Cleveland Guardians’ designated hitter Josh Bell stands in the dugout during Monday’s game against the Astros in Houston.
Cleveland Guardians’ designated hitter Josh Bell stands in the dugout during Monday’s game against the Astros in Houston.MOBILE — At Tuesday’s trade deadline, the Miami Marlins got Jake Burger, an infielder, from the Chicago White Sox and Josh Bell, a first baseman, from the Cleveland Guardians. These moves will help the team make a push for the playoffs.
In exchange for Burger, Miami gave Chicago pitching prospect Jake Eder and infielders Jean Segura and Kahlil Watson. Miami gave Cleveland infielders Jean Segura and Kahlil Watson in exchange for Bell. The Guardians will give Segura his freedom.
Also on Tuesday, the San Diego Padres sent left-handed pitcher Ryan Weathers to the Miami Marlins in exchange for infielder Garrett Cooper, right-handed pitcher Sean Reynolds, and cash.
The Marlins (57-50) were tied with Milwaukee and Arizona for Tuesday’s last National League wild-card spot. The team could use a boost on offense as it tries to make the playoffs for the first time since 2003 when it won the World Series. The 2020 season was cut short by a pandemic, but the Marlins still made it to the playoffs. In the NL Division Series, they lost to the Braves.
With 25 home runs this season, Burger, who is 27, is tied for eighth in the major leagues. He hits a home run every 11.76 times up to the plate, the second-best rate in the AL after Shohei Ohtani (10.10).
According to MLB.com, the Marlins gave up their top pitching prospect, Eder, who was ranked as their No. 4 pitching prospect. But Miami needed to add a power bat to a lineup ranked third-to-last in home runs and fifth-to-last in runs scored.
Cleveland made three trades in the last week. As of Tuesday, they were only one game behind Minnesota for first place in the AL Central. The Guardians traded shortstop Amed Rosario to the Dodgers for pitcher Noah Syndergaard, traded starter Aaron Civale to the Rays for first-base prospect Kyle Manzardo, and then sent Bell to the Marlins.
Manzardo, a 23-year-old first-base prospect, was given to Cleveland on Monday. This made Bell unnecessary. Even though Manzardo might not be ready for the major leagues for another year or two, the Guardians think he can be the designated hitter (DH) or fill in for starting first baseman Josh Naylor occasionally.
The Guardians signed Bell to a two-year deal in December because they needed a big hitter badly. But the signing didn’t do much for the team because Bell had trouble hitting for most of the first half of the season.
Bell only hit.233, but he had 11 home runs and 48 RBIs.
Bell left after the Guardians let go of catcher Mike Zunino, who had also been brought in this winter to help Cleveland’s lineup. But Zunino couldn’t hit and wasn’t good at defense, so he was let go in June. 177 out of 42 games.
The team’s head of baseball operations, Chris Antonetti, said, “It didn’t work out.” “You put money into those things and hope they work out and have good seasons. Mike didn’t get it, and I think it was because he was still getting better from (shoulder) surgery.
“Josh did help out sometimes and provided leadership and stability in the clubhouse, but he didn’t always do what we wanted or expected when we signed him. When you go into free agency, and contracts don’t work out the way you want, that’s one of the risks you take. But I think we were able to bring Kahlil back because we think he has a bright future ahead of him.”
Watson was a first-round pick in 2021, but in 58 games at High-A this season, he is only hitting.206.
Antonetti said that the teams came to a deal just before the deadline, but because of a problem with communication, they had to finish the deal after 6 p.m.
Segura signed a two-year deal with the Marlins in January after making it to the World Series with the Phillies in 2022, but he struggled at the plate. This season, he is hitting.219 and getting on base at a rate of 277, both career lows.