A little more than two years after the Guardians tried to patch their pitching depth by landing Alex Cobb, that deal is still circling back on them in an uncomfortable way.
Cleveland sent minor league right-hander Jacob Bresnahan to the Giants in that trade, along with a player to be named later who eventually became infield prospect Nate Furman. Cobb was already hurt when the move was made, and the return on the Guardians’ side never came close to matching the cost. He logged just 16 1/3 regular-season innings for Cleveland, then made two rough postseason appearances.
Now Furman is the name that can make the trade sting a little more.
On Saturday, the Giants promoted Furman from the minors after catcher Jesús Rodríguez landed on the injured list with an elbow injury. Furman has not yet taken an MLB at-bat, but the door is now open for him to become another painful reminder of how that deadline move worked out for Cleveland.
At the time of the deal, Furman looked more like a lottery ticket than a sure thing. He had just come off a season split between Single-A and High-A, and most of his value came from his legs, not his bat, with 37 steals.
That picture has changed in San Francisco’s system. Furman was in the middle of a strong Triple-A season before the call-up, hitting .284/.370/.405. His stock jumped even more last season, when he put up a 1.100 OPS in 36 minor league games after missing the start of the year with a shoulder injury.
He also brings a flexible defensive profile, with the ability to play all over the infield, and he has nearly matched his walk total and strikeout total this season, with 48 walks and 54 strikeouts. That’s the kind of player profile the Guardians know well - only now it belongs to the Giants.
The timing matters, too. Furman is joining a Giants club sitting at 47-65, which should give him plenty of runway the rest of the season, especially if Luis Arraez gets dealt.
Bresnahan, meanwhile, is still very much part of the story. MLB Pipeline has him ranked as the Giants’ No. 7 prospect, and he has put together a 2.93 ERA across 76 2/3 innings at High-A this season. He’s beginning to look like someone who could factor into San Francisco’s future.
The Guardians did hit on their 2024 signings of Matthew Boyd and Ben Lively, but the Cobb trade is a reminder that their luck with injured pitchers has clear limits. Furman’s promotion only sharpens that lesson.
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For the Guardians, it also comes at a time when the roster has been built with an eye toward keeping options open beyond this season. Adell brings the kind of pop that can change the shape of a game, and the price tag speaks to Clevelands belief that this is the sort of swing worth making. Now the interesting part is how quickly the bat can translate into everyday value in a lineup that has been searching for exactly this kind of offense. [Read more 🡒]