The Athletic released the honorees in their MLB All-Quarter Century team as voted on by fans, and four former Cleveland Guardians made the cut on the 40-man roster.
The first is a former beloved player in Cleveland: Francisco Lindor. “Mr. Smile” mad it as one of the two shortstops along with Derek Jeter. Lindor was a homegrown star for Cleveland, spending his first six seasons with the Guardians before signing with the Mets in free agency in 2021. Lindor earned all four of his All-Star nods with Cleveland. He has also earned four Silver Sluggers, two Gold Gloves, and one Platinum Glove.
Another charismatic former Cleveland star is represented as one of the two left fielders: Manny Ramírez. Much like Lindor, Manny started his career with the Guardians and spent eight successful seasons there. He went on to win two World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox. Ramírez finished his career with 555 home runs, getting named to 12 All-Star teams and winning nine Silver Sluggers.
Guardians pitcher CC Sabathia was named as one of the seven starting pitchers. Sabathia is yet another homegrown success story Cleveland had in the 2000’s. He spent his first eight seasons in the majors with the Guardians, and he earned his lone Cy Young award in 2007. Sabathia made six All-Star teams and won the 2009 World Series with the New York Yankees.
Lastly, former Guardian Andrew Miller made it as the team’s relief ace. Miller’s career as a starting pitcher early on was much maligned, and it wasn’t until the Red Sox converted him into a reliever in 2012 that his career took off. From there, he was one of the most dominant relievers in baseball. The Guardians were able to reap those spoils from 2016-18, and Miller earned his second and final All-Star nod in 2017 with Cleveland.
