Matt Olson is among the highest-profile trade targets on the market at the moment, and although the teams most often linked to him have been the Yankees, Rangers and Braves (presumably as a fallback if Freddie Freeman signs elsewhere), Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that the Guardians are also “in the mix” for the Athletics’ All-Star first baseman. Cleveland is currently exploring upgrades of varying quality at first base, in the outfield and in the bullpen, Rosenthal adds.
Armed with one of the deepest farm systems in the sport, the Guardians could easily put together a compelling package to pry Olson from Oakland. Cleveland is particularly deep in terms of controllable middle infield prospects, with shortstops Brayan Rocchio, Jose Tena, Tyler Freeman and Gabriel Arias all climbing the ranks behind presumptive big league double-play tandem Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez.
It’s possible that Gimenez himself could be of interest to the A’s or another trade partner; the 23-year-old switch-hitter struggled in 210 plate appearances with Cleveland last season but had a big showing in Triple-A and isn’t far removed from being regarded as one of the sport’s most promising prospects himself. He’s also controllable via arbitration through at least the 2026 season. Of course, Cleveland is deep in prospects at other positions as well. Outfielders George Valera and Steven Kwan, righty Daniel Espino and third baseman/outfielder Nolan Jones have all garnered attention on prospect rankings.
As for the fit regarding Olson, it’s a pretty straightforward one. No team in baseball got less production from its first basemen than Cleveland did in ’21. Bobby Bradley, Yu Chang, Jake Bauers, Owen Miller, Josh Naylor and even Harold Ramirez (two plate appearances) and Roberto Perez (one plate appearance) all saw time in the lineup at first base but combined for a disastrous .207/.275/.389 batting line. Olson, meanwhile, hit a career-best .271/.371/.540 while blasting 39 home runs and playing his typical brand of Gold Glove caliber defense.
The question for the Guardians is whether they’d be able to retain Olson beyond the 2023 season, when he’s currently scheduled to become a free agent. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Olson to earn $12MM in arbitration this coming season, and he’d be owed one more raise for that ’23 campaign. If Olson replicates this past season’s production, he’d surely command more than $30MM in total over the next two seasons.
That’s a steep price for a Guardians club that is also looking at two more years of control over franchise cornerstone Jose Ramirez. A perennial MVP candidate, Ramirez has seen his own name bandied about the rumor mill, though he’s seemed like a long-shot, at best, to be moved this offseason. On the one hand, pairing up Ramirez and Olson would give the Guardians a dynamic heart-of-the-order pairing around which to build for the next two years.
It’d be a surprise to see the typically low-payroll Guardians extend both (or even one) to the type of nine-figure deal either could command, but a 2022-23 core of Olson, Ramirez, Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale and Franmil Reyes would give Cleveland plenty of high-quality talent at the heart of the roster. And, if things did truly go south and push the front office to consider a sell-off, both Olson and Ramirez would remain among the most sought-after players available whenever they hit the market.
Pipe dream. Gimenez = left swinger not switch.
I really hope Matt Olson is traded to the Guardians. What’s their best offer? Yankees are not giving up Volpe, Dominguez, or Gil. Oswald Peraza, Clarke Schmidt, Everson Pereira, Austin Wells or Mike Sweeney would be their best offer for Matt Olson. Take it or leave it. If Montas comes along with Olson maybe the Yankees give up Gil instead of Schmidt. Nothing more than that.
Gil is not an impediment here, I hope. He’s a live arm with control issues and wouldn’t even be the headliner for Olson alone.
Oakland can do much better trading pieces individually, so just adding on controllable pitching in an Olson swap so cavalierly is a mistake.
I’d rather just sign Rizzo or Freeman (an idea that is really growing on me) & save the prospect chips for a catcher as opposed to ponying up for Olson.
Picture Freeman hitting between Judge & Stanton. Boy howdy. He’d see a lot of fastballs. Knows what to do with ’em too.
Not a yanks fan but I will upvote anytime someone says boy howdy
I think I picked that up in the Dakota’s. Gotta sound especially humorous in my Bronx accent.
Word is Yankees are not optimistic about Freeman, so you need to find a 2nd plan. I think Rizzo is likely since it appears NYY isn’t going to pony up that prospect capital for Olson. And Rizzo wouldn’t be horrible TBH.
