Guardians Trade Target: Jo Adell

The Angels are reportedly open for business, so let’s talk about a frequently mentioned potential Guardians’ trade target: Jo Adell.

Adell’s role is clear – he is a strictly platoon hitter put on the earth to mash lefty pitching. This season, despite having a 92 wRC+ overall, the 27 year-old right handed hitter has a 164 wRC+ against lefties. For his career, he has a 118 wRC+ against lefties including a .505 slugging percentage, including a 152 wRC+ against LHP from 2024-2026. He’s a below average fielder in the corner outfield positions, but not unplayable out there.

The Red Sox just traded a promising starting pitching prospect in Connelly Early for a right-handed hitter in Curtis Mead… so the price for lefty mashers is high. Now, Mead is under control through 2031 and Adell is only under control through 2027, so the price to acquire Adell should be significantly lower. The Guardians should be able to get Adell without touching a top five prospect in their system. The system is still deep enough to get the Angels an arm or a bat in prospect capital or even both that would make moving Adell the sensible move. And, under the new GM, the Angels may be willing to be senisble! Immediately, the Guardians could then let go of David Fry and get Adell AB’s in left, right and at DH against LHP.

The news this morning is that the Guardians are pursuing hitters, with some potential interest in a reunion with Lane Thomas who is currently on a heater with the Royals. I would much prefer they get a younger version of Thomas’s lefty mashing in Adell and let Stephen Vogt do his best platooning/pinch-hitting to get Adell the maximum amount of at-bats against the southpaws teams keep leveraging against Cleveland.

Let me know what you think about Adell in the comments below!