Guardians Exec Discloses Major Update on Cleveland's Trade Deadline Stance

The Cleveland Guardians' MLB trade deadline plans certainly took a sharp turn on Monday when it was revealed that closer Emmanuel Clase would be placed on non-disciplinary leave due to a league gambling investigation, and now, the Guardians are left wondering what to do before July 31.

There had been rampant speculation that Clase was a trade candidate in the lead up to the deadline, but now, Cleveland obviously won't be able to move the three-time All-Star.

Guardians president Chris Antonetti has provided an update on where things stand for the team before the end of the month, and apparently, Cleveland is still pretty busy working the phones.

“It’s a very active time of year anyway where we’re in constant dialogue with a lot of teams,” Antonetti said, via Joe Noga of Cleveland.com. “We had a lot of dialogue up through this morning and certainly have had dialogue over the last few hours and my expectation is that it will continue over the next few days.”

But did the Clase news ultimately impact how the Guardians will handle the deadline?

“It’s really hard to say right now,” he said. “It’s a lot of information to process. What we know is that two very good pitchers aren’t going to be available to pitch for us in the near term, and so we have to assess how that impacts our thinking on things.”

Remember: starting pitcher Luis Ortiz also suffered the same fate as Clase earlier in the month, hence Antonetti's comment that "two very good pitchers" are currently unavailable.

Cleveland is below .500, but it is right in the middle of the American League Wild Card hunt. It's possible that the Guardians could still try to buy, but based on their modus operandi, the chances of that happening seem somewhat slim.

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