As a more contact oriented LH hitter that plays Gold Glove caliber defense Rizzo would help. That’s all stuff we need. There is a reason Cashman traded for him, uh?
But.
Freddie Freeman is an elite player. An MVP candidate player. A true: Difference Maker. So, until I read, ‘Freeman signs with ________’ I am just going to go right on hoping we land him.
Not fair to compare Rizzo and Freeman. Freeman seems like a pipedream but now that the team has Donaldson, it seems like a comparison is would Yankee fans prefer Donaldson and Rizzo or Freeman. DJL will become the jack of all trades which is great for them to have considering Donaldson’s age and injury history. Nice move though by Cashman.
Wouldn’t be that often, those 2 get hurt sending a text.
2021 Giancarlo Stanton: 139 games played
2021 Aaron Judge: 148 games played
Nobody plays 162 games anymore. Hell, not a lot of guys play 150 for that matter. So: they must not have been doing much texting last season.
Is that what you were trying to say?
…why would he see more fastballs? Lineup “protection” is a myth.
Zachary: I interpret what you’re saying to mean opposing pitchers won’t pitch someone differently based on who is hitting before and after him? If so, you are very wrong. History, experience, & everything in between says they very much do, sir.
Sorry Ducky. I’m just squeezing my Braves for every last dime then I will resign.
Well, Freddie I appreciate the update.
Is there perhaps something I can do to get you to reconsider. I seem to be handing out bottles of Macaulay’s today. How do you feel about getting one too?
Here Oakland, give us one of the games best 1B who is just entering his prime who could hit 50 homers in Yankee stadium for a bunch of stuff and by the way these guys are off the table, one guy in Rookie ball, one guy in A ball and another guy with control issues, no way will we move any of these guys, because it’s an absolute guarantee these 3 guys will reach their ceiling.
Matt Olson instantly makes NYY an insanely dangerous team, elite defender, lefty power stick (which NYY needs) and if their Starting pitching holds up they could win it all and Olson could be a part of that. But hold onto hopes and dreams prospects instead.
Olson would absolutely mash in Yankee stadium. Lot of these yanks fans are delusional, when it comes to prospect value.
Trust me. I know acquiring Olson would hurt. That being acknowledged, I would do it because I believe in spending prospects. Not hugging them.
Oakland dans are every bit as delusional. Don’t act like the Sonny Gray trade didn’t happen. Also don’t act like they didn’t just give Donaldson away to Toronto for peanuts.
Ducky, the other question becomes, what’s Rizzo’s ask? Combine Rizzo’s price tag with JD/IKF & that could be pretty expensive – but again, I see it happening because Yankees know in three years it’s off the books and they get three playoff years.
I really think you’ve hit on something… Now, coincidentally, Olson story surfaces too? No, too many days for this just to come out. I think Cashman was going back and forth and couldn’t come to a specific agreement so they’re exploring options.
Rizzo + prospects for a C makes a lot of sense right now. Not my preference and I don’t think that’s the most effective product but it’s better than what we had.
Also, I’d love to get Ramirez…. That’s a pure pipe dream though…. Cleveland isn’t letting that guy go, and rightfully so.
All the free agent predictions I saw had Rizzo in the 3 year at 13-15 per range. But, you also get rid of Voit’s projected $5.7MM salary. So it becomes a net increase of ~ $10MM.
Now, I am a lot more cavalier with Hal’s money than mine. But he’s a fairly inexpensive upgrade.
Cashman is way to passive, way too conservative.
How many of Yankees heralded “top prospects” have helped produce
A World Series Championship over the last 10+ years?!
ZERO!
Matt Olson would be the biggest, most productive player to go
from the A’s to the Yankees since Reggie Jackson.
(honorable mention to Catfish Hunter).
Yankees are still fishing around in the bargain bins?!
The Rest of the AL and MLB hopes the Yankees continue
on their conservative course of action….
I don’t think I would categorie Josh MF Donaldson as a “bargain bin” acquisition.
But I agree in principle. Cash is way too much of a hugger.
Guardians can top that in their sleep. Question is whether they will do that knowing they can’t extend him.
A’s want prospects not platoon players so if you think Yanks can get him for somebody like Voit and Torres you are mistaken. Bassit trade shows they are only targeting non-arbitration players. So far NYY has been hanging onto their prospects so NYY are out of the running for Olson.
