Guardians Move Shane Bieber To 60-Day IL, Select Daniel Norris
The Guardians announced a trio of pitching moves, including the selection of Daniel Norris‘ minor league contract. To create room on both the 26-man and 40-man rosters, Cleveland optioned left-hander Tim Herrin to Triple-A, and moved Shane Bieber to the 60-day injured list.
Bieber was already on the 15-day IL with a retroactive placement date of July 12. His new 60-day window still starts from July 12, meaning that the right-hander will now be out of action until at least September 10 while recovering from right elbow inflammation. Earlier reports indicated that Bieber is at least another week away from resuming throwing, and though surgery wasn’t going to be required, the move to the 60-day IL indicates that Bieber still requires plenty of time to recover.
The injury already scuttled any chance that Bieber might be dealt at the trade deadline, as there had been speculation that the Guardians might continue their pattern of moving higher-priced veterans 12-18 months before they reached free agency (Bieber is controlled through the 2024 campaign). At this point, it’s fair to wonder if Bieber’s 2023 season might be over entirely, either in the event of a setback or if the Guards might simply shut him down early if they’re out of the playoff race by mid-September.
Cleveland enters today’s action with a 49-50 record, but the Guardians are still only three games out of first place in the AL Central and 5.5 games back of the last AL wild card slot. Catching up to the Twins might be more a realistic path to the playoffs than leapfrogging other teams in the wild card race, but in either case, the Guardians have to play some much more consistent baseball in order to return to the postseason.
Losing Bieber for an extended amount of time won’t help in that regard, as the Guards will have to lean even heavier on a very young group of starters. With Bieber and Triston McKenzie both on the 60-day IL and Cal Quantrill also injured, Cleveland has three rookies (Logan Allen, Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams) backing up Aaron Civale in the rotation. Peyton Battenfield is close to returning from the 60-day IL, though Battenfield is another first-year pitcher.
Norris might factor into this mix after starting 12 of his 18 games with Triple-A Columbus. The southpaw signed a minors deal with Cleveland over the winter and has already had his contract selected once, appearing in a single game for the Guardians last month. Norris was then designated for assignment and outrighted off the 40-man roster, and chose to accept the outright assignment rather than test free agency again.
It may have been a wise decision, as Norris now finds himself back on a big league roster. The Guardians could use Norris as a proper starter, a piggyback starter paired with Battenfield, or perhaps simply as a long relief option out of the bullpen. This versatility could help the Guardians navigate their rotation questions, though Norris’ performance has been very up-and-down over his 10 MLB seasons, and he has a 5.60 ERA over 53 innings in Columbus.
Notable Draft Signings: 7/22/23
Here are the latest signings from near the top of the amateur draft board. For more on these and other prospects, check out the pre-draft rankings and scouting reports from Fangraphs, MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, The Athletic’s Keith Law, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel.
- The Guardians signed first rounder Ralphy Velazquez and second rounder Alex Clemmey earlier this evening, per MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis (Twitter links). Velazquez, a prep catcher from California, was the 23rd overall selection in this year’s draft and signed for $2,500,000. That number clocks in well below the 23rd pick’s slot value of $3,380,900. Velazquez receives universal praise for his power production, though opinions vary on his ability to stick at catcher and his hit tool. Those differences of opinion create some discrepancies in where Velazquez ranks among this class’s draft prospects, with Baseball America ranking him as high as #29 in the class while Fangraphs has him as low as #45. The savings on Velazquez allowed Cleveland to sign Clemmey, a high school pitcher whose #58 overall selection came with a slot value of $1,402,600, to an overslot deal worth $2,300,000. As a left-handed prep prospect with a fastball touching 100 mph, Clemmey’s stuff garners near universal praise, though he also earns widespread questions regarding his command due to an inconsistent delivery. Overall, Clemmey is considered a top-50 prospect in this year’s draft class by most services, though Fangraphs has him as low as #62.
The Guardians’ Other Potential Rotation Trade Chip
The Guardians have made a habit of moving productive veteran starting pitchers over the past few seasons. Cleveland’s excellent pitching development pipeline has allowed them to consistently backfill the rotation with younger, cheaper starters while adding other MLB talent in trades that sent Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer and Mike Clevinger elsewhere.
Cleveland graduated another trio of top young pitching talents this year. Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams and Logan Allen have all gotten to the big leagues and found immediate success. There was some related speculation about the Guardians dealing former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber this summer as a means of adding upper level hitting talent.
