Recent Guardians trade looks even more like a fleece after latest strange demand

In 2023, the Guardians punted on the 2023 season by trading Aaron Civale to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Kyle Manzardo. 

While the trade made sense in the long run (the Guardians struggle to develop players with Manzardo’s profile), it nearly resulted in a mutiny among the players in the Guardians clubhouse since they were within sniffing distance of a postseason spot at the time. 

Now, nearly two years later, the trade is looking more and more like a win by the day. 

The Rays traded Civale to the Brewers last year and it looks like he could be on the move again this year, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon reported on Thursday that Civale had requested a trade after the team announced that it was planning on moving him to the bullpen.

Recent Guardians trade looks even more like a fleece after latest strange demand

Civale’s trade request is the latest development in what’s been a whirlwind year for the 30-year-old. As mentioned above, he was traded to the Brewers at last year’s trade deadline and posted a 3.53 ERA in 14 starts. He suffered a hamstring strain in opening start this year, but has posted a 3.32 ERA over his last 19 innings. 

But even with that, he was the odd man out in the Brewers’ rotation to make room for their promotion of top prospect Jacob Misiorowski, who will be making his MLB debut later today. 

And all of that makes the Guardians trade of Civale look better by the day. The Guardians recouped Manzardo in the deal who, despite some interesting usage, is looking like a key piece for the Guardians. He smashed a big home run last postseason and is currently tied for third on the team in RBI (31). 

Meanwhile Civale’s on his second team since the trade and seems destined to be on this third. 

As Rosenthal and Sammon pointed out in their story, the Brewers have a surplus of starting pitching options. Their MLB starting rotation currently includes Freddy Peralta, Chad Patrick, Quinn Priester and José Quintana, while they have pitchers Logan Henderson and Tobias Myers in Triple-A along with having Nestor Cortes and Brandon Woodruff on the injured list. 

But just because they have a surplus of pitching doesn’t mean that they’ll need to make a trade. Civale’s owed $8 million this year, and his trade market will already be a bit dampened because his trade request has been made public. 

The Cubs, Blue Jays and Yankees are among the contenders in desperate need of starting pitching help, but who knows how much they’ll be willing to give up for a pitcher with a 4.43 ERA across the past season-and-a-half. 

But no matter how much they need to give up, it won’t change the fact that the Guardians got rid of Civale at the perfect time.