Cleveland Guardians: 3 players that could be traded at the deadline

The weather is heating up and so too will baseball’s hot stove. Here are three Guardians who could be traded in the next month.

Get used to this saying over the next two months: dealing from a position of strength. The Cleveland Guardians might not be the hottest team heading into the trade deadline, nor might they be the most intriguing for the hot stove. But media close to the team and a general buzz around Major League Baseball lends credence to the idea that the Guardians might work out a few kinks heading down the stretch.

Luckily for them, the Guardians have tough decisions to make on personnel for the first time in a while. Gone are the days of Michael Martinez and Mike Freeman eating up lineup spots. The wave of young prospects is reaching the major-league level in droves, making some players obsolete and completely expendable.

Could we see package deals with minor leaguers for rotation or bullpen help? Would the Guardians try to make a big splash for a corner outfielder? There are so many possibilities. What a great time to blog about Cleveland baseball.

Here are three current Guardians players (on the major-league roster) that could be traded at the upcoming deadline:

Amed Rosario

Rosario, one of the major-league-ready pieces acquired by the Guardians in the Francisco Lindor trade, has produced a commendable slash line and showed flashes of a talented glove up the middle. By the numbers (an OPS+ of 99) he averaged out to be a typical major-league hitter, a solid option for a rebuilding team.

Unfortunately, Rosario has likely maxed out his talent level and, at the age of 26, might be getting overcome by the swell of incoming talent. The rise of Andrés Giménez as a clutch hitter, especially in the late innings, is doing him no favors. His production has also fallen off this season, but he has the skills to be packaged with a prospect or two to return the Guardians with a solid major-league player.

He has his final two years of arbitration left before becoming a free agent following his age-28 season, so he’s hardly a rental. The room for Rosario with the Guardians is shrinking by the day, however, and his nearly $5 million contract will become less worth it as the season goes on.