The Cleveland Guardians made a series of puzzling decisions at the trade deadline.
They traded shortstop/outfielder Amed Rosario to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for the inconsistent Noah Syndergaard.
They also traded a serviceable mid-rotation starter in Aaron Civale for a first base prospect, Kyle Manzardo.
Additionally, they flipped Josh Bell to the Miami Marlins.
In other words, they took three regulars and flipped them.
At the time, Cleveland was fighting with the Minnesota Twins for the AL Central division.
That’s not the case anymore: as of Monday afternoon, the Guards have a 59-66 record and are six games behind Minnesota.
A Guardians analyst is convinced the team didn’t have to sell at the deadline and had a good chance to hang with the Twins until the end of the season.
“I understand the #Guardians front office knew they weren’t winning the World Series this year…fine. They wanted to build for the future too…fine. But if you make the MLB Playoffs, anything can happen. We saw it last year. They waved the white flag and didn’t have to,” Nick Camino tweeted.
I understand the #Guardians front office knew they weren’t winning the World Series this year…fine.
They wanted to build for the future too…fine.
But if you make the MLB Playoffs, anything can happen. We saw it last year.
They waved the white flag and didn’t have to.
— Nick Camino (@NickCaminoWKYC) August 20, 2023
Perhaps the Guardians prioritized competing in 2024 instead of 2023, hence the addition of Manzardo and the subtraction of Bell (who had flopped during his time in Cleveland).
In reality, Cleveland has put together a strong pitching staff but is still a few impact hitters short if they want to have a consistently great roster.
There is a sensation they could have competed this year even with their limited sources.
Now, we probably will never know.
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