Festivus Airing of Grievances: Cleveland Guardians edition

Cleveland Guardians Grievance #3: Trading Josh Naylor

Another trade that drew the ire of fans was Saturday's agreement to send Josh Naylor to the Arizona Diamondbacks for pitcher Slade Cecconi and a competitive balance Round B pick. If the return for Andres Gimenez was disappointing, this return is simply embarrassing.

To give up someone with Naylor's offensive abilities for a fringe fifth starter and the opportunity to select someone who might be able to help them several years down the line if anything goes right is simply mind-boggling. The difference in salary may help the books look a little bit more friendly, but it does not make them a better baseball team by any means.

Clearly, a priority for the front office of the Guardians this winter is to find a way to improve their rotation. However, there has to have been a way to accomplish this by either not trading away one of their most valuable hitters or acquiring a proven commodity rather than an arm that has not faired all that well in the minors or majors in his young career.

Finally, regarding the Guardians' ability to keep up with the most potent offenses in the sport, they are now further away from being able to do so. While having a better starting rotation could help limit the offensive output of their opponents, if they are not able to score enough, it will not matter. Keeping Naylor and adding a proven starter who is available at the start of the season would have been a significantly better route to take than the one they have chosen.