3 Guardians Who Won't Survive the Trade Deadline

There is no shortage of rumors swirling around the Cleveland Guardians with the MLB Trade deadline approaching on Aug. 1, and it's easy to see why.

This is a team that, as of this writing, is sitting on the wrong side of .500. That makes them a fairly obvious candidate to be sellers. But at the same time, they're only four games back of the AL Central lead, which is a position that could easily make them buyers.

Oddsmakers have Cleveland as a long shot to make the postseason, paying out at almost 4-to-1, but those odds still aren't outrageous and a couple of savvy moves could easily change the outlook.

But whether the Guardians decide to buy or sell, their roster should be shaken up significantly at the trade deadline one way or the other.

With that in mind, here are three Guardians you can expect to be playing elsewhere after Aug. 1.

Guardians Trade Deadline: Players on the Move

1. Gabriel Arias

Your first reaction to seeing 23-year-old Gabriel Arias kicking off my list might be that I must be thinking the Guardians are going for it as buyers at the deadline, but I think it's his flexibility as a trade chip in either a buy or sell situation that makes him so likely to go.

Of course, the easiest case to see why he gets traded is if Cleveland is trying to make a playoff push. He's 23 years old and has flashed some potential but is batting just .179/.290/.300 across 72 games this season. He's looking like a plus fielder already, but his offense just isn't MLB-caliber yet.

Even as sellers, the Guardians have such a logjam of young middle infielders in the organization that Arias, Brayan Rocchio, Juan Brito, Angel Martinez, Tyler Freeman and Jose Tena don't all need to stick around. Moving one of these guys to bring in some prospect talent at another position could also be a valuable play.

Next up, let's address the starting pitcher trade situation.