Well, there you have it
With less than two hours remaining until the trade deadline, the Guardians appear to be standing pat. At least, that’s what their manager, Terry Francona, told the media ahead of their game against the Diamondbacks tonight.
According to Zack Meisel, Francona said he doesn’t anticipate any moves but acknowledges that “things can change” between now and then.
Terry Francona said he doesn’t anticipate any moves prior to the 6 p.m. trade deadline, though he acknowledges things can change.
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) August 2, 2022
MLB.com writer Mandy Bell added further context to Tito’s musings on the deadline:
When Tito was asked if he anticipates any moves before the 6pm Deadline, he said, “I don’t think so.”
He later added: “If you can make yourself better, I get it. But muddying the waters — and a lot of times that’s what happens — that doesn’t really help.”
— Mandy Bell (@MandyBell02) August 2, 2022
As much as it sucks to come out of the trade deadline without a shiny new toy (or as our own Blake Ruane so perfectly put it, without your parent coming to pick you up after school), Tito — and presumably the front office sharing the same thoughts — might have a point. If the A’s were indeed refusing to trade Sean Murphy until the offseason (and we’ll know shortly if that’s true or they were just playing the Guardians), there aren’t many head-and-shoulders improvements not named Juan Soto on the market that could be under control past this season.
Personally, I’m more bummed we didn’t get to see them get someone interesting back for Zach Plesac, or some kind of trade to loosen up the 40-man roster, than I am to see them not get Tyler Mahle or David Robertson. There’s no magic cure for their catching offense or starting rotation depth out there (unless you count Aaron Civale coming back from injury), so the Guardians are going to have some tough questions to answer if we’re down the stretch in September and it’s clear that another piece was needed.
But this was always going to be the Guardians’ wait-and-see season, and now, for better and worse, it appears they are going to wait and see what the kids do over the next two-plus months.