The Guardians had one of the worst offenses in baseball and struggled to hit lefties in 2025 and they should begin addressing this issue by trading for Willson Contreras from the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Guardians will have a variety of options to improve their offense on a reasonable budget with a right-handed lefty masher, externally. They can pursue names like Rhys Hoskins, Lane Thomas, Austin Slater or Rob Refsnyder in free agency. They can also pursue trade candidates like Taylor Ward, Yandy Diaz, or even bank on a rebound season from Ryan Mountcastle. But, my top choice for their pursuit (even as I continue to work on a larger article describing all the potential trade targets we can think of, here) is the St. Louis Cardinals’ Willson Contreras.
First, Contreras is on a 2 year $34.5 million contract with St. Louis. He is able to tell them 10 teams to which he can decline a trade this offseason, but has indicated a willingness to be traded to a contender in the past. So, at worst, if he has Cleveland on his ten teams, it might cost a little more in trade compensation to get him to waive the no-trade clause. As long as Contreras is not harboring some secret, unheard of grudge against Cleveland, it should be possible to acquire him.
The Cardinals, after missing the playoffs for the second straight year, should be interested in a little bit of a rebuild and reallocating their Contreras funds to help shape up their tattered pitching group. The Guardians, meanwhile, have a lot of pitching talent and can offer the Guardians a major league-ready piece or a couple interesting pitching prospects in return for Contreras, as well as taking on the short-term risk of his contract (there is a reasonable chance they don’t end up paying all or any of what Contreras is owed in 2027, depending on labor negotiations). And, if a Contreras trade goes well, they even have the potential to pick up a club option in 2028 for $18 million.
Now for Contreras himself. he transitioned to a primarily first baseman role last season, from being primarily a catcher, and he put up 6 Outs Above Average at first base and -1 Defensive Runs Saved, so handled himself admirably in his first extended time at the position. He’s also still capable of catching, but seems willing to be more of an emergency option there. He is a 33 year-old right-handed hitter with a 135 wRC+ against left-handed pitching for his career and a 117 wRC+ vs. right-handers. In 135 games last year, he put up a 124 wRC+ overall for the Cardinals.
Most excitingly, Contreras’s average exit velocity was almost 1 mph better than his career average at 90.6 mph last year, he put up the highest barrel rate of his career at 13.8% and his wOBA was 15% lower than his xwOBA showing that his good season was still probably slightly unlucky. He also matched the highest contact rate of his career and had the highest run value against four-seam fastballs of his career at 11 runs above average. His bat speed was still in the 95th percentile, and his walk rate was just slightly below league average. By every metric, his bat seems set to hold up into his mid-30’s seasons. Moving him off of catcher should enable him to remain healthier than he has in the past, also. He ended the season in late September with a shoulder strain, and one could hope this injury won’t linger and might make it easier to convince Contreras to give up catching and focus on being the best defensive first baseman he can be.
Even without any other offseason additions, look how much better this lineup looks than last season:
1. Kwan LF
2. DeLauter CF (spelled by Angel Martinez against LHP)
3. Ramirez 3B
4. Contreras 1B
5. Manzardo DH
6. Valera or Kayfus platooning with Lane Thomas or Austin Slater or Noel/Rodriguez if you prefer RF
7. Bo/Fry C
8. Brito 2B (eventually Bazzana?)
9. Rocchio SS
This looks like a competent lineup that should, perhaps most notably, be able to hold its own against left-handed pitching. It also allows C.J. Kayfus to be a great depth piece in case Valera, DeLauter and/or Manzardo are hurt.
Unless Willson Contreras really hates Cleveland for some unknown reason, he is at the top of my offseason shopping list for the Cleveland Guardians. Deal from the bountiful store of Cleveland pitching and make it a reality, Antonetti!
