Bizarre trade deadline prediction has Guardians not acting with sense of urgency

With a 44-25 record and currently atop the American League Central division with a five game lead, the general concensus for the Cleveland Guardians at the upcoming MLB trade deadline is that they will look to buy. This is a team that put last year's offensive struggles behind them and have been able to fully rebound. The only issue is that there a few postions that could use an upgrade or addition to make the group even stronger for a potential postseaon run. However, it appears that Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter did not get the memo.

As part of Reuter's Predicting Buy, Sell or Hold for Every MLB Team at the 2024 Trade Deadline, he has projected the Guardians to be neither buyers nor sellers at the deadline, but rather a team that holds.

It's been years since the Guardians made a major move as buyers at the trade deadline, with the deal to land ace reliever Andrew Miller from the New York Yankees back in 2016 the last true example of a blockbuster addition. They rank 26th in the majors with a $100.2 million payroll, but that already represents an uptick from the $91.9 million mark they carried last year.

It appears that nothing about how this season has played out has factored into this determination by Reuter. Instead of realizing that Cleveland has been one of the best teams in baseball this year with an offense that ranks much higher offensively than projected before the season began, it is remedial internet rhetoric that is taking precedence over actual analysis of the current state of the team.

The Guardians are not the only AL Central team that should be buying at the deadline that has been projected to hold, as the Kansas City Royals have also received this designation. While the sustainability of the Royals' early season success is very questionable, they are still currently in the mix for a postseason berth. Mortgaging their long-term future is obviously off the table for Kansas City, considering they are probably 2-3 years away from being genuine contenders, but expecting them to do nothing is just preposterous.

Making matters worse about this prediction is that Reuter has the Minnesota Twins as buyers at the deadline. It appears that for some strange reason, people are still buying into the fact the Twins are a good team and have not been total frauds for several seasons now. The Twins barely have a positive run differential this season (+16), and that is a clear indicator of them not being a good team. Meanwhile, the Guardians sit at +86, and the Royals are +61. These are the teams that should be looking to make additions at the deadline, not Minnesota.

If one were to buy or sell trade precitons, this list from Reuter would be considered a total sell. There is absolutely no reason for the Guardians to hold steady at the deadline, as they appear more than ready to enter their next multi-year contention window. Cleveland has players to available to trade in the minors that could bring back current major leaguers that can help now and in the future. If they do not capitalize on what is clearly a good team this season, it would be organizational malpractice and a complete slap in the face to the fanbase and the actual players on the team. Barring an unforeseen cold spell, expect the Guardians to buy at the deadline.