Final Look: Ranking the Guardians Best Trade Deadline Options

The trade deadline is less than 24 hours away for the Cleveland Guardians and 29 other MLB teams to complete transactions.

Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti has been working the phones. On Saturday, the team traded catcher Bo Naylor to the Milwaukee Brewers with journeyman pitcher Codi Heuer in exchange for reliever Craig Yoho and outfielder Blake Perkins, who will start his journey with the Guardians in Triple-A Columbus.

But there’s still room for this team to improve, especially in an American League that seems wide open. Let’s take a look at a few moves that the Guardians could still make.

Steven Kwan trade

Kwan is one of the hottest hitters on the Guardians and reclaimed his leadoff spot against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Sunday’s 5-0 victory. But could the Guardians look to trade high on Kwan, who had a really slow start to the 2026 campaign and has some concerning advanced metrics, including the slowest bat speed of his career?

If Cleveland’s first trade ahead of the deadline taught us anything, Antonetti is going to have to give something up to get something in return. Kwan is an elite defensive outfielder that can play several positions at a high level. His batting average has climbed up following a slow start.

If the Guardians could get a haul of prospects with promising offensive power? They might have to explore it.

Solve logjam at first base

Another hitter that could intrigue some other contending teams is Kyle Manzardo, who was a hero in Cleveland’s recent series against the Cincinnati Reds and drove in an insurance run on Sunday against the Diamondbacks.

Yet still, the 26-year-old hasn’t found the level of consistency the Guardians had hoped for from his bat. The team also deploys veterans Rhys Hoskins and David Fry at first base, and neither of them have hit the ball very well, either.

Improving first base will be difficult, as batting averages around baseball are down. But acquiring someone like St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson would be a great help, even if it meant dealing a once-promising Manzardo.

Acquire more bullpen help

Craig Yoho has already made his Guardians debut after Cleveland acquired the right-handed reliever over the weekend.

But the Guardians shouldn’t be done there.

If improving this offense isn’t going to be easy at the deadline, at the bare minimum, the Guardians need to acquire more bullpen help. Cleveland’s starting rotation has been elite. But the bullpen needs to pick up the slack, or else having the MLB’s save leader in Cade Smith isn’t as valuable, if leads are blown before he has an opportunity to enter the game.

Acquiring more bullpen help is pivotal, even though the Yoho pick up was a very nice start.

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