I wouldn’t mind if Gil was dealt so much. Volpe and Dominguez are probably the only guys I would want to keep. And if the As were willing to expand a deal to include Murphy, then I’d change my stance on them as well.
I think beyond Peraza, Torres should be on the block as well.
I have to believe that from a selection of guys like Schmidt, Gil, Vazquez, Medina, Gomez and King that the As can pick a couple that they’d magically transform in to very good ML pitchers. They’re fantastic at finding arms like that in deals and being their finishing school.
With controllable starting pitching such a hard thing to come by, I’d be hard pressed to include Gil in a trade for a first baseman. Gil looked really good last year.
He did.
But I strongly question wether he has the repertoire fitting a starting pitcher. Don’t wanna be spreading rain clouds, Joe but he looks like a reliever in the end. Well, to me anyway.
The Yanks are a little overloaded in depth at SP, so I think they can afford to move one or two.
You now have Cole, Severino, Cortes, Montgomery, German and Taillon as the favorites for the rotation. And possibly King if they want to stretch him out.
Add in Schmidt and Gil who should both be about ML ready. And then a bunch of other quality prospects who aren’t far off. Vazquez, Gomez, Medina, Waldichuk – even Deivi Garcia who is the poster child for a guy who needs a fresh start with a new team.
I’d be OK with giving up Schmidt or Gil and one of the other young arms, and someone like Peraza in a package for Olson. And maybe let the As pick some other prospect in the lower levels they like as a lottery ticket.
Mackey and Ducky, I’m probably more bullish on Gil than most I’ll admit.
Garcia, I think, will be fine if they readjust his mechanics. Last year they changed him to a lower arm slot and it just didn’t work out. I think any GM trading for him would see that even though they would push his down year hoping to lower his value. I can definitely see him as a key piece (though not the only piece) to a trade.
I just see a guy with 2 pitches. Gotta see how the change develops. Sevy’s became usable.
No idea what we did to Deivi last year. It was a complete disaster whatever it was.
There is no reason for the A’s to trade Murphy since he is not arbitration ready. It would take a few prospects just to get him. A’s are only trading their most expensive players not their cheap players.
If the A’s traded Olson and Murphy to the Yanks no prospects should be off-limits.
GM’s say that this prospect or that prospect is off-limits but if the right offer came along you trade your best prospects end of story. With that said I see no way the A’s are going to trade Murphy but if they were the Yankees would have to trade what they need to get those two that make that Yankee team downright scary.
The A’s…trade Sean Murphy just because it’s the Yankees…lololol
Yank fans think just because they traded their catcher they can get one cheap. How young Murphy is who can hit enough with one of the best arms in baseball it would cost 2 top 5 prospects from NYY. That is why NYY will not trade for him because of the cost.
I don’t.
& we did get Donaldson for Sanchez. Not like the Twins were interested in Higashioka. So: catching is expensive. Young, controllable, 2 way catchers? Well that just might be the scarcest commodity in MLB, man.
Which is why I favor filling 1B & adding a starter via free agency. Trading for Murphy or Contreras would put a serious dent in our farm. Bet.
you say that like Donaldson had any value at all
He put up 3.4 WAR last year. That is definitely valuable. So: you interpreted my post correctly.
I guess that’s semi good news for Cleveland fans, it sounds like you’ll be having a full season of Jram again as well as possibly Olson.
The not so good news is it’ll only extend to the trade deadline next year for both of them, and maybe Bieber the year after
Olson would be a great fit for the Cleveland Indians
It’s time to move on, bruh.
That is never going to happen…..
I don’t see it happening. The team is to cheap.
Olson’s not expensive … yet.
to spend 10M on an all star? they aren’t
who?
oooh got ‘eeem!
A lot to give for 2 years of the man.
But the way their park is constructed, LH hitters do better than RH do. Plus they have 2 hard hitting RH bats in Ramírez and Reyes. Olsen would fit between nicely.
I doubt this happens, Olson is at the point in his contract that if he was with Cleveland they would be looking to trade him.
For that reason I don’t see it happening. They aren’t gonna want to pay him the $12M he’ll get in arb much less what he’s worth on the open market. Nice to see they’re at least acknowledging they have a screaming need at 1B though.
Wrong.
