Breaking down what the Amed Rosario-Noah Syndergaard trade means for the Guardians

The Guardians had a trio of questions heading into Tuesday's trade deadline. All three might have been addressed in one swing.

The Guardians sent shortstop Amed Rosario to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard and cash considerations.

The deal was a sensible one for the Guardians. Both players are eligible for free agency after this season. The cash considerations sent to Cleveland will even out the contracts for the remainder of the year. And in doing so, the deal addressed a need of depth while clearing the runway for a few others.

Here's a look at where things stand now ahead of Tuesday's trade deadline.

What the Amed Rosario-Noah Syndergaard trade means for the Guardians rotation

For weeks, the Guardians looked like prime candidates to deal starting pitcher Shane Bieber. As Michael Scott said in The Office, "Well, well, well, how the turntables …"

In a few weeks, the Guardians did a 180 on that scale of needs, as Bieber, Triston McKenzie and Cal Quantrill all hit the injured list. Bieber and McKenzie will both be out until at least September, putting the Guardians rotation in a difficult position as they try to chase down the division-leading Minnesota Twins.

Syndergaard, who has been on the injured list since early June, will join the team in Chicago and is slated to make his Guardians debut and start Monday's game in Houston.

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Syndergaard will join Aaron Civale, Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee and Logan Allen in the rotation for the time being. The Guardians had been using Xzavion Curry as an opener for bullpen games, but they'd like to keep him in a relief role. Curry throwing every fifth game while the Guardians go through a stretch without an off days wasn't going to remain sustainable for long.

The Guardians needed a fifth starter to bridge the gap in the rotation. He's about as interesting as an option as they could have found.

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After a series of injuries and setbacks, Syndergaard's ERA has hovered around 4.00 the last few years until 2023, when he's struggled to get going and then missed a few weeks with a blister issue. Once a Cy Young candidate, Syndergaard's velocity dropped after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2020.

"He has not [regained] the stuff he had when he was younger, and that's not our expectation," said president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti via Zoom. "We're working to build from where he currently is, and we feel that hopefully we can partner with him and have him be an effective member of our pitching staff for the balance of the season."

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Of course, the club's hope is that at some point, Bieber, McKenzie and Quantrill can again be options for the rotation.

And if you're thinking that the Guardians can only have five starters in the rotation at the same time, you're right! And if you're thinking that wait, Bieber, McKenzie, Quantrill, Syndergaard, Civale, Wlliams, Bibee and Allen combine to make a group that equals more than five pitchers, you're right again!

But there are two considerations that lead to the Guardians needing the additional depth. The first: the expectations is for Bieber and McKenzie to return this season, but there's no guarantee as to how many innings either will be able to throw before the end of September. It's difficult to count on either. And while Quantrill should return, the 2023 season has been a disastrous one for him thus far.

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The second factor: Williams, Bibee and Allen are having their innings closely monitored, as teams don't like to see rookie pitchers increase their innings too much in one year, especially considering major league innings can be seen as more intensive than minor league innings.

All those elements combined essentially forced the Guardians to add a starting pitcher ahead of the deadline.

What the Amed Rosario-Noah Syndergaard trade means for the Guardians at shortstop and in the outfield

Moving Rosario cleared the runway for Gabriel Arias, Tyler Freeman and possibly Brayan Rocchio (currently in Triple-A) to take over shortstop. The Guardians have long had a log jam of middle infielders, and it is finally starting to clear up.

Of course, it took dealing Rosario, one of the few veterans in the clubhouse, to do so. Rosario never hit at the same level that he had in 2021 or 2022, and he was the worst-graded infielder defensively in baseball in 2023. The Guardians spent much of the summer hoping that he'd regain his footing as he did the last two years, but it never happened.

"We continued to hope it would improve, but in the end, we got to the point where we felt this made sense for us, and now is the right time to give Gabby and Tyler some more opportunities," Antonetti said. "We also wanted to be respectful to Amed. We recognized his place on our team as a veteran leader and his expectations of himself and transitioning to a lesser role would have an impact on him and the team, and we were very mindful about doing that."

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For the time being, Arias and Freeman will have the opportunity to split the at-bats at shortstop. Freeman has hit well this season, posting a .295 average and .356 on-base percentage with six doubles in 78 at-bats. Arias has struggled at the plate (he did have two hits Thursday), but the Guardians like his defensive work, and the fact that he effectively has a cannon where his right arm should be.

The deal allowed the Guardians to recall outfielder Oscar Gonzalez, which could address the last possible need. Gonzalez struggled mightily to start the season, which led to his demotion to Triple-A. He hit just .192 with a .501 OPS in 73 at-bats, and since has hit .275 with a .789 OPS with Triple-A Columbus.

Now the hero from last year's Wild Card Series is back, with the possibility that if he finds his footing again, the Guardians could at times move Will Brennan to center field, which would push Myles Straw into, perhaps, a most specialized role that utilizes his speed and defense.

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Noah Syndergaard trade: What it means for the Guardians