Guardians' minority owner David Blitzer's arrival won't signal spending spree, GM says

CLEVELAND — General Manager Mike Chernoff does not expect the Guardians’ operating philosophy to change after David Blitzer’s minority ownership stake was approved on Monday.

But Chernoff said Thursday the Guardians had already started to tap into Blitzer’s experience with other professional franchises and suggested they can learn from “other smart, innovative teams.”

Blitzer, 52, holds ownership shares in the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, the NHL's New Jersey Devils, the English Premier League's Crystal Palace, the MLS' Real Salt Lake and other sports entities.

“I think that can be a huge factor, too, marketing, it can just be connections or an understanding of the landscape,” Chernoff said before the Guardians beat the Minnesota Twins on a walk-off home run for the second straight day. “We often get kind of tunnel vision in baseball, like ‘This is the way it’s done.’

“It can be helpful to see other industries or other sports that teams are doing things differently on the business side or in the sports operations side and it can kind of open up your mind to creative ideas, potentially.”

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Those expecting an immediate infusion of cash for a team lacking home run power and perhaps in need of another starting pitcher after Blitzer’s stake was approved will likely be disappointed by Chernoff’s comments. The Guardians entered the day with 55 home runs, the third-fewest in the majors, but their .248 team batting average stood 10th.

“In terms of how it affects the operating model of the Cleveland Guardians, that’s not for me to speak on,” Chernoff said. “At the same time, most teams have minority owners. We saw this with John Sherman, too. I wouldn’t expect our operating philosophy to change.

“The industry economic model is what it is and so we know what our challenges are being a small market. We don’t shy away from those at all. We’re not expecting that to change in any way and yet we still need to compete with all 29 other teams and our goal is exactly the same as every one of those other teams, to win the World Series.”

Despite fans’ frustrations over many of their favorites not being retained as they approach free agency, the Guardians have not gone into full tank mode. In COVID-ravaged 2020, they finished third in the AL Central (35-25), last season they were second (80-82).

“That’s our goal. It’s not easy. We have to make hard decisions like the [Mike] Clevinger trade. It was an incredibly challenging decision,” Chernoff said of the August 2020 deal that brought in Josh Naylor, Cal Quantrill, Owen Miller, Austin Hedges and prospect Gabriel Arias. “We’ve made those consistently and we’re willing to make those hard decisions which in our minds is a huge credit to Paul as an owner, to be willing to face what might be deemed short term pain for the sustainability of the future.

“More importantly than anything, we have to do things differently. Right? We have to be a little bit better than every other team in every single area of our operation via people who are passionate and committed to trying to do that. We have to know that we have to catch some breaks along the way. So every day that we’re here we’re thinking about how we could be a little bit better than the competition or do something a little bit differently that puts us in a different spot so we can compete despite whatever those resource constraints are.”

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According to reports, there is a potential path for Blitzer to become the Guardians’ majority owner within the next few years. According to The Athletic and the Associated Press, Blitzer is taking on an initial stake of 25 to 30%, which could grow if he supplants Paul Dolan.

Dolan had been seeking a minority investor for over a year after John Sherman bought the Kansas City Royals.

“We’re really excited,” Chernoff said. “I’ve gotten a chance to meet David a few times in this process and I’ve seen him at different junctures over the past several months. I’m really happy for Paul. I think he’s a great compliment to Paul, so I know how excited he is to bring him on as a partner.”

Decision coming on Guardians reliever James Karinchak

Reliever James Karinchak, on the 60-day disabled list with a strained muscle in his shoulder, has been rehabbing at Triple-A Columbus and Chernoff said his last rehab appearance was Thursday.

“We'll have to make a decision after that,” Chernoff said. “He's continuing to do well. He's plugging away on his rehab, he's trying to make sure he's 100% back to where he was and feeling good and healthy.

“Obviously it's a combination of where he is and where our pitching is. You've seen we had to make a lot of pitching moves in recent days, so we'll sort of make a determination in the next couple of days after he throws today in Columbus.”

Karinchak has yet to pitch this season. In 2021, he posted a 2.52 ERA in the first half, but ballooned to a 7.88 ERA in the second half, forcing the team to option him to Columbus to work on his mechanics.

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Guardians stick to budget as David Blitzer approved