Guardians are worse today than yesterday and fans have a right to be mad about it

The Cleveland Guardians made not one but two trades yesterday, the most notable being the deal that sent second baseman Andres Gimenez to the Toronto Blue Jays. The return for the elite defender was middling at best, with the primary benefit for Cleveland not being liable for the remainder of Gimenez's contract. Then, Cleveland decided to take the lone major leaguer they got from the Blue Jays, Spencer Horwitz, and flip him to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Guardians would receive pitcher Luis Ortiz and two minor leaguers from Pittsburgh for Horwitz, making Cleveland's final return for Gimenez one major league player and three players in A-Ball.

Coming off a season with an American League Central division title and a run to the ALCS, one would think the Guardians would be adding to their roster rather than subtracting from it. In what world does this series of moves make Cleveland closer to contending for a World Series title? The answer is simple. They don't.

Trading Gimenez now makes absolutely no sense. Sure, his performance at the plate could be better, but he is still the best defensive second baseman in the sport. Also, if the front office's goal was to dump his salary and get nothing immediately useful in return, they could have taken this approach a few years down the road when his salary eclipses $20 million per year. Doing it now is just an insult to the fanbase and the remaining players in the clubhouse. It shows that the front office is not taking what they accomplished last season seriously and would rather attempt to outperform a suspect pitching rotation again rather than make a push to be better in 2025. The fact of the matter is this is the exact opposite way they should be operating right now, and if fans are upset about trading a cornerstone player of the franchise, they have every right to be.