CLEVELAND — A whirlwind of a trade deadline is in the rearview, the Guardians are entering August with MLB’s best record and pennant races are about to heat up.
Here are five takeaways ahead of a four-game battle for American League supremacy between the Guardians and Orioles.
1. There are legitimate questions about what Lane Thomas can offer against right-handed pitching and, therefore, about how often Stephen Vogt should scribble his name in the starting lineup.
GO DEEPERLane Thomas fills significant need, but Guardians pay hefty price to NationalsAgainst a left-handed starter, Thomas is a perfect fit between Steven Kwan and José Ramírez.
2023 vs. LHP: .332/.375/.573 slash line
2024 vs. LHP: .322/.406/.506 slash line
He’s also valuable off the bench on days he doesn’t start. He’ll make opponents think twice about turning to a southpaw, as every team seems to any chance they get. Vogt can seek out the best matchup and deploy him at the perfect time as a pinch-hitter. Or, he’d be valuable as a pinch-runner (with elite sprint speed and a career-high stolen base total) or a defensive replacement (with elite arm strength in the outfield).
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So, even if Thomas isn’t starting seven days a week, he should probably see the field in some capacity daily.
2. As for Thomas’ shortcomings against righties, if he could even return to his 2023 form, that’d be a plus.
2023 vs. RHP: .242/.292/.427 slash line (about 5 percent below league-average production)
2024 vs. RHP: .226/.299/.364 slash line (about 12 percent below league-average production)
If he’s a tick below league average against righties and a superstar against lefties, along with a threat on the bases and an asset in the outfield, that’s a strong pickup. At worst, he’s probably a more well-rounded version of the Brandon Guyer/Ryan Raburn/Jordan Luplow platoon-outfielder types the club has employed over the years.
3. It felt as though a new trade surfaced every other minute on Tuesday afternoon. And yet, there weren’t many noteworthy names changing teams.
What drove such a chaotic-yet-underwhelming deadline? Entering action on Wednesday, the Guardians and Phillies were tied for the best record in baseball, but 16 other teams were within 10 games of them in the standings. That’s 18 teams, or 60 percent of the league, with a win total between 55-65.
Having three wild-card berths in each league dampens the thrill of the deadline. So does the draft lottery, which discourages clear tanking (which is a good thing). Many teams enduring disappointing seasons would rather recalibrate and pull the old “thread the needle” trick the Guardians have tried, rather than initiate a full teardown.
Isaac Paredes was arguably the most productive hitter moved, and he went to the Chicago Cubs, a club with a sub-.500 record. The Blue Jays opted to hang onto Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Chris Bassitt, even though they’ll all enter contract years next season and the AL East won’t be any easier to conquer.
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So, for the Guardians, the Thomas and Alex Cobb additions might seem like doing the bare minimum to achieve a passing grade on a term paper. Just type any words that come to mind until you reach 20 pages, double-spaced, 12-point font. The Guardians were certainly positioned to swing big this summer. But few of the trades completed around the league were needle movers.
GO DEEPERGuardians to acquire Alex Cobb from Giants to fortify their rotation: Sources4. How will the AL Central race shake out? The Guardians and Twins will collide for four games over about 51 hours next weekend at Target Field. Cleveland holds a six-game lead over the Twins and Royals.
The Twins added only Trevor Richards, a changeup artist from the Blue Jays. The Royals bolstered their bullpen with hard-throwing Lucas Erceg and Hunter Harvey, and they scooped up infielder Paul DeJong.
As things stand, three AL Central teams would qualify for the postseason.
And then, well, the White Sox exist. They have lost 17 consecutive games. They would need to finish the season 36-15 to sidestep a 100-loss campaign. There’s a real chance they wind up with a record-setting loss total, eclipsing the 1962 Mets, who finished 40-120.
Which team has the White Sox defeated the most? That would be the league-best Guardians, of course. Chicago is 5-5 against Cleveland and 22-79 against everyone else.
That’s baseball in a nutshell.
5. The Guardians are hopeful Cobb needs only one more tuneup before he can join their rotation. He would have returned from the injured list already if a blister hadn’t interrupted his rehab assignment.
Cobb spoke with The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly about the trade. From a distance, Cobb has noticed Cleveland’s emphasis on contact at the plate and the club’s defensive ability. He cited their standing atop FanGraphs’ Defensive Runs Saved leaderboard and noted how his sky-high ground ball rate could be a perfect pairing with the team’s sure-handed infielders.
GO DEEPERMLB Trade Grade: Can Alex Cobb return to form with the Guardians?“You keep reminding yourself about the situation you’re going into,” Cobb said. “It’s the team with the best record in the league. I’m hoping to fulfill my dream of pitching in the postseason again.”
Cobb’s wife asked if he knew any of their players. He said no, but he has relationships with several members of the coaching staff: Vogt, bench coach Craig Albernaz and field coordinator Kai Correa.
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“She said, ‘OK, well, thanks. That makes me feel old,’” Cobb said.
Cobb and Vogt came up together through the Rays’ system, from short-season Hudson Valley to the big leagues. Vogt caught Cobb in the minors, but never the majors. In fact, they only appeared in the same major-league game once, Sept. 17, 2012. Vogt entered as a pinch-hitter after Cobb had exited the game, though.
“Even then, you noticed how contagious his attitude was,” Cobb said. “With his personality, you knew he was destined to be a manager. He’s absolutely hit the ground running with that team. I can’t wait to be a part of it.”
— The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly contributed to this report.
(Photo of Lane Thomas: Greg Fiume / Getty Images)
Zack Meisel is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Cleveland Guardians and Major League Baseball. Zack was named the 2021 Ohio Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association and won first place for best sports coverage from the Society of Professional Journalists. He has been on the beat since 2011 and is the author of four books, including "Cleveland Rocked," the tale of the 1995 team. Follow Zack on Twitter @ZackMeisel
