The Guardians announced that they have signed right-hander Carlos Hernández to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league camp. Prior to the official announcement, Aram Leighton of Just Baseball reported that the two sides were in agreement on a deal.
Hernández, 29 in March, already has a brief history with the Guards. Cleveland claimed him off waivers from the Tigers at the end of July. He was outrighted off the roster a few weeks later and finished the season with Triple-A Columbus. He was able to elect free agency in October.
The righty has long had tantalizing stuff but with difficulty translating it into results. His fastballs sit in the upper 90s as he also throws a splitter, slider and knuckle curve. Despite that intriguing arsenal, his career numbers aren’t great. In 299 2/3 innings, he has allowed 5.14 earned runs per nine. His 20% strikeout rate, 11.1% walk rate and 35.7% ground ball rate are all subpar figures.
Thanks to those struggles, he has often been sent to the minors. He exhausted his final option year with the Royals in 2024 but many teams were still intrigued by the stuff. That led to him bouncing around the league in 2025. He went to the Phillies, Tigers and Guardians on waiver claims before he was eventually outrighted.
There’s an old saying that there’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal. The Guardians have a good reputation for helping pitchers maximize their stuff. They got a close-up look at Hernández late in the year. Though they didn’t keep him on the roster, they are apparently willing to take another shot on him in a non-roster capacity. If he eventually works his way onto the roster, he is out of options but could be retained beyond 2026 via arbitration.
Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images
Whelp, that wraps it up for Cleveland this winter. See you guys in the spring.
is this the new The Stove Is Hot?
I’m pretty sure Hernandez makes the bullpen out of spring training. They’ve taken a lot of hits to their bullpen depth this year. Clase obviously, but they also lost Andrew Walters who may or may not be ready next year. Nic Enright is gone all of 2026. They just cut a couple of out of options depth pieces with Krook and Allard. Means being cut makes it less likely they move a starter like Cantillo to the bullpen. They lost Triston McKenzie to whatever evil spirit possessed his arm. And Trevor Stephen tried to return from injury but looked alarmingly hittable in AAA and ended up being DFA’d and unclaimed.
As of right now their bullpen projects as;
Hentges, Herrin, Sabrowski as LHP
C. Smith and Gaddis as backend RHP
Zak Kent and Matt Festa are out of options so… add them
Then a big old question mark for spot 8. I would think Hernandez should be the favorite for this spot until proven otherwise.
Sorry, but that is entirely presumptuous and a complete mis-read of Cleveland’s interest here. Carlos Hernandez is pure depth. It’s a minor league deal and that’s where he’ll begin the year: in Columbus. There is no way a contending team signs a guy like Hernandez to be a part of their roster until circumstances (or performance) forces their hand. As of right now, neither comes close to applying.
Yep, Dolan popped open the wallet on this one! See, he spends big!
Why people make idiotic comments about a minor league signing is beyond me. If hits, great. If not, nothing is lost. ALL 30 TEAMS do these type of signings. .
Let’s not forget Daniel Espino — that’s easy to do after three years lost to injuries. He is healthy at the moment and was effective in the Arizona Fall League. He’d now seem to make more sense as a reliever. He could be a difference maker at some point if by miracle he stays healthy.