Guardians' trade-deadline failure contributing to MLB’s worst offense

Although it may not have been noticeable after their seven-run outburst against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, despite the loss, the Cleveland Guardians offense has been the worst in baseball for over a month.

Over the last 30 games, the Guardians cumulatively own an MLB-worst .584 OPS with 24 home runs (tied for 26^th in MLB), .197 batting average (worst in MLB), .259 on-base percentage (worst) and a .325 slugging percentage (worst). Entering Wednesday, only two Guardians hitters have an OPS over the league average of .722 (José Ramírez: .848, Kyle Manzardo: .776).

On Aug. 10, a hopeful Guardians team sat just a half-game back in their pursuit of a wild-card spot. As of their loss on Tuesday, Cleveland has now fallen four games back in the wild-card race, dipping below .500 (68-69 record). During this downward spiral, the Rangers, Royals and Rays have all surged past.

This last-minute plummet calls into question management’s trade-deadline strategy, which seemed to suggest the Guardians would be buyers up until the loss of star closer Emmanuel Clase, who was suspended indefinitely over alleged sports gambling involvement. The Cleveland batting order’s lack of power had already been a major concern for longer than just this year, never ranking higher than 16^th in slugging percentage since 2019 (ranked 14^th that year). Before Clase’s suspension, it appeared as though management was finally prepared to address this glaring issue.

But rather than adding firepower to their sluggish lineup at the deadline, the Guardians instead pivoted to a partial sale, parting with Shane Bieber and Paul Sewald, both of whom had just one year of complete club control (Bieber had a player option for 2026, Sewald had a mutual option). Before his trade, Bieber had yet to throw his first Major-League pitch in over a year. In unloading only two pending free agents, the Guardians did little to add depth and nothing to boost their offense.

After coming so close to potentially gaining a wild-card seed at the beginning of August, it’s easy to imagine how a new slugger could have altered their ultimate trajectory, regardless of the impact Clase’s loss had on the club. However, the Guardians’ minimalistic trade deadline has proven to be the gut-punch that effectively squandered this fleeting opportunity. Having done so little at the deadline, Guardians management can only watch as their team unravels.