Guardians Rumors

AL Central Notes: Thomas, Ragans, Lynch, Cobb

By Mark Polishuk | July 6, 2025 at 8:59pm CDT

Prior to today’s game, the Guardians placed outfielder Lane Thomas on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to July 5), as Thomas is again dealing with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. Infielder Will Wilson was called up from Triple-A to replace Thomas, who is headed to the IL for the third time this season. The first placement was due to a bone bruise in his right wrist, and the last two placements were prompted by Thomas’ recurring foot problems. Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt told MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins and other reporters that Thomas again started to feel discomfort in his foot during Friday’s game, so the team decided to see if the combination of an IL stint and the All-Star break can provide enough time for Thomas to finally heal up.

The injuries have contributed to a brutal .160/.246/.272 slash line over 142 plate appearances for Thomas, though he was starting to heat up a little with an .816 OPS and three homers in last 38 PA. Thomas’ struggles have been emblematic of an ugly offensive year for the Guardians as a whole, and today’s loss to the Tigers extended the Guards’ losing streak to 10 games. It increasingly seems like Cleveland will be sellers at the deadline, yet Thomas’ injuries and lack of production will probably mean the Guards won’t be able to move the impending free agent.

Guardians Designate Kolby Allard For Assignment

By Steve Adams | July 3, 2025 at 3:35pm CDT

The Guardians designated left-hander Kolby Allard for assignment Thursday, per a team announcement. Between Allard’s DFA and right-hander Luis Ortiz’s placement on paid administrative leave while he is the subject of a gambling investigation by the league, Cleveland needed to fill a pair of roster spots. They’ve recalled lefties Joey Cantillo and Doug Nikhazy from Triple-A to round out the staff. Cantillo will start tonight’s game in place of Ortiz.

Allard, 27, was a first-round pick by the Braves back in 2015. He ranked among Atlanta’s most promising young pitchers for several years but never established himself in the rotation there, in no small part due to a series of back injuries that limited his time on the field and impacted his production when he was able to take the mound.

Atlanta traded Allard to Texas in exchange for Chris Martin back in 2019, and he spent parts of four seasons struggling as an up-and-down member of the Rangers’ staff. He returned to the Braves in 2023 and spent 2024 with the Phillies, getting hit hard in both stops. By the time Cleveland signed Allard to a minor league deal this past offseason, he had a career 5.99 ERA in 272 innings.

On the surface, things have gone well for Allard in Cleveland. He’s pitched 35 1/3 innings, mostly in long relief, and posted a terrific 2.55 earned run average. That number doesn’t tell the whole story, however; Allard’s 10.5% strikeout rate is the lowest among the 318 pitchers who’ve tossed at least 30 innings in 2025. Entering the season, he’d seen nearly 16% of the fly-balls he’s allowed in his career land over the fence as home runs. He’s at just 3.6% in that regard this year, which seems bound to regress — as does his 81% strand rate (66% entering the season). Allard’s 3.60 FIP is more than a full run north of his actual ERA, and metrics like xFIP (5.19) and SIERA (5.07), which normalize that fluky home run rate, are even more bearish.

The Guardians will either trade Allard or place him on waivers within the next five days. Waivers are a 48-hour process, so he’ll know the outcome of his DFA within a week’s time. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, Allard will be able to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency — as is his right as a player who’s previously been outrighted in his career. Any team that takes a flier on Allard would be able to control him through the 2026 season via arbitration.

Guardians’ Luis Ortiz Placed On Leave Due To “Ongoing League Investigation”

By Steve Adams | July 3, 2025 at 11:00am CDT

11:00am: Zack Meisel and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic report that the investigation pertains to gambling.

9:35am: Guardians right-hander Luis Ortiz has been placed on non-disciplinary paid leave through the All-Star break due to an “ongoing league investigation,” according to announcements from both the team and the league. The leave was jointly agreed upon by the league and the Players Association. The Guardians’ statement noted that they are not permitted to comment further at this time. Neither the league nor the team provided specific details on the nature of the investigation.

Ortiz, 26, is in his first season with Cleveland after coming over from the Pirates in exchange for first baseman Spencer Horwitz. He stepped right into the Guardians’ rotation and has started 16 games, tossing 88 2/3 innings with a 4.36 ERA, a 25.1% strikeout rate and an 11% walk rate.

