The Cleveland Guardians can’t buy a run.
And given that, they’re shaping up more and more to be sellers ahead of the MLB trade deadline.
They’ve got one player they’re expected to trade for sure, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale: Carlos Santana.
Santana is 39 years old now, but he’s one of the best Cleveland players of this generation.
He made his MLB debut with Cleveland in 2010 and stayed around through 2017. Then Santana came back for 2019 and 2020, then again for 2025.
In total, Santana has played 1,415 games for Cleveland, accumulating 226 home runs, a .250 batting average, a .366 on-base percentage and an .811 OPS.
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Santana started this season quite cold but has heated up enough, with a .239 average and .333 OBP, to go along with 10 homers and 38 RBI. That might be enough for a contender to give the switch-hitting on-base machine a chance at the deadline.
He’d likely only fetch the Guardians a far-from-the-majors prospect, but that’s worthwhile for an organization that develops its young players well.
Santana is a great leader and clubhouse presence, but that only matters so much if Cleveland falls out of contention. And there are other strong leaders still around, too.
At this stage, based on Nightengale’s report, Santana appears to be a goner, and a playoff hopeful out there will get a steadying veteran presence.
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