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After getting swept by the New York Yankees at home, the Cleveland Guardians gave up first place in the AL Central to the Chicago White Sox. Don’t get me wrong, the White Sox are a great story, but Cleveland entering Thursday’s action in second place in arguably MLB’s weakest division and only four games over .500 is unacceptable.
Cleveland has assembled a roster good enough to compete in the AL Central, but expectations should be higher. Making these trades could get Cleveland over the hump once and for all in this division.
OF Seiya Suzuki, Chicago Cubs
No, Seiya Suzuki has not had a good year, but his track record speaks for itself. He hit 32 home runs and drove in 103 runs last season, and he’s been as consistent offensively as any right-handed-hitting outfielder in the game in recent years. With the Guardians ranking just 28th in slugging percentage this season, Suzuki would add some much-needed thump to this lineup.
It’d also help that he’s right-handed. Steven Kwan, Daniel Schneemann and Chase DeLauter, three outfielders who are in the lineup most nights, are all left-handed hitters. Even Angel Martinez, another outfielder, is a switch-hitter. Cleveland’s lineup as a whole is predominantly left-handed. Suzuki can help that, and while he hasn’t had a good year his 127 wRC+ against lefties would come in handy.
It’s far from a given that the Cubs would sell, and his $19 million expiring contract and full no-trade clause could present as real obstacles for Cleveland to overcome, but if the Cubs are willing to sell, the Guardians are willing to spend some money and Suzuki is open to playing for the Guardians, he would be a great fit.
OF Jo Adell, Los Angeles Angels
If you think Suzuki isn’t the most realistic fit (I wouldn’t fully blame you) how about Jo Adell? The Los Angeles Angels’ outfielder is making a much more manageable $5.2 million this season and doesn’t have a no-trade clause. He even has an additional year of club control, making him even more palatable for Cleveland (even if they’d have to give up a bit more to get him).
Adell, like Suzuki, is a right-handed-hitting corner outfielder having a down year, as his .669 OPS would suggest, but what if the Guardians acquired him to play in a platoon role? While Adell’s overall numbers are not good, his 146 wRC+ against lefties would make him Cleveland’s second-best hitter against lefties behind only Jose Ramirez among those who play against southpaws consistently.
Platooning Adell with Steven Kwan, who has really struggled against lefties (56 wRC+), would make a lot of sense, and it’d give the Guardians more power. Adell has 10 home runs this season and hit 37 in 2025. Perhaps a change of scenery from the worst team in the AL to a contender could help get the most out of him, too.
LHP Aroldis Chapman, Boston Red Sox
Cleveland’s bullpen is fine. Cade Smith leads the majors with 23 saves, guys like Erik Sabrowski and Colin Holderman have pitched extremely well when healthy, and the bullpen as a whole is tied for third in the majors with 2.9 fWAR. Still, the bullpen is one of the easiest areas for a contender to upgrade at the deadline, and it makes all the sense in the world for Guardians fans to dream of adding Aroldis Chapman to the back-end of this ‘pen.
Chapman, even at 38 years of age, remains one of the best relievers in the sport. He has a 0.46 ERA, allowing just one run on nine hits in 19.2 innings across 20 appearances. He has 26 strikeouts compared to nine walks. He still throws incredibly hard, and remains one of the most imposing pitchers in the sport.
The Red Sox are not willing sellers yet, but with their team currently 12 games under .500 and in last place in the AL East, they’ll likely be sellers. Chapman, an older reliever on an expiring contract, feels like a near lock to get dealt. The Red Sox will field interest around the league, and again, the Guardians don’t need him as desperately as other contending teams do, but why not go for the kill? It’d be unlike Cleveland to trade a good prospect or two for a rental reliever, but as they learned from the 2016 Cubs, trading for Chapman in a World Series push could result in something awesome (even if Chapman didn’t exactly help Chicago in Game 7 of that series).
RHP Freddy Peralta, New York Mets
Cleveland’s four best starters – Gavin Williams, Parker Messick, Tanner Bibee and Joey Cantillo – have combined for 11 postseason appearances and seven starts. Bibee has accounted for five of those seven starts, and Messick hasn’t even thrown a pitch in October. Freddy Peralta, on the other hand, has six starts and nine appearances in his postseason career, and he’s allowed more than three runs just once in those outings.
This goes to show that the Guardians could use someone with more postseason experience, and Peralta has nearly as many starts and appearances as the Guardians’ rotation does combined. Now, this season hasn’t been Peralta’s best, but he’s allowed more than four runs just once in 14 starts, and he’s allowed two earned runs or fewer seven times.
What makes Peralta such a good fit, even beyond his steadiness and postseason track record, is his $8 million contract. The Guardians wouldn’t have to spend much money at all to roster Peralta for their postseason run, and while they’d almost certainly let him walk in free agency, adding Peralta to an already stout rotation, along with a couple of other moves to fill in weaknesses elsewhere, could make Cleveland a sleeper team to watch in a notably weak American League.
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