Guardians To Acquire Jo Adell

Adell, 27, adds some pop to a light-hitting Guardians lineup, but the former top prospect’s overall offense this season has been below average. He’s homered 16 times and added 16 doubles and a triple, but Adell is slashing just .239/.287/.395 overall (89 wRC+).

That doesn’t mean he won’t have a role in the Cleveland offense — just that his bat is best used in a more limited setting. Adell has wrecked lefties with a .303/.338/.571 batting line this season (148 wRC+) but owns just a .214/.267/.326 line in right-on-right matchups. As a platoon option, he makes good sense. Cleveland has struggled against lefties in particular this season, hitting only .222/.310/.342 as a group. The resulting 86 wRC+ ranks 28th in the majors. Adell will presumably be in the lineup every time the Angels face a lefty starter, perhaps at the expense of young outfielder Petey Halpin.

It’s also possible the Guardians have some tweaks in mind to try to get Adell back to his 2025 level of play. The former first-round pick belted a career-high 37 home runs last season but did so with a questionable approach at the plate. Adell fanned in nearly 27% of his plate appearances while walking at just a 5.8% clip, leading to a .236/.293/.485 line on the season. That on-base mark was 22 points shy of the .315 league average, and this year’s .293 mark is even further shy of the .318 league average.

Adell has pretty consistently beaten up left-handed pitching in the majors. Last year was the lone season he’s truly held his own against fellow righties. The Guardians should at least have a platoon bat to augment their outfield corps for the rest of the season, and if they can cut down on some of Adell’s chase against righties, they might even be able to rely on him in a more regular role. He’ll have to hit if he’s to have much staying power beyond the final couple months of the season, given his sub-par defensive grades in right field in each of the past two seasons.

The 2026 season is Adell’s second year of arbitration eligibility. He’s controlled through the 2027 season but would be owed a raise over this year’s $5.2MM salary if he’s tendered a contract. Considering the Guardians are giving up a decent prospect for Adell, that’s likely the plan, but that’ll hinge to an extent on how he performs down the stretch. Cleveland found itself in a similar spot with Lane Thomas two years ago and tendered him a contract despite a poor finish following a deadline acquisition. That decision didn’t pan out for them.

From the Angels’ side of things, it’s easy enough to see why they moved on. Adell never lived up to his top prospect billing but is a useful role player with dwindling club control. They could’ve kept him and given him a raise to the $8MM range next year, but they’ll instead cash in on that extra season of club control by acquiring a mid-level prospect from a good Cleveland system.

Cozart, 23, was the No. 48 overall pick back in 2024. Baseball America ranked him 17th among Cleveland farmhands last month. As one would expect of a catcher from a Cleveland system obsessed with quality glovework behind the plate, he’s considered a plus defender but has some question marks in his offensive skill set. Cozart draws plenty of walks and has good raw power, but a below-average hit tool keeps him from getting to that power consistently in game settings.

Cozart has spent the entire 2026 season in Double-A. The 23-year-old, lefty-swinging backstop has turned in a .239/.330/.384 batting line (96 wRC+) with 10 homers, 11 doubles, an 11% walk rate and a 24.8% strikeout rate. His 68.7% contact rate is well below par, which only serves to underscore some questions about his level of contact in the future.

Even if Cozart remains prone to this level of swing-and-miss, his knowledge of the strike zone and his strong receiving/blocking/throwing skills point to a career as a potential backup. The Angels don’t have an obvious long-term option waiting in the wings at catcher and traded incumbent Logan O’Hoppe to the Rangers last week. Cozart isn’t going to get an immediate look, but he should be on the radar as a potential 2027 option.