Cleveland Guardians Receive Stern MLB Trade Deadline Warning

The Cleveland Guardians have received a heavy warning ahead of the MLB trade deadline.

May 31, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt (12) walks on the field during a game against the Los Angeles Angels at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | David Richard-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians are known to be a pretty conservative franchise when it comes to swinging big trades to land top-tier talent.

Last year, the Guardians did make a couple of significant moves at the MLB trade deadline, landing pitcher Alex Cobb and outfielder Lane Thomas. While Cobb didn't really pan out, Thomas played a pivotal role in Cleveland's run to the ALCS, so the moves were worth it overall.

But can we expect the Guardians — who rarely make major moves unless they are selling off their own pieces — to be active at the deadline again this summer?

Well, Jack O'Rourke of The BIG Factor feels that Cleveland better do something and cautions the Guardians against being too stingy with their prospects.

"In a sport like baseball where like 80 percent of your prospects don't work out in the first place, it is absolutely mind boggling how often we hoard prospects," O'Rourke said.

O'Rourke notes that the last midseason trade the Guardians made in which they went all in by trading top prospects was 2016, when they sent pitcher Justus Sheffield and outfielder Clint Frazier to the New York Yankees in exchange for reliever Andrew Miller.

Miller was integral in helping lead Cleveland to a World Series appearance that year. Meanwhile, Sheffield and Frazier are now out of the MLB entirely.

Essentially, O'Rourke is saying that the Guardians shouldn't be shy about trading some of their elite prospects for established major-league talent between now and July 31.

Cleveland is clearly a couple of pieces away from being a legitimate championship contender, so it may be time for the Guardians to let go of some of their best prospects in exchange for players we already know are stars.

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