Jim Bowden gives promising prediction for Guardians’ trade deadline plans 

While we’re only in the middle of May, it’s never too early to start thinking about the trade deadline. Last year the Guardians looked like sellers at the deadline by trading away Shane Bieber and Paul Sewald, but they decided to hold onto Steven Kwan and went on a wild run to capture the American League Central title. 

But things could look a bit different for the Guardians at this year’s deadline given Cleveland entered play on Tuesday with a 27-22 record and a two game lead in the AL Central. 

And we got a first look at what their deadline plans  could look like on Tuesday when The Athletic’s Jim Bowden published a story outlining his predictions for how every team will handle the July deadline. And he listed the Guardians as buyers. 

That shouldn't come as a huge surprise given the Guardians have already made one trade this year to get catcher Patrick Bailey from the Giants. 

But Bailey is about as defense-first of a player as you can find, which is why Bowden wrote the Guardians’ front office “will need to acquire some offensive reinforcements.” 

The Guardians should have their work cut out for them at the trade deadline 

They don’t really have some clear areas they can upgrade like they have in years prior, though they could still use some additional reinforcements in the outfield thanks to Steven Kwan’s struggles. 

Travis Bazzana and Brayan Rocchio have locked down the middle infield, Rhys Hoskins and Kyle Manzardo have both been productive as of late while José Ramírez is clearly entrenched at third. 

That said, the Guardians could still add an infield upgrade thanks to Daniel Schnemann and David Fry’s ability to play anywhere. 

Right now Petey Halpin is operating as the fourth outfielder on the Guardians’ roster, but they could easily send him down to the minors to free up space for whoever they would acquire (or they could pull off the nuclear option and trade Kwan). 

All of that is assuming that the Guardians stay healthy, which is obviously a big ask across a 162-game season. 

While Cleveland has had great health with their starting rotation (starts banging on wood vigorously), they don’t have a ton of MLB-ready depth in the minors, so any injury would change their trade plans. 

They could also use some bullpen depth, though that’s less of a need after they spent the offseason upgrading the unit as a whole. 

The bad news for the Guardians is that this year’s trade candidate list features a lot of pitchers, with Miami’s Sandy Alcantara and Minnesota’s Joe Ryan standing out as the top two teams. 

That said, the Red Sox could trade Jarren Duran (though he’s struggled this season) or the Nationals could finally decide to cut bait with shortstop CJ Abrams. 

But regardless of whether the Guardians decide to make a big splash or build on the margins, the biggest takeaway from thinking about their trade deadline plans is that they’re in a good spot given how well the players on their current roster have been playing.

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