The Guardians did plenty of buying at this summer’s trade deadline, even if none of the moves qualified as a blockbuster. Still, the three additions they made - Jo Adell, Foster Griffin and Nathaniel Lowe - have each had a hand in Cleveland’s postseason run, and Zack Meisel of The Athletic laid out how the deals came together.
Adell was the longest-running target of the bunch. The Guardians had chased him for multiple years, according to Meisel, before finally landing him from the Angels in exchange for catching prospect Jacob Cozart. A change in the Angels’ front office helped push the deal across the finish line, with the departure of general manager Perry Minasian and the arrival of John Mozeliak opening the door.
The 27-year-old Adell arrived in Cleveland after a first half that didn’t match his breakout 2025 season. He carried a 91 wRC+ with the Angels before the trade, then found his footing with the Guardians and finished the year with a .741 OPS while holding down a regular spot in the middle of the lineup. He also drove in plenty of runs, piling up 32 RBI in 48 games for Cleveland.
His first postseason experience didn’t start cleanly. Adell struck out in his first six at-bats, with a walk in between, before nearly changing Game 2 with a shot that just missed leaving the yard in the eighth inning.
He settled for an RBI triple there, then tripled again in Game 3 and finished with a two-hit night. Through Cleveland’s two ALDS wins, Adell has driven in five runs.
Griffin gave the Guardians another arm after the deadline. The left-hander had become one of the more interesting names on the market after a strong first half back in the majors following three seasons in Japan. He posted a 3.06 ERA in 22 starts with the Nationals, which led Cleveland to bring him in as part of a four-player return headlined by lefties Will Dion and Josh Hartle.
The Guardians were searching for rotation help behind Gavin Williams, Parker Messick and Tanner Bibee, and they explored several other names before settling on Griffin. Per Meisel, they checked in on José Soriano, Trevor Rogers and Tyler Mahle. Soriano wound up in Toronto, Mahle went to Atlanta, and Rogers stayed put in Baltimore.
Griffin’s regular season in Cleveland was uneven. He logged a 5.19 ERA in nine starts and didn’t consistently work deep into games, topping five innings only three times.
But he delivered one of the club’s biggest performances of the year in Game 3 against the White Sox. With Cleveland facing elimination, Griffin entered after opener Daniel Espino and escaped a first-inning jam.
He then worked 2 2/3 innings in bulk relief, struck out seven and allowed one earned run in the win.
Lowe was the final deadline piece, and Cleveland nearly missed on him before pulling it off just before the buzzer. Meisel reported that the Guardians thought the opportunity had slipped away, but they ended up acquiring him from the Reds for young right-hander Alejandro Rivera.
Lowe had been in the middle of a solid bounceback season in Cincinnati, producing a 123 wRC+ while working as a semi-regular. His bat cooled after the move to Cleveland, where he finished with a .650 OPS, but he has still mattered in the postseason.
Manager Stephen Vogt has had to navigate a White Sox staff built around relievers, which has complicated the usual platoon decisions. He started right-handed hitter David Fry in Game 1 against left-handed opener Hagen Smith, then turned to Lowe as a pinch-hitter after one trip through the order.
Since then, Lowe has started every game and reached base eight times in 17 plate appearances.
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