The Cleveland Guardians had a strong push following the All-Star break, and pulled within a game of the final American League Wild Card spot. Now, after being swept by the Braves, Cleveland's playoff chances took a strong dip.
Following the 2025 season, the Guardians front office will have some major decisions to make regarding their roster construction and who might stay versus who could be shipped off. Steven Kwan's trade speculation is growing, but Cleveland's three-time All-Star closer is also gaining traction in the trade market.
Guardians predicted to move on from Emmanuel Clase
It should be known by now that Emmanuel Clase is currently on non-paid leave due to an ongoing gambling investigation, but assuming he is "innocent until proven guilty" and returns in September, he may be trying out for 29 MLB teams that may want to make a deal for him.
Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller also seems to believe that Clase could be on the market if he returns to the mound this season:
"Well, before the suspension news hit, Clase's name was quite popular on the speculative trade block. He has been the best closer in baseball over the past half-decade, and those $10M club options two and three years from now would be no problem whatsoever for the majority of MLB franchises. But that amount of coin for a closer? On Cleveland's budget? He's probably more valuable to them as a trade chip."
Emmanuel Clase has been one of the best closers in all of baseball from 2022 to 2024, when he was named to three consecutive All-Star appearances.
Over his five seasons with the Guardians, Clase has pitched 336.2 innings and has an ERA of 1.84 with 181 saves and 328 strikeouts.
He also led the American League in saves three consecutive seasons, and although his ERA is slightly inflated this season (3.23), he had a rough start to the season and has settled in nicely before the non-paid leave.
It's unclear what his market would be, but with how good he is, the expectation is that there would be a large majority of MLB teams inquiring about Clase. This is also a great time for Cleveland to ship him away, because they would receive a massive haul in return.