Former MLB GM Believes Guardians ‘Overpaid’ For New Outfielder

The Cleveland Guardians acquired outfielder Jo Adell on Monday morning, in the hours leading up to the trade deadline. They needed some power, preferably from a right-handed bat, and the former Angel certainly provides it.

In fact, Adell now leads the Guardians in home runs with 16, all of them hit as a member of the Los Angeles Angels. To get him to Cleveland, the organization had to relinquish catching prospect Jacob Cozart.

Some prospect evaluators saw the trade as a fair one. Others think the Guardians ‘fleeced’ the Angels, considering that Adell hit 37 home runs and drove in 98 runs in 2025.

Jim Bowden of The Athletic, who held positions of senior vice president and general manager for both the Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals in the nineties and 2000s, has a different opinion. He believes the Guardians paid a high price for their man.

“And, by the way, every team overpaid for right-handed power at this year’s deadline. The Yankees gave up a haul for Heliot Ramos, the Guardians also overpaid in landing Jo Adell and the Mariners traded a lot of talent in their pickup of Ward,” Bowden wrote.

These claims are, of course, subjective. The overall consensus is that the Yankees did pay a hefty price for Ramos in pitching prospect Henry Lalane and infielder Kaeden Kent. However, most people with knowledge of the prospect universe believe that the Baltimore Orioles should and could have gotten more for Ward, and that Cleveland got Adell on the cheap.

It’s not that Cozart, a 23-year-old catcher who was a second-round pick in 2024, isn’t talented. He is, as he boasts a 96 wRC+ in Double-A and is a very solid defensive backstop. However, the Guardians are pretty much set at the position, with Patrick Bailey and Austin Hedges at the MLB level and Cooper Ingle and Kody Huff waiting for their turn in Triple-A.

Cozart was a top-30 prospect in the Guardians’ organization, which seems to be a fair return for a flawed but very talented outfielder like Adell. If anything, the Angels should have gotten a bit more for him, but his struggles against right-handed pitchers (65 wRC+ before the trade) likely limited his value.