3 Cleveland Guardians that may be gone after the 2022 MLB trade deadline

2. RHP Shane Bieber

Just three years removed from being slotted at No. 4 in the AL MVP voting and winning the Cy Young award, Shane Bieber has struggled at times this season, resulting in his name being tossed around in trade rumors.

Inconsistency has been one key word to describe his 2022 campaign.

Bieber is 4-6 on the season, allowing 102 hits, 44 earned runs, 12 home runs, and 26 walks in 111 innings pitched.

Compared to his 2020 CY Young campaign where he allowed just 46 hits, 14 earned runs, seven home runs, and 21 walks in 77 innings pitched, it’s a drastic drop-off.

Although the innings pitched is much different from 111 to 77, his hits allowed this season is heading towards being either the most or second-most in his career.

He has also seen his velocity dip, and is averaging only roughly 91 miles per hour on his fastball, which is down three miles per hour since his 2020 season.

While he has pitched one complete game this year, he has not been able to win and close out games in recent weeks.

Throughout the month of July, Bieber is 1-2, posting a 3.41 ERA. Since April, Bieber has had under a 3.00 ERA one time and that came back on June 8th, showcasing that this may be one of his most inconsistent seasons to date.

Well, Shane Bieber has been a cornerstone for years now; why would we move on from him?

Moving on from Bieber would NOT be something unheard of.

While it’s unlikely to happen, the Cleveland Guardians front office has been very easygoing in letting go of star players for the right price.

Bieber has been inconsistent this year, but the reason for moving on from him could be the fact that outside of his rookie season, he is pitching the worst season of his career, and if that continues his stock will drastically fall.

Moving on from him now could hold as a safety net for Cleveland to get as much out of him now as possible.

Bieber’s trade value can be determined pretty easily.

Cleveland will not move on from the former CY Young winner unless they get an All-Star or two, highly touted prospects, or both an All-Star and a highly ranked prospect in return.

With two more seasons on his contract after the 2022 season, his trade stock should be high for most teams, and with his play dipping this year, moving on from the one-time MVP contender while his stock is still high should be a move the Guardians front office explores.

Although, if Cleveland does move on from a starting pitcher, the likeliness of one of the others instantly goes to zero. The Guardians will not move on from two starting pitchers this trade deadline.

3. OF/DH Franmil Reyes

Franmil Reyes has been with the Guardians for four seasons now and has contributed as a solid role player through all four seasons.

He’s recorded 259 hits, 47 doubles, 58 home runs, 182 RBIs, and a very consistent .247 batting average in four years with the Guardians.

Just a few months ago, however, it was reported that the Guardians front office would look to move him at the August 2nd trade deadline to open up opportunities for players in the minors.

This season has been a struggle for the 26-year-old, as he’s batted .220 with 54 hits, nine doubles, nine home runs, and 28 RBIs. The biggest knock to his game has been his excessive strikeouts.

Reyes is a power hitter and with that comes plenty of strikeouts, but this season he’s recorded 102 strikeouts in 246 at-bats.

Last season he had 149 strikeouts, and in the 2019 season he had 156 strikeouts. With the season a little over halfway complete, Reyes is on pace to have his season-worst in strikeouts.

Although his strikeouts have heightened, as a 6’5″, 260-pound power hitter, plenty of teams in the league would have their eyes on trading for him at the deadline.

Reyes’ trade value in the open market is definitely an interesting one, and Cleveland could command rotational or bullpen pieces to open up opportunities for players in the minors to slide into his role.

Who would replace him in the lineup if he was traded?

With the loss of Reyes at DH, the opportunity for a lot of changes in the lineup opens up.

Josh Naylor could slide to the DH role to give Owen Miller the first base position, and even Triple-A or Double-A first base prospects could get their shot in the majors.

One notable prospect who could fit well into Reyes’ role as a DH and power hitter would be Double-A prospect Jhonkensy Noel.

Now, this probably wouldn’t be the case until next season due to how young he is, but he would definitely fit in the role Reyes has in the lineup now.

Realistically, however, if Reyes was traded the most likely lineup change would be Naylor to the DH spot and either Owen Miller, Bobby Bradley or a Triple-A prospect at the first base position.