Steven Kwan squeezed the final foul ball on a quiet afternoon at Progressive Field, and the sound that followed carried well beyond the last out. Cleveland’s 3-2 Game 3 win over Tampa Bay put the Guardians ahead in the ALCS and within two victories of the World Series, giving a fan base still chasing its first championship since 1948 a reason to believe the long wait might finally be nearing its end.
The club’s deadline work is all over this October run. Cleveland has traditionally built patiently, often declining to make splashy additions or moving veterans when the price and timing made sense. But this summer, the Guardians chose a different lane, bringing in outfielder Jo Adell, first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and left-hander Foster Griffin. None was a one-player earthquake on the scale of the Tarik Skubal deal elsewhere in the league, but inside Cleveland’s clubhouse, the message landed loud and clear.
“This is my fifth year here, and I hadn’t seen anything like that,” Kwan said. He remembered last year’s deadline from the other side of the uncertainty, when his own name surfaced in trade talk. “I’m kind of accustomed to [the fact that] we either do nothing or we sell off some pieces.”
Kwan was leaving a screening of The Odyssey when he switched his phone back on and saw the string of Cleveland moves. “Super, super exciting,” he said. “Obviously, we believe in ourselves, but it’s nice to know that the front office believed in us as well to make those moves.”
The Guardians had not pushed this hard at the deadline since 2016, when the club’s deal for Jonathan Lucroy fell apart but the acquisition of Andrew Miller changed its bullpen and helped carry Cleveland to within one win of a title. This year’s decision required more faith. Cleveland entered the Aug. 3 deadline three games behind the White Sox in the AL Central, barely above .500 and holding the third Wild Card spot in a thin American League field. The lineup, in particular, needed help.
“There have been years where we felt that we’re a competitive team, but the market prices were just too expensive and we weren’t willing to mortgage that much of our future for it,” president Chris Antonetti said. “This year, fortunately, we were able to line up on some things that we felt helped make us better at a reasonable cost.”
Deadline arrivals make their presence felt
Adell got the news while playing Trout National, the course co-founded by Angels teammate Mike Trout. He was on the seventh hole when his phone interrupted the round. “I was able to finish nine holes and then bounce,” Adell said. “My golfing went downhill after the trade, for sure.”
His baseball situation changed quickly. Adell had spent previous Octobers with an Angels organization that had not reached the postseason since he was a sophomore in high school. Cleveland gave him meaningful games, a place in the middle of the order and the chance to supply the thump the Guardians needed. He hit seven homers and 10 doubles after arriving, then drove in five runs during Cleveland’s Games 3 and 4 comeback in the ALDS against the White Sox. He added two RBIs in Game 1 of this series.
“I’ve been able to make something happen when I can,” Adell said.
Lowe’s call came later and after a long wait. On an off-day with Cincinnati, he spent much of the afternoon wondering whether a move was coming. By 5:30 p.m., he was beginning to think it would not. Twenty minutes later, he spotted two missed calls from a Cincinnati number.
The first baseman knew what a championship clubhouse looked like after spending the 2023 season with the Rangers, but this year carried a far different weight. Lowe lost his mother, Wendy, to brain cancer, moved his family during the season and struggled for much of the final two months. Still, he delivered in the opener of the ALCS, lining a go-ahead two-run single in the eighth inning.
In Game 3, the two deadline additions teamed up again. The score was 0-0 in the second when Adell led off against Rays starter Griffin Jax. Adell took a 1-2 changeup below the strike zone, but home-plate umpire Bill Miller called it strike three. Adell immediately challenged, and the call was overturned. Instead of walking back to the dugout, he worked his way aboard two pitches later.
Lowe followed, and Jax left a four-seam fastball over the middle. Lowe drove it sharply to deep right field. The ball caromed awkwardly near the wall and away from right fielder Victor Mesa Jr., allowing Adell to race home headfirst with the game’s first run.
“It was nice to see him confident, knowing that a ball’s a ball,” Lowe said of Adell’s challenge. “You’re grateful for the challenge system to back it up when you take a ball that’s outside of the box. So it was impressive for him to get to first base right there and give me a chance to knock him around the bases.”
“That’s why he’s here,” Lowe said, “and thankfully, that’s why I’m here.”
The deadline class has done more than deepen the batting order. Griffin took the ball in Game 1 while the Cleveland pitching staff was worn down after a full-length ALDS, another contribution that has mattered in a tight series. For a front office known more for restraint than deadline noise, the Guardians made their move at the right moment.
Now the building is making the noise. Game 4 is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. ET on TBS, truTV, UniMas and HBO Max, though it would shift to 8 p.m. ET if the Brewers complete a sweep of the Dodgers. Cleveland will take the field with the series lead, a roster strengthened by a rare summer push and a city ready to hear another October roar.