Ortiz had been slated to start tonight’s game for Cleveland, but left-hander Joey Cantillo will make that start instead. He’ll join a rotation also including Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Logan Allen and Slade Cecconi. The Guardians lost righty Ben Lively to Tommy John surgery earlier this season, while longtime ace Shane Bieber’s return from last year’s Tommy John procedure was slowed by a minor setback. Bieber recently resumed throwing.

Gabriel Arias To Undergo MRI For Ankle Sprain

By Mark Polishuk | June 29, 2025 at 10:54pm CDT

Guardians shortstop Gabriel Arias had to be carted off the field with a left ankle sprain during today’s 7-0 loss to the Cardinals. In the third inning, Arias jammed his left foot while sliding to try and gather a Masyn Winn grounder that went for a single, and Arias needed immediate treatment from the club’s training staff in the aftermath. Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt told MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins and other reporters that Arias will undergo an MRI tomorrow, though the good news is that initial x-rays were negative.

More will be known about Arias’ status tomorrow, but it seems like a placement on the 10-day injured list is inevitable prior to the Guardians’ next game on Tuesday. Now in his fourth MLB season, Arias began 2025 in a second base timeshare with Daniel Schneemann, and then assumed starting shortstop duties in mid-May. Arias has +3 Outs Above Average and +3 Defensive Runs Saved over 424 1/3 innings at short this year, helping the Guards with his glove even if he is hitting only .231/.293/.369 over 281 plate appearances. As Stebbins notes, former starting shortstop Brayan Rocchio will probably be called up from Triple-A to handle shortstop in Arias’ absence.

Guardians Reinstate Erik Sabrowski, Transfer Will Brennan To 60-Day IL

By Darragh McDonald | June 27, 2025 at 3:45pm CDT

The Guardians announced today that left-hander Erik Sabrowski has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Right-hander Zak Kent has been optioned to Triple-A Columbus as the corresponding active roster move. To open a 40-man spot, outfielder Will Brennan has been transferred to the 60-day IL. The 40-man roster remains full.

Sabrowski, 27, had a very promising big league debut. He was added to Cleveland’s roster at the end of August last year and tossed 12 2/3 scoreless innings down the stretch, striking out a massive 40.4% of batters faced in that small sample of work. The Guards carried him on the roster into the postseason, where he added 5 1/3 innings with just one earned run allowed.

He hasn’t yet been able to build on that here in 2025. He missed spring training due to some inflammation in his pitching elbow and landed on the IL to start the year. He was healthy enough to start a rehab assignment by the end of May and has since allowed four earned runs in nine minor league innings. He’ll give the Guards a third lefty in the bullpen alongside Tim Herrin and Kolby Allard.

Brennan, 27, underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this month. He’ll spend the rest of the season on the IL, collecting big league pay and service time. He should qualify for arbitration this winter as a Super Two player, though his mostly lost season will hamper his ability to earn a meaningful raise in that system.

Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images

Guardians’ Will Brennan, Andrew Walters Undergo Season-Ending Surgeries

By Mark Polishuk | June 9, 2025 at 7:19pm CDT

Two players on the Guardians’ injured list underwent surgeries that will end their 2025 campaigns. (MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins was among those to report the news.) Outfielder Will Brennan had a Tommy John surgery to fix his damaged left UCL, and right-hander Andrew Walters had surgery to repair his right lat tendon. The TJ recovery timeframe for position players is usually around 6-8 months, so Brennan should be ready to go for Opening Day 2026, while Walters could miss some time at the start of next season given his projected timeline of 8-to-10 months. Walters is already on the 60-day injured list and Brennan will be shifted from the 10-day IL to the 60-day whenever Cleveland needs some room on its 40-man roster.

Brennan was a regular in Cleveland’s outfield in 2023-24, hitting .265/.303/.370 over 808 plate appearances (all but 121 of them against right-handed pitching). The platoon shield didn’t much help Brennan produce at the plate, and his very solid glovework in right field also took a big dip from 2023 to 2024. The Guardians’ acquisition of Nolan Jones just prior to Opening Day indicated that the team was moving in a new direction with its outfield platoon, and Brennan was indeed optioned to Triple-A to begin the season.

Called up on May 12, Brennan appeared in just six games with the Guards before he was placed on the 10-day injured list with what was initially deemed to be left forearm inflammation. Subsequent testing revealed the much more severe UCL damage, and it’ll now be a long while before Brennan is able to play in his next Major League game. He entered the season with two years and 15 days of official MLB service time, and so his earlier stint in the minors means that Brennan won’t gain a full third year even as he continues to amass service time on the Guardians’ big league IL.

