CLEVELAND — With the Aug. 1 MLB traded deadline just over 24 hours away, the Cleveland Guardians have made another significant move.
The team confirmed Monday it has traded right-handed starting pitcher Aaron Civale to the Tampa Bay Rays for first baseman Kyle Manzardo, one of the top prospects in the game. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times was the first to report the news.
"Dating back to last season, it's been a great point of emphasis for us to try to add offensive players to our major league team and the upper levels of our minor league system," Guardians President Chris Antonetti told the media after the deal was announced. "We felt this is a unique opportunity to be able to acquire someone like Kyle and bring him into the organization."
As this summer's trade deadline approached, the possibility of the Guardians trading Civale appeared increasing likely, especially after Shane Bieber — once thought to be Cleveland's likeliest trade candidate — landed on the 60-day injured list with an elbow injury. A mainstay of the club's rotation since the 2019, the 28-year-old Civale has emerged as perhaps its best pitcher this season, tallying a 5-2 record, 2.34 ERA, and 58 strikeouts in 13 starts.
But Civale has also battled injuries of his own throughout his career, and even spent almost two months on the IL this past spring. With his recent success and team-friendly contract status (he won't be a free agent until at least 2026), his value was likely never going to be higher than it is right now.
"Aaron's been a key contributor to our starting rotation, especially here recently and dating back over the last few years," Antonetti said of Civale, who a former third-round draft pick who finishes his Cleveland tenure with a 29-23 record and 3.77 ERA across 76 career starts. "But in the end, we felt that this made sense for us."
The move is still somewhat surprising, because not only are the Guardians only a half game behind the Minnesota Twins for first place in the American League Central Division, but the starting rotation has been in a state of flux: Bieber, Triston McKenzie, and Cal Quantrill are all on the injured list, and while rookies like Tanner Bibee and Gavin Williams have been stellar, their age could make them subject to innings limits as the season wears on.
For Monday night's game in Houston, former All-Star Noah Syndergaard will make his Cleveland debut just days after being acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers for shortstop Amed Rosario. Civale's exit still leaves a void in the starting five, with Antonetti saying the organization will look at "internal" and "external" options to fill it. He did not rule out another potential trade for a starter prior to Tuesday's 6 p.m. deadline.
As for Manzardo, the 23-year-old was drafted in the second round in 2021 sand is currently ranked as the No. 4 prospect in the Rays' organization and the No. 37 prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB.com. Having yet to make his Major League debut, the left-handed hitting Manzardo has recorded a .238 batting average (.783 OPS), 11 home runs and 38 RBIs in 73 games with Triple-A Durham this season, down from his stats in the lower levels but still drawing the attention of scouts and analysts.
"The left-handed slugger can be a hitting coach’s dream," MLB.com writes of Manzardo. "Utilizing a relatively quiet setup at the plate, he often sees pitches out of the hand well and makes impressive swing decisions, thus cutting down on strikeouts while maintaining healthy walk rates. His hitting performance was remarkably consistent following his first jump to the upper Minors, strengthening the belief that he could threaten for multiple Major League seasons around (or exceeding) a .300 average."
Antonetti echoed those sentiments, calling Manzardo "one of the better offensive performers in the minor leagues" with "a great offensive track record."
"We believe he can develop into a really productive major league player," Antonetti said. "He's really well-regarded not only by us, but by the industry."
However, Manzardo is currently on the injured list himself with a shoulder strain, and Antonetti believes it will be "a few weeks" before he can return to game action. At that point, he will "likely" start in Triple-A Columbus.
"Hopefully he's in a position to contribute major league level at some point next year," Antonetti added.
So if the acquisition of Manzardo is more about "next year," does Antonetti still think the Guardians can win the AL Central this year?
"We still have an opportunity in front of us," he answered. "We do believe in the group of guys we have here."