Jeff Passan frustratingly confirms Guardians trade deadline approach will be nothing like what fans want

Last night, the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels confirmed that trade deadline season is officially here with an… interesting trade that sent Logan O’Hoppe and Chase Silseth to the Texas Rangers for a prospect who doesn’t have much pedigree. 

But, regardless of how Angels fans feel about the trade, the mere fact they made a trade is a cause for celebration given the team’s lethargy in years prior. 

While the Guardians’ front office isn’t lethargic in the same way, it seems like this year’s trade deadline could be another year of the same old music at Progressive Field. 

Earlier today, ESPN’s Jeff Passan put out a big trade deadline preview that featured intel on every team in baseball. And his blurb about the Guardians should sound incredibly familiar to anyone who has been following Cleveland baseball for the past half decade. 

“Cleveland has maneuvered plenty at past deadlines. But between their lack of impending free agents -- only Rhys Hoskins' and Shawn Armstrong's contracts expire -- and a roster that hasn't proved itself entirely worthy of a significant investment in prospect capital, the Guardians could find themselves more or less standing pat,” he wrote. 

Although it wouldn’t have been smart to assume the Guardians would have been all-in at this year’s deadline, Passan’s intel seems to confirm every Cleveland’s fans worst nightmare. 

The Guardians can't afford to sit out this year's trade deadline

The worst part about the Guardians potentially standing pat at this year’s deadline is that they have two clear avenues to get better by adding a right-handed hitter and some pitching depth. 

No one’s saying they need to go after Tarik Skubal or Zach Neto; a bit of Lane Thomas or Brooks Raley could do wonders. 

Not only do the Guardians have some talent on their roster, they also have a young, exciting position player core for the first time in a while led by Chase DeLauter and Travis Bazzana. Last year the Guardians’ front office didn’t want to mortgage those player’s futures for short-term gains. 

This year’s a bit different considering they’re all playing in MLB, so any additions would help provide reinforcements to a roster they’re starring on. The Guardians have the worst slugging percentage in baseball (.369) while being in the bottom-five in batting average (.230), home runs (106) and team wRC+ (93). 

Kyle Manzardo mashed a big go-ahead homer in the Guardians’ win over the Reds yesterday, which gave him a team-leading 13 home runs… while having a .376 slugging percentage. 

Guards Ball will only get you so far. 

A reunion with Thomas makes the most sense given he’s on an expiring contract and still has a lot of fans in the front office, but Giants outfielder Heliot Ramos (who Passan mentioned as a dream Guardians target) stands out as the current white whale. 

The Guardians need help. It remains to be seen if they’re going to prioritize adding that help at the deadline. 

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