As much as Brennan had become a backup plan for the Guardians, losing him for the remainder of 2025 will rob Cleveland of a depth option for its long-struggling outfield mix. Steven Kwan has again been the Guardians’ only productive outfielder, so adding some help on the grass would again appear to be a priority for the club heading towards the trade deadline.

Lane Thomas can hopefully provide some help from within, as Cleveland activated the outfielder from the 10-day IL today. Thomas has hit only .119/.169/.136 over 65 PA while missing most of the season due to two separate IL stints for a bone bruise in his right wrist and for plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

Walters was a second-round pick for the Guardians in the 2023 draft, and he made his MLB debut just over a year after his draft date when he made nine appearances for Cleveland last September. He started this season at Triple-A Columbus and spent just shy of three weeks on the minor league IL due to elbow inflammation, so he banked only 12 minor league innings this season to go along with his 1 1/3 innings in two appearances with the Guardians. Walters’ injury arose in the second of those appearances on May 30, when he left the mound in obvious discomfort after throwing a pitch to Mike Trout during the Guards’ 4-1 loss to the Angels.

The only slight silver lining here for Walters is that he’ll earn big league service time while on the IL, yet the lat surgery is obviously a rough setback for the 24-year-old righty. Somewhat of a rare case of a pitcher who has been almost exclusively a reliever both in college and in the pros, Walters has a 2.17 ERA and a 36.3% strikeout rate over 62 1/3 innings in the Guardians’ farm system. A 13% walk rate is a concern, but if Walters can manage his control, his live fastball and strikeout ability makes him a very intriguing candidate for high-leverage relief work once he gets healthy.

Guardians Release Cody Bolton

By Anthony Franco | June 6, 2025 at 11:22pm CDT

The Guardians released right-hander Cody Bolton, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Cleveland had designated him for assignment a week ago when they needed a 40-man roster spot to activate David Fry from the injured list.

Bolton has spent the past month on the injured list with Triple-A Columbus. The Guardians could have taken him off the 40-man roster by placing him on the MLB 60-day IL, but that would have required paying him the prorated $760K minimum salary until he was healthy. They opted to designate him for assignment instead. Teams cannot place injured players on outright waivers, so the DFA made a release a formality.

The Guardians acquired Bolton from the Mariners in a cash trade in April. The 26-year-old made one appearance in a Cleveland uniform. He tossed two innings and allowed three runs on four hits. He’d otherwise been in Triple-A, where he threw four frames of two-run ball with five strikeouts. Bolton has also logged some MLB action with the Pirates and Mariners and carries a 5.79 ERA over 42 career innings.

There aren’t any specifics on Bolton’s injury. In situations like this, teams will often try to re-sign the released player to a minor league contract. That’d keep him in the organization without costing them a 40-man roster spot or an MLB salary. Cleveland could look to go that route with Bolton, but he’ll have the option to explore other opportunities if he’d like in free agency.

Guardians Select Dom Nuñez

By Darragh McDonald | June 6, 2025 at 6:15pm CDT

The Guardians announced that they have selected the contract of catcher Dom Nuñez. Fellow backstop Austin Hedges has been placed on the seven-day concussion-related injured list. Right-hander Andrew Walters has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt spoke on the Hedges situation today, with video relayed by Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan. Vogt says that Hedges was hit in the head by a backswing from Jazz Chisholm Jr. on Wednesday night (video of the incident from MLB.com). Vogt says that Hedges was experiencing some “low-level concussion symptoms” yesterday which have not gone away. Vogt adds that the club wants to be cautious due to previous concussions suffered by Hedges. According to his MLB.com transaction tracker, Hedges has previously gone on the IL for a concussion in 2017, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Concussions tend to get more dangerous with each subsequent incident, so the caution is understandable.

Hedges has been backing up Bo Naylor at the catcher position this year but Nuñez will now tag in and take over that job while Hedges recovers. Calling up Nuñez was necessary because the Guards previously had just Hedges and Naylor as the two catchers on their 40-man roster. David Fry has catching experience but is limited to designated hitter duties this year due to undergoing elbow surgery in November.

The 30-year-old Nuñez signed a minor league deal with the Guards in the offseason. He has been playing at the Triple-A level since then, putting up a line of .136/.266/.369 in 32 games. That’s not a pretty slash but it’s held back by a .131 batting average on balls in play. Nuñez has six home runs and has been drawing walks at a 13.6% clip, though he’s also been striking out 30.4% of the time.

