3 trade targets who make way too much sense for the Guardians 

The Guardians always tend to be one of MLB’s busiest teams during the offseason. Whether it be making marginal moves in free agency or making a surprising trade, they always seem to find a way to get involved in some of the biggest moves of the offseason. 

And, after making a series of big trades last offseason that resulted in Andrés Giménez heading north of the border to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Guardians seem poised to make at least one big swing this offseason to help reinforce a lineup that has some big holes. 

These three trade targets would help reinforce the Guardians lineup 

SS CJ Abrams

Abrams would be a bit of an out of the box acquisition for the Guardians in that almost all of his value is derived from what he does in the batter's box. He’s a talented hitter who already has an All-Star nod under his belt, but he's a frustratingly inconsistent player who has also had some lapses in judgement during his time in the bigs. 

Abrams came up with the Padres before being traded to the Nationals as a part of the team’s return for Juan Soto and has recorded 18+ home runs and 60+ RBI in his three full seasons with the Nationals. 

But new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni has made it clear that the Nationals are open for business, which could lead to them trading Abrams despite him having two more years of team control via arbitration. 

He’s one of the worst defenders in baseball, but could benefit from a shift to center field that the Guardians would likely encourage. 

The Guardians had one of the worst offenses last season, and adding Abrams into the lineup would give Cleveland some more reinforcement around José Ramírez.

3B Alec Bohm

Bohm is no stranger to trade rumors, and those rumors reared their head again this offseason after MLB Network’s Jon Morosi mentioned Bohm as a trade candidate during last week’s General Managers Meetings. 

Although Bohm has primarily played third base throughout his career, he’s appeared at first base in every MLB season, topping out at 80 games at first in 2021. 

Bohm’s number last season took a dip after his All-Star 2024 season (15 HR, 97 RBI), but he still posted a 102 OPS+ in ‘25 thanks to a .331 on-base percentage. 

The Phillies seem set to restructure their roster after another disappointing postseason performance, and replacing Bohm with a top-tier third baseman like Alex Bregman or Munetaka Murakami. 

Bohm only has one-year of team control left through arbitration, so it likely won’t take much to pull him away from the Phillies.

UTL Brendan Donovan 

We’ve written about Donovan a lot over the past week ever since Jeff Passan mentioned him as a great fit for the Guardians, and the buzz for him among the Guardians’ fan base has hit a fever pitch as of late after it was reported the Guardians were among the teams in the mix for Donovan. 

The 28-year-old can play both second base and the corner outfield and is a career .282 hitter (even if he’s much better against right-handed pitching). 

The Guardians love players with versatility, and Donovan has that in spades. The thing that makes him stand out among the field is that he can play the two positions the Guardians need the most. 

That’s an exciting proposition when thinking about the future of the Guardians’ system. Chase DeLauter and Travis Bazzana stand out as two promising prospects in the Guardians’ system, and having Donovan in the fold as insurance would be a huge boon.

If DeLauter does in fact break camp with the Guardians then Donovan could get a ton of work in the infield before shifting back to the outfield if (when?) Travis Bazzana gets called up during the season. Or he could alternate between all the positions in the same way that Daniel Schneemann has done in the past two seasons. 

Donovan should be the Guardians’ front offices’ main target this offseason.