Guardians trade Shane Bieber, keep Steven Kwan as deadline passes
Why it matters: Retaining an All-Star in Kwan shows that Cleveland has not fully given up on making the playoffs this season, no matter how unlikely it may be.
Driving the news: Cleveland traded former Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber to the Toronto Blue Jays for top pitching prospect Khal Stephen.
Bieber has not pitched in the majors since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year, but is expected to return later this month after making successful rehab starts for the Akron RubberDucks.
State of play: The Guardians are nine games back of the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central and two games back of the final AL Wild Card spot heading into today's games.
Yes, but: Cleveland is also without closer Emmanuel Clase and starting pitcher Luis Ortiz.
What they're saying:"We're not going to name a closer," manager Stephen Vogt said earlier this week in regard to the loss of Clase.
"We're going to go [closer] by committee for right now … You'll see different people in the ninth. It could organically end up being one person. But for now, we're not going to officially name a closer."
The bottom line: The Guardians probably can't catch the dominant Tigers.
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