5 starting pitchers the Cleveland Guardians should target before the trade deadline

5. Sean Manaea - New York Mets

Another member of the New York Mets' starting rotation who could very well be on the move is 32-year-old Sean Manaea. The former Oakland Atheltic, San Diego Padre, and San Francisco Giant is a very intriguing pitching option if the Mets look to field offers for him before the deadline.

Manaea has a 3.16 ERA and 1.286 WHIP while striking out 8.2 batters per nine innings. This level of pitching is more in line with what was seen during his time in Oakland rather than the one-year stints with San Diego and San Francisco. While there is a very good chance that Manaea's ERA creeps back up toward 4.00 as the season progresses, there should not be a concern about it reaching the near 5.00 mark he had during his time with the Padres in 2022.

Unlike everyone else on this list, Manaea is not guaranteed to become a free agent at the end of this season. Manaea has a $13.5 million player option for 2025, should he opt-in. This would just barely make him the highest-paid Guardians pitcher this season and the highest-paid in 2025, which may make the Guardians a bit hesitant to attempt to acquire him, but if they were willing to take on that salary figure for next season, it would certainly help their chances of a deep postseason run in 2024.