Guardians must act quick if they are going to acquire an impact player before the trade deadline
The MLB Trade Deadline is a little over 24 hours away, and teams are making deals left and right. Well, every team except the Cleveland Guardians it seems.
Cleveland has some very noticeable areas of need that must be adequately addressed, and it is a little discouraging to have pretty much nothing in regards to a possible trade rumor. The only real news of any kind has been a reported failed attempt to acquire Randy Arozarena from the Tampa Bay Rays after the fact, which has unfortunately become an all too common series of events with this ballclub. It would be one thing if there were numerous reports of the team being interested or talking with other teams about acquiring someone, but only getting the minimal information of not offering up enough for one player following a trade being agreed to with a different team is discouraging.
The Guardians are clearly one of the better teams in baseball right now, with their series win in Philadelphia being proof of exactly that. This is a team that should be very active in trade talks, and while there is the chance they could be behind the scenes, it would be a little more encouraging about the prospect of adding notable players ahead of the deadline.
Other teams have jumped at the chance to make deals before deadline day, with arms and bats alike being on the move. Has every player that has been traded been a match for Cleveland? Well, not necessarily. Then again, a genuine trade rumor would go a long way toward satisfying the appetite of the fanbase that hopes they will do something of consequence rather than hear the front office say they were in the mix for a few names, but things did not work out.
The Guardians need to trade for at least one starting pitcher and a bat of some type. They must find a way to make a deal that sees them solidify their rotation and round out their roster before the deadline. Cleveland cannot afford to stand pat, make moves of little consequence, or justify the returns of Triston McKenzie and Logan Allen as being their arms added at the deadline. This team needs external help via trade if they are going to capitalize on their open contention window, and they need to execute a deal before players that could be of help to them are no longer available.