That no longer appears viable. Bieber is being shut down from throwing for a couple weeks because of forearm/elbow discomfort. While the club is optimistic he won’t require surgery, he’ll be on the injured list beyond the August 1 trade deadline. It’s hard to envision another team sending Cleveland anything approaching commensurate value for Bieber right now. An offseason deal or move at next year’s trade deadline (when he’d be an impending free agent) is the likelier scenario.
If Cleveland still has interest in balancing the roster by cashing in a starting pitcher, Aaron Civale now stands out as their top candidate. The 28-year-old righty has been an effective mid-rotation arm over parts of five big league campaigns, at least on a rate basis.
The former third-round draftee has started 73 games at the MLB level. He’s worked 410 2/3 innings of 3.88 ERA ball. Civale 21.3% strikeout rate and 42.5% grounder percentage are a hair below league average, but he’s a plus strike thrower who tends to avoid hard contact. While it’s not an overpowering profile, a healthy Civale has been a quality #3/4 option in a rotation.
Civale hasn’t logged the kind of workload typically associated with an innings eater. Some of that is beyond his control. He wasn’t an established MLB starter until late in the 2019 season. He stayed healthy in 2020 but the season was shortened, limiting everyone to 12-13 starts. Civale has lost chunks of the last three years to injury, however, only topping 100 MLB frames once.
In 2021, it was a sprained right middle finger that cost him two months. He lost a few weeks apiece to glute soreness, a right wrist sprain and forearm soreness last season. This year, a left oblique strain took him out of action for around seven weeks between mid-April and the start of June.
While the nagging health issues have kept Civale from amassing a huge workload, they haven’t impacted his per-start performances. His 10 starts this year look much the same as his overall body of work. He owns a 2.65 ERA through 57 2/3 frames, just under six innings per start. Opponents are only hitting .245 on balls in play, which is likely to tick back up closer to the .281 career mark he carried into 2023. Once a few more batted balls drop for hits, Civale should project as the upper-3.00s ERA type he has been in his career.
His 19.7% strikeout rate is narrowly a personal low but not dramatically off his previous level. Despite the slight dip in whiffs, Civale is throwing a little harder this year than in seasons past. He’s averaging 88 MPH on his cutter and narrowly above 92 MPH on his sinker and four-seam, all of which are slightly above his previous career highs.
Those are relatively minor variations. Civale isn’t a burgeoning ace, but he’s a good major league pitcher. He throws strikes and mixes four pitches effectively to keep off barrels. He is solid against hitters from both sides of the plate, keeping lefties to a career .227/.278/.400 line and same-handed opponents to a .255/.307/.439 slash. Aside from the aforementioned injury concerns, the Northeastern product looks like a solid middle or back-end starter.
There’s value in stability. That’s especially true given his affordability. Civale is playing this season on a modest $2.6MM arbitration salary. He’ll go through that process twice more before reaching free agency after the 2025 campaign.
That control window means Cleveland doesn’t simply have to take the best offer this summer. Even as one of the game’s lowest-payroll franchises, the Guardians could retain Civale without issue financially. Yet they’re likely to have a fair bit of starting pitching depth going into next season, particularly if they hold onto Bieber.
Triston McKenzie and Cal Quantrill will hopefully be past injury-riddled ’23 campaigns. Bibee, Allen and Williams could all be rotation fixtures, perhaps with higher upside than Civale possesses. It is tough to rely on Daniel Espino at this point given his shoulder woes, but the 22-year-old righty entered this season as one of the sport’s most exciting pitching prospects.
Cleveland isn’t abandoning hope on 2023. They couldn’t have drawn up a worse weekend to start the second half, though. The Guardians were swept by the Rangers while Minnesota swept the A’s. That wasn’t wholly unexpected — the Twins were playing the worst team in MLB while Cleveland matched up against one of the best — but it dropped the Guardians 2 1/2 games back in a division they almost certainly have to win to make the playoffs.
That’s hardly insurmountable, though the club has never really gotten rolling this season. That’s in large part due to an offense that has scored more runs than only the A’s, Royals and Tigers. José Ramírez and Josh Naylor are the only Cleveland players with 100+ plate appearances and above-average offensive production.
Cleveland’s outfield has been especially troublesome. Steven Kwan has been fine but not recaptured his stellar rookie form. Myles Straw is providing next to nothing at the plate for a second straight season. Will Brennan has been inconsistent as a rookie.
