Guardians go into final weekend before Deadline with clear need: Offense

CLEVELAND -- The Guardians’ trade of Bo Naylor and Codi Heuer to the Brewers on Saturday brought two new faces to the organization in reliever Craig Yoho and outfielder Blake Perkins. But neither guy addresses Cleveland’s biggest need ahead of the 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline on Monday.

The Guardians are not done yet. They need help offensively, and they are looking for it.

“We want to improve the offense,” Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said before Saturday's 12-8 loss to the Diamondbacks at Progressive Field. “So if we can find a player or players externally that help us get better, we want to do that. But we need the group that's here to perform better than they have.”

Saturday's output aside, the Guardians’ offensive struggles are well-documented. They have scored one or zero runs in seven of their first 15 games after the All-Star break and are 5-10 over that stretch. That included Friday’s 4-1 loss to the D-backs, when Cleveland logged three hits and squandered a stellar start by Tanner Bibee.

“We’re in it right now,” manager Stephen Vogt said postgame Saturday.

Entering Saturday, the Guardians ranked last in the Majors in runs per game (3.90) and team OPS (.676) this season. Antonetti said the club is “having a lot of conversations,” while noting the compact nature of the postseason picture has had an effect on things leading up to the Deadline.

“That's made the dynamic a little bit more challenging because there are fewer defined teams that are more future-focused than short-term focused,” Antonetti said. “I still think there will be a lot of trades that happen over the next [two days]. But it's definitely challenging.”

The Guardians are experiencing that crunch firsthand. Saturday, they fell to .500 (56-56) for the first time since May 10 (21-21). Amid this second-half swoon, they are tied with the Twins for second in the AL Central and are three games behind the first-place White Sox (58-52).

Cleveland chose this past offseason to give its young talent opportunity in the Majors, largely in place of adding external pieces to a lineup that struggled in 2025. Antonetti made clear back then the Guardians would have resources to improve the roster if that plan didn’t work as well as they hoped.

That’s the spot the Guardians find themselves in now. They can’t afford to do nothing. If there’s a way to improve offensively for 2026 and beyond, it would be a sensible approach to take.

What could that look like? The Guardians have just four right-handed hitters on their roster in Gabriel Arias, Austin Hedges, Rhys Hoskins and David Fry. That imbalance is mitigated to a degree by switch-hitters Patrick Bailey, Angel Martínez, José Ramírez and Brayan Rocchio, but Cleveland has struggled against left-handed pitching this season. Their .649 team OPS against southpaws ranked 28th in MLB entering Saturday.

Antonetti noted there is generally a “scarcity” of available right-handed hitters and a number of teams in that market. What’s more, Cleveland ranked 27th in MLB with a .688 OPS against right-handed pitching entering Saturday. In other words, they are all exploring all options here.

Among guys who have appeared on the rumor mill, right-handed-hitting outfielders Jo Adell (Angels), Heliot Ramos (Giants) and Taylor Ward (Orioles) could make sense. While Ward is set to become a free agent this offseason, Adell is under club control through 2027 and Ramos through '29.

The Guardians could use a boost. They also know any addition at the Deadline can’t mask the lack of production permeating the entire lineup. Alongside any addition, they need guys in-house to step up.

First baseman Kyle Manzardo logged a .543 OPS over 24 games in July. He’s hit just 13 home runs and logged a .687 OPS through 101 games this season. Rhys Hoskins was the Guardians' biggest addition of the limited few during the offseason. The veteran clubhouse leader belted a two-run homer in the first inning Saturday. He has a .179/.312/.383 slash line with 12 homers over 86 games.

Travis Bazzana has had many bright spots and some growing pains as a rookie this season. José Ramírez has been trying to find his power for a large stretch of the season, even before he missed five weeks due to a left hamate fracture.

“I do believe in the group of players that we have, but the results are what they are,” Antonetti said. “We need to play better for the balance of the season than we've played so far. I think it's going to take more than 81 or 82 wins to get to the postseason and win the American League Central.

“We as a group need to play better, and hopefully we can do that over the next couple months.”