CLEVELAND, OH - While the trade deadline can be a hectic flurry of transactions, the Cleveland Guardians were able to jump in the foray last night, acquiring outfielder Lane Thomas from the Washington Nationals for three prospects. Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and the rest of the front office did not stop there.
The Guardians acquired veteran starting pitcher Alex Cobb from the San Francisco Giants for minor league pitcher Jacob Bresnahan and a player to be named later. Wood, 36, has yet to pitch this season as he recovers from hip surgery. For his career, Cobb has just shy of 1,100 strikeouts and made the All-Star game last season for the Giants.
Antonetti spoke in his post-trade deadline press conference about when the veteran right-hander could join the rotation.
“Our best guess is that he probably has one more rehab start this weekend,” Antonetti said of when Cobb could join the team. “Maybe another one after that to build volume, but then ready to join the rotation. He'll have at least one more rehab start, just to get let the blister issues subside.”
With the trade deadline now passed, Antonetti also shared the difficulties of trading with other teams in order to upgrade the roster.
“How other teams value in particular players with us and how we value them, not all players have universally the same value among all teams,” Antonetti told reporters about the difficulties of trading. “You have to find a trade program which you can align on player values and that's a really challenging thing to do.”
Following the 5-0 win over the Tigers on Tuesday afternoon, the Guardians hold a two game lead over the Baltimore Orioles for the best record in the American League. The Orioles made six trades ahead of the deadline and come to town to face the Guardians for a four-game series starting on Thursday.