There aren’t a ton of clear sellers this deadline season. That could lead to a few more “baseball” trades, deals between hopeful or fringe contenders to address respective areas of weakness. Civale would be Cleveland’s clearest option to market rotation help to another win-now team that could make a surplus outfielder available. Speculatively speaking, the Orioles (Kyle Stowers) and D-Backs (Jake McCarthy/Dominic Fletcher) could offer intriguing upper level outfielders as part of a Civale package.
Whether Cleveland pulls off a deal of this nature remains to be seen. Bieber was the higher-profile and more enticing trade candidate at this time last week. With that no longer plausible, Civale could be the next target for other teams eyeing the Guardians’ rotation depth.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Guardians Place Shane Bieber On 15-Day Injured List
TODAY: Bieber will be shut down from throwing for the next two weeks, MLB.com’s Mandy Bell writes, and will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis. The good news is that Bieber won’t need surgery, as determined following a consultation today with Dr. Keith Meister.
JULY 15: Bieber has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to right elbow inflammatino, with the Guardians calling up righty Michael Kelly from Triple-A in the corresponding move.
JULY 14: Guardians starter Shane Bieber is going for an MRI on his forearm/elbow area, skipper Terry Francona told reporters (including Mandy Bell of MLB.com and Zack Meisel of the Athletic). While he hasn’t been placed on the injured list, he won’t make Monday’s start as scheduled.
Obviously, the seriousness of the issue isn’t yet clear. Francona suggested that Bieber has pitched through some forearm discomfort for a few weeks. That the club wasn’t concerned enough to send him for imaging before today and hasn’t immediately placed him on the IL could suggest they’re not overly concerned.
If imaging reveals anything that’d send Bieber to the IL, it could have serious ramifications for both the playoff picture and the trade market. Cleveland enters the unofficial second half leading the Twins by half a game in the AL Central. Potentially subtracting a pitcher who carries a 3.77 ERA through 117 innings would obviously be a hit to the roster.
Bieber has also been frequently speculated upon as a possible trade candidate. Cleveland has a number of young pitchers — headlined by Tanner Bibee, Logan Allen and Gavin Williams — who look like quality rotation pieces. A trade of Bieber or (to a lesser extent) Aaron Civale might allow Cleveland to land immediate help for a below-average offense while backfilling the lost innings with a younger pitcher. Bibee and Williams are in the MLB rotation. Allen was recently optioned but seems likely to be recalled with Bieber’s start being skipped.
The 2020 AL Cy Young winner is making just over $10MM this season. He is eligible for arbitration once more before first hitting the free agent market over the 2024-25 offseason.
Shane Bieber Drawing Trade Interest
The trade deadline is still over three weeks away but Guardians right-hander Shane Bieber is already drawing interest, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post.
It’s hardly surprising to see Bieber garnering attention around the league given his situation. He’s established himself as a quality big leaguer, having tossed over 800 innings to this point with a 3.24 ERA. He won the American League Cy Young Award in 2020 when he posted a 1.63 ERA in 12 starts.
Beyond his performance, there are other factors that would lead clubs to pick up the phone and call Cleveland. The Guardians have long had a reputation of trading away their players as they get closer to free agency, with their salary increasing and their club control waning. Recent years have seen them ship out Corey Kluber, Francisco Lindor, Trevor Bauer and Mike Clevinger under such circumstances. Bieber is making just over $10MM this year and can qualify for one more arbitration raise before he’s slated for free agency after 2024.
The Guards are below .500 with a record of 43-44, but no club is running away with the American League Central division. The Guardians are just a game and a half back of the Twins, who sit atop the group with a 45-43 record. The Guardians are still very much in contention there, though that doesn’t necessarily mean Bieber would be off the table. There are few clear sellers this year and it’s been speculated that there may end up being more trades between contenders, with each trading from an area of surplus to address an area of need.
Despite Zach Plesac being outrighted off the roster and injuries putting each of Triston McKenzie, Cal Quantrill and Daniel Espino out of action, the Guardians still have a strong rotation. In addition to Bieber, they have Aaron Civale, Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee. Rookie Logan Allen was optioned to the minors when Quantrill came off the injured list but could potentially be recalled after the break now that Quantrill has landed on the IL again. All the aforementioned factors led to Bieber being placed in the #8 spot on MLBTR’s recent list of top deadline trade candidates.
