Guardians may have second chance to acquire pitcher they wanted last offseason

Last offseason, the Cleveland Guardians added to their pitching staff at the Winter Meetings by re-signing Shane Bieber to a two-year deal along with acquiring Slade Cecconi from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Josh Naylor. 

But there was nearly a chance that they added one more piece to that picture in the offseason, as Cleveland’s front office reportedly “made a hard push” for starting pitcher Nick Pivetta before he ended up signing a four-year, $55 million contract with the Padres. 

But it looks like there’s a chance that Pivetta could be available this offseason, as The Athletic’s Dennis Lin reported on Monday that the Padres are "entertaining" trade offers on Pivetta less than a year after signing him to that aforementioned contract. 

While Lin writes that the Padres trading Pivetta isn’t a lock, he made it clear that the Padres are listening to offers on him as they work to rebalance their payroll, which could give the Guardians a golden opportunity to nab Pivetta, should they choose. 

It looks like the Guardians would have a chance to get Nick Pivetta 

The biggest thing that could stand in the way of the Guardians getting Pivetta (should they choose to go after him) is his salary. He’s owed $19 million next season and then has the option to opt out of the remaining two years and $32 million on the deal.

That could end up becoming a forgone conclusion if Pivetta picks up where he left off last year when he spotted a 2.87 ERA in 181 2/3 innings and finished sixth in National League Cy Young voting 

It’s easy to see why the Guardians coveted Pivetta considering his durability and strong strikeout numbers (190 strikeouts last season). But that was before he signed an expensive contract that has essentially turned him into a rental. 

And the Padres would undoubtedly ask for some of the Guardians’ young starting pitchers in a trade considering their rotation currently consists of Pivetta (who they’re shopping), Joe Musgrove (who missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John) and the uninspiring Randy Vásquez. 

They already lost Dylan Cease to the Blue Jays in free agency and are also likely to Michael king in free agency as well.

That asking price would likely start with Parker Messick and/or Joey Cantillo along with some young position player prospects. The Padres previously expressed some interest in Steven Kwan before they traded top prospect Leo De Vries to the Athletics, but it’s hard to believe that the Guardians would give Kwan up in exchange for Pivetta unless it was part of a bigger deal (and even then it seems like a stretch). 

Pivetta reached a new level with the Padres after being a solid pitcher with the Red Sox, and he’d be a welcome addition to the Guardians rotation. But the amount that it would take to acquire him wouldn’t be worth it given how much more it would cost to get him compared to last offseason.