3 desperation moves Guardians must make to jump start dead offense

Well Cleveland, how are we feeling? 

Think back to two weeks ago. It wasn’t 90 degrees outside.  Issac Okoro was still a Cleveland Cavalier. And the Guardians had just won two games in a row to crawl above .500. 

A lot has changed since then. Cleveland felt more like Arizona. Lonzo Ball’s looking into rooms at The 9. And the Guardians entered play on Wednesday three games under .500 thanks to a five-game losing streak. 

Yes, they have talent on their roster, but it’s becoming more and more clear that their roster needs some juice if they want to be true contenders. 

Here are three ways they can make that happen.

3 desperation moves Guardians must make to jump start dead offense

Call up an impact prospect

It could be anyone. Chase DeLauter. Juan Brito. CJ Kayfus. Travis Hafner in a mustache. 

This team’s offense needs some fresh blood, and it’s time to take a swing and give a rookie a chance. Sure, the injury-prone DeLauter may suffer an injury in his first game or Brito and Kayfus could crack under the pressure, but they all deserve a chance. 

The Guardians entered play on Wednesday with just three hitters on their roster with an OPS+ above 100 (Steven Kwan, Kyle Manzardo and José Ramírez) compared to five who had an OPS+ of 50 or worse (Johnathan Rodríguez, Austin Hedges, Brayan Rocchio, Lane Thomas and David Fry). 

Sheesh. 

None of those three can be worse than that. It’s time to let the kids play.

Let Kyle Manzardo man first base full-time 

As our Brandon Glick pointed out earlier this week, the Guardians haven’t done Manzardo any favors this year by putting him into a platoon with Carlos Santana. While Manzardo has only hit .209 against lefties this season, he has an incredible .581 slugging percentage, albeit in a much smaller sample size. 

Manzardo is a key part of the team’s future, and he deserves a chance to show that by playing everyday. And, as mentioned above, he’s been one of the few Guardians hitters who has been above league average.

The Guardians could fix this situation in the blink of an eye by trading Santana at the deadline. While he likely won’t have a ton of trade value, his name has come up a bit in rumors over the past couple months.

A trade for him could kill two birds with one stone, as it would free up room for Manzardo while also allowing the Guardians to get some value for a 39-year-old on an expiring contract. 

Swing for the fences with an impact outfielder. 

Like the prospect example, it doesn’t really matter impact outfielder. They just need one. . Whether it be Taylor Ward, Adolis García, Cedric Mullins or anyone else, they just need an addition. 

The Guardians have gotten next to no production from both center and right field this year, and an outside addition could be exactly what they need to turn that around. 

Mullins may be the best fit of that group because he’s an impending free agent with strong power (12 home runs) and a penchant for playing strong defense (70th percentile in Outs Above Average), though he is only hitting .214 this season for a struggling Orioles team. 

Mullins is an impending free agent so his prospect return wouldn’t be as heft, and has a profile that fits the mold of what the Guardians want in a position player. 

It’s not like he could be worse.