The Cleveland Guardians entered deadline day on Monday with plenty of needs around their roster. They solved a couple of them on Saturday in the Craig Yoho – Blake Perkins deal, but they still needed to add some thump to their lineup.
They addressed that particular need by adding a right-handed-hitting outfielder who hit 37 home runs in 2025. His name is Jo Adell, and he played for the Los Angeles Angels from 2020 until Monday.
“The Guardians have agreed to acquire outfielder Jo Adell from the Angels, per source. Deal includes catcher Jacob Cozart going to the Angels,” Tim Stebbins of MLB.com said.
The Guardians have agreed to acquire outfielder Jo Adell from the Angels, per source.
Deal includes catcher Jacob Cozart going to the Angels.
— Tim Stebbins (@tim_stebbins) August 3, 2026
Adell is hitting a rather disappointing .239/.287/.395 this year, with an 89 wRC+. Those aren’t overly exciting numbers. However, you have to look under the hood to understand why it’s a worthwhile deal.
For starters, he had those 37 round-trippers last year, with a 112 wRC+. He also drove in 98 runs in a poor Angels team in 2025.
This year, struggles against right-handed hitters are limiting his upside, as he is sporting a mediocre 65 wRC+ against them. That’s well below the league-average value of 100.
However, he is an absolute beast against lefties, which is projected to be his role in Cleveland. Against southpaws, Adell is slashing a robust .303/.338/.571 with a .910 OPS, a 148 wRC+, and 10 of his 16 home runs this year.
We are talking about a true star when a lefty is on the mound. Additionally, Adell has driven in 62 runs in 2026 as a whole, despite not really shining against righties.
Numbers don’t really like what Adell is doing with the glove, as he has -5 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and -3 Outs Above Average (OAA). However, he is known for his acrobatic catches at or near the wall, even stealing some home runs from time to time.
Per Stebbins, the Guardians sent catching prospect Jacob Cozart to LA in the deal. The 23-year-old was a second-rounder in 2024 and was hitting .239/.330/.384 with 10 home runs and a 96 wRC+ in Double-A. He is a solid young player, but Cleveland has several guys ahead of them in the organizational depth chart at the position.
Getting Adell, who is under control for one more season (2027) before hitting free agency in 2028, is a nice coup by Cleveland.
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