An Amed Rosario trade by the Cleveland Guardians may not be the worst idea

If a trade involving Amed Rosario does happen, the Cleveland Guardians will likely use it to bolster their gaps.

There are rumors bubbling up about the Cleveland Guardians trading Amed Rosario. Rosario, who is in the last year of club control, will be a valuable asset to move and get something back for. The 27-year-old is in an arbitration year, meaning his salary for the 2023 season has yet to be finalized but is expected to be in the $9 million range.

That’s not unaffordable for the Guards, but the issue is in 2024, he’ll be getting double, maybe even triple that and that is a sum that the Guardians can’t afford to put money into. If you know you’re going to lose him anyway, trading him for an asset makes sense.

Trading Rosario makes sense beyond the fact that the Guards may not be able to afford him, as the Guardians are deep at middle-infield talent. Using Rosario to patch a hole at first makes total sense to me, even if I like Rosario and even wrote about how it’d be a mistake to trade him. The original thought process was that the Guardians didn’t have any holes at the time and that moving Rosario was unnecessary.

I now believe the Guardians have a hole at first base/DH and need a power hitter. They also need a better catcher, but Bo Naylor, Josh Naylor’s brother, waits in the wings. So fixing the hole at first and/or DH is the priority.

So if you flip Rosario for a power hitter, that’s a win. But if you do move Rosario, who do you replace him with?

Who are the potential replacements for Amed Rosario?

There are, realistically, five names who could fill in for Rosario. The first may not make people happy but he exists as a potential name and that’s utility guy Owen Miller. Miller was primarily a shortstop in college and the minors, so he can do the job. He also was known for his offensive output in the minors, hitting .305 for his career and driving in 123 RBIs, while posting a .818 OPS. He struggled in his rookie year with the Guards, hitting just .202, and while he struggled at times in year two, improved his batting average by 46 points, finishing with .248 on the year. He may not be an All-Star but if he continues to improve he can replace Rosario.

There are two names fans may also recognize, as they both made their debut in 2022. Tyler Freeman, a career .311 hitter in the minors, and Gabrial Arias, whose not as good of a hitter as Freeman but is still a solid player, both represent options for the team’s future at the position.

Even further down the lineup are two 21-year-old minor leaguers Brayan Rocchio and Jose Tena. They’re a year or two away from being called up, and with Miller, Freeman, and Arias already with experience, it makes more sense to hold off on calling up Rocchio or Tena just yet.

Right now, the best bet is to go to Miller to start and see if Freeman can replace him if Miller were to struggle.