3 Guardians who could be traded at end of 2026 spring training 

Although spring training isn’t normally a time on the baseball calendar that’s considered a hotbed for transactions, there’s always some kind of movement during spring training. 

Most of the time those transactions happen at the end of spring training as teams look to add to their final roster and/or get rid of players who lost roster battles. 

Even though the Guardians don’t have as many roster battles as some other teams in MLB, they still have some players on their roster who stand out as obvious trade candidates. 

Here are three of them. 

The Guardians have a variety of players they could trade at the end of spring training 

SS Gabriel Arias 

Arias has quietly had a solid spring, as he entered play today hitting .313 in seven games this spring with two doubles, two walks and just five strikeouts. 

Last season Arias finished in the bottom percentile in whiff rate and strikeout rate, and boasts a career strikeout rate of 33.3%. He has all the talent in the world, but the hole in his swing has limited how much of an impact he's made in the big leagues.

And if that’s not enough, Arias doesn’t have any big league options remaining, which means it’s big league or bust for him this year. 

And even if Arias makes the team out of camp, he’s going to have a short leash thanks to his struggles last season and the number of MLB-ready infield prospects the Guardians have behind him. 

So, rather than letting Arias leave for nothing in April after an eventual DFA, the Guardians could get out of the Arias game this spring by sending him elsewhere. 

LHP Logan Allen 

Last September the Guardians rode their six-man rotation into a postseason berth. And although all six pitchers from that rotation are still with the Guardians, they're shifting back to a traditional five-man rotation for the start of the 2026 season, which means someone’s going to be the odd man out. 

There’s a good chance that could be Allen, who posted a 4.25 ERA last season. Normally a left-handed innings eater would be a staple in any rotation, but the Guardians already have two left-handers in the fold (Joey Cantillo and Parker Messick) and an innings eater in Slade Cecconi. 

Allen’s been the definition of a league average pitcher since he made his debut in 2023, and now would be as good a time as any for the Guardians to try to sell high on him. 

Allen still has one minor league option remaining so there’s always a chance the Guardians could just send him to the minors instead of trading him, but pitching is always at a premium at this point in the MLB calendar.

RHP Connor Brogdon 

Although the Guardians opened their offseason by signing Brogdon to a one-year deal at the start of the Winter Meetings, they followed that up by signing seemingly every other free agent reliever who was available. 

Even though Brogdon offers an interesting profile given he finished last season in the 92nd percentile in extension (how close a pitcher is to the plate when they release a pitch), he had a 5.55 ERA in 47 innings last year with the Angels. 

The Guardians would need to expose Brogdon to waivers to remove him from their roster since he’s on a big league deal and is out of minor league options, so trading him elsewhere would be a better option than designating him for assignment (if they choose to outright him off the roster). 

Although Hunter Gaddis’ injury could open up a roster spot for Brogdon, he should have plenty of suitors should the Guardians choose to trade him.