Heading into the trade deadline, there are still many questions around Major League Baseball on what players will be traded. For the Cleveland Guardians, one could make a strong argument that selling now does or doesn’t make perfect sense.
The Guardians sit at 51-50 and could make the postseason, considering their recent play and the Detroit Tigers’ struggles. They need to capitalize on this momentum and build from there.
Or, the Guardians could go in a much different direction.
If the Guardians look to sell, some believe that Emmanuel Clase will be a player they could move. That includes The Athletic, which named him the fourth-best player on the trade market, and also proposed some ideas for him to be traded.
They named the top fits for him to be traded to, surprisingly naming the Atlanta Braves as a potential option.
MORE: MLB insider reveals Guardians’ trade demands for Steven Kwan
“If you haven’t checked in a while, you might remember that Clase was having a shockingly bad season. He finished the month of April with twice as many earned runs as he allowed all of last year. But that’s changed. Since the beginning of May, the righty has a low-ones ERA with his customary command and stuff, and zero homers allowed.
“Clase is an institution in Cleveland and is signed through 2026 with $10-million club options in ’27 and ’28, so he’ll probably stay put — but that salary still makes him more likely to move than teammate (and eventual replacement?) Cade Smith on that league minimum contract,” they wrote.
Now, while the Braves themselves are expected to sell, sitting at 44-57 on the year, they’ve also made it known that they don’t want to move on from most players who have years beyond this one on their contracts.
Clase isn’t a free agent at the end of this campaign, so he fits that mold and could be someone Atlanta looks to bring in.
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