What Are the Guardians Going to Do?

We are a week away from the trade deadline

The Guardians are week away from the 6PM EST, July 30th, MLB trade deadline. With a four-game division lead diminishing in a team-wide slump, what can Cleveland fans expect in the days ahead?

The first thing I think we can expect is continued aggression in making moves on the position player side of the roster. News leaked that Brayan Rocchio is headed to Columbus from Zack Meisel on the Selby is Godcast, but now he is still in Cleveland. One can imagine he is on the move soon, and, if so, a demotion falls on the heels of Estevan Florial’s DFA, Kyle Manzardo’s return to Triple-A, and Gabriel Arias’s long-awaited demotion. The team isn’t giving as long a leash to player development in the big leagues as they might have in seasons past. Time will tell, but it seems like the Guardians are comfortable shuffling their top Triple-A hitters in and out to see who may be able to provide the offensive boost that Jhonkensy Noel, Daniel Schneemann and Angel Martinez did upon their debuts. Both Shcneemann and Martinez are now in adjustment periods, so we will see how they respond. Indications, so far, are that if either or all of these three continue to struggle, new hitters will be given the opportunity to help in their spots.

I would like to see the Guardians get a little more aggressive on the pitching side of things. Whether it is Doug Nikhazy, Joey Cantillo, Austin Peterson, Aaron Davenport or Ryan Webb, it makes sense to me for the team to give the one of these pitchers they feel is best prepared for the job the chance to get big league hitters out. Are none of these young arms capable of offering better than the roughly 5 point FIP that Carlos Carrasco and Xzavion Curry offer? Maybe the Guardians believe they are not, but I’d like to see at least one of them given the chance to prove the team wrong... at least, until...

The Guardians make a trade for a starting pitcher. Call me naive, call me Pollyanna (one of Stephen Vogt’s favorite movies), call me simplistic, but I do believe the team will pull the trigger on a trade for a starting pitcher. Whether it’s Erick Fedde, Nathan Eovaldi, Jack Flaherty, Chris Bassitt, Yusei Kikuchi, Zach Eflin, Tyler Anderson, Kevin Gausman, Andrew Heaney, Nick Pivetta, Luis Severino, Jose Soriano, Reid Detmers, Trevor Rogers, or Mackenzie Gore... there are enough names here who should be available at the right price to get something done. We will have an analysis piece up shortly for you to peruse regarding these potential adds. I don’t think Cleveland’s front office goes by public relations points, but to see your highest attendance numbers in eight years, a historic fast start by a young team with a new manager, and to hear your players expressing the belief that they will see pieces added at the deadline leads me to believe that the Dolans, Blitzer and Antonetti and co. will be comfortable taking on some level of risk to shore up the glaring issues in the rotation. With an additional ML arm in the fold, the depth of Matthew Boyd, Triston McKenzie, Logan Allen, and the aforementioned young starters in Akron and Columbus should make the team optimistic about the rotation’s chances of getting them to October.

I would love for Cleveland to get aggressive and go after one of the Randy Arozarena, Brent Rooker, or Taylor Ward trio but given that those are literally the only hitters of interest (outside of Luis Robert who isn’t coming to Cleveland), I do not expect the Guardians to make a move of that nature. We will have additional pieces this week looking at the potentially available hitters, also, so stay tuned. It’s also possible they may find a bullpen arm they like with a team who has their heart set on a Guardians’ prospect. But, I am perfectly content with the team adding a major league starting pitcher and calling it a day. It sends a message to a team and fanbase that you’re committed to winning, and provides your roster with the needed depth and boost to make a run if they can patch up some the holes in this division-leading boat currently causing Vogt and company to spend their time bailing instead of sailing.

Bookmark this think-piece and feel free to come back and take a victory lap on me if the Guardians’ sit on their hands. But, as another national publication comes out with a top 100 list where Cleveland has six players placed and that doesn’t even include Braylon Doughty, Chase Mobley, Alex Clemmey, CJ Kayfus or Juan Brito, and given the state of the team in the standings, and the excitement in the city, I do believe that there will be at least one trade of significance in the week to come. Let’s hope that and the promotion of fresh bats and untried arms can stop the slide and reverse the tide as the waves of this season’s tumultuous journey continue to crash on our baseball team.