CLEVELAND, Ohio — Wow.
That’s what I kept thinking as the Guardians made trade after trade after trade.
Three trades, one day.
Three trades where they added an All-Star pitcher (Foster Griffin from Washington), a guy with 16 homers (Jo Adell from the Angels) and a reliable-hitting first baseman who crushes right-handed pitching (Nathaniel Lowe from the Reds).
Oh, they also picked up an intriguing reliever (Craig Yoho from Milwaukee) in a Saturday trade. In the same deal was Blake Perkins. He is a Petey-Halpin-type defensive outfielder. He was sent to Class AAA.
So that’s four in 48 hours.
Let’s count the ways the Guardians improved:
1. You can never have enough starting pitching, and Griffin (12-3, 3.06 ERA) is one of the best this season.
2. You also can never have enough bullpen arms. Yoho has a 10-3 career record and a 1.10 ERA in the minors. He had a 3.15 ERA in 20 innings with the Brewers this season.
3. Hitting? Need more hitting? Better believe it. Adell’s 16 homers and 62 RBI are more than anyone on Cleveland’s roster. Lowe is a .286 hitter (.885 OPS) vs. right-handers. Adell is hitting .303 (.901 OPS) vs. lefties. To some extent, they are platoon players — especially Lowe.
4. They also added about $4 million to the payroll.
Two of these players — Lowe and Griffin — will be free agents after the season. So, they are short-term moves.
Adell is under team control through the 2027 season.
Who knows if there will even be baseball next season with the looming labor problems. These trades were made for right now, and that’s wise.
The Guardians have acquired left-hander Foster Griffin from the Nationals.AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser
What they gave up
I made a list of players dealt by Cleveland. Only one (Will Dion) was on the 26-man roster at the time of the trade:
Catchers (2): Bo Naylor (Milwaukee) and Jacob Cozart (Washington). The Guardians love Cozart, but they are loaded with catchers. They have Patrick Bailey (acquired in a trade with the Giants in May) and Austin Hedges in the majors. In the minors, they have Cooper Ingle and Kody Huff, both at Class AAA. I rate them ahead of Cozart on my personal prospect list.
Pitchers (5): Josh Hartle, Codi Heuer, Will Dion, Alejandro Rivera and Kendeglys Virguez. A lefty starter at Class AA Akron, I like Hartle very much. Dion and Heuer are marginal prospects. Rivera and Virguez are in the low minors.
Outfielders (1): Nick Mitchell, who was hitting .240 (.718 OPS) with five homers and 39 RBI at Class AA Akron.
Infielders (1): Juan Brito was announced as being sent to the Reds for cash. That happened after the Lowe deal when Brito was taken off the 40-man roster. Brito has been one of my favorite prospects. But this season, he came up to Cleveland early and batted .176 in 56 plate appearances. At Class AAA, he is batting .237 (.745 OPS).
Guardians prospect Jacob Cozart was traded to the Angels for Jo Adell.John Kuntz, cleveland.com
The big point
While the Guardians traded nine guys, none are among their top 10 prospects. That is important.
As Guardians president Chris Antonetti explained, he wanted to help the team right now. While they traded some prospects they like, they were able to also keep the long-term goals of remaining competitive every year in place.
While not naming names, he meant the Guardians didn’t trade elite prospects such as Ralphy Velazquez, Angel Genao, Kahlil Watson. Jace LaViolette and Nolan Schubart.
I was surprised Logan Allen was not included in one of the deals, but they kept the lefty. Allen has an unimpressive 4.52 ERA at Class AAA Columbus. But he has a 23-24 career record and a 4.45 ERA in the majors. He can supply depth if Cleveland needs another starting pitcher.
It was a surprise to see the Guardians send Kyle Manzardo to the minors.Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com
Making a statement
The Guardians also sent David Fry and Kyle Manzardo to the minors. That was to make room for Adell and Lowe on the 26-man roster.
The temptation had to be to stick with the two veterans. But the calendar has turned to August. Time is short for this team to make a move and claim its third Central Division title in a row.
Dating back to 2025, Fry is batting .176 (.615 OPS) in 289 at-bats. Fry has not been the same hitter since he injured his right (throwing) elbow and had Tommy John surgery before the 2025 season.
Manzardo is hitting .215 (.684 OPS) with 13 homers and 39 RBI. In his last 30 games, he’s batting .169 (.590 OPS).
Manzardo seems to have become fixated on pulling the ball and hitting for power. He wasn’t that type of hitter earlier in his career. This needs to change because the lefty-hitter used to hit the ball with authority to the opposite (left) field.
Both players will receive regular at-bats in the minors and could be called up if needed.
What it all means
The Guardians went into Monday only three games behind the first-place White Sox in the division. That’s after having lost eight of their last 11 games. Now is the time to make bold — but also smart — moves.
They did that.
Griffin can be a huge boost to the rotation. The classic, savvy lefty has excellent control and about 7,000 different pitches. OK, he has seven. That’s right, seven different pitches.
The 31-year-old Lowe is a reliable hitter, especially against right-handers. Adell can supply some raw power, although it comes with a lot of strikeouts.
The Guardians are batting .228 (ranking 28th out of 30 teams) with runners in scoring position. In those situations, Adell is hitting .327 this season, Lowe is at .316.
Will this work? Who knows?
But if the Guardians had failed to make these decisive moves, odds are they would have had very little chance to make the playoffs.
