Guardians Urged To Address Key Position Group At Trade Deadline

It’s difficult for any MLB team to plan for the upcoming trade deadline, because anything can happen in the two months until it arrives on Aug. 3. The Cleveland Guardians are living that lesson right now, after seeing three of their top players leave their most recent game with injuries.

The most serious was to third baseman Jose Ramirez, who could be out 5-7 weeks after having surgery to repair a broken hamate bone in his left hand. Ramirez is second on the team with 10 home runs, one behind Angel Martinez, who suffered a bruised foot in that game against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.

In addition, Chase DeLauter, who is next on the team with seven home runs, left the contest with a rib contusion. The Guardians were thought to be considering a power boost on offense as it was, and injuries like this reveal how dire that need might be.

However, analyst Anthony Castrovince is urging the Guardians to address a much-different key position group at the trade deadline, saying they should try to upgrade their starting rotation.

“It’s weird to be talking about the trade deadline, and the first thing that comes into my mind isn’t necessarily a power hitter, a bat. I would think reinforcement on the pitching front is probably more important for them. Maybe that is another starter. I know the rotation is terrific, but you’re in a good position until you’re not in this game. Reinforcement on the starting front, a high-end one, would be really fascinating because then you’ve changed the way this team looks going into a short playoff series. Or maybe it’s just another high-leverage reliever, a length reliever,” Castrovince said.

"I would think reinforcement on the pitching front is probably more important for them. I know the rotation is terrific but you're in a good position until you're not."

📞@castrovince says the #Guardians could add pitching at the trade deadline as opposed to a bat pic.twitter.com/5EEzvzQiAl

— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) June 15, 2026

So far this season, the Guardians have been in the very unique and fortunate position of using the same five starting pitchers for all of their 72 games. That rotation is fronted by two potential AL All-Stars, Gavin Williams and Parker Messick, with Tanner Bibee, Slade Cecconi and Joey Cantillo struggling for stretches behind them.

Bibbe did not win his first game until June 6, but he quickly followed that with his second in a row, which is more in line with his effective performances for most of the season. So, he could remain a viable Game 3 starter if the Guardians do make it back to the postseason.

But Castrovince does have a point, as a playoff rotation of Williams, Messick and another top-level starter would match up nicely against any possible playoff opponent. It is unlikely that the Detroit Tigers or Minnesota Twins would send Tarik Skubal or Joe Ryan, respectively, to a division rival in a trade, but other high-profile starters, such as Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins and Freddy Peralta of the New York Mets, could be available at the deadline.

The Guardians have plenty of prospects to make any level of trade possible, so it’s just a matter of which area of the team they’d want to address.