3 roster issues the Guardians failed to fix at 2025 trade deadline

The trade deadline has come and gone and the Cleveland Guardians' roster looks very similar to how it did earlier this week. Sure, Shane Bieber has gone north of the border and Paul Sewald is no longer lurking on the injured list, but the bones of the 2025 Guardians have stayed the same. 

Although that’s largely a good thing since it means that Steven Kwan hasn’t gone anywhere, it also means that the Guardians have the same holes on their roster that they’ve had for most of the year. 

3 roster issues the Guardians failed to fix at 2025 trade deadline

The outfield 

While Cleveland’s best move at this year’s deadline was the one they didn’t make in the outfield, it was still a bit depressing to see them not make a move to add another quality outfielder into the mix. Maybe the forthcoming addition of Lane Thomas could count as a quasi-trade deadline acquisition (if he ever returns), but his play this season hasn’t been very inspiring. 

This year’s deadline featured plenty of outfielders moved, ranging from pure rentals like Cedric Mullins and Harrison Bader to more controllable guys like old friend Ramón Laureano and Jesús Sánchez.

There were also some younger outfielders moved the other way in big deals like James Outman going to the Twins or Brandon Lockridge going to the Brewers. 

Guardians outfielders have combined for a wRC+ of just 79 this year, and they’ve been one of MLB’s least productive teams in center field and right field. 

Angel Martínez seems set to be the team’s main centerfielder this year, which is both a good and bad thing. The good is that he’s coming off a month where he hit .263 at the top of Cleveland’s lineup. The bad is that he’s been worth -7 Defensive Runs Saved in center field, which makes every fly ball an adventure. 

Right field is currently occupied by Nolan Jones (who just hit .221 in July) and Johnathan Rodríguez, who is hitting just .167 and has been a subpar fielder. 

The Guardians desperately need some new pieces in their outfield, and this year’s trade deadline seemed like the perfect time to make that happen. 

The middle-infield 

While the Guardians have an abundance of middle infielders on their MLB roster, we’re still not sure if any of them are bonafide major league players. 

Gabriel Arias and Daniel Schneemann both provide a ton of value through their versatility, but neither has proven that they can be an everyday player. Brayan Rocchio has hit better since being recalled from Triple-A at the beginning of July, but he still boasts a career .213 batting average. 

And it’s not like things are much better in the minor leagues. Will Wilson and Juan Brito are the only other middle-infield options on the 40-man roster, but Wilson struggled in his time with the Guardians this year (.167 average) and Brito is currently on the minor league injured list with a hamstring injury. 

There were plenty of middle-infielders who were on the move on this year’s trade deadline, but none of them ended up in Cleveland. This seems like a position the team addresses in the offseason either via free agency or the trade market. 

The back of the bullpen 

This is admittedly a bit of a “gotcha” inclusion given the suddenness of Emmanuel Clase’s suspension, but Cleveland’s bullpen has suddenly gone from a position of strength to one with a lot of uncertainty. 

They still have a strong big two of Cade Smith and Hunter Gaddis to go along with promising young pitchers like Erik Sabrowski and Nic Enright, but there’s also no denying that this is a unit that’s not as good as it was a week ago. 

It’ll be interesting to see how the Guardians address that need in the offseason

The price on relievers was incredibly steep at this year’s deadline (the Mets gave away three (3) MLB-ready players for Tyler Rogers), but there’s always an abundance of relievers available in the offseason as teams navigate the offseason roster crunch.

The Guardians sifted through the scrap heap to find Ben Lively and Jakob Junis in the past two offseasons, and they should be back to do that this winter. 

Until then, expect to see them taking a lot of fliers on DFA’d relief pitchers like they did earlier this week with Carlos Hernández.