The Cleveland Guardians are no longer atop the AL Central after getting swept by the New York Yankees. Now it’s the Chicago White Sox who are a half-game up on Cleveland as the summer heats up. The Guardians are taking a serious look at their MLB trade deadline plans with the White Sox challenging them for the AL Central title.
“The team the White Sox are battling at the top of the AL Central, the Cleveland Guardians, rarely are aggressive buyers,” Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported. “It’s not as if the Guardians are in an urgent position with any of their young players. They can see how the rest of the season plays out, gaining more information to determine which prospects they want to hold and which ones do not. But rival clubs already are calling on Triple-A catchers Bo Naylor, Cooper Ingle and Kody Huff, according to a person briefed on the Guards’ discussions.”
Rosenthal then goes on to point out Gabriel Arias and top prospect Angel Genao as two other players blocked by major-leaguers. With Travis Bazzana and Brayan Rocchio manning the middle infield positions, those two players have a complicated path. The Guardians have pieces to sell if they want to improve the major-league roster.
The Guardians have already made one trade this season, picking up catcher Patrick Bailey from the San Francisco Giants. That makes Naylor expendable and complicates things for the other minor-league catchers. Bailey has continued his defensive dominance in Cleveland, which Naylor did not provide.
The Guardians are 37-33 heading into a three-game home series with the Detroit Tigers. They need some wins to keep up with the White Sox, which no one thought would be the case coming into the season. Who should the Guardians trade for at the upcoming deadline?
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