Two Guardians named in Top 50 trade candidates

20. Aaron Civale

This does not necessarily come as a surprise. Aaron Civale is a solid, but unspectacular starter that could help raise the floor of a contender's rotation. This is what was said about Civale and his performance this year.

" The 28-year-old righty has been more of a back-of-the-rotation type throughout his career. This year’s 2.96 ERA over eight starts is more attributable to batted ball and sequencing fortune than an overhaul in his approach. Civale is a control specialist with a 3.95 ERA in just shy of 400 career innings. It’s #4 starter production on a rate basis, although he’s battled injuries and never topped 125 MLB frames in a single season. Civale is making $2.6MM this year and eligible for arbitration twice more thereafter."

Anthony Franco on Aaron Civale

From Cleveland's perspective they do have a few reasons to at least listen, if not outright trade Civale. Those would be Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, and Logan Allen. The presence of these three young arms means that the Guardians would not suddenly find themselves with lack of pitching should they trade Civale.

In fact, there is a scenario where Clevleand is a team that could end up making the posteason and still trade Civale. This way the Guardians would be able to open up a rotation spot for Allen to return to the majors while at the same time getting something in return to improve the team elsewhere.