The Guardians may be fighting through a rough patch, but they’re still in the thick of the playoff race and sitting in control of their own destiny. That doesn’t erase the obvious, though: this roster needs help.
The offense has been stuck near the bottom of the league with a .229 batting average, the bullpen could use another reliever or two, and the rotation would benefit from another depth starter behind the five arms they’re already running out there. With that kind of shopping list, Cleveland makes sense as a landing spot for plenty of deadline names.
And because the farm system is deep, the temptation will be there to use prospects as trade chips. But not everyone should be in play.
Here are three Guardians prospects who should be off limits in trade discussions.
Ralphy Velazquez has climbed too far, too fast to be moved now. The 21-year-old first baseman/outfielder just moved to No. 1 in the latest MLB Pipeline re-rank for Cleveland, a clear sign of how much his stock has surged over the past year. He opened the season on fire at Double-A Akron, then got the call to Triple-A Columbus in the middle of the year and has held his own even though he’s more than five years younger than the league average.
He’s checked every box so far, and he looks like he’s on a straight shot to the majors. Sure, there’s always a case for cashing in on rising value, but Velazquez fits Cleveland’s timeline and has a real path to contributing on the big league roster.
Braylon Doughty belongs in the untouchable conversation for a different reason: the Guardians can’t afford to thin out the pitching pipeline any more than it already is. The 20-year-old right-hander is Cleveland’s No. 4 prospect and MLB’s No. 100, and with Khal Stephen’s injury, the system already feels a little lighter than it should. Doughty may still be a couple years away, but moving him would only make that group thinner.
Cleveland liked him enough to take him in the first round in 2024 out of high school, and this season at High-A Lake County he’s starting to look the part. He owns a 3.02 ERA over 59 2/3 innings, and he just got through six innings for the first time in a pro start. The Guardians have already seen what pitching can fetch on the market after using Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson to land Patrick Bailey, but Doughty is more valuable to them than he is as a trade piece.
Jace LaViolette rounds out the list, and even though his first full stretch in the system hasn’t been smooth, this is no time to give up on him. The Guardians were thrilled when he slipped to them with the No. 27 pick last summer, though the hype dipped after he didn’t play last year and then stumbled out of the gate in April.
He’s steadied things since then. LaViolette posted an OPS above .800 in both May and June, and if that trend holds, Double-A Akron could be next by the end of the season. He still looks like a long-term depth piece for Cleveland, which is exactly why he should stay put.
In Other News...
Josh Naylor's Ugly Guardians History Just Took Another Turn
Kyle Manzardos go-ahead homer on Sept. 16 gave the Guardians a late lift, and Josh Naylor was right there at home plate celebrating the moment with his teammate. It was a reminder of the kind of energy Naylor has brought since arriving in Cleveland in 2020, even as his time with the club has been defined by more than just big swings and loud celebrations.
There has also been no shortage of friction along the way, and a recent on-field exchange with Austin Hedges only added to the sense that the relationship has not always been smooth. The tension traces back through a roster shuffle that sent Aaron Civale away in the deal for Manzardo and included the move of Josh Bell, leaving Naylors place in the organization feeling more complicated than it once did. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Slide Sends A Worrying Message During Jose Ramirez Absence
The Guardians have spent the last stretch trying to keep their footing while key injuries pile up, and the latest reminder of that strain has shown up in the standings and in the national power rankings. With Jose Ramirez sidelined, Chase DeLauter and Angel Martinez also working back from injuries, Cleveland has dropped in Bleacher Reports latest rankings and now sits a game behind the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central.
It is the kind of slide that feels bigger than one bad week because the division has tightened around them. Cleveland went from holding a half-game edge on June 13 to chasing from behind now, with Minnesota also hanging close, and the Guardians need some stability before the absence of Ramirez starts to define the race for them. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Injury Update Just Raised The Stakes Against Texas
The Guardians and Rangers head into Tuesdays matchup in Texas with the kind of pregame uncertainty that tends to shape a late-June series. Cleveland is still trying to sort through its roster health while preparing for a marquee pitching duel, with Tanner Bibee lined up against Jacob deGrom in a game that already carried plenty of weight before the injury news started to pile up.
For Cleveland, the timing matters because every lineup decision feels amplified when the opposing starter can change the tone of a game by himself. The projections point to a close one and even hint at a higher-scoring finish than you might expect, but for the Guardians the bigger question is whether they can absorb the absences, stay competitive early, and keep themselves within striking distance against a Texas club that has a little more room to lean on its top-end arms. [Read more 🡒]