Cleveland Guardians Receive Interesting Trade Deadline Assessment

The Cleveland Guardians need to make some moves to improve their roster by the MLB trade deadline, but is their front office really under pressure to do so?

Nov 10, 2023; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, middle, and president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti, left, and general manager Mike Chernoff, right, talk to the media during an introductory press conference at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports / Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Guardians are coming out of the All-Star break with the best record in the American League, so it seems safe to say that they are in a pretty good position heading into the second half of the 2024 season.

However, it's also fairly clear that the Guardians need to make some roster upgrades in order to ensure they can make a deep playoff run.

Former MLB general manager Jim Bowden—who now writes for The Athletic—offered a rather interesting take on Cleveland's situation heading into the MLB trade deadline.

While Bowden acknowledges that the Guardians need starting pitching, he qualifies his statement by saying that he does not believe president Chris Antonetti and Co. are under a whole lot of pressure to actually make any improvements.

It's a rather intriguing position to take for sure, given that Cleveland owns MLB's longest active drought without a World Series title (it last won one in 1948).

Are the Guardians the New York Yankees? No. They don't play in a major market, and they are not expected to spend big money (as evidenced by the fact that they rank 27th in payroll). However, Cleveland clearly has a big opportunity to a win a championship this year, so it would be a real shame if the Guardians didn't go for it at the deadline, especially considering they have some obvious holes.

Cleveland could actually use multiple starting pitchers, and it also could stand to bolster its lineup with another power bat to put alongside of Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor.

The Guardians went just 7-11 over their last 18 games heading into the break and have gone just 22-20 since a blistering 36-17 start.

Cleveland has really been playing .500 baseball for a month-and-a-half now, indicating its blatant need for some more pieces.

The Guardians have not made a truly significant acquisition at the trade deadline since 2016, when they landed relief pitcher Andrew Miller in a deal with the Yankees.

We'll see if Cleveland bucks that trend before July 30.