Cleveland Guardians Slapped With Bad News Before Trade Deadline

The Cleveland Guardians have been hit with a tough reality check before the MLB trade deadline.

Jun 27, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt (12) walks on the field in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | David Richard-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians are quite a mystery heading into the MLB trade deadline, as no one seems to know whether they will buy, sell or possibly even do nothing before July 31.

The Guardians are hovering around .500, but they are still smack dab in the middle of the American League Wild Card race. That's in spite of losing 10 straight just before the All-Star break.

Even with Cleveland remaining in contention, there are some who believe the Guardians might sell given their conservative nature, but talk show host Bruce Drennan has provided some rather bad news for the team in that regard: the players they might want to move don't have much value.

“No top prospects for a big bat, and I don’t necessarily see us selling players, like Carlos Santana or Lane Thomas. What can you get in return?” Drennan said.

Drennan has a point. Santana and Thomas are both impending free agents, and neither has been all that good this season. Santana owns a .665 OPS, and Thomas has been on and off the injured list while hitting just .160 on the year.

Of course, the Guardians would surely be able to land a hefty return for players like Steven Kwan and Emmanuel Clase, but it does not seem like Cleveland is going to move either of those two stars.

Perhaps the Guardians will surprise some people and go all in by adding pieces at the deadline, but that isn't exactly in their nature.

We'll see what happens before the end of the months, but it stands to reason that Cleveland might just stand pat, as Drennan anticipates.

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