The Guardians made one of the sneakiest additions of trade deadline day, and it did not come with the fanfare of many other trades. Cleveland picked up outfielder Jo Adell from the Angels, a move that flew under the radar amid a flurry of bigger names changing addresses across the sport. On paper, Adell looks like a change-of-scenery candidate coming off a down year, but the underlying tools that made him a top prospect have not gone anywhere. For a Guardians lineup that has searched all season for thump, this could turn out to be one of the more important pickups of the summer.
Will Leitch of MLB.com singled out Adell as one of five deadline additions who could matter far more than the reaction to the trade suggested.
“This season has widely been seen as a disappointment for Adell, who had 37 homers, 98 RBIs and a .778 OPS in 2025. He only went deep 16 times for the Angels this year, with his OPS down almost 100 points. But it should be noted that Adell still has one of the fastest bats in the entire sport, and he has been crushing left-handed pitching (.910 OPS this year). The Guardians desperately, profoundly need power, and Adell, when he’s on, can very much provide that,” Leitch wrote.
Adell followed up a 2025 season with 37 homers, 98 RBIs and a .778 OPS by hitting only 16 home runs for the Angels this year, with his OPS dropping nearly 100 points and his walk rate slipping as well. Even so, Leitch pointed out that Adell still owns one of the fastest bat speeds in the sport, and he has crushed left-handed pitching to the tune of a .910 OPS this season. Those 16 homers would have led the Guardians outright had he been with the club all year, which says as much about Cleveland’s power outage as it does about Adell’s down season.
Adell was a former top prospect for a reason, and this front office has shown a pattern all year of betting on talent that has not fully broken out yet. If the raw tools that made him a highly regarded prospect resurface in Cleveland the way they flashed for stretches in Anaheim, the Guardians may have found the power bat they were missing without giving up much to get him.
The Guardians now get the second half to figure out how much of that ceiling is still in play. If Adell settles in and starts hitting the way his bat speed suggests he can, this deadline addition could end up being remembered as one of the sharpest moves Cleveland made all season.
NEXT: Guardians Given Top Grade For Trade Deadline Acquisition
