The Cleveland Guardians' certainly has the prospect capital to put together an interesting trade package for a high-impact player.
If the Cleveland Guardians are looking to upgrade their MLB roster, it’ll likely come through a trade. We know the Guardians aren’t the biggest spenders in free agency, and that’s to the organization's player development; they likely have some minor leaguers opposing teams could like.
That said, how do Cleveland’s prospects as a whole stack up to those of the other MLB organizations?
MLB.com’s Joe Trezza, Jim Callis, and Jonathan Mayo recently named and gave a grade to 10 teams that have the prospects to possibly pull off a big trade during MLB’s Winter Meetings next week, and the Guardians were one of them.
Let’s get something out of the way first: the group does not think the Guardians will move either Travis Bazzana or Chase DeLauter. Why would the Guardians?
That said, Cleveland does have some other position players that could be compelling or grouped together to pull off a big move.
“They have a ton of prospect depth: Angel Genao (No. 3/MLB No. 59), Cooper Ingle (No. 4), Jaison Chourio (No. 5). They got two guys in this year's Draft in Jace LaViolette (No. 7) and Dean Curley (No. 10) who looked like higher picks at one point,” wrote the trio of prospect analysts. “They don't have as many pitchers to deal. I think they have the depth to make deals. Trading for veterans isn't quite their style, but they need more power in their lineup, so maybe they should go out and make a trade.”
The group also gave the Guardians’ farm system a grade of 45 in its prospect rankings. For reference, the Seattle Mariners had the highest grade of 65, and Cleveland ranked ninth on the analysts’ list.
The Guardians have historically been an organization that likes to hold onto the prospects they’ve drafted, signed, or traded for and see their development through the big-league level, then decide their fate.
However, the time has come for the Guardians to be a more risk-oriented team and give up some of their high-ranked prospects to acquire a player who can help the MLB team right now. Obviously, for Cleveland to get a good player, it will have to give up a prospect or two who have the potential to make a big impact for the team.