The Cleveland Guardians have some work to do to clean up the 40-man roster and shorten their rotation after ending the regular season with six starters. 

A few trades to accomplish these tasks feel inevitable at some point this winter, but who?

The Guardians are in a position to deal from their pitching depth to hopefully acquire a big-league proven bat. One prospect could be a trade candidate, and a package for that type of player could include LHP Doug Nikhazy.

After being drafted by Cleveland in the second round of the 2021 draft, the 26-year-old finally made his MLB debut during the 2025 season.  

In total, Nikhazy only appeared in two games at the big-league level last season. His first MLB start didn’t go great, allowing six earned runs on five in 3.0 innings of work against the Boston Red Sox. The lefty did bounce back to pitch a scoreless inning of work out of the bullpen with two strikeouts against the Detroit Tigers on July 4.

The vast majority of Nikhazy’s work and innings pitched came at Triple-A last season. Overall, it was his worst year in the minors, recording a 5.02 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP.

While some of the numbers from this past season may not look great, he still has the potential to be a contributor to an MLB rotation if given more opportunities.

Still, the left-hander has recorded respectable overall numbers at the minor league level, recording a 4.13 ERA. 

The left-hander’s strength continues to be his command. In 2025, Nikhazy had a strikeout rate of 22.5 percent, a walk rate of 11.1 percent, and a called strike rate of 43 percent. 

The Guardians already have a surplus of starting pitchers and need to cut the rotation down before the start of the 2026 season, which means there likely isn’t a long-term spot on the big-league roster that is in play for Nikhazy

A team looking for more starting pitching depth and likes the command that Nikhazy possesses could find value in trading for him.

It will be interesting to see what Nikhazy’s role on the Guardians ends up being, or if Cleveland ends up using him as a trade piece in a larger deal.