CLEVELAND — The tension the MLB trade deadline creates varies for each player, manager, coach and executive, but virtually every member of the 2026 Guardians is feeling it to some degree lately.
The trade deadline is 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 3, and the Guardians have already struck a deal.
More than 12 hours before they lost 12-8 to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday, Aug. 1, at Progressive Field, the Guardians sent catcher Bo Naylor and relief pitcher Codi Heuer to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for relief pitcher Craig Yoho and outfielder Blake Perkins.
The Guardians (56-56, tied for second in the AL Central Division) might not be done, either.
A right-handed bat is on Cleveland’s wish list.
“It’s a very active time of year,” Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said. “We’re having a lot of conversations, and our goal is to continue to try to find a way to improve the team.
“We have to always be open-minded to listening to what other teams have to say, and so that’s the approach we generally take. We’re never going to hang up the phone on someone when they call. Now, obviously there are some players that would be much more difficult for us to consider in trades than others, but we don’t just hang up on people when they call with interest.”
Antonetti didn’t hang up on teams when a number of them called last year about Guardians two-time All-Star outfielder Steven Kwan. Cleveland wound up keeping Kwan, though.
So, how are Kwan’s nerves this time around?
“After last year and how that was all handled, which was really great by the front office and the communication was great, but I feel like after quote, unquote surviving that, everything feels a little desensitized to that,” Kwan told the Beacon Journal. “I think last year was definitely a little uneasy, uncertain.
“I didn’t pay a lot of attention to it, and then it started getting really real at the end of it. I think this year is a little more — it’s not as intense, obviously. It’s different. Yeah, it’s definitely a factor, but I would say for me it’s a little less than what it was last year.”
Like Kwan, Guardians first baseman Rhys Hoskins has never been traded. However, he isn’t immune to feeling antsy about the trade deadline.
“It’s always, I think, an anxious time, whether it’s good anxious because you’re hopeful that reinforcements may be coming or not so good, right, because maybe we’re not winning like we want to and some of the guys that you’ve been going to war with over the last couple months are no longer going to be here,” Hoskins said. “I think we’re in a position where hopefully we’re going to be adding, so that definitely makes it better. But when additions come, subtractions also have to be made. So, yeah, it’s an interesting time.”
Switching teams in MLB can be akin to transferring to a different branch in the corporate world. There are connections on every roster. Kwan was aware about Naylor being dealt long before the public knew because they’re close friends. Hoskins previously had Yoho and Perkins as teammates when he played for the Brewers the past two years.
Still, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt explained the cold, hard business of baseball has not made him numb to its transactional nature. Vogt pointed out he called Naylor and Heuer to thank them for their time with Cleveland’s organization. During his playing days, Vogt was traded.
“You don’t get used to the business side of this game,” Vogt said. “It hurts every time [when someone is traded]. It’s all about the human element. And, yeah, business is business, and personal is personal. Business isn’t personal, but it doesn’t always feel that way. So, we talk with our guys. We wish Bo and Codi really well. We hope that their careers take off. But, yeah, it’s all about the people. It’s all about the players.”
Kwan said he is happy for Naylor, whom the Guardians optioned to the Triple-A Columbus Clippers on May 9 when they acquired catcher Patrick Bailey in a trade with the San Fransico Giants.
“He obviously deserves a chance somewhere else,” Kwan said. “I think a fresh start could be really good. I think it’s a good thing. It’s always good to be wanted by other people. So, I know he’s going to do really well there. I think the Brewers could use someone like him, so it’s really, really exciting for him to go.”
On the other hand, Hoskins sees potential in the players he will welcome into the Guardians’ clubhouse.
“Yoho’s got the outlier changeup that’s really nasty,” Hoskins said. “And I kind of feel the same way about here that I do Milwaukee that anytime I think our guys here in the front office see something in someone, it’s usually a good thing. I usually feel like they can help us in some way. So, I’m excited for him. Obviously, he’s wanted here. Not that he wasn’t wanted in Milwaukee, but it’s always nice to go somewhere where you’re really wanted, and [he can] lean on the pitching staff here to help him be effective for us down the stretch.”
Antonetti said Perkins will begin his tenure with Cleveland’s organization in Triple-A Columbus.
“[Perkins is] willing to do whatever the team needs him to do, and that has covered a multitude of different roles in my time with him,” Hoskins said. “Unbelievable athlete. He’s so exciting to watch in center field, and I think he’s really just learning who he is at the plate. He can help, I think, any team being a switch hitter. He’s got some speed. He’s the kind of guy that you throw out there, and you don’t really ever have to worry about. He’ll fit right in here with the style we play. I’m just excited for him, and hopefully he gets some opportunities here.”
No matter what happens in the next couple of days, Kwan, Hoskins and Vogt agreed they will feel a sense of relief when the trade deadline passes.
“It’s always a huge outside distraction. Everybody else always wants to talk about it and rightfully so,” Hoskins said. “But, yeah, as soon as it passes, it’s like, OK, now we have eight weeks to sprint towards our goal. So, to me, that’s the most important thing, and getting past the deadline kind of, I think, lets us have our full focus on that.”
Nate Ulrich is the sports columnist of the Akron Beacon Journal and a sports features writer. Nate can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians experience ‘anxious time’ as MLB trade deadline approaches
