The Cleveland Guardians have put themselves in a precarious position with the MLB trade deadline just a few days away. A recent losing streak diminished their playoff chances somewhat, but two recent victories have kept them firmly in contention.
With a season that can go either way, it will be difficult for the Guardians to decide if they want to make major moves before the Aug. 3 cutoff, or if they will be happy with a relatively quiet deadline. Sometimes, it pays to look back at history to see what the future may hold.
Bleacher Report analyst Joel Reuter has named the Guardians’ all-time worst trade deadline move, identifying a 2011 deal with the Colorado Rockies that cost them a top-five draft pick.
To CLE: SP Ubaldo Jimenez
To COL: SP Drew Pomeranz, SP Alex White, 1B Matt McBride, SP Joe Gardner
“The big story when this trade first broke was Cleveland giving up left-hander Drew Pomeranz, who had just been taken with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2010 draft, along with Alex White who was a consensus Top 100 prospect. Cleveland fell short of making the playoffs in 2011, finishing 80-82, and Jimenez struggled to a 5.40 ERA in 176.2 innings the following year,” Reuter wrote.
At the time, Jimenez was a 27-year-old who was coming off his best season in 2010. That year, he was 19-8 with a 2.88 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and just 10 home runs allowed, which were very impressive numbers for a Colorado pitcher. He was an All-Star, and he finished third in the voting for the NL Cy Young Award.
The right-hander was not faring nearly as well in 2011, sporting a 6-9 record and 4.46 ERA at the time of the trade deadline. Yet, with Cleveland looking to bolster its rotation for a playoff push, it parted with four players, including top prospect Pomeranz, who had to be added to the deal as a player to be named later due to MLB signing rules.
Jimenez went 4-4 with a 5.10 ERA in 11 starts for Cleveland after his arrival, then lost 17 games the following season. Overall, he started 74 games for the team, posting a 26-30 record and a 4.45 ERA. He left as a free agent following the 2013 campaign and signed a four-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles that took him to the end of his MLB career. Pomeranz went on to have a lengthy 13-year career with eight teams, and he is currently a reliever for the Chicago Cubs.
White last played in the majors in 2012, McBride finished in 2016, and Gardner never made it to the big leagues.
NEXT: Insider Predicts Quiet Trade Deadline For Guardians
