Cleveland Guardians Given Puzzling MLB Trade Deadline Prediction

It's hard to imagine the Guardians doing absolutely nothing at the trade deadline.

May 27, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) celebrates in the dugout after scoring on an RBI in the third inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Guardians are in first place in the AL Central, and while the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins have certainly been competitive this season, the Guardians have clearly been the cream of the crop.

Entering Tuesday night's action, Cleveland is 44-25 and holds a five-game lead—seven in the loss column—over the Royals. Heck, they are just one loss behind the New York Yankees (50-25) in the American League as a whole.

Taking that into consideration, you would think that the Guardians will be major players between now and the MLB trade deadline, which is on July 30. After all, Cleveland absolutely has some needs that should be addressed.

However, Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter sees things a bit differently and is actually predicting the Guardians to stand pat over the next six weeks.

Reuter backs his argument by saying that Cleveland is rarely active in the buyer's market, noting that reliever Andrew Miller is the last big-name player the club landed in a deadline deal. He also mentions the fact that the Guardians rank 26th in the majors in payroll.

Even if those things may be accurate, it seems hard to envision Cleveland sitting on its hands and doing nothing before the end of July.

The Guardians are in desperate need of starting pitching, as only two of their starters have ERAs under 4. Two of them—Logan Allen and Carlos Carrasco—have ERAs north of 5. They coud also use another bat in their outfield (Will Brennan and Tyler Freeman lay claim to OPSes of .679 and .676, respectively), and they could also stand to upgrade from the light-hitting Brayan Rocchio at shortstop.

Three players on Cleveland have an OPS north of .800. On the flip side, seven of their regulars (minimum 100 plate appearances) have an ugly sub-.700 OPS.

If the Guardians are going to be able to beat teams like the Yankees and Baltimore Orioles in the playoffs, they will need to buttress their roster in the coming weeks.

As good as Cleveland has been this season, it will be very difficult for the Guardians to beat New York or Baltimore in a playoff series with the roster as currently constructed.

Holding firm would be a major mistake for a franchise that has not won a World Series since 1948.