The Guardians announced Thursday that outfielder George Valera has been optioned to Triple-A Columbus. They’re off today, so a corresponding move won’t be announced until tomorrow.
A longtime top prospect, the 25-year-old Valera hasn’t been the boost to the lineup for which the team hoped. Injuries have repeatedly set Valera back, to the point where he was at one point designated for assignment and non-tendered. He returned on a minor league deal and rebuilt his stock in 2025 with a .318/.388/.550 slash in the minors. Cleveland called him up for his big league debut late last year, and Valera hit .220/.333/.415 with a pair of homers in 48 plate appearances. He tacked on another homer during postseason play.
Valera opened the season on the injured list due to a calf strain and hasn’t hit since returning. He’s taken 38 plate appearances and floundered with a .216/.237/.297 slash. Valera has chased off the plate at a huge 40.4% clip, nearly doubling his chase rate from last year’s small-sample debut (21.7%). He’s beaten 52% of his batted balls into the ground and already popped up to the infield four times.
The Guardians quite literally did nothing to improve their lineup over the offseason. They’re running a payroll under $70MM and hanging their 2026 hopes on big steps forward from young players like Valera, Chase DeLauter, CJ Kayfus, Travis Bazzana and others. It’s worked out in some respects. DeLauter has been great, and both Brayan Rocchio and Angel Martínez are hitting at career-best levels. Utilityman Daniel Schneemann has improbably been one of the best hitters in the American League, though he’s striking out at a 30% clip and isn’t going to sustain his current .438 average on balls in play or 21% homer-to-flyball ratio.
On the other end of the spectrum, José Ramirez has been good but hasn’t hit at his typically elite levels. Meanwhile, the Guardians have seen Steven Kwan and Kyle Manzardo take substantial steps back with the bat. Kayfus struggled before being optioned earlier in the year, and already light-hitting catcher Bo Naylor is mired in the toughest slump of his career.
The end result is a lineup that’s slashed .228/.314/.371. That comes out to a 93 wRC+ that ranks 23rd in the majors. Cleveland is tied with Boston for 23rd in runs scored. The Guardians are 17th in home runs, 26th in batting average, 22nd in on-base percentage and 25th in slugging percentage.
With Valera sent down, Cleveland’s outfield options include Kwan, DeLauter, Martínez and Schneemann. They’ll make a move to add another position player tomorrow. Candidates already on the 40-man roster include Kayfus and outfielders Petey Halpin and Kahlil Watson. Juan Brito is also down in Columbus, but he was optioned just a couple days ago, so he can only be recalled if he’s replacing an injured player. Non-roster outfielders Nolan Jones and Stuart Fairchild are both hitting well in Columbus. Top catching prospect Cooper Ingle opened the season on a ridiculous tear (.394/.630/.788 in 54 plate appearances) but is currently on the minor league injured list due to a hip injury.
This is Valera’s final option year, so if he spends 20 days in the minors on this assignment, he’ll be out of options heading into the 2027 season. Valera is controllable for at least five more years beyond the current season — possibly six depending on how long he spends down in Columbus. He entered the season needing 144 days of service to reach a full year, and he’s already accrued 36 of those days. If he’s down until June 12 or later, he’ll fall shy of a year of service and be controllable all the way through 2032.
It feels like every Guardians hitting prospect ends up being AAAA
That’s because the organizational philosophy is that hitting is a necessary evil. That will continue to be the case until they decide to take hitting much more seriously than they currently do.
Bull crap
They’re much better at developing pitchers than hitters. Plus, offense is inflated in pretty much all of AAA, especially Columbus and the PCL cities, which can be detrimental to hitters when they reach the majors.
Bye George!
Man I hate this. I have been patiently waiting for this guy for 5 years. He’s got so much patience and pop in that bat. I just wish he didn’t have so much whiff… and also that he wasn’t so wrecked by injuries that he’s no longer a viable CF.
My immediate guess here is Watson. He’s torn the cover off the ball in AAA. He’s also been playing CF and the Guardians probably could use someone that could more credibly cover CF. Kwan moving there is potentially what has sapped his bat – its not just bad luck he’s also near dead last in the league in exit velocity. Kwan has a chronic hamstring issue dating back to his time in the minors, and it’s fair to wonder if maybe CF has strained his body too much. We’ve seen him lag in the second half of just about every season in his career, and also seen him rebound after IL placements and rest. Getting him more off days and more days in the corner might unlock his bat a bit. Watson would make sense for that.
I have to agree with you. Kwan’s durability hangs in the balance no matter where he plays, but his best success came in LF. I would have already moved him back by now. Watson is the best option to enable that move.
