With Opening Week in the MLB coming to a close there has many amazing games thus far. Many amazing home runs, grand slams, comebacks and insane catches. Unfortunately, for The Guardians, some catches weren’t made as routinely as they should have.
For Cleveland Fans, a new team name and the coming of prospect Steven Kwan. The Outfielder was almost perfect at the plate in the opening series against the Royals. With his tool set, he shows he can continue to be a consistent force for a Cleveland franchise looking to solidify a brand-new core to soon reload and make another run at the AL Central.
Although the Guardians split the first series with Kansas City and had the joys from Kwan, the major trade piece that came back from the Francisco Lindor trade has struggled to find his spot in the lineup.
Amed Rosario has moved around from Shortstop and Left Field so far on the short season for the Guardians, and does not seem to be finding any type of groove defensively. Although his bat has been fantastic and has supported Cleveland with there two wins against the Royals the question remains, where does he play.
Although the Designated Hitter position is league wide now (not that it changed recently for the American League Guardians) Cleveland has Franmil Reyes in the DH spot and is not moving from there anytime soon. The Guardians did not help Rosario’s case in the outfield as he only played just a handful in the corner infield spot during Spring.
To make any type of defense on behalf of Amed, the weather on Opening Day in Kansas City was dreadful. With the swirling winds, it didn’t make anyone’s defensive job easy on either side of the baseball. Although the weather wasn’t sunshine’s and rainbows Rosario has to make these types of plays at this level.
So Where Does He Go?
So, what should Cleveland do with Rosario? That’s a question I believe will be answered before the trade deadline on August 2nd. The Guardians are in an interesting situation as a team who is building a strong core, but is still looking to compete. Even though Rosario has two years remaining on his contract with Cleveland, its clear that he is not in the future plans for this franchise when his tenure would expire.
The Guardians have a plethora of outfielder prospects that are close to breaking the big leagues such as George Valera (Cleveland #1 Prospect) and Nolan Jones (6). The middle of the infield (where Rosario is normally slated) is filled with talent on the farm as well such as Gabriel Arias (3) and Brayan Rocchio (4). Needless to say, a move would benefit both sides.
Here are some options I believe would benefit from a change of scenery involving Amed Rosario. I got this idea that maybe Amed moving on from Cleveland would be a good idea from the fellas over at 216 Podcast. They inspired me to dig deep at some potential spots for him this season. I won’t include what I believe a return could be at this time, as I will leave it up to your imagination when reading and pondering these scenarios. Feel free to comment wherever you are listening however, and I would be more than happy to chime in with some theoretical trade offers.
Los Angeles Angels
The Angels are currently running with David Fletcher at the shortstop position. Although he has spectacular defensive ability, his bat is not the highlight of his game. Fletcher is not a disciplined hitter and frequently chases high out of the zone fastballs that often do not go in his favor, keeping him towards the bottom of the Angels lineup.
If the Angels decide at the deadline (or sooner) that they think they can be an AL West competitor or even grab one of the three AL wildcard spots, adding a bat like Rosario would be a huge benefit.
Philadelphia Phillies
This is a two-fold scenario in my book when looking at the Phillies and the Shortstop position. Last season, Didi Gregorius had his career worst season, but has started off strong so far this year. What I mean by two-fold however is Bryson Stott. The long-awaited Phillies prospect is up in the Bigs and is awaiting his turn to dethrone Didi and take over what will most likely be his for a long time.
Although Stott is up with the 28-man Roster he is playing 3rd base for the Phillies to start the year. If they decide that he can stay there this season, chasing Rosario might be a good decision to add another solid bat for the already dangerous Philly lineup.
San Diego Padres
I currently have San Diego on this list ONLY because of the injury to superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. If his rehab goes slower than expected, or if they believe that top prospect C.J. Abrams is not ready after a few games in the Big’s, they could easily make this trade for a short (and I mean short) gap at the shortstop position.
San Francisco Giants
Even though Giants fans love Brandon Crawford, his age is slowly creeping up on him. The 35 year-old Shortstop is easily on his twilight contract and the organization could decide to look outside the organization for a replacement.
With as good as the San Fransisco management did with the value signings of their revamped pitching staff, I could see them put together a package for Rosario (who is 26) that would be beneficial for both them and the Guardians.
New York Yankees
When we talk trades I feel like we always have to keep the Yankees name in the picture. Although I don’t see them as a big possibility compared to the others (especially after trading for Isaiah Kiner Falefa) they’ve made crazier trades before.
If they believe that a bat like Rosario at the bottom of the Murder Row lineup would benefit them more than IKF during the playoff push Cleveland may be able to snag someone in the Yankees top-30 prospect list.
What are your Thoughts?
Do you agree that Rosario should be on the Move? Disagree? Be sure to let us know on SlasherSports.com. Slasher Sports is available on many Social Media Platforms as well such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
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About the Author
Christian Rauh is the Co-Founder of Slasher Sports and is the Host of The Rauh Report Podcast and Wake Up! with Wowie and The Kid. You Can find all his written work here.
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