The Guardians’ 2024 deadline gamble on Alex Cobb just picked up another layer of pain.
Cleveland sent prospects Nate Furman and Jacob Bresnahan to the Giants for Cobb, a move that made sense in the moment with the rotation hanging on by a thread. The problem was Cobb was never close to fully right; he managed only 23 innings for the Guardians because of the hip injury that was already bothering him when the trade was made.
That alone made the deal look like a loss for Cleveland. On Sunday, it got a little worse.
The Giants flipped Furman to the Nationals for minor leaguer Tony Neubeck, extending the ripple effect of the original trade. Furman didn’t do much in San Francisco, but he now has a real shot to work his way into Washington’s middle-infield mix, assuming he can avoid getting squeezed by another roster crunch.
Furman appeared in 22 games for the Giants last season and hit .125/.243/.125 with three RBI. Ideally, San Francisco would have left him in the minors all year to keep developing, but injuries forced their hand late in the season.
Now the issue is roster math. The Giants were up to 50 players on their 40-man roster because of all the players coming off the 60-day injured list, and with today’s 40-man cutdown deadline looming, they chose to move Furman rather than risk losing him for nothing.
Washington isn’t exactly handing him a clean runway, either. The Nationals are sitting at 45 players on their 40-man roster, and they opened one spot by designating Richard Lovelady to make room for Furman. More moves are still coming as they trim down.
Even with the underwhelming big-league line, the Nationals clearly saw the upside in Furman’s minor league work. He owns a career .292/.400/.404 slashline across 1,287 plate appearances in the minors, and he’s coming off a season with a .791 OPS, seven home runs and 19 steals. That profile gives Washington a potential utility option behind All-Star CJ Abrams, as long as they don’t trade him.
In Other News...
Guardians Get A Big Defensive Honor As Kwans Run Suddenly Stops
Tanner Bibees season had its rough patches, but his work on the mound still earned him a major piece of hardware. The Cleveland right-hander won the American League Rawlings Gold Glove Award for best defensive pitcher, the first Gold Glove of his career and the first by a Cleveland pitcher since 2022, a fitting nod to the kind of athleticism and fielding instincts that can get overlooked when the focus is usually on wins and losses.
The bigger surprise around the Guardians came with Steven Kwan, whose run of four straight Gold Gloves came to an end this year. Kwan was again among the finalists, but this time the award went to Ceddanne Rafaela, leaving Cleveland without one of its most familiar defensive honors even as Bibee gave the club another reason to celebrate its glove work. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Offseason Roster Squeeze Is About To Force Tough Calls
The Guardians have already started trimming and reshaping their 40-man roster, and the next few weeks figure to get even busier. After letting pitcher Shawn Armstrong test free agency and adding prospect Milan Tolentino, Cleveland is sitting with four open spots, a little breathing room that may not last long once the front office begins protecting players from the Rule 5 Draft.
Several prospects are expected to be added, and the club may need to clear additional room through trades or outrights to make it all fit. The real pressure point arrives with the non-tender deadline on November 20, when Cleveland could be forced into some difficult decisions as it tries to balance immediate roster needs with long-term depth. [Read more 🡒]
Steven Kwans Defensive Run Just Hit A Tough New Reality
Steven Kwans defensive excellence carried him across the outfield all season, but the Gold Glove results brought a different kind of ending. After four straight wins in left field, Kwan was a finalist in center field this time around, reflecting how often Cleveland asked him to move around and cover ground. He split his work between left and center and still finished with 17 defensive runs saved, a reminder that the value was there even if the trophy case wont grow this year.
For Cleveland, the bigger picture is still encouraging. Tanner Bibee gave the club its lone Gold Glove winner, taking the honor at pitcher, while Kwans shift in position showed just how much defensive flexibility he gave the Guardians. The streak is over, but the season also reinforced that Kwan remains one of the more dependable defenders on the roster, even as the award race moved in another direction. [Read more 🡒]