That’s no guarantee Bieber will be moved, as the Guardians could opt to keep him for the stretch run and even for 2024, though they will surely listen to any other club that calls up and expresses interest. It will be fascinating to see exactly how strong that interest is, as Bieber seems to have taken a step back from his dominant performance in previous seasons.
The righty struck out 30.2% of hitters in 2019 and that figured jumped to 41.1% in the shorter sample of the 2020 season. It naturally dropped to 33.1% the year after but has continued sliding, getting to 25% last year and just 19.3% here in 2023. He’s still avoiding walks, getting grounders and generally keeping runs off the board, as shown by his 3.66 ERA this year. However, his 4.13 FIP and 4.44 SIERA suggest he might be lucky to be there, with a .280 batting average on balls in play perhaps helping him out. His velocity is also down, with his fastball averaging 91.3 mph this year compared to the 93-94 range he was at a few years ago.
That puts the Guardians in an tricky spot. If they have designs on trading Bieber like they have done with other players in the past, his value won’t get any higher. They could always delay a trade until the offseason, but they would then be marketing Bieber for just one playoff push instead of the two they can offer now. There’s also the ever-present risk of an injury putting a dent in a pitcher’s value at any point.
But while pulling the trigger now may be the best time to do so in terms of cold-hearted asset management, it would hurt their chances of taking advantage of a weak division here in 2023. The White Sox are disappointing this year but could always reload and have better results next year. The Tigers are showing some signs of life and could be stronger next season as well. Perhaps the decision makers in Cleveland would prefer to try to take advantage of the door that is open in front of them right now.
There will be much to think about in the next few weeks, with the decision undoubtedly to be impacted by the results of the club, the performance of Bieber and the nature of the offers they receive. The trade deadline this year is on August 1.
Guardians Acquire Chris Vallimont From Orioles
The Guardians have acquired right-hander Chris Vallimont from the Orioles in exchange for cash, per announcements from both clubs. Vallimont, who was designated for assignment by the Orioles yesterday, has been optioned to Triple-A Columbus. To open a spot on the 40-man roster for him, the Guardians transferred Triston McKenzie to the 60-day injured list.
Vallimont, 26, was added to the O’s roster on the weekend and made his major league debut, tossing two thirds of an inning on Monday before getting designated for assignment yesterday. Prior to getting called up to the majors, he tossed 57 1/3 innings over 14 Triple-A appearances, with eight of those being starts. He posted a 5.02 ERA in that time, striking out 25.8% of opponents but walking 12.1%.
That lack of control has been an ongoing issue for the righty, who walked 10.6% of minor league batters faced last year and 14.2% in 2021. But he’s generally gotten his share of strikeouts as well, which is surely what’s intrigued the Guardians.
It’s unclear if the Guards view Vallimont more as a starter or a reliever but he’ll give them some extra pitching depth regardless. Earlier today, they placed Cal Quantrill on the injured list, who joined Peyton Battenfield and McKenzie among Cleveland pitchers on the shelf. Vallimont still has a pair of options and just a few days of service time, meaning the club could potentially deploy him as an optionable depth piece for the rest of this year and another season, as long as he continues to hold onto his 40-man spot.
As for McKenzie, he’s already been on the injured list for a couple of weeks and isn’t close to a return. It was reported this week that he’s going to attempt to come back from his UCL sprain via non-surgical means, which will require a three-week shutdown period before he attempts to ramp back up again. He’ll now be officially ineligible to return until 60 days from his initial IL placement of June 17, which would be mid-August.
Guardians Place Cal Quantrill On 15-Day IL
The Guardians have informed reporters, including Zack Meisel of The Athletic, that right-hander Cal Quantrill has landed back on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder inflammation. Right-hander Cody Morris was recalled to take his roster spot.
It’s been a challenging year for Quantrill, who posted a 5.61 ERA through the end of May and then landed on the IL due to shoulder inflammation. He returned a week ago and made two more starts but was shelled for 11 earned runs over 7 2/3 innings in those, raising his season ERA to 6.45 and now landing back on the IL due to the same shoulder ailment.
He’s proven himself quite capable of being a solid starter when healthy, as he tossed 336 innings over 2021 and 2022 with a 3.16 ERA. He only struck out 18% of batters faced in that time but kept his walks to a 6.8% clip and got grounders on 42.6% of balls in play.
