Guardians Should Pursue Trade For This Starting Pitcher During Offseason

The Cleveland Guardians and St. Louis Cardinals should make a trade centered around starting pitcher Sonny Gray.

Sep 12, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds during the sixth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images / Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians just won the American League Central division and are getting ready to go on another postseason run. No one expected the Guardians to be in this position back during spring training, but now Cleveland needs to figure out a way to sustain these winning ways for years to come.

The best way for the front office to do this is to go out and get another starting pitcher to bolster the rotation. It sounds like there already could be one on the trade market, and the Guardians should be more than interested in him.

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports, the St. Louis Cardinals "plan to shop veteran starter Sonny Gray while reducing payroll." If this does happen, Cleveland needs to be one of the teams that pursue him.

Gray, now 34, has been one of baseball's most consistent pitchers over the last four seasons.

He's coming off a year in which he had a 3.84 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 3.12 FIP over 28 starts. Gray has also been incredibly efficient on the mound, which is something the Guardians desperately need. The veteran arm ranked in the 91st percentile in K%, 84th percentile in BB%, and 81st percentile in Whiff%.

Jun 29, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Sonny Gray (54) throws against the Cincinnati Reds during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-Imagn Images / Jeff Le-Imagn Images

It's no secret that Cleveland's biggest weakness is its starting rotation. The Guardians ranked 23rd in baseball in starter ERA (4.40) and 23rd in innings pitched. No matter what, they'll likely need to address this over the winter to ensure they have enough depth for all of 2025.

Now is the time for the Guardians to go big and make a blockbuster trade for a pitcher of Gray's skillset and contract. A deal could center around any of Cleveland's surplus middle infielders other than Andres Gimenez or Travis Bazzana.

Whether a trade for Gray happens or not, it will be interesting to see how the front office approaches the offseason and starting rotation.

For now, Cleveland has to take what they have and see how far they can get in October.