Guardians Named Potential Trade Fit for Veteran Starting Pitcher

The Cleveland Guardians have been one of the more surprising teams in the early part of the 2022 MLB season, sitting 3.0 games back of the Minnesota Twins for the AL Central lead. Locking down a playoff spot won't be easy, leaving Cleveland looking for help ahead of the Aug. 2 trade deadline.

MLB.com's Mark Feinsand has the Guardians potentially addressing their starting rotation as the deadline approaches. One player that Feinsand has the organization targeting is Texas Rangers veteran southpaw Martin Perez.

7 potential trade targets whose stock is rising -- and where they may fit https://t.co/DDh1YG9cDl
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) June 13, 2022

Cleveland Guardians Trade Rumors

The Guardians' starting pitchers have been fairly solid this season, but it doesn't hurt to get better. Besides, bringing in a proven veteran like Perez would allow the club to spread their riches out by moving Konnor Pilkington back to the bullpen.

Perez has, unquestionably, been the Rangers' ace this season. He's 4-2 in 12 starts up until this point, pitching to a 2.18 ERA and 1.103 WHIP, which are both career-bests. His MLB-leading 0.2 home runs per nine innings also aren't anything to sneeze at, nor are his 7.7 hits allowed per nine.

Perez, 31, is set to become a free agent at the end of the season, making him an affordable rental if the Guardians head down that path. They may have to outbid other teams to nab him, but he's worth the cost taking into account how he can help Cleveland get one step closer to challenging for a title.

Guardians World Series Odds

Acquiring Perez would help make the Guardians a better team, but they still have a long way to go in their championship hunt. FanDuel Sportsbook has Cleveland available at +7500 to win the 2022 World Series, which ranks 18th-best across the Majors.

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Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.