The Guardians went into deadline day looking for right-handed help in the outfield, and they got it.
Cleveland agreed to acquire Los Angeles Angels outfielder Jo Adell before the 6 p.m. trade deadline, according to a New York Post report. The return going to the Angels is catching prospect Jacob Cozart, as first reported by The Athletic. The club has not officially announced the deal.
It’s the second move Cleveland has made in the past week. Over the weekend, the Guardians landed reliever Craig Yoho and outfielder Blake Perkins in a deal that sent catcher Bo Naylor and pitcher Codi Heuer to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Cozart ranked as the organization’s No. 18 prospect on MLB Pipeline, though he was behind Cooper Ingle, who sits at No. 3.
Adell is 27 and was once considered one of the top five prospects in baseball. The production hasn’t always matched the hype, but he did turn in a career year in 2025.
This season with the Angels, Adell is batting .239 with a .682 OPS, along with 16 home runs, 16 doubles and 62 RBIs. His best statistical season came last year, when he hit 37 home runs, drove in 98 runs and posted a .778 OPS.
The underlying numbers have been uneven, too. Adell owns a career 90 wRC+, which means he has been 10 percent below league average since reaching the majors. He put up a career-high 112 wRC+ last year, but that number has fallen to 89 in 2026.
He also delivered one of the season’s more memorable defensive nights earlier this year, when he robbed three home runs in the same game.
Adell is on a one-year, $5.2 million contract for the 2026 season after avoiding arbitration, and he remains under club control through 2027.
For Cleveland, the appeal is straightforward: Adell gives the lineup another right-handed bat in an outfield group that already includes three left-handers - Steven Kwan, Chase DeLauter and Petey Halpin - along with switch-hitter Angel Martinez and David Fry, the other right-handed option.
Fry or Halpin could be the odd man out at Triple-A. Halpin is also a left-handed outfielder, while Fry offers versatility but has been mired in a rough offensive stretch.
In Other News...
Guardians Roster Shakeup Just Put Two Familiar Names In Limbo
A busy stretch of trades changed the look of Clevelands roster quickly, and the ripple effect reached two players who had been part of the clubs everyday conversation not long ago. The Guardians brought in Jo Adell, Nathaniel Lowe and Foster Griffin, then made the sort of corresponding moves that come with trying to reshape a roster in midseason.
Kyle Manzardo, the Opening Day first baseman, has had a tough time at the plate this year, while David Fry has also had trouble carving out steady playing time. Chris Antonetti said the organization still believes both players can help down the line, framing the changes as a way to improve the roster now and get them more consistent opportunities elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Just Sent A Clear Message About This Season
The Guardians spent two busy days sending a fairly loud message about where they think this season can go, reshaping the roster with help now in mind instead of waiting for a deeper rebuild to pay off. They added starter Foster Griffin, outfielder Jo Adell, first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and reliever Craig Yoho, giving the club a batch of pieces that can fit into the present tense as Cleveland tries to stay in the mix in the Central Division.
To get there, the front office parted with nine players, most of them prospects who were not ranked among the organizations top 10, a sign this was about targeted upgrades rather than a wholesale tear-down. Team president Chris Antonetti framed the approach as a bid to chase the division while still protecting the long view, and the real test now is whether the new arrivals give Cleveland enough extra punch to justify the gamble without closing the door on what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Gabriel Arias Still Has One Thing The Guardians Clearly Value
The Guardians spent the trade deadline reshaping the roster, bringing in multiple players and optioning others as they tried to tighten the margins for the stretch run. Through all of that movement, Gabriel Arias stayed put, which says plenty about how Cleveland views him even in a roster that has been anything but static. His value has never been tied to one position, and that kind of defensive flexibility can carry real weight when the front office is juggling depth and matchups.
Arias has earned trust by being able to move around and hold down different spots without forcing the club to make a separate move just to cover him. Cleveland has also seen Petey Halpin take a step forward as a young player, with his defensive contributions adding to the teams options, but Arias remains the more established piece in that utility mix. For a team that keeps leaning on versatility, that kind of reliability can be easy to overlook until it suddenly becomes one of the reasons a player is still there. [Read more 🡒]