AL Central Notes: Valera, Collins, Baldwin
Guardians outfielder George Valera has made a solid case for the left field job this spring. The 25-year-old has an .833 OPS across 10 games. Valera hasn’t been in the lineup since Monday, and manager Stephen Vogt revealed his dealing with a mild left calf strain. He’ll remain sidelined for a few more days, relays Tim Stebbins of MLB.com.
Valera made his debut in the final month of the 2025 campaign. He delivered a respectable 113 wRC+ in his brief stint with Cleveland. The lefty-swinging outfielder was on the bench in Game 1 of the Wild Card round with Tarik Skubal on the mound for the Tigers, but drew the start in right field for the next two games of the series. Valera homered off of Casey Mize in the first inning of Game 2, setting the tone for Cleveland’s lone win.
The Guardians struggled mightily to find consistent offense in the outfield last year. Steven Kwan had a fine season, but Cleveland finished dead last in OPS in both center field and right field. Angel Martinez was the main culprit in center, with Nolan Jones dragging down the numbers in right. The current plan for the upcoming season is for Kwan to move to center field, with Valera and top prospect Chase DeLauter handling the corners, at least against right-handed pitching. Martinez and Johnathan Rodriguez could factor in against lefties.
Outside of a stumble in his first taste of Triple-A, Valera has typically held his own as a hitter at every minor league level. Injuries limited his workload in 2025, but he slashed .255/.346/.457 in 28 games at Columbus.
A newcomer to the division is dealing with a minor injury of his own. Isaac Collins of the Royals is working through back/side tightness, reports Anne Rogers of MLB.com. The outfielder hasn’t suited up for a spring game since Tuesday. Collins downplayed the issue to Rogers, describing the injury as something he doesn’t want to attempt to play through with Opening Day around the corner.
Kansas City acquired Collins and right-hander Nick Mears from the Brewers for Angel Zerpa in mid-December. The outfielder was a bit of a late bloomer, debuting as a 26-year-old with Milwaukee in 2024. He only appeared in 11 games that season, but emerged as an everyday player this past year.
Collins posted a 122 wRC+ across 441 plate appearances in his first extended chance as a big leaguer. He chipped in nine home runs and 16 stolen bases. Braves catcher Drake Baldwin took home NL Rookie of the Year honors fairly comfortably, but Collins finished fourth in the voting, just behind former teammate Caleb Durbin.
Similar to the Guardians, the Royals had a tough time finding reliable offensive production in the outfield last season. The club made sure to address that need this winter, trading for Collins and signing Lane Thomas and Starling Marte. The two veteran additions are right-handed, making them sensible platoon partners for Kyle Isbel and Jac Caglianone. The switch-hitting Collins should be ticketed for an everyday gig in left field, assuming this injury isn’t too serious.
The White Sox outfield will be missing a familiar face this year, with longtime center fielder Luis Robert Jr. getting dealt to the Mets. His potential replacement is now dealing with an arm injury. Brooks Baldwin has been sidelined with elbow inflammation, per Kyle Williams of the Chicago Sun-Times. The versatile 25-year-old hasn’t appeared in a spring game for more than a week. “Talking to the trainers, we got an image, we got everything done,” Baldwin said. “But a lot of soreness in there, [we’re trying] to get it to calm down and take it day to day and see where we’re at.”
Baldwin spent the majority of the 2025 season with the big-league club, slashing .240/.290/.407 with 11 home runs across 103 games. He made 64 starts in the outfield, but also picked up double-digit appearances at second base, third base, and shortstop. Baldwin is headed for regular center field work this year, flanked by Andrew Benintendi and new arrival Austin Hays. If he’s forced to miss time, journeyman Derek Hill and former Yankee Everson Pereira would be candidates to see increased opportunities.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Steven Kwan To Get Center Field Reps In Spring Training
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt told reporters today that Steven Kwan will get some center field reps during spring training as the club tries to find its best outfield alignment for the upcoming season. Zack Meisel of The Athletic was among those to pass the word along.
Kwan, 28, has logged 4,873 2/3 innings in the outfield in his career. The vast majority of those, 4,689 2/3 innings, have been spent in left field. His center field experience consists of just 31 frames. 30 of those were back in 2022, his debut season, with one frame at that spot last year.
His work in left has been superlative, with the numbers putting him head and shoulders above the rest of the league. Dating back to his 2022 debut, he has been credited with 68 Defensive Runs Saved and 25 Outs Above Average in left. The DRS tally is more than double anyone else at that spot, with Ian Happ coming in second on that leaderboard with a tally of 33. Even though he’s primarily a center fielder, Daulton Varsho is second on the OAA leaderboard for left fielders over the past four years, with his 11 coming nowhere near Kwan. In his four seasons, Kwan has four Gold Gloves and three Fielding Bible awards.
Despite his excellent work in left, the Guards haven’t tried him at the more-demanding center field position. Myles Straw, an excellent defender in his own right, was in center for most of 2022 and 2023. Straw’s poor offense spurred the Guards to move on eventually. He spent most of 2024 in the minors and was traded to the Blue Jays last winter.
The center field job in Cleveland has been fairly open the past two years but the Guards haven’t tried moving Kwan over. That could be because he was comfortable in left and no one was pushing him for the job. The Guards have barely spent any money on free agents in recent years and have also struggled with finishing the development on some of their outfield prospects.
That has left them to cycle through a hodgepodge of guys in center, including Ángel Martínez, Tyler Freeman, Lane Thomas, Daