This roster needs big changes… this might be the best way to make those changes
Emmanuel Clase is one of, if not the best closer in all of baseball. Sure, he has run into problems this season but there isn’t a soul in the baseball industry that thinks he isn’t in the elite tier of relievers. A few weeks ago I would’ve soundly rejected the idea of trading Clase, but things change quickly, even in the long 162 game season.
To start: my rationale behind trading Clase has nothing to do with his performance, in fact its the performance of the rest of the team that makes him a prime trade candidate. In 2024 the Guardians rotation was led by Tanner Bibee held together by the miracle of Matthew Boyd and… well pretty much just him down the stretch. After a productive offseason (on the pitching side) the Guardians rotation is quickly developing to be one of the best in the league. After a tumultuous April, the rotation has pitched to a 3.42 ERA, good for 6th in the league and 2nd in the AL from May up to the beginning of the series against Toronto.
In the past my biggest reason for not dealing Clase, or anyone from the bullpen, was that the rotation was not strong enough and the team needed an elite bullpen to win. That isn’t true anymore; now the biggest problem area on the team is the offense.
Hitters cost a lot, and the Guardians have a uniquely valuable trade chip in Emmanuel Clase. His contract is laughably cheap for a player of his caliber, owed 6.4M next season followed by two 10M club options. Similarly skilled closers Josh Hader and Edwin Diaz are both getting payed around 19M per year, and even relievers like Tanner Scott, Carlos Esteves, and Jeff Hoffman are making more than Clase in terms of AAV. The Guardians have also shown a proclivity in developing good relief options, so trading Clase lets them bet on their ability to continue this dynamic to shore up the pen in the vacuum he would leave.
So what teams are going to be in on Emmanuel Clase? As many have said before me, an elite closer is the final touch to a world series contender; so the list of suitors isn’t particularly long. The two most obvious landing spots would be the Dodgers and Phillies, who rank 20th and 25th, respectively, in bullpen ERA. The next tier of suitors are the Cubs, who rank 9th in bullpen ERA but do not have a set closer, and the Braves who are ranked 14th in bullpen ERA and also do not have a set closer. The Cubs came into the season with Ryan Pressly in the closer role but that has since been taken over by Daniel Palencia (who is having a great season, but his track record is rough). For the Braves, Raisel Iglesias was supposed to be their closer but he has imploded to a 5.79 ERA.
The Guardians would need a worthy package which includes MLB-proven offensive talent, so lets look at what those teams might have to offer.
Dodgers:
By far the best option I will talk about in this article is Andy Pages of the Dodgers. The 24 year old RHH has a .842 OPS while playing elite defense in CF. The fit is absolutely perfect. The Dodgers might not be motivated to move him, however they have Tommy Edman locked up until 2029 and he has played a fair amount of CF for them both this season and last season.
For a more in-depth analysis about Pages check out this article from my fellow Covering the Corner writer Nick Karavolos.
Phillies:
The fightin’ Phils don’t have a match made in heaven type player like the Dodgers unfortunately. The player that jumps out to me the most is CF Brandon Marsh. Marsh is a LHH, and in past years was mostly a platoon bat; however he has held his own against lefties this year. He isn’t an integral part of the Phillies lineup and they have a CF heir in Justin Crawford that is tearing up AAA. You could make an argument about getting Crawford instead, but there is a lot of red flags in his profile.
I don’t love the Phillies as a match but Brandon Marsh would be a good addition to the outfield, but there would have to be excellent prospects added in the return. The Guardians could potentially get the Phillies to move Aidan Miller and maybe even Mick Abel in the return, if Cleveland likes these top prospects.
Cubs:
The Cubs have a perfect match in Seiya Suzuki, but I am inclined to say he is not available. There’s Matt Shaw who could slot into a full time 2B roll… but he hasn’t performed at the MLB level yet and honestly I don’t really like his profile enough to gamble on him figuring it out.
The Cubs will be inquiring on Clase, but I am not sure they have the pieces to make it worth it for the Guardians, unless the Guardians really believe in a couple of the Cubs’ best prospects (Owen Cassie, Kevin Alcantara, James Triantos, etc).
Braves:
Michael Harris II has been playing very poorly for the Braves this year, he is an extremely talented fielder in CF. This is now his 4th season, his first two were phenomenal and his 3rd was about average (though his expected stats looked a lot better than his results). He is a left handed hitter, but the splits are close to even in his career.
Acquiring Harris II would be a risk but from the outside looking in it looks like he needs a change of scenery. Perhaps the Guardians could get the Braves to surrender infielder Nacho Alvarez (if Cleveland likes Alvarez, of course) and one of their top starting pitching prospects in return, especially if Atlanta really gets on a hot streak.
All in all, the Guardians would need someone to offer a significant overpay, including a proven major league talent and 1-2 top prospects to trade Emmanuel Clase. If he is still here by August, I believe it will be because Cleveland did not get what they needed in return and that reason only. They will likely revisit the idea, then, in the fall, where the return value should still be strong. That value will involve hitting prospects that Cleveland will need to finish developing… which is a risk at this point. It’s likely a risk the team needs to take to help an organization that has been 21s5 in MLB in offensive production (96 wRC+) since 2019.
Let me know your thoughts about the possibility of an Emmanuel Clase trade, and if you see any other teams as possible suitors down below!