sure, in the years when his bat was solid, but the reason people knew him at all was for his glove. That was the exceptionally reliable part of his game, and it led to 11 Gold Gloves. The first of those came with Seattle, but the next eight were with Cleveland, after the Mariners traded him before the 1994 season. Vizquel would stay in town for 11 years, both his best offensive and defensive ones, and play until he was 45. 

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OF: Manny Ramirez

Before the championships with the Red Sox, before the rise of “Manny being Manny,” before the messy trade to the Dodgers, there was just Manny Ramirez, Cleveland right fielder. At the plate, he was Aaron Judge before Aaron Judge was old enough to pick up a baseball bat: a right-handed menace who could combine contact skills, power, and patience in a way that terrified opposing pitchers. Ramirez spent as long with Cleveland as he did Boston, and was just as good there: he’s fourth in the franchise in homers (236), first in slugging and OPS, and batted .313/.407/.592.

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OF: Tris Speaker

The history of Boston/Cleveland connections is long, and Tris Speaker was the most notable early example, in reverse of the Manny Ramirez situation. Speaker began his Hall of Fame career with the Red Sox, leading the majors in WAR twice, winning the 1912 MVP and powering them to two World Series titles. He’d be traded to Cleveland before the 1916 season, once again led the majors in wins above replacement as well as hits, average, on-base, and slugging, then served as a key piece of their 1920 championship team. Speaker remains MLB’s all-time doubles leader, nearly a century later.

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OF: Kenny Lofton

Kenny Lofton led the American League in steals from 1992-1996, a streak broken because he ended up with a one-year stay on the Braves in 1997. Back in Cleveland in ‘98, though, Lofton stole 54 more bags, and though he began to deemphasize the running game after that season, he was still an offensive threat. Lofton, across 10 years in Cleveland, hit .300/.375/.426 while playing Gold Glove defense. The steals were huge, but they were not all that he was. As Lofton’s speed dipped, so did his production, but at least it had a long way to fall.

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DH: Albert Belle

If not for a degenerative hip condition that cut his career short, Albert Belle would likely be enshrined in Cooperstown, and in a Cleveland cap. The first eight seasons of his 12-year career were spent absolutely mashing in the middle of their lineup: Belle’s 1995, despite it being a strike-shortened 144-game season, was the first 50 double, 50 home run season ever… and also the only one to this day. All apologies to Mo Vaughn, but that year’s MVP didn’t go where it belonged. Belle’s .580 SLG with Cleveland is second, and he’s third in homers with 242. 

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Honorable Mentions:

• Lou Boudreau (manager)
• Mike Hargrove (manager)
• Mel Harder (starting pitcher)
• Bob Lemon (starting pitcher)
• Stan Covelski (starting pitcher)
• Sam McDowell (starting pitcher)
• Addie Joss (starting pitcher)
• CC Sabathia (starting pitcher)
• Cody Allen (reliever/closer)
• Doug Jones (reliever/closer)
• Andrew Miller (reliever/closer)
• Jose Mesa (reliever/closer)
• Victor Martinez (catcher)
• Steve O’Neil (catcher)
• Hal Trosky (1B)
• Ken Ketner (3B)
• Al Rosen (3B)
• Bill Bradley (3B)
• Francisco Lindor (SS)
• Joe Sewell (SS)
• Lou Boudreau (SS)
• Elmer Flick (OF)
• Grady Sizmore (OF)
• Bob Feller (OF)
• Charlie Jamieson (OF)
• Earl Averill (OF)
• Larry Doby (OF)
• Travis Hafner (DH)
• Michael Brantley (DH)
• Andre Thornton (DH)

Check out the other MLB all-time All-Star teams.

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