The Cleveland Guardians, like many other teams in the league, are still sorting out their trade deadline strategy. Important days are on the horizon, and the organization needs to be clear on its targets and how aggressive it will be in the market.
Most fans and analysts agree that they need to be buyers. Even the Guardians themselves, via President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti, have stated that they will enter the market with an open mind, but the main goal will be improving the roster, particularly the offense.
Per Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com, one of the potential avenues to improve the roster could be using an offensive piece to find upgrades elsewhere, either on the offense or on the pitching staff.
According to the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast, “there’s also the curious case of Kyle Manzardo. With top prospect Ralphy Velazquez raking at Triple-A and potentially representing the future at first base, does Manzardo — a left-handed hitter with legitimate value — become a trade chip? Hoynes thinks teams would be interested, particularly given his 27-homer, 72-RBI campaign a year ago.”
Manzardo has had a highly inconsistent campaign. He entered the series finale against the Cincinnati Reds with a 90 wRC+ and 12 home runs, but he went yard on Wednesday. He seems to be closing in on the league-average mark for offense: the 100-wRC+ threshold.
However, as Hoynes suggested, the Guardians could use Manzardo, taking advantage of his recent power surge (he has homered three times in his last seven games) and his strong season in 2025, as a trade piece to fill other needs, knowing that they have Velazquez in Triple-A vying for a call-up.
Manzardo has no defensive or baserunning value, but he sure can hit if given the chance, is still young at 26, and is controllable on the cheap for four and a half more years. He can be frustratingly streaky, but there’s no denying that there’s talent in his left-handed bat.
If the Guardians were open to a trade, they could certainly bring back something useful in return. That possibility is remote, though, as he is seen as a building block by the front office.
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