Guardians Not Expected to Be Involved in Sweepstakes for Star Pitcher

The Cleveland Guardians are not expected to be one of the front-runners to acquire a star pitcher.

Oct 9, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres pitcher Dylan Cease (84) throws in the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game four of the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Petco Park. | Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians have been very busy this offseason. It has been one of their more aggressive approaches in recent years, even though they did end up shipping both Josh Naylor and Andres Gimenez out of town.

Despite trading two of their key position players throughout the course of the offseason, the Guardians made some good additions as well.

Shane Bieber was brought back to town, which was a major priority. He has a chance to be the ace pitcher that Cleveland was badly missing last season.

Outside of the Bieber move, the Guardians brought in Carlos Santana, Paul Sewald, Luis Ortiz, and other smaller moves.

There have been rumblings that Cleveland could look to get involved in trade discussions for another elite pitcher. San Diego Padres star Dylan Cease has been mentioned as a potential target.

While the idea of trading for Cease is extmreley intriguing, Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal does not think they will get involved.

"As for the Guardians, a potential Cease trade would likely need to be considered as, well, unlikely," Lewis said. "He'll almost certainly walk to free agency after 2025 unless he's immediately given a long-term extension, which seems unlikely in Cleveland."

Acquiring Cease just to lose him after one season would not be a great move for the Guardians to make. However, if there was a way for them to acquire him and be willing to give him a new deal, he would be a huge step towards potentially winning a championship.

Cease is coming off of a 2024 season that saw him start 33 games for the Padres. He compiled a 14-11 record to go along with a 3.47 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP, a 3.4 K/BB ratio, and 189.1 innings pitched.

It would be a dream scenario to have Cease, a healthy Bieber, Tanner Bibee, and Ortiz in the same rotation.

Unfortunately, fans should not expect to see that happen.