Commentary: The Guardians could use some bats -- and they're not willing to pay for them

As the baseball season once again turns into the home stretch, the feisty, plucky Guardians, pedaling as fast as they can, continue to desperately hang their hats on the flimsiest of longshots — i.e., that a lineup with only three legitimate bats is not a lineup at all. History has told us, furthermore, that from year to year the Guardians will seemingly forever be plagued by conga lines of injuries, banjo hitters, bad luck and abject despair (pardon my histrionics). When does this tired, overly-long movie end? By now, the data is in. The experiment should be over. It's time to try something different. Something completely different. Ownership put lipstick on the ballpark. Now, how about jazzing up the ballclub? If not now, when? Will Jose Ramirez, the greatest Guardians player ever, retire without a single World Series ring? Will there be no Cleveland Baseball championship parade in our lifetime? How many more "wait until next year" seasons does a charter member of the American League have to endure before staging a "Guess what, everybody! Next year is here!" parade in The Land? So many years. So few pennants. It wasn't always like this, of course. It's like this now because the franchise chooses not to compete. Not to compete, at least, to the level it once did — not that long ago, as a matter of fact —when Cleveland had arguably the best roster of any team in the American League. The year was 2017, and Cleveland ownership decided to play hardball by assembling what was one of the greatest rosters in the history of the franchise. How loaded were they? Here was their starting rotation and their records. Perhaps you've heard of them: Corey Kluber (18-4), Carlos Carrasco (18-6), Trevor Bauer (17-9), Josh Tomlin (10-9) and Mike Clevinger (12-6). Kluber won the first of his two Cy Young Awards that year. Carrasco, Bauer, and Clevinger were almost unhittable, and reliever Andrew Miller was unhittable. Oh, yeah, and closer Cody Allen led the league with 30 saves. The 2017 Indians were one of the greatest teams in franchise history. Their lineup was frightening: Edwin Encarnacion hit 38 home runs and had 107 RBI. Francisco Lindor hit 33 homers, and a 24-year-old youngster at third base hit 29 home runs with 83 RBI and a league-leading 56 doubles. His name was Jose Ramirez. The 2017 Indians were virtually an all-star team. That was the year they set an American League record with a 22-game winning streak. On most nights, they were virtually unbeatable. It was a great year for ownership as well, because the team was loaded with young talent, and most of them weren't making much money. But the free agent offers from other teams eventually came between seasons, and the players bit. Most of them, anyway. Jose The Great stayed, and when he eventually retires he will likely be considered the greatest all-around player in franchise history. The exodus from that 2017 roster was rapid and devastating. In a couple of years, most of the key players were gone, having gladly accepted free agent contracts from other teams that they knew they would never get in Cleveland. That, one presumes, probably didn't disappoint Cleveland ownership, which with the exception of Jose hasn't opted to pony up for any big contracts since. Thus, as Guards fans everywhere can attest, they have no choice but to concede that their favorite team will frequently be plagued by bad luck that for decades — not seasons — have haunted Cleveland's franchise. All of those traits are useful for Cleveland sports fans, who have had more of their share of clunkers in recent decades than any populace should be asked to endure. It's the Cleveland way. It's also the Guardians' way and, too few times, it has proven to be the wrong way. It's the latter because it's the organization's stubborn, self-sustaining approach to roster building that has repeatedly failed at the alter of economic conservatism. To put it another way: Yes, the Guardians are still reluctant to spend the kind of money necessary to seriously try to win a pennant or a World Series — or even just reach the World Series. The timing on this is bad because many of the other teams have no problem spending money in order to try to win a pennant or a World Series. That's because, as you might have heard through the years, most major league owners are either millionaires, billionaires or both. The Guardians are the Guardians. One of the reasons for that, apparently, is that when it comes time to go shopping for free-agent sluggers during the offseason, some teams do, some teams don't and some teams head for the driving range. The Guardians? When it comes time to go shopping for big-ticket free-agent sluggers that can make a difference, the Guardians apparently don't. Contact Jim Ingraham at jingraham4@gmail.com.