Guardians should consider dangling breakout rookie to Dodgers in Dustin May trade

The Cleveland Guardians enter this week at a crossroads. While they entered play on Monday just 3 1/2 games back in the Wild Card race, they’re also a game under .500, which signifies the purgatory they’ve found themselves in. 

As a result, it seems like they could go a variety of different ways at the trade deadline by making additions and/or subtractions from their MLB roster. 

And, based on a new report from MLB insider Ken Rosenthal, it seems like there’s a chance they could link up with the Dodgers for a trade that does both. 

Guardians should consider dangling Angel Martínez to Dodgers in Dustin May trade

In a new story for The Athletic, Rosenthal had an intriguing tidbit about the Dodgers pitcher Dustin May. 

"If the Dodgers move right-handed starter Dustin May, it likely would be for an outfielder and not a reliever, according to a source briefed on the club’s plans," Rosenthal wrote (subscription required). "The team’s preference is to trade from its farm system as opposed to its major-league roster. Moving May for a reliever would seem pointless when the Dodgers could use him to fill that role himself."

While that may not seem like a thing that would help the Guardians (they are in the market for MLB help in their outfield, after all), they do have one intriguing player on their roster who could be of interest to the Dodgers in Angel Martínez. 

While Martínez, 23, didn’t come up as an outfielder, 70 of his 86 appearances this season have come in the outfield, which is due in large part to Lane Thomas spending so much time on the injured list. 

And although he may not be a great outfielder (-9 Defensive Runs Saved in the outfield), he’s still a versatile player who has been one of the best hitters in baseball over the past month. 

After getting off to a slow start this season, Martínez has posted a .279/.333/.523 slashline since the start of July with four home runs, 13 RBI and nine doubles. 

He’d also be the perfect kind of player for a Dodgers’ roster that’s missing super-utility player Kiké Hernández for the foreseeable future due to left elbow inflammation. 

In 2023, the Dodgers linked up with the Guardians on a trade that sent Amed Rosario to the Dodgers in exchange for Noah Syndergaard; a trade of Martínez for May would be like a better version of that. 

That said, it would likely take more than May for Cleveland to give up Martínez. Even if he doesn’t have a set position in the field, he’s proving that he can be an everyday player thanks to his bat while also having the kind of versatility the team values. 

Plus, the Guardians need to add talent to their outfield at this year’s trade deadline, not remove it. But all of that could go out the window thanks to Emmanuel Clase’s suspension. 

Everyone in Cleveland’s bullpen has gone up a rung thanks to Clase’s suspension, which could put even more pressure on the members of a starting rotation that’s already been managing how to get by without a key player who is suspended. 

Last week, it looked like the Guardians could have used Clase to fleece the Dodgers out of controllable talent. Now, it may force them to give up some of their talent to fill a new-found area of need.