What many here don’t get is that when small market teams are building they take their payrolls down and roll money over for future years. As they approach a contention window they begin spending that money.
If Cleveland signs Olsen they’ll very probably try to extend him past the 2 years. Doesn’t mean he’ll agree, but they’ll try. If they get him they know that he may only be there for 2 years.
This rollover of money from fiscal year to fiscal year is a common business practice in all industries. Many here see MLB payrolls as rotisserie baseball: a team has so much to spend each year – i.e. the luxury tax cap – and they have to spend it else they’re “cheap”. That’s childish.
Agreed. And it’s every bit as childish as (1) thinking teams operate without a budget and recurring revenue isn’t a factor in constructing such budgets (2) not understanding that ALL teams–big market or small–have the same enormous fixed costs they have to cover before they turn attention to the discretionary portions of MLB payroll; (3) actually swallowing the delusional notion that big markets are “virtuous” and “sporting” and try harder than small markets to win, when in reality they just have more to rake in, leaving them with a much larger pile of discretionary cash compared to small markets (4) thinking that wealthy owners in small markets should operate differently than those in large markets. THEY should dig in THEIR pockets to fund team operations when big market teams never have to. Yeah, like that’s ever gonna happen. (Stevie Cohen might be funding some Mets’ signings for now. But wait till he realizes he’s been had, signing off on ridiculous contracts like Lindor’s. He’ll change his operating style like all burnt owners do..)
With what the A’s have been asking in trades so far concerting Olson, there is no way Cleveland has the minor league capitol available to make that trade…..the only thing they would have is starting pitching to trade which would be like taking one step forward and 2 steps backward…
Indians farm system is loaded. They could put together a better offer than many teams including the Yankees.
Cleveland as a great system. Sounds like you don’t know what you are talking about
*SPIDERS
this isnt Richmond’s basketball team
Right?! Richmond spends waaaaay more on their roster.
The guardians are not close to contention and by the time Olson’s 2 years are up that probably won’t change and chances are he hits the market as we know the Guardians won’t extend him. if they actually do try to Olson will probably balk at that. I don’t see this as a good trade for Cleveland if this actually happens
Why can’t they contend? Their pitching is potentially outstanding. Yea they do need another 1B and OF I will grant you, but I don’t think they are that far off. They have plenty of prospect capital to where they could trade 2-3 top prospects and still have plenty of prospects left.
It comes down to a comparison of their top 2-3 prospects as compared to the top 2-3 from other teams inquiring about Olson and although I don’t know much about Clevelands minor league system, I doubt its got the legs as compared to other contending suitors…..the only thing Cleveland would have to offer is starting pitching which as I’ve commented on before, would be 1 step forward and 2 steps backward….they aren’t a strong enough team right now to subtract from their only strength which is starting pitching to do this.
Of the teams reported to be in on Olson, Cleveland has the best minor league pipeline, should they wish to deal from it.
Cleveland’s got 3 excellent shortstop prospects, Roccio, Freeman and Arias, all in AAA this year. They could probably include one of them in a deal for something they need, like Olsen.
That’s interesting, but the A’s top SS prospect Nick Allen just took the MLB Pipeline All Defense SS spot for the third straight year (70 glove). He’s in AAA too.
athleticsnation.com/2022/2/24/22948691/nick-allen-…
“I don’t know much about Clevelands minor league system”
Clearly. It’s one outlet, but they have 7 guys on the Fangraphs top 100, 6 of which are playing at AA or AAA. The other teams that have been mentioned are Atlanta, who have 2 on the top 100, Texas, who have 6, only 3 of which are playing at AA/AAA, and NYY, who have 5, again, 3 of which are playing at AA/AAA
If the Yankees feel like Volpe is too rich for Olson, I’d suspect that Tex wouldn’t want to trade Jung, and CLE now 100% has the best options left.
ya while hitting to a 54 WRC+ in AAA
Meanwhile CLE has Bryan Rocchio, Gabreil Arias, and Jose Tena
151 PA, because “along the way he took a break to join Team USA for the Summer Olympic Games and earned a silver medal and the tournament’s Best Defensive Player award.”
and Tena won Minor League SS Gold Glove. So what is your point
Guess WHY Tena got the minor league gold glove for SS?
Nick Allen didn’t have the PA.
Because he was at the Olympics.
