Guardians add All-Star lefty Griffin, slugger Lowe in trades

CLEVELAND -- The Guardians were in conversations with the Nationals for "quite a while" leading up to Monday's 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline, president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said. But there was a point where Cleveland was not confident anything would reach the finish line.

The Guardians are thrilled things did.

The Guardians acquired All-Star lefty Foster Griffin from the Nationals for a package of four players, a deal that came together late Monday afternoon. It was part of a busy day for Cleveland, which also landed outfielder Jo Adell from the Angels and first baseman Nathaniel Lowe from the Reds -- a deal that also came together late Monday afternoon.

"If you were to ask me at 10 o'clock last night," Antonetti said of the Griffin trade, "I would have said ‘I'm not sure I'm optimistic we'll get something done.’ But that's the nature of trades, and things came together relatively late in the day, and we're happy they did."

TRADE DETAILS
Guardians receive: LHP Foster Griffin
Nationals receive: LHP Will Dion, LHP Josh Hartle (was CLE's No. 25 prospect; now WSH No. 29), RHP Kendeglys Virguez, OF Nick Mitchell

TRADE DETAILS
Guardians receive: 1B Nathaniel Lowe
Reds receive: RHP Alejandro Rivera

Leading up to the Deadline, the Guardians openly acknowledged they were looking to improve an offense that has been their Achilles heel this season. Adell and Lowe both address that need, while Griffin bolsters what has been Cleveland's greatest strength this season.

The Guardians’ Opening Day rotation of Tanner Bibee, Joey Cantillo, Slade Cecconi, Parker Messick and Gavin Williams started all but one of the club’s first 113 games this season. Behind that quintet, the Guardians entered Monday ranked sixth in the Majors in rotation ERA (3.68).

Griffin reinforces an already solid group. Over 22 starts this season, the 31-year-old (who is set to become a free agent this offseason) has logged a 3.06 ERA with 116 strikeouts and 30 walks over 129 1/3 innings.

"We feel we're acquiring a starting pitcher that has been one of the best starters in baseball this year," Antonetti said.

Griffin has certainly been one of the Majors’ best stories this season. The left-hander was the Royals' first-round Draft pick in 2014, but he appeared in just seven big league games with the Royals and Blue Jays from 2020-22. Griffin spent the next three years with the Yomiuri Giants of the Japan Central League, for whom he recorded a 2.57 ERA.

After he reestablished himself in Japan, Griffin earned a one-year deal with the Nationals this past offseason. He returned to the Majors with a deep arsenal of pitches, between his cutter, four-seam fastball, sweeper, changeup, curveball, sinker and splitter.

"Very atypical path," Antonetti said. "There are a lot of guys that have gone overseas, whether it's Japan or Korea, and either learned about themselves or changed their pitch mix and have come back and been more effective pitchers. And I think that's been the case with Foster."

The Guardians' next step is to piece the rotation puzzle together. They have six starters between Griffin, Bibee, Cantillo, Cecconi, Messick and Williams. Manager Stephen Vogt, pitching coach Carl Willis and assistant pitching coach Joe Torres had a conference call scheduled Monday evening to talk through their options.

Lowe figures to reinforce an offense that ranked 29th in the Majors in runs per game (3.95) entering Monday. The 31-year-old will get the bulk of the Guardians' at-bats at first base against righties, with the right-handed-hitting Rhys Hoskins slotting in vs. lefties.

Lowe has slashed .286/.363/.522 with 12 home runs over 251 plate appearances against right-handers this season. His arrival cost fellow first baseman Kyle Manzardo his roster spot. The Guardians optioned Manzardo (who has hit 13 homers with a .684 OPS over 102 games this season) to Triple-A Columbus on Monday.

Dion is the lone player headed to Washington with big league experience. He logged a 4.58 ERA in 12 appearances in the Majors this season. The Guardians acquired Hartle (who had a 3.86 ERA in 19 starts with Double-A Akron this season) in the Dec. 10, 2024, trade that sent first baseman Spencer Horwitz to the Pirates.

Cleveland landed Mitchell, 22, from the Blue Jays alongside Horwitz that same day, in a deal that sent second baseman Andres Giménez to Toronto. Mitchell had a .718 OPS in 75 games with the RubberDucks this season.

Virguez, 22, had a 4.13 ERA in 25 relief appearances with Akron and High-A Lake County. The Guardians signed him in 2022 as an international free agent out of Venezuela.