There’s been a few twists in the Cleveland rotation this year, with Quantrill’s struggles as well as those of Zach Plesac, who has been outrighted off the roster. Triston McKenzie has also been injured for most of the season. That’s forced them to turn to prospects like Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams and Logan Allen as the season has gone along, slotting those youngsters next to Shane Bieber and Aaron Civale. The club’s starters as a whole have a 4.35 ERA that’s 15th in the league but enough to keep them afloat in a weak division. Their 42-44 record puts them just two games back of the Twins in the American League Central. When Quantrill came off the IL last week, Allen was optioned to the minors and could perhaps be recalled to retake his rotation spot after the upcoming All-Star break.
The club’s status over the next few weeks will make them an interesting player as the August 1 deadline approaches. They have frequently traded players, especially pitchers, as they get into their arbitration years and become more expensive. Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer and Mike Clevinger have all been traded in recent years and replaced by younger and cheaper hurlers from within. With the emergence of Williams, Bibee and Allen, it’s been speculated that the club could look to move someone like Bieber or Civale for more offense at this year’s deadline. Though the Guardians are still in contention, so few clubs are clear sellers this year that swaps between contenders might become a common theme.
The Guards will have a few weeks to assess Quantrill’s health, but it may have an impact on their willingness to move someone from their rotation in such a deal. Earlier today, MLBTR published a list of the top 50 deadline trade candidates and listed Bieber and Civale in the #8 and the #20 spots, respectively, though that was before the news of Quantrill’s return to the IL.
AL Central Notes: Twins, McKenzie, Greene, White Sox
The Twins shuffled their bullpen around a bit today as the club announced that right-hander Jorge Lopez had been reinstated from the injured list. The former All Star was placed on the 15-day IL last month for mental health reasons and told reporters (including Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com) that he’s feeling good about where he’s at as he returns to the mound while expressing appreciation for the organization’s support during his IL stint.
The 30-year-old righty broke out in a big way with the Orioles last season, posting a 1.68 ERA and 2.99 FIP in 48 1/3 innings before Baltimore shipped him to Minnesota at the trade deadline for a package including 2023 relief standout Yennier Cano. Since joining the Twins, Lopez has struggled to a 4.71 ERA and 5.37 FIP in 49 2/3 innings. Lopez, who has two seasons of team control left through arbitration, will look to get his Twins career on track going forward this season as part of a Twins bullpen currently relying on Emilio Pagan, Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran in the late innings.
Lopez’s return isn’t the only change in the Twins bullpen on the horizon, however, as manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters, including The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman, that righty pitching prospect Jordan Balazovic, who had recently been pitching in long relief out of the major league bullpen, will be shortened up and used as a more traditional reliever going forward. Balazovic has impressed in his first call-up to the big leagues this season, with a 1.23 ERA in 7 1/3 innings across six appearances.
More from around the AL Central…
- Guardians right-hander Triston McKenzie will look to recover from last month’s UCL sprain without going under the knife, per The Athletic’s Zack Meisel. Meisel notes that the 25-year-old righty will be shut down for three more weeks but that Cleveland is hopeful McKenzie will be able to return to the big league mound at some point this season. The prospect of McKenzie returning this season is surely a tantalizing one for Guardians fans, as the young right-hander broke out in a big way last season with a 2.96 ERA in 191 1/3 innings of work. With McKenzie on the shelf, Cleveland is currently utilizing a rotation of Shane Bieber, Cal Quantrill, Aaron Civale, Tanner Bibee, and Gavin Williams.
- Tigers outfielder Riley Greene began a rehab assignment with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Toledo yesterday, with Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic among those noting that he’ll be in the lineup tomorrow. That Greene is seemingly nearing a return is fantastic news for the Tigers, who returned left-hander Tarik Skubal from the injured list today and are surely hoping to receive a similar boost from the return of Greene. The 22-year-old outfielder has posted a 127 wRC+ in 224 plate appearances this season in conjunction with stellar center field defense.
- The White Sox announced today that they had recalled outfielder Oscar Colas to the major league roster. Colas made the club’s Opening Day roster this season as the primary right fielder but struggled to a slash line of just .211/.265/.276 in 84 plate appearances before returning to Triple-A. He’s hit well with the club’s affiliate in Charlotte since then, however, boasting a solid .293/.359/.508 slash line in 212 plate appearances. That performance has seeming earned Colas another shot in right at the big league level, where he’ll likely share time with Gavin Sheets going forward.
