CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Guardians return from the All-Star break with plenty to play for.<\/p>\n
At 51-46, Cleveland sits in the thick of the American League Central race and remains firmly in the postseason picture. With one of the league\u2019s youngest cores leading the way, the Guardians are expected to be buyers ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline as they look to strengthen the roster for a second-half playoff push.<\/p>\n
While the pitching staff has carried much of the load through the first half, Cleveland\u2019s biggest need remains offense.<\/p>\n
The Guardians have struggled to produce runs consistently, especially against left-handed pitching. They entered the break near the bottom of the league in batting average, slugging percentage and runs scored, making a right-handed power bat one of the front office\u2019s top priorities.<\/p>\n
First base and designated hitter appear to be the most likely areas for an upgrade after inconsistent production during the first half. Adding another proven bat would also provide protection for young standouts Travis Bazzana and Chase DeLauter as the lineup looks to become more balanced.<\/p>\n
Help could also be arriving from within.<\/p>\n
The anticipated returns of Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez and Angel Mart\u00ednez from the injured list should provide an immediate boost. Ram\u00edrez\u2019s absence has been noticeable since undergoing hand surgery in June, while Mart\u00ednez\u2019s return would add another quality bat and improve Cleveland\u2019s outfield depth.<\/p>\n
The bullpen remains one of the club\u2019s strengths, but another late-inning reliever would lessen the workload on a group that has been heavily used throughout the season. With Tim Herrin recently dealing with an elbow injury, adding relief depth could become even more important down the stretch.<\/p>\n
The starting rotation has been remarkably consistent. Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee, Parker Messick, Joey Cantillo and Slade Cecconi handled every start through the first half, making Cleveland the only team in baseball to have the same five starters take every turn. Even so, adding another starter or swingman would provide valuable insurance over the final two months.<\/p>\n
As the trade deadline approaches, Cleveland is expected to continue its philosophy of targeting players with multiple years of team control rather than short-term rentals.<\/p>\n
Among the players linked to the Guardians are versatile Reds infielder Spencer Steer, Angels outfielders Taylor Ward and Jo Adell, Rockies outfielder Mickey Moniak and relievers such as Pete Fairbanks, Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman.<\/p>\n
To acquire help, Cleveland could use major league depth pieces or prospects outside of its top tier. Infielder Gabriel Arias has surfaced in trade discussions after losing playing time, while the organization has enough catching depth and upper-level prospects to build potential deals without moving cornerstone young players like Bazzana or DeLauter.<\/p>\n
With a wide-open American League and a young core already proving it can compete, the Guardians appear positioned to make additions rather than stand pat as they chase another postseason berth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Guardians return from the All-Star break with plenty to play for. At 51-46, Cleveland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":753672,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2288],"tags":[5,2313,135,51,83439,19,2310,2328,2304,2318,2308,2319,4,2305,2303,30099],"class_list":["post-753671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb-postseason","tag-baseball","tag-baseball-playoffs-and-champions","tag-cleveland","tag-cleveland-guardians","tag-jos-ramrez-third-baseman","tag-major-league-baseball","tag-major-league-baseball-competitions","tag-major-league-baseball-playoffs","tag-major-league-baseball-postseason","tag-major-league-baseball-seasons","tag-major-league-baseball-teams","tag-major-league-baseball-teams-seasons","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-playoffs","tag-mlb-postseason","tag-trade-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116932089153245226","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=753671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/753672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=753671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=753671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=753671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}