His major league track record consists of 111 games with the Rockies over the 2019-22 period. He hit just .180/.280/.373 in that time but generally received solid marks for his defense. Nuñez still has one option remaining and could be easily sent back down to Triple-A when Hedges gets healthy.

As for Walters, he landed on the 15-day IL a week ago due to a lat strain. His current status is unclear but it appears that the Guardians don’t expect him back anytime soon. With this transfer, he can’t be reinstated until 60 days from his initial IL placement, which means late July.

Photo courtesy of Joe Camporeale, Imagn Images

Poll: Which Contender Should Be Most Aggressive On The Rotation Market?

By Nick Deeds | June 6, 2025 at 4:03pm CDT

Trade season is fast approaching, and teams have mostly begun to start sorting themselves between the contenders and pretenders. At almost every trade deadline, there’s one need that teams prioritize filling than any other: starting pitching. There’s no such thing as too many starters, and that’s become even more true in recent years as pitching injuries have skyrocketed. Plenty of teams will want to add an impact arm (or at least some depth) to their rotation this summer, but which need help the most ahead of the stretch run? Here’s a look at some of the league’s top contenders:

Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays have fought their way back into the AL Wild Card conversation recently, and they’ve done so despite a bottom-five rotation in baseball by ERA. Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt are both solid veterans who can be trusted to start a playoff game, and Jose Berrios is getting good results despite worrisome peripherals for the second year in a row. After that trio, however, things start to look dire. Bowden Francis has been one of the worst qualified starters in baseball this year, and the team has no defined fifth starter at all for the moment.

Spencer Turnbull is coming to help out sooner or later, but relying on a pitcher who last made even 20 appearances back in 2019 to help turn things around is risky. Alek Manoah and Max Scherzer could both contribute at some point in theory, but they’ve similarly dealt with injuries that have made them major question marks in recent years. For Toronto, one could argue that the question is less about whether or not they need another starter, but whether or not they’ll remain firmly enough in contention to justify the expense come July.

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs enter play today with the best record in the NL, and with Kyle Tucker set to reach free agency in November, there’s little question they’ll be buyers this summer. A stacked lineup that features few obvious holes makes pitching the most sensible place for them to look for upgrades, and it’s not hard to argue for starting pitching as the best choice when looking for upgrades. Cubs’ starters have combined for a 3.99 ERA this year, good for 19th in baseball. That’s below average in the league overall despite players like Matthew Boyd (3.01 ERA) and Colin Rea (3.59 ERA) pitching better than anyone would’ve assumed preseason.

Justin Steele is out for the season after undergoing surgery on his UCL, and he’s joined on the IL by co-ace Shota Imanaga while the veteran works his way back from a hamstring strain. Imanaga is expected back at some point this month, but with depth options like Javier Assad, Jordan Wicks, and Brandon Birdsell all also on the injured list, Ben Brown (5.72 ERA) struggling badly this season, and top prospect Cade Horton likely operating on an innings limit, it’s hard to imagine the Cubs not doing something to address their rotation this summer.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers, at least on paper, have more rotation arms than they know what to do with. The reality of their situation is much different, however, as the vast majority of those pitchers are presently on the injured list. In conjunction with disappointing performances from players like Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, Tony Gonsolin, and Clayton Kershaw, those injuries have left the Dodgers with a 4.35 rotation ERA and the fifth-weakest starting staff in the NL this year. Their two-game lead on the Padres and three-game lead on the Giants in the NL West aren’t nearly as comfortable as they would surely like, and with a stacked lineup that has few obvious holes, that could make starting pitching the most obvious area for them to upgrade this summer.

On the other hand, it’s possible L.A. could simply rely on internal improvements as players get healthier. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is in the NL Cy Young conversation this year, and Dustin May has looked like a capable arm for the middle-to-back of the rotation. Glasnow, Sasaki, and Blake Snell are all expected back at some point or other this year, and Shohei Ohtani is of course working his way back to the big league mound. For a club that managed to win a World Series with a patchwork rotation just last year, perhaps that’s enough to feel comfortable standing pat this summer. Even so, at least another depth arm or two couldn’t hurt.

