Jo Adell’s strong play since trade deadline shows why Guardians have clear 2027 advantage 

Two weeks ago, the Cleveland Guardians seemed to win the trade deadline by trading for Jo Adell, Nathaniel Lowe and Foster Griffin. 

And even if the Guardians have limped to a 3-9 record in the time since the deadline, that trio hasn’t been the problem. 

Griffin rebounded from a rough first start with the Guardians to look more like himself his last time out while Lowe has provided the Guardians with the exact kind of production they were lacking from the left side of their first base platoon. 

But the Guardians’ biggest win from that trade deadline could end up being Adell, who has also provided some power since joining the Guardians. But, unlike Griffin and Lowe, Adell is under team control next season, which means most of his Cleveland story has yet to be written. 

While he could add some marks to the pages of that story this season, Adell has wasted no time showing how he could provide the Guardians with an answer to their long-term outfield power outage. 

Jo Adell will be part of the Guardians core in 2027 

Although Adell’s .287 on-base percentage with Cleveland isn’t great, he’s made up for that with his power, as six of his seven hits have gone for extra bases. 

He’s also tagged left-handed pitching to the tune of 1.092 OPS since joining the Guardians, which is a bit bittersweet. While he’s helped fill one of the Guardians’ biggest needs, they’ve still given him 29 at-bats against right-handed pitching (.505 OPS). 

Adell’s had some pretty drastic platoon splits throughout his career (.801 OPS against lefties vs. 651 against righties), so it’s not like this is breaking news. This same problem plagued him with the Angels. He’s shown he’s not an everyday player, but the Guardians are still acting as if he is. 

But part of the reason for that could be that they’re testing the waters to see how they should use him next season. 

The Guardians' outfield is in the best spot it’s been in a while thanks to a picture consisting of players like Steven Kwan, Khalil Watson, Petey Halpin, Angel Martínez and Adell, among others.

Even though that picture could end up looking different next season thanks to the movement that comes with every offseason, Adell is clearly a big part of that picture. 

Although Adell may never get on base at a clip Guardians fans find palatable (career .279 on-base percentage), his light tower power negates some of that (especially if most of his at-bats come against left-handed pitching).

Cleveland’s decision to trade for two rentals in Griffin and Lowe confirmed their plans of competing in 2026, but their decision to trade for Adell showed they think their core can win in 2027 as well.

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