Guardians Trade Civale – Does it Make Them Sellers?
The Guardians have acquired 1B Kyle Manzardo from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for RHP Aaron Civale.
The season, Manzardo, just turned 23, was playing for the International League on Durham. He hit .238 with 11 homers, 38 RBI, 42 walks compared to 65 strikeouts. This all being on 265 at-bats.
On the flip side, Civale is 24 and has been pitching for the Guardians five years. This season, the right-hander is 5-2 in 13 starts with a 2.34 ERA. Ironically, Civale just pitched a stellar six innings against the White Sox allowing only three hits, two walks and striking out four. The Guardians won 5-0 and then he gets traded…
It appears the Guardians are “sellers” here at the deadline with this move. Sure, Manzardo has the potential to be a great player one day, but that won’t be until the future. Civale was already pitching well currently here in Cleveland. A team that is actually in second place in the AL Central only .5 games behind the Twins despite not having the best of records compared to other top teams (53-53).
“Tough trade to make,” Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti told reporters. “But we did feel it was a unique opportunity to acquire someone like Kyle. We knew it would come at a steep cost.” – Via ESPN
The way Antonetti says “Kyle” makes it seem like this guy was freakin’ Jim Thome in his prime. He’s literally a minor leaguer at this point in his career…
It’ll be interesting to see if the Guardians will make any more moves before the August first trade deadline. Another name thrown around is 1B Josh Bell due to contract concerns.
Ultimately, my take on this team is that even if they make the playoffs due to our terrible division, they’ll get destroyed by the opposition anyway. Thus, being sellers for this season is the smart way to go to build a better future.
Thanks for your time here in Cleveland, Aaron. We wish you the best of luck in your ventures from the Cleveland Sports Talk team!
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