Breaking down Guardians' Trade Deadline moves

This story was excerpted from Mandy Bell’s Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

There was a lot to unpack in the Guardians’ last 48 hours.

First, the players attempted to cope with the fact that the Guardians traded one of their closest teammates and hottest starters, Aaron Civale. Then, the team received an optimistic start from Noah Syndergaard in his Cleveland debut. The Guardians then lost one of their veteran presences in the clubhouse, Josh Bell, who was traded to Miami. Manager Terry Francona tried to keep his team together with a meeting prior to Tuesday’s game. Then, the lineup got no-hit by the Astros.

Some parts of the last few days may be more difficult to understand than others. Let’s take a deeper look at the reasons behind these decisions from Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and how he views his team for the rest of the 2023 season.

The topic: Lack of starting pitching

The skinny: Now that Civale is with Tampa Bay, the Guardians are left with three rookies -- all of whom are approaching their career highs in innings pitched -- and Syndergaard in their rotation. They desperately need arms to help eat up innings and they need to figure out who can take Civale’s spot to help do so.

The quote: “Really tough trade to make, but we did feel it was a unique opportunity to acquire someone like Kyle [Manzardo]. We knew it would come at a steep cost. We do feel like we have some options to turn to both with our internal guys, some young pitchers in Triple-A, Cal Quantrill will hopefully be returning in the next few weeks and after that, hopefully Triston McKenzie and Shane Bieber. In the meantime, we’re going to have to fill that void that this leaves in the rotation. Hopefully Syndergaard can be part of that. But then guys like Xzavion Curry, Peyton Battenfield, Joey Cantillo, Hunter Gaddis and others can also be options for us as we look towards the balance of the season.” -- Antonetti

The topic: Searching for external pitching help

The skinny: Antonetti mentioned on Monday that he’d spend the remaining hours leading up to Tuesday’s Deadline attempting to find external pitching help. But when the buzzer sounded, the team had not made a deal that brought in extra depth.

The quote: “We explored a lot of different things and looked at ways where we could add to the ground we have, but in the end, there wasn’t that right option available to us.” -- Antonetti

The topic: Trading Bell

The skinny: Moving Bell to Miami for prospect Kahlil Watson and veteran Jean Segura not only unloaded a large salary off of Cleveland’s books, but it opened up more opportunities for younger players to see time at first and DH. Plus, it opens a path for newly-acquired prospect Manzardo to have a chance at competing for an Opening Day roster spot in 2024.

The quote: “I wouldn’t put this all on Kyle. I think in the near term, what we’re looking to do is to continue to create opportunities for some of the young players. One of the things this does is it gives us more versatility to our roster where we’re not locked in just at first base and DH. I think this now gives us the flexibility to DH [José Ramírez] a little more, DH some other guys and move guys around some to take advantage of both matchups and provide some of these young players.” -- Antonetti

The topic: Losing the two offseason signings

The skinny: The Guardians made two big moves this winter to improve their offense: Signing Bell and Mike Zunino. By Aug. 1, both were off the roster.

The quote: “It didn’t work out. When you make those investments, you hope that they work out and have productive seasons. And unfortunately, especially in Mike’s case, it didn’t happen. I think he was impacted by his continued recovery from surgery. And Josh’s case, he did have moments when he contributed and he certainly helped provide leadership and stability in the clubhouse. But maybe didn’t deliver in the way we hoped or expected at the time we signed him. That’s part of the risk when you venture into free agency and the contracts don’t work out the way you hoped.” -- Antonetti

The topic: Are the Guardians contenders?

The skinny: When Civale was sent to Tampa Bay, the Guardians sat just a half of a game out of the AL Central, however their record has hardly been over .500 since the middle of April. It’s been difficult to judge the realistic chances the club had of making a run in 2023 all season long. Now, it’s even harder.

The quote: “I think we still have an opportunity in front of us. … We feel like we continue to have some younger players that are now getting opportunities and we believe that they can help continue to improve and help us be a competitive team for the balance of the season. Whether or not that will be good enough in the end to beat the Twins, we’ll see, but we do believe in the group of guys we have here.” -- Antonetti