That Athletic writers would green light these 2 Cleveland Guardians trades
Not much to talk about concerning the newly named Cleveland Guardians and the Hot Stove, as clueless baseball has killed the fun of having a transaction season.
That hasn’t stopped fans from pitching their own ideas, which led to an interesting article on The Athletic.
Usually, when a fan pitches an idea to a beat writer, the scribes are uber quick to poke holes in any proposal.
Not these, though. Of the 10 proposals weighed by writer Zack Meisel, these two got a green light.
The first (subscription required) had the Guards sending Triston McKenzie to the Angels for outfielder Joe Adell. Both the Guards and Angels beat writers concluded that “Perhaps no one” would say no to this deal, so that’s a green light to me.
The Guardians may have another new name before they finally fix the corner outfield problem at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.
Adell, who’s played right field, is a big-time prospect, who was taken 10th in the 2017 draft. He hit the big leagues in the truncated 2020 campaign, and played 35 games last season. In 272 plate appearances, he’s bating .205 (.593 OPS). In 73 games at Triple-A, Adell hit .289 (.934 OPS) last season.
It seems like there may still be some growing pains to endure with Adell, which is probably why I wouldn’t make this trade. The Guards have gone through those pains with McKenzie, and it looked like he started to take the next step toward being a more consistent player toward the end of last season.
Again, I think McKenzie’s potential is set to explode. It’s a temping thought, but I’ll hold to adage that good pitching beats good hitting.
Cleveland Guardians 2nd trade that got the green light
The other Guardians trade that got a green light saw the Tribe sending Zach Plesac and Bradley Zimmer to the Reds for Jesse Winker.
Plesac didn’t have the season we all thought he would, but The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosencrans noted that his home-run rate dropped, which is important considering he’d be pitching in the tightly-wound slugger’s paradise known as Great American Ball Park.
Factoring in the Reds are slashing payroll, and it makes the trade seem more feasible. Winker is arbitration eligible (second year) and Plesac is not.
Next. Vizquel HOF candidacy nosedives. dark
Zimmer is just a throw in, but since he’s arbitration eligible, Rosencrans concludes the Guards would have to throw in some salary relief. This is where a wealthy minority owner would really help!