Guardians reveal firm stance on potential Emmanuel Clase trade

There have been plenty of rumors floating around the baseball world with the trade deadline less than two weeks away. And for the Cleveland Guardians, a lot of those rumors revolve around which of their players could be available.

The top name, closer Emmanuel Clase, has been linked to nearly every top contender that needs bullpen help. While he's been linked to teams and could be an option at the deadline, Bob Nightengale of USA Today shared the Guardians' updated stance on a potential Clase trade.

"The Cleveland Guardians are telling teams they plan to keep closer Emmanuel Clase," Nightengale writes, "Who still is under team control through 2028."

Clase, the 27-year-old closer, has two $10 million club options in 2027 and 2028, along with another year of arbitration in 2026. It's a very reasonable price to pay for a top reliever, making his trade value incredibly high.

But, despite the strong interest and high likelihood that the team could land a strong return, the Guardians are trending towards keeping the dominant righty reliever.

After his remarkable 2024, when he had a 0.61 ERA, 0.66 WHIP, 47 saves, and 66 strikeouts in 74.1 innings pitched, Clase was in third place in AL Cy Young voting. 

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It was one of the best seasons from a reliever in recent years and helped lead the Guardians to a nice postseason run. Such a great season is hard to follow up, but Clase has been great once again, though not to the absurd degree he was in 2024.

Through his 44 appearances this season, Clase has a 2.86 ERA with 44 strikeouts, 21 saves, and a 1.23 WHIP. He's taken a step back and is allowing double the amount of baserunners as he did a year ago. But he's still been very good.

Teams around baseball would line up around the corner for Clase in a deal, but at the deadline, there will be slightly fewer teams involved than in the offseason.

Cleveland could still move on from Clase, but it's more likely to happen in the offseason with more teams involved, likely driving up the price even higher than it is now.

But the stance from Cleveland is firm. They aren't expected to move on from Clase this trade deadline, despite the rumors and interest from teams around baseball. 

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