Re-grading one of the biggest deals in Guardians history nearly seven years later

As the offseason drags on and fans continue to clamor about the crickets coming from the Guardians' front office, we figured there was no better time to go through the vault and re-grade some of the biggest trades in recent Guardians history.

The first one we decided to take a look at was Cleveland dealt starting pitcher Trevor Bauer to the Reds at the 2019 trade deadline as a part of a three-team trade that also netted them a treasure trove of prospects from the Padres.

Time to break out the red ink and see how the deal worked for all sides

The Guardians' trade for Yasiel Puig and Franmil Reyes didn't end up doing much for anyone

Reds
Acquire RHP Trevor Bauer; trade LHP Scott Moss and OF Yasiel Puig to Guardians and OF Taylor Trammell to Padres

We figured we'd start with the headline. Bauer was a polarizing player during his time in Cleveland, and the high-water of that tenure came in 2018 when he was an All-Star and posted a 2.21 ERA in 175 1/3 innings.

Howver, he became expendable a season later thanks to the emergence of young pitchers Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac and Aaron Civale.

After struggling at the start of his tenure with the Reds (6.39 ERA in 56 1/3 innings in 2019), he posted the best season of his career in 2020 and ended up winning the Cy Young after he had a 1.73 ERA in 73 innings.

He parlayed that into a three-year, $103 million deal with the Dodgers after the season, but was placed on administrative leave after being accused of sexual assault and was eventually designated for assignment by the club in 2023. He hasn't appeared in MLB since.

Reds' Grade: B+

Padres
Acquire OF Taylor Tammell; trade OF Franmil Reyes, LHP Logan Allen, and SS Victor Nova to Guardians

AJ Preller added to his reputation as one of the sport's most aggressive general managers in this trade, as he gave away multiple prospects to acquire Trammell, who MLB Pipeline had ranked as the No. 19 prospect in all of baseball at the time of the trade.

His time in San Diego turned out to be short-lived, however, as Preller dealt him to the Mariners 13 months later as a part of a deal that included seven other players.

Padres' Grade: C

This is a neutral grade for San Diego, since they ended up trading away two players who didn’t fit their current roster at the time for a prospect (who they ended up trading a year later).

Trammell has bounced around the league and recently played for the Houston Astros in 2025, but was outrighted to Triple-A following the season. 

While Trammell hasn't ended up doing much in his MLB career, the trade that sent him to the Mariners is likely one Preller would like back considering he traded away two All-Stars in Ty France and Andrés Muñoz.

Cleveland Guardians
Acquire OF Yasiel Puig, LHP Scott Moss, OF Franmil Reyes, LHP Logan Allen and SS Victor Nova

This trade was perhaps the classic Guardians trade, as they dipped into their pitching depth in an attempt to add some power to their lineup

The biggest way they added to that was by acquiring Puig, who was best known for his days with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was having a down year with the Reds at the time of the trade.

While Puig's Cleveland tenure got off to a bit of a weird start since he tried to fight the entire Pirates' roster minutes after news of the trade leaked, he ended up slashing .297/.377/.423 during his 49-game tenure in Cleveland.

Puig became a free agent after the season and hasn't appeared in MLB since due to a variety of legal troubles.

While Puig was a good short-term get, Reyes stood out as the big prize of the deal due to his prestigious power.

Reyes showcased that power during his time in Cleveland (he had a 30-homer season in 2021) but his lack of plate discipline and inflated strikeout rate resulted in him being designated for assignment in 2022.

Reyes spent parts of the next two seasons with the Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals before signing with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of the Nippon Professional Baseball. 

Reyes slashed .277/.347/.515 with 32 home runs and 90 RBI with the Ham-Fighters last season and is just 30, so a return to MLB isn't out of the realm of possibility.

Logan S. Allen (not to be confused with current Guardians pitcher Logan T. Allen) was one of two pitchers the Guardians acquired in this swap, but he posted a 5.45 ERA in 69 1/3 innings with Cleveland before being designated for assignment in 2022.

Moss and Nova never appeared in a big league game for Cleveland.

Cleveland's Grade: C

The Guardians got negative production from Allen, Nova, and Moss and Puig only played in 49 games. Although Reyes had his moments, but ultimately failed to be what the front office had hoped. 

This grade was salvaged a little bit thanks to Reyes' aforementioned 30-homer campaign and the fact the Guardians were able to get something for a Bauer, but it still isn't the clear win as some of the other big trades in Guardians' history.