PASSAN: Guardians likely to be buyers at Deadline

And that’s not all...

Earlier today, ESPN’s Jeff Passan, baseball’s preeminent reporter, unveiled an early Trade Deadline preview, listing each team’s likely deadline positions as of June 4.

The Cleveland Guardians were a fascinating piece of news within that. Listed at the top of the “Likely adders” section, Passan remarks about the team’s surprisingly hot start, riding a great bullpen and hot offense, and within that were two interesting bits of news.

Earlier in the article, Passan touched on the Blue Jays, listing them as a “Hinge team”, stating that they could make for a blockbuster deadline if they were to wave the white flag come the end of July. That being said, Blue Jays general manager, Ross Atkins, has pushed back against the idea of the team moving on from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or Bo Bichette, stating that while they’ve fielded calls, it doesn’t make sense for the team to make those trades.

That being said, Bichette makes more sense for the Jays to move on from than Guerrero as Bichette provides a much higher value upside than Guerrero, and his torrid career start proves that. Among shortstops with at least 2,000 plate appearances since 2019, Bichette’s 16.2 fWAR ranks 10th, and his 122 wRC+ ranks sixth despite his slow start to this season.

As for the Guardians, Passan notes just how poor their production has been from the infield’s premier position, and he’s not shy to link Bichette to Cleveland.

Cleveland’s inexperienced shortstop tandem of primarily Brayan Rocchio with some Gabriel Arias sprinkled in has proven to be just that, and their numbers reflect an overwhelming need. Among shortstops, the Guardians’ shortstops rank 26th in fWAR (0.2), 28th in wRC+ (63), and 29th in slugging percentage (.260). As hard as it is to admit defeat, especially on two players younger than 25, with the way the rest of the team has progressed at the plate this season, pulling the rug out from under these two would be the correct decision, and it’s one the Guardians already might be on the way to making as Daniel Schneemann gets the start at shortstop to open up their series with the second place Royals. Making a big move for a more polished, everyday shortstop would do wonders for the Guardians.

That being said, the shortstop market is going to be incredibly thin at the Deadline, and as of now, with multiple teams vying for a wild card spot or division title needing a shortstop (Cleveland, Boston, Detroit, Atlanta, Arizona, San Francisco), Bichette’s asking price would likely be incredibly high. However, if a few of these teams hovering around .500 were to fall off the pace like Boston and Detroit specifically, it could open a cheaper route for the Guardians, no matter how slight.

Passan also touched on the Guardians possibly looking for a DH if Manzardo’s slow start continued, but Manzardo has shown very positive signs of turning the corner.

The final piece the Guardians were tagged in by Passan was a starting pitcher. Passan makes note of Gavin Williams’ return and how he would progress upon return, but either way, I think it would behoove the Guards to be in the market for a fifth starter regardless.

That last little nugget that we’ll touch on from the short snippet on the Guardians revolves around payroll and Larry Dolan loosening the reins on his front office due to the team’s hot start.

This would indicate that they won’t be hamstrung in making deadline moves this season as they have in seasons past and can pursue players at a much more aggressive pace this season. Antonetti has proven to be an avid pursuer of talent on the market via trade or free agency when given the leash, so buckle up because we could be in for a roller coaster of a next six weeks.