5 position players the Cleveland Guardians should target at the trade deadline

We're about a month away from the trade deadline, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the hot stove has been turned up to 11 as of late.

Whether it be news about individual players or lists breaking down the entire deadline, every MLB insider has been dropping little nuggets about what each team could be doing at the deadline.

And the Guardians have been a staple on almost all of those lists thanks to their reputation (and, according to insiders, plan) to be both a buyer and a seller.

Here are five position players the Guardians should target if they decide to buy.

OF Taylor Ward, Los Angeles Angels
.211/.282/.466, 19 HR, 53 RBI

Another year, another call for the Guardians to pull the trigger on Ward. Ward, 31, has been involved in trade rumors since the dawn of time, but maybe this could be the year the Angels finally decide to deal Ward.

While Ward’s only played in left field in each of the past two seasons, he’s played some right field in his career, which is where the Guardians would need him. Their right fielders have combined for a wRC+ of 49, which is far and away the worst mark in the league. 

Ward’s not a great defender and strikes out more than you’d like, but he has legit power and mashes against lefties. He also has one more year of arbitration left, meaning he wouldn’t be a pure rental.

OF Adolis García, Texas Rangers
.232/.283/.397, 9 HR, 38 RBI

We’ve already highlighted García as a potential option for the Guardians, but his fit is such a no-brainer it felt disingenuous to leave him off this list. He’s a power hitting right fielder who possesses a skill set the Guardians haven’t been able to develop. 

Like Ward, he’s a right-handed hitter, but, unlike Ward’s he’s had some postseason success, as he set an MLB record when he drove in 22 runs in the 2023 postseason.

He’s a pure power hitter (his on-base percentage of .285 is a bit tough to stomach), but he’s a solid defender (78th percentile in Outs Above Average) who also has one more year of arbitration left after this season. 

The Rangers are in the midst of a tough season but likely wouldn’t want to dip into a full blown rebuild, so they’d probably target more MLB ready prospects. The Guardians have no shortage of prospects that fit that bill, but it remains to be seen how many of them are expendable.

OF Luis Robert Jr., Chicago White Sox 
.185/.270/.313, 8 HR, 32 RBI

Robert’s been a thorn in the Guardians’ side since he earned his first MLB callup in 2020, but his production has cratered in the past season-and-a-half, which has made him expendable. The White Sox have already told teams that they’re willing to pay down some of his salary in any trade, which should be music to the Guardians’ ears. 

The biggest roadblock in a potential deal would be the fact both teams are in the same division, though it’s worth noting that they linked up in 2021 in a deal that sent César Hernández to the White Sox in exchange for Konnor Pilkington. 

And although he’s struggled at the plate this year, Robert is second in the American League with 22 steals and has been worth three Outs Above Average in the field. He only has one more guaranteed year left on his contract (there are team options for 2026 and 2027), so the Guardians would be able to pull the plug on the Robert experiment after the season if needed. 

Robert seems like the perfect “change of scenery” candidate — it just remains to be seen if that place will be Cleveland.

SS Bo Bichette, Blue Jays
.277/.318/.440, 11 HR, 48 RBI

While the Blue Jays enter Wednesday ahead of the Guardians in the Wild Card race, there’s been plenty of trade deadline buzz around Bichette, who is an impending free agent. The Blue Jays may have already played their cards earlier this year when they extended Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a 14-year, $500 million deal earlier this year but seemingly made no progress in a potential extension with Bichette. 

He’s been the Blue Jays’ full-time leadoff hitter this year and is in the midst of a strong June where he’s hit .273. He’d be a pure rental, so adding him to the roster wouldn’t be a huge roadblock to any prospect development, though it would take playing time away from Gabriel Arias and Daniel Schneemann.

2B Luis Urías, Athletics
.253/.339/.394, 7 HR, 17 RBI

Urías is also on an expiring deal but is in the midst of a solid season for The Athletics. This deal would also take playing time away from Schneemann and/or Arias, but he’s a solid reinforcement who has posted a 106 OPS+ this year. 

He doesn’t hit the ball hard, but he’s in the 95th percentile in whiff rate and the 92nd percentile in strikeout rate. He wouldn’t cost a lot in terms of prospects, and would be a solid bench option who can play multiple infield positions. He’d likely only be a target if the team decides against promoting a middle infield prospect like Juan Brito.