Cleveland Guardians

Long renowned for their excellent starting pitching development, the Guardians were one of several playoff teams last year who limped into October with major question marks in the rotation. With a 4.07 ERA and 4.55 FIP out of the rotation this year, they look to be at risk of doing so once again. Luis Ortiz looks like a solid mid-rotation arm, but Tanner Bibee and Gavin Williams have both seen their peripherals take a nosedive this year despite solid enough results. Cleveland recently lost Ben Lively for the season to Tommy John surgery as well, creating another hole in their rotation mix.

Perhaps an internal option like right-hander Zak Kent can be a surprise contributor, and Shane Bieber’s eventual return from the injured list could provide a big boost so long as he can shake off the rust from a long layoff. That could make an outfield in need of upgrades a more pressing issue but it’s hard to imagine the rotation not being an area worth upgrading this summer. That’s especially true given that the bullpen that helped carry Cleveland to October last year has looked more “good” than “superhuman” in 2025.

Other Teams In Need

These four aren’t the only teams who could use some pitching help this summer. The Red Sox and Diamondbacks have both struggled to get results from their rotation, but have a deep group of arms in-house already and are far enough out of contention at this point that they may end up selling. That latter point is also true of the Braves, whose pitching situation looks more worrisome than ever after Spencer Strider has struggled in his return from surgery and AJ Smith-Shawver was lost for the year. The Yankees and Twins have pitched extremely well this season, but it would be understandable for either team to look for upgrades given the significant blow losing Gerrit Cole (Tommy John surgery) and Pablo Lopez (Grade 2 Lat Strain) dealt to each respective rotation. The Cardinals have gotten middling results from their rotation but have a bigger need in the outfield. The outfield also seems likely to be a bigger priority for the Astros, who have gotten great results from Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez but are currently relying on a patchwork at the back of their rotation while players like Cristian Javier and Spencer Arrighetti heal up on the injured list. Like the Astros, the Padres are currently running a top-heavy rotation a handful of question marks.

Which team do you think ought to be the most aggressive in pursuing starting pitching this summer? Have your say in the poll below:

Shane Bieber Scratched From Rehab Start Due To Elbow Soreness

By Steve Adams | June 6, 2025 at 2:40pm CDT

2:40pm: Per Zack Meisel of The Athletic, Bieber will be shut down until the middle of next week and be re-examined at that point.

9:39am: Guardians righty Shane Bieber had been eyeing a return to the majors late this month, but that plan is on hold. Bieber felt discomfort in his surgically repaired elbow after a bullpen session between rehab starts this week, per Zack Meisel of The Athletic. He’s headed for a consultation with Dr. Keith Meister, who performed the right-hander’s Tommy John surgery last April.

It’s an ominous development for a Guardians club that recently lost fellow right-hander Ben Lively to Tommy John surgery. Bieber, 30, made his first rehab start with Cleveland’s Rookie-level affiliate in the Arizona Complex League on May 31 and could scarcely have performed better. While the Guards monitored his workload closely and lifted him after just 2 1/3 innings, he punched out five of the nine batters he faced and allowed only a single along the way. Bieber was throwing a bullpen session Tuesday in preparation for what was supposed to be a rehab start with Double-A Akron yesterday when the discomfort surfaced.

Presumably, the Guardians will provide more information on Bieber’s status within the next few days. In the meantime, it seems fair to expect that his return to the big league roster will be pushed back to at least some extent. Cleveland will want to proceed with caution regarding its longtime ace.

Bieber reached free agency this past offseason but returned to the Guardians on a two-year, $26MM contract — though the second season of that pact is a player option. He’s being paid $10MM in 2025, and the option comes with a $4MM buyout. So long as he’s healthy by season’s end, he seems quite likely to turn down that player option and re-test free agency, but the question of his health (or lack thereof) is once again front and center.

With Bieber’s status again up in the air, it looks as though Cleveland’s rotation for the foreseeable future will include righties Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee, Luis Ortiz and Slade Cecconi, as well as southpaw Logan Allen. It’s a solid group overall, but each has had some degree of red flag this season. Williams (13.2%), Ortiz (11.8%) and Allen (11.3%) all have problematic walk rates, while Bibee (1.82 HR/9) and Cecconi (2.66 HR/9) have both been quite homer-prone (albeit in only 20 1/3 innings for Cecconi). Cleveland starters rank 20th in the majors with a collective 4.07 ERA, but that includes 44 2/3 innings of 3.22 ERA ball for the aforementioned Lively, who’ll likely be out through the first half of next season following his UCL repair.

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