Cleveland Guardians' Top Trade Deadline Priority, Revealed

The Cleveland Guardians' top priority ahead of the MLB trade deadline has been revealed.

Jul 7, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; The Cleveland Guardians celebrate a three-run, pinch-hit home run by catcher Bo Naylor (23) in the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Progressive Field. / David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Guardians are set to begin the second half of the 2024 MLB season as one of the best teams in baseball. They hold a 58-37 record and have started earning the respect of the league.

While they have been winning at a high level this season, many have held out the belief that they will fall off. Obviously, the Guardians have not let that happen. They're here to stay.

Looking ahead to the MLB trade deadline on July 30th, Cleveland will have a chance to get even better. There are a couple of needs that the Guardians should focus on trying to fix.

Bleacher Report has revealed the top priority that Cleveland should have in the trade market. They believe that adding a "playoff-caliber starting pitcher" should be the team's main priority.

"With Shane Bieber injured and both Triston McKenzie and Logan Allen demoted to the minors, the Guardians starting rotation will undoubtedly be the focal point of any trade deadline maneuvering. This is a notoriously quiet team on the summer trade market, but finding a starter who they could trust to take the ball in a playoff game would stabilize the patchwork staff."

Keeping that in mind, the Guardians have been connected to a few very good pitchers. Most notably, they have been named as a possible trade suitor for Chicago White Sox star pitcher Garrett Crochet.

A trade for Crochet may not be likely though, especially with Cleveland and the White Sox both in the AL Central division. Chicago likely would prefer to keep from helping their division opponents get better.

However, there are quite a few other starters that would make sense for the Guardians.

Among those options are Cal Quantrill, Tyler Anderson, Erick Fedde, Andrew Heaney, and even Yesei Kikuchi.

Even past those players, there are intriguing starting pitcher options available. Basically, Cleveland will have its pick of what player they want to pursue.

Expect to hear a ton of rumors swirliing around the Guardians in the coming week. They are expected to be aggressive on the trade market as they try to compete for a championship. A starting pitcher is trending towards being the biggest need for Cleveland.