Cleveland Baseball Insider

Guardians Analyst Feels All-Star Trade Could Be Imminent

Could the Cleveland Guardians be on the verge of swinging a major All-Star trade?
Matthew Schmidt|
Jun 23, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor (22) celebrates his solo home run in the fourth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images
Jun 23, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor (22) celebrates his solo home run in the fourth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | David Richard-Imagn Images

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Cleveland Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians have already traded one All-Star this offseason, sending second baseman Andres Gimenez to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Could they jettison another?

Trade rumors have been swirling around first baseman Josh Naylor, who earned his first All-Star selection this past season. You would think the Guardians would be looking to hold on to the slugger considering their need for offense, but Naylor is set to hit free agency after 2025.

Given how cost-conscious Cleveland's organization is, it certainly would not be shocking if it moved Naylor, and Andres Chavez of Guardians Nation seems to think a trade may be imminent.

"Naylor should fetch something useful in return because teams haven’t shown a willingness to meet Pete Alonso or Christian Walker’s asking price," Chavez wrote. "Cleveland has the ideal replacement for Naylor in Kyle Manzardo, a powerful lefty masher like him who happens to have multiple years of team control left. Don’t be surprised if the Guardians take one of the offers they probably have on the table for Naylor any day now."

Naylor slashed .243/.320/.456 with 31 home runs and 108 RBI over 633 plate appearances in 2024. While his .776 OPS was somewhat ordinary, his power (.213 ISO) was infinitely valuable to a Guardians offense that lacked pop overall this past season.

But, of course, Cleveland has been known to trade players before they hit free agency, so Naylor represents a prime candidate, especially given how much his trade value may have risen recently.

It won't be anyone's favorite decision, but there remains a legitimate chance that the Guardians could send Naylor packing sometime this winter.

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Matthew Schmidt
MATTHEW SCHMIDT

Matthew Schmidt is a sportswriter who covers NFL, MLB, NBA and college football and basketball. He has been writing professionally since 2011 and has also worked for Bleacher Report, FanRag Sports, ClutchPoints, NFLAnalysis.net and NBAAnalysis.net. He was born and raised in New Jersey and has a rather eclectic group of favorite teams: the Boston Celtics, New York Giants and Miami Marlins.

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