Reason Behind Guardians' Trade of Nolan Jones Revealed

Updated: Sep 10, 5:00pm UTC

The MLB offseason has been relatively quiet thus far, but that didn't stop the Cleveland Guardians from pulling off an intriguing trade last week.

Cleveland traded top prospect Nolan Jones to the Colorado Rockies for infielder Juan Brito, a 21-year-old who has yet to play above Single-A ball. Considering Jones ranked as high as No. 3 in the Guardians system (in 2021) and had already made his MLB debut, the trade came with some questions.

MLB insider Ken Rosenthal explained the Guardians' reasoning for this deal.

Rosenthal indicated a few reasons the Guardians parted ways with Jones. The main stems from incumbent third baseman Jose Ramirez. Jones is both a third baseman and outfielder, but Ramirez just signed a lengthy contract extension. The face of the franchise enters the second year of this seven-year deal in 2023.

It's also a matter of lefty versus righty swinging. Jones swings from the left side and Rosenthal explained "the Guardians are deep in left-handed hitters in the outfield and first base." Brito possesses strong value in athleticism and strike-zone management, which was the final part of Cleveland's reasoning.

Brito is just 21 years old and has plenty of time to continue his development before making a potential long-term impact on the franchise. It may take a few years until we find out, but there's a chance the Guardians won this trade. After all, they're considered one of the best at identifying and developing young baseball talent.

Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.