Guardians connected in a massive and ridiculous trade scenario

The winter hot stove is beginning to cook! Trade rumors and trade scenarios are popping up all over the place. 

Anthony Castrovince wrote an article for MLB.com on Thursday, giving us his seven craziest trade ideas. Naturally, the Guardians are involved in one of them.

Not only are they involved, but they are involved in a massive blockbuster, involving seven teams!

For reference, the current record for teams involved in a single trade is four. Seven would obviously shatter that record.

This trade Castrovince cooked up is a monster. To start, the Guardians would acquire the Phillies’ third baseman, Alec Bohm. Here is the full trade breakdown:

Red Sox get: 1B Jake Burger

Rangers get: C Ryan Jeffers

Marlins get: 1B Triston Casas

Diamondbacks get: RHP Sandy Alcantara

Guardians get: 3B Alec Bohm

Phillies get: CF Alek Thomas, RHP Braylon Doughty (Guardians’ #8 prospect)

Twins get: INF LuJames Groover (D-Backs’ #10 prospect), OF Aaron Walton (Guardians’ #19 prospect)

Castrovince does acknowledge at the end of this proposal that quite literally, all seven teams would say no to this trade, so that is something.

But let us take a look at Bohm, Doughty, and Walton.

Starting with Bohm, problem number one is that he is primarily a third baseman. He played about a dozen games at first base for the Phillies last year. There is no world in which the Guardians would play Bohm over Jose Ramirez as their everyday third baseman. Could Bohm DH and play first? Maybe. Will Bohm like that? Probably not.

Bohm also had a down year in 2025, only accumulating a 1.5 WAR after racking up 3.0 in 2024. His average was .287, and his OPS was .741. He mashed only 11 home runs and drove in a middling 59 runs. Bohm would hardly add any thunder to a lineup that desperately needs it.

Braylon Doughty is a 19-year-old pitcher who just finished his first season in the minors. He went a not very good 0-7, but his ERA was palatable at 3.48. He also had 99 strikeouts in 85.1 innings pitched.

Wins are hardly a pitcher stat anymore, so do not let that cloud your vision. A 19-year-old with a sub-four ERA is a very good thing, hence why he is the team’s #8 prospect. You can see why he is a target, especially given his young age; he has years to be coached before he sees any real major league action.

Then there is 21-year-old Aaron Walton. He only had 63 at-bats last season and had an average of .238 with a single home run. He did steal six bases, which fits the Guardians’ mold. With a .721 OPS, he can get extra base hits and take walks, but, as stated with Bohm, does he really bring anything to the Guardians’ lineup that they don’t already have? The Guardians need power, and they can always use more speed. 

Moving Walton and Doughty is not the unheard of portion of this trade for the Guardians. The unheard of portion is acquiring an All-Star third baseman while you have Jose Ramirez, arguably the best at his position and the face of the franchise. Castrovince called the article ‘ridiculous trades’ and clarified that all teams involved in this say no, but this one is crazy for the Guardians.

Maybe it makes sense for some of the teams, giving up little and gaining someone like Sandy Alcantara or a disgruntled, yet powerful, Triston Casas. 

Those fits make much more sense than the Guardians taking on a second third baseman, with little experience in other positions, while Ramirez is a perennial MVP contender.