Has Watson been hitting the ball well of late? His overall season numbers look average. Fairchild has better numbers. I know has been an unexciting player in the Bigs but he can play all 3 OF spots and he hits RH. Cleveland righty subs (Hopkins and Fry have hit very little this year)
I think they move Kwan back to LF and put Schneeman in center. I’m not sure they will bring up Watson. His BABIP is super inflated. I think they go safe and bring up Halpin to be the fourth. They could have used his speed the other night to relieve Manzardo.
I see your point. And I think he probably is more likely for a call up than Watson. The main downsides about Halpin is that he is yet another lefty bat and not a particularly strong bat either. And doesn’t he just play center? Both he and Watson probably have more potential than Fairchild. But I think Fairchild is the safer and more versatile option. Who do they cut from the 40 for him, I don’t know.
In a vacuum, sure, Fairchild makes the most sense from a roster perspective. Right-handed bat, can competently play all outfield positions, comfortable with a bench role in the major leagues. But it’s a short stay until Gabriel Arias is reactivated and larger roster issues will have to be addressed. I just never saw Fairchild as the guy to be promoted because of the need to make a 40-man move the club is probably not anxious to make right now. So Halpin it is (made even more evident by the Clippers lineup Thursday night). Irrespective of the bat, Halpin is a darn good defender wherever he plays in the outfield.
And Halpin it is apparently. And nice analysis too regarding Arias’ return, the 40 man situation and Halpin being out of the Columbus lineup last night.
Bazzana should never have been called up. Hes completely lost and they are running the risk of destroying his confidence.
Bazzana has to put or shut up. He’s top overall pick and they need him. If he struggles mightily they can send him back when Arias is healthy. There’s no crying in baseball.
Lmao what are you both talking about? He’s been up for two games and has put up good at bats, even if he has yet to get a hit.
He’s been productive at every stop in the minors, and he might never end up being a superstar, but he has the makeup to reach his ceiling and he’ll be a very good player for a long time.
These guys want Bazanna to hit the game winning hr in the bottom of the 9h of the World Series in 2 games in April. As delusional as browns fans
He has NOT “put up good at-bats,” c’mon, let’s not pretend here.
But we all know the adjustment period to the major league takes months, even years, for most players. It would be foolish to judge the guy right away.
That being said, despite the numbers in Columbus, Travis wasn’t looking anything like the natural hitter Kevin McGonigle or Chase Delauter is.
Two games!
Paging Stuart Fairchild
No. If they end the kwan in center experiment and schneeman becomee a most every day centerfielder they need a stop gap utility infielder until arias returns. Maybe a week or two of tolentino?
I like his movies
Kahlil Watson upcoming
Stuart Fairchild…
C’mon down!
It should be Fairchild. That team needs another LHH like it needs another gimpy legged OF. In fact two lhh are gimpy legged OF. Although Watson is anything but gimpy he’s very young and a lhh. Right now Fry and Hoskins are a combined 7 for 58 with 4 RBI. Help! Fairchild can hit lhp. He makes sense esp as they are entering a period when they face many lh starters.
As much as I agree that Stuart Fairchild makes the most sense in the abstract, the possibility of this being a short-term move and the need to make a 40-man move in order to bring Stuart up makes this choice a non-starter. It will be Halpin, who at least does bring excellence to CF beyond even what Fairchild can provide and he is on the 40-man already. Halpin’s presence preserves Schneemann’s versatility (as would Fairchild).
It seems like the Guardians have been a team that hasn’t been able to hit for years now. But they always could run, and that partially made up for it, esp in close games.
But now, after eliminating the speed of players…like Rosario, Gimenez, and Straw…they can’t run, either. The Guardians have gone from one of the fastest teams in baseball to one of the slowest.
Whomever gets the call up should help the team in that category.
I would argue that even though Rosario had elite speed, he never used it on the base paths. I wouldn’t put him in the same category.
I guess you never saw Amed leg out a triple. Over two seasons he got on plenty.
He got to third base? I just saw him hitting the ball on the ground and then never attempt a steal with that elite speed. 36 steals in three years…
Stealing bases is merely one aspect of baserunning…and an overrated one at that.
Not true.
There is a lot more to good base running than merely stealing bases.
In the two years (2021-22) that Amed played full time for Cleveland, he ranked fourth in MLB in baserunning. Straw ranked fifth. Ramirez ranked seventh.
Gimenez didn’t play full time in 2021, but the next season he ranked 12th. Kwan ranked fourth.
In 2021 and 2022, with Amed, Cleveland ranked first in baserunning both years. At the moment, the Guardians rank 27th.
Big difference. Huge difference.