AL Central Notes: Twins, McKenzie, Tigers
Twins infielder Royce Lewis saw his career-long injury woes continue during yesterday’s game against the Orioles. The 24 year old suffered a strained left oblique while attempting to beat out a groundball. Lewis has played well in the big leagues when healthy, pairing a career 136 wRC+ in 140 plate appearances with strong defense on the left side of the infield for Minnesota. Unfortunately, staying healthy has proved to be a considerable challenge for the youngster, who’s played a total of just 82 games between the major and minor leagues since the end of the 2019 campaign. Per a club announcement, Lewis is headed to the 10-day injured list, though Phil Miller of the Star Tribune notes the club is hopeful he’ll only require a minimum stay on the shelf.
Replacing Lewis on the roster is Jose Miranda, the Twins’ Opening Day third baseman. After a solid rookie season in 2022 where he hit .268/.325/.426 in 483 plate appearances, Miranda scuffled through the first 35 games of his sophomore season. A brutal .220/.275/.318 slash line in 142 plate appearances was enough for Minnesota to demote Miranda to Triple-A, where the results (including a .686 OPS in 39 games) haven’t been much better. That being said, the 25 year old has begun to hit better in recent weeks, with a .300/.370/.456 slash line, a 10% walk rate and a 16% strikeout rate over his last 100 plate appearances. If Miranda has successfully recaptured the offensive form he flashed during his rookie season, he should help to boost a Twins offense that ranks just 18th in MLB with a wRC+ of 98.
More from around the AL Central…
- Guardians right-hander Triston McKenzie has been shut down from throwing since mid-June with a UCL sprain, but the club is still gathering information regarding their young starter before deciding on how to move forward, as manager Terry Francona told reporters (including Joe Noga of Cleveland.com). Francona suggests that an update on McKenzie’s status could come within the next few days now that the righty has received second opinions from Dr. Neal ElAttrache and Dr. Keith Meister. Any diagnosis involving the UCL- the ligament repaired during Tommy John surgery- is obviously a worrisome diagnosis, so it’s no surprise that the club is proceeding with care. McKenzie broke out in a big way for Cleveland last season, posting a 2.96 ERA in 191 1/3 innings of work, but has managed just two starts this season between his current injury and a strained teres major muscle he suffered during spring training.
- The Tigers are expected to welcome left-handers Tarik Skubal and Eduardo Rodriguez back into the rotation this coming week. Manager A.J. Hinch told reporters, including Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, that the club has Skubal starting on Tuesday and Rodriguez starting Wednesday written down “in pencil”, with a final evaluation of both hurlers required before they return to a major league mound. It’s great news for Detroit, as Rodriguez as been among the best starters in the sport this season; the veteran lefty’s 2.13 ERA across 11 starts this season is the lowest of any pitcher in the majors with at least 60 innings pitched this season. Skubal could provide the club a boost in his own right, as the lefty broke out last year with a 3.52 ERA and 2.96 FIP in 117 2/3 innings of work before he underwent season-ending surgery in August.
Guardians Sign Sandy Leon To Minors Contract
The Guardians announced that catcher Sandy Leon has signed a minor league deal. The veteran backstop will report to Triple-A Columbus.
This is Leon’s fourth separate stint with the organization, as Cleveland first acquired him from the Red Sox in a trade in December 2019. He returned to the Guardians on a minors deal in the 2021-22 offseason but opted out at the end of Spring Training, and soon afterwards joined the Reds on another minor league contract. Cincinnati then traded Leon back across Ohio to the Guards last June, before the Guardians dealt Leon again to the Twins at the trade deadline.
The transactional carousel continued for Leon this past offseason when he joined the Rangers on a minor league contract. Leon appeared in 21 games for Texas (who selected his contract when Mitch Garver went on the injured list) before being designated for assignment. Leon did accept his subsequent outright assignment to Triple-A, but then asked to be released 10 days ago, with the Rangers accommodating the request.
The 34-year-old defensive specialist will now seemingly take up a depth role for the Guardians, as Bo Naylor has now taken over the team’s regular starting catcher. Cleveland has Cam Gallagher in a traditional backup role and utilityman David Fry also capable of playing catcher in a pinch, but Leon might provide additional depth since Mike Zunino was released. If nothing else, Leon gives the Guardians a familiar face at Triple-A, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Leon found himself on the move again if a clearer chance at playing time didn’t materialize with Cleveland.