5 position players the Cleveland Guardians should target at the trade deadline

2. Taylor Ward - Los Angeles Angels

When it comes to potential additions that the Cleveland Guardians could make at the MLB Trade Deadline, working a deal for Los Angeles Angels outfielder Taylor Ward should be near the top of the list.

With 56 doubles and 51 home runs in his last three seasons, Ward has shown that he is more than capable of being a complementary power threat in the outfield. This is something that would go a long way for the current composition of the Guardians' outfield. The recent power developments from Steven Kwan have been encouraging, but he cannot be counted on alone to be the lone everyday outfielder to have some sort of power in his bat, it is simply not part of his hitting profile right now. Someday? Maybe, but not right now.

Anyway, back to Ward. His .740 OPS right now would be the fifth-highest of qualified Guardians hitters and only behind Kwan's ridiculous .956 among Cleveland's outfield. While not necessarily a prototypical power bat, being better than Tyler Freeman's .656 and Will Brennan's .730 is definitely something worth taking note of.

So far, the Guardians have been able to make things work with a mix-and-match group in the outfield. While that has gone their way up to this point, it is hard to buy into the sustainability of that approach. Adding someone like Ward into the mix would allow the Guardians to have more than one everyday outfielder etched in stone while allowing the other utility players to move around the diamond as needed.