The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 MLB Trade Deadline.The tradeAngels get: C Jacob CozartGuardians get: OF Jo AdellWith Adell, what you see is what you get at this pointAngels: B
Guardians: B+For a player with Adell’s ceiling (37 homers last year!), pedigree (10th pick in 2017 and one of baseball’s top prospects thereafter), highlight-reel talent (did you see those three home-run robberies?) and contract status (under club control through next season), the Angels would have hoped to fetch more for him when they finally parted ways. But this is it.After 10 seasons in the Angels organization, Adell is who he is — a corner outfielder with clear flaws both offensively and defensively. That’s not a player the industry values greatly.Cozart is a helpful depth option for a team that just traded away catcher Logan O’Hoppe. But is he anything more than that? The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked Cozart as the Guardians’ No. 16 prospect this spring, writing that he projects as “a solid backup catcher who can defend and will get to enough power to be a long-term big leaguer.” Some evaluators think the bat will never be major-league caliber.
The Guardians are all set at catcher. In fact, Cozart is the second catcher they’ve sent away ahead of the trade deadline. Drafted in the second round in 2024 out of North Carolina State, the lefty-hitting Cozart has a .692 OPS in pro ball. Before the trade, he was slashing .239/.330/.384 at Double-A Akron. A backup catcher who can run into some homers and possibly play the strong side of a platoon? That sounds about right. — Stephen J. NesbittAdell can offer situational utility for the GuardiansAngels: A-
