The trade deadline is less than three weeks away, and the Cleveland Guardians are sitting in a spot a lot of people didn’t expect. They’re in first place in the AL Central, their pitching staff keeps producing arms like it’s a factory line, and yet there’s this one glaring problem: they can’t scare anyone with the bats.
Cleveland’s lineup is full of contact hitters and guys who can run the bases. What it doesn’t have is a middle-of-the-order right-handed power bat. The kind of hitter that makes a pitcher think twice about grooveing a fastball in a big spot. That’s where Willson Contreras comes in.
Contreras was traded to the Red Sox last winter and has been everything Boston could have hoped for. Through 69 games, he’s slashing .294/.389/.551 with 16 homers and a .940 OPS. The problem is the Red Sox are 29-42 and buried in the AL East. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow inherited a mess, and trading Contreras while his value is at its peak is the obvious long-term play.
So what would it take for Cleveland to pry him loose? One specific package lines up well for both sides, and it doesn’t require the Guardians to gut their entire farm system.
The trade that works
Cleveland sends: RHP Braylon Doughty and SS Welbyn Francisca to Boston for Contreras.
The Red Sox get two high-ceiling prospects who could be ready to contribute by the time Boston is competitive again. Doughty was Cleveland’s first-round pick in 2024 (36th overall). He’s 20 years old with an elite slider-curveball combo that scouts project as a future frontline starter. A minor shoulder issue slowed him down in 2025 but he’s back healthy at High-A Lake County and looking like the kind of arm you build a rotation around.
Francisca is a switch-hitting shortstop from the Dominican Republic who is also 20. His swing can get a little noisy and he had some developmental hiccups last year, but the raw tools are loud. He hit a grand slam for Lake County this week that had scouts texting each other. For a Red Sox system that needs premium athletes up the middle and impact arms, this is a solid haul.
Why Cleveland says yes
The Guardians have this annoying habit of being good but not quite good enough. They win the division, they get bounced early. They need a guy who can change a game with one swing. Contreras is that guy.
He can play first base, DH, or catch in a pinch. He’s under contract through 2027 with a $17.5 million club option for 2028. That’s not a rental. That’s a multiyear anchor for the middle of the order at a price that’s below market value for a hitter of his caliber.
Giving up Doughty and Francisca stings. But Cleveland has a knack for developing middle infielders and pitchers out of nowhere. They’ll find the next ones. What they haven’t been able to find is a right-handed power bat who forces opposing managers to change their entire game plan. Contreras does that.
The Guardians are in position to win now. The question is whether they’ll actually go get the guy who could put them over the top.
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