The former Guardians ace will be primarily responsible for helping the pitching staff; although, there is little information on what capacity. The Guardians already have one of the most experienced and respected pitching coaches in baseball in Carl Willis, but perhaps Kluber can help with gameplans and the mental side of the game. “I probably experienced pretty close to a full spectrum of things in a career. I wasn’t a very good minor-leaguer, figured out some stuff, and still had to develop at this stage. … It’s having a lot of different types of experiences to build on. Hopefully, it presents opportunities to help guys with a lot of different things.”

Kluber always seemed like an outstanding strategist on the mound, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he a fine second career in baseball if he wants one. The 37-year-old announced his retirement last week after 13 seasons in the majors.

Kluber spent the first nine seasons of his big-league tenure in Cleveland where he evolved into a two-time Cy Young Award winner, made three All-Star Game appearances, and was also one of the most impactful fantasy contributors of his era at his absolute apex. The 37-year-old righty split the last few years between the Rangers, Yankees, Rays and Red Sox, never quite coming close to returning to form, mostly due to injuries. He finishes with a 116-77 record to go along with a 3.44 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 1,725/368 K/BB ratio across 1,641 2/3 innings (271 appearances, 260 starts) in the majors since 2011.

Kluber went 3-6 with a 7.04 ERA for the Red Sox last season and didn’t see his 2024 option picked up. He’s had just one healthy season in the last five and wasn’t particularly good then (84 ERA+ for the Rays in 2022), so he’ll probably have to settle for a minor league contract if he wants to give it another try.