A few years ago, the discourse about the Cleveland Guardians focused on the number of middle infield prospects in the farm system.
In 2022, the Guardians had Gabriel Arias, Brayan Rocchio, Tyler Freeman, Jose Tena, and Angel Martinez in the organization while Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez were Cleveland’s up-the-middle duo at the big-league level.
While they each have shown signs, some more than others, none of them proved they could be Cleveland’s long-term option on the middle-left side of the infield. Some of these players aren’t even in the organization anymore.
At what point will the Guardians go outside of the organization to fill the shortstop void?
ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel recently named the Guardians as a potential trade fit for the Washington Nationals’ infielder CJ Abrams. Should Cleveland pull off a possible blockbuster trade for the 25-year-old this winter?
Even though the position has been largely underwhelming over the last few seasons, making this move isn’t the best option for the Guardians.
Yes, Abrams did have an OPS of .748 and 19 home runs in 2025, but advanced stats were below league average in almost every category.
The 25-year-old doesn’t have the power or pop in his swing to feel like he can be a consistent 20+ home run hitter, and Cleveland has many question marks in its lineup as is; it wouldn’t make sense to trade for another one.
Plus, the Guardians saw a lot of progress from Brayan Rocchio during the second half of the season as is. In July, the 24-year-old had a .753 OPS.
This improvement from Rocchio likely bought him a little more time to prove he can be a consistent hitter at
By the time the decision is up on Rocchio, Genao, who is regarded by many as a top prospect in Cleveland’s organization, should be ready for his chance to prove he can be the Guardians’ shortstop of the future.
Trading for Abrams could make him the best shortstop on the roster right now, but his ceiling isn’t high enough to make him a high-priority target for Cleveland this winter.