I think Cleveland views themselves as possible contenders. They were in the WC hunt for a while last season, despite their injury issues in the rotation.
A more typical Cleveland move would be to wait until the trade deadline gets closer.. This year might be a little different. They have plenty of payroll flexibility and they are probably looking for a ‘win’ with the fans after the name change and lockout. If they can get Olson for a reasonable price, I think they’d pull the trigger.
With the expansion of the playoffs this season, everyone is going to think they’ve possible contenders….being in the WC hunt for awhile last year can be said of 10-12 other teams…probably more.
Olson isn’t going anywhere “for a reasonable price”.
To Oakland:
Gimenez SS
McKenzie SP
To Cleveland:
Olson 1B
Does Oakland want ML ready pieces like that? Or do they want guys 1-2 years off? There are better infield and pitching prospects 1-2 years off in Cleveland’s system
Wouldn’t mind trading Gimenez though. He wasn’t too exciting to watch during his time in the bigs last year
That won’t get a call back. The market is so intense for Oakland that they will want a top five , A top ten plus those two.
@In nurse follars,
Olson for a bag of peanuts and a ticket to a Guardians game vs. Oakland?
That will get you Elvis Andrus and a sign photo of Moneyball.
That LOUD CLICK they would hear would be Beane hanging up.
I put together a few trade scenarios using a site that does trade values, they came up with:
Nolan Jones, Bobby Bradley, James Karinchak, Jose Tena
Jones, Bradley, Amed Rosario, Tena
Jones, Bradley, Plesac
Bradley, Gabriel Arias, Tena (includes taking on Piscotti’s negative value deal)
This isn’t to say any of these are the deal. Just that would be ballpark what a deal would take.
I think you need to include one of those middle infielders, Rocchio or Freeman.
I don’t see both Jones and Rocchio/Freeman going, though if I am Oakland I try for that first.
They could meet at Jones/Rocchio/Freeman + Espino + Valera/Tena
If I am Oakland I want a pitching prospect included, their system isn’t that great.
Chad Morris
Steven Qwan
Jose Tena
Would this get it done?
No. You need to send a Top 5 in system prospect. That means Jones/Freeman/Rocchio has to be included.
For one of the games best 1B entering his prime it’s going to cost at least 1 top of system guy.
That is probably not close. Any deal probably starts with one of these guys: Plesac, McKenzie, Espino, Freeman, or Arias.
The “Guardians” …lmao
They may as well make it a blockbuster and throw in Manea, Laureano, Chapman and Trevino……..for Karinchak, Clase, J-Ram and Beiber. Who says no??
Who are the Guardians?
The Galaxy’s bravest good guys.
It seems like every year some national writer falls for our PR department shilling some story about how we are “right in there!” for some major free agent or trade piece.
I’m very skeptical that we trade for Olsen (or sign Storey, which was another one, here.) This is just not a Guardians move. Not that I would cry if they DID trade for him. Olsen is awesome. I just don’t see us doing it unless the price is very cheap.
How much of this rumor, and the Rizzo back to the Yankees rumor, are just posturing from Beane and Cashman I wonder?
Red Sox should offer Casas in a trade for Olson, and then extend Devers and XB… What a trio that would be in Boston
Casas could be the 1st of many players that it would take to land Olson.
This is a typical Cleveland tactic. Every spring the local media put out the ‘kicking the tires’ story about a high profile player to goose season ticket sales. The more likely deal ends up being a Nick Swisher clone.
It was Ken Rosenthal, not local media. Cleveland does not negotiate trades in the media.
Oops!
Take this article down.
I see no value in publishing articles about decent position players being signed by or traded for by CLE. Not on Dolan’s watch MLBTR, ya’ll should know this by now….
Okay, so Olson is on his way to the ATL. C’mon Gardenias, since Freddie Free….ha, ha, ha, I almost got it out. This ownership sucks. Everyone is getting stronger in our division but we sit back waiting on the bargain bin of washed up 4A players to sign someone on the cheap only to hear how with our pitching we’ve got a great nucleus. Bull! This team won’t be able to hit their way out of a wet paper bag and then we’ll have to hear Dumba*# Dolan talk about how he can only spend what they take in like it’s the fans fault. Crappy owners, crappy name, crappy team.
Well another opportunity down the buckhouse. Olson’s gone to the braves. New name same results.