Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we maintain and update our existing Top 50 lists annually.  As such, we are delighted to present our pre-2026 revision of our top 50 Cleveland Guardians.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball, we look at the following: 

1.  Duration and Impact.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the Major League Baseball.

3.  Advanced Statistics.

4.  Playoff performance.

5. Their respective legacy on the team.

6. How successful the team was when he was there.

7. Respecting the era in which they played.

Criteria 1-4 will make up the lion’s share of the algorithm.  Please note that we have implemented this for the first time.  This has changed the rankings all throughout the board.

Last year, the Guardians were sellers at the trade deadline but got hot and shocked the baseball world by driving toward an AL Central Division Championship.  They fell to Detroit in the Wild Card, but considering where they were on August 1, this was a positive campaign for Cleveland. There were no new additions, but movement within the Top 50.

As always, we present our top five, which differs from last year's, both due to the new algorithm and to one active Guardian.

1. Bob Feller
2. Nap Lajoie
3. Tris Speaker
4. Jose Ramirez
5. Lou Boudreau

You can find the entire list https://www.notinhalloffame.com/baseball/top-50-baseball-players-by-franchise/top-50-cincinnati-reds">here.

Major changes were afoot among the top five, as the new algorithm flipped Bob Feller and Nap Lajoie from their previous #1 and #2 spots. 

Off the strength of another All-Star campaign, Jose Ramirez broke into the top five.  He was ranked at #7 last year.

The only other change among active Guardians players was the return of Carlos Santana, who rose from #41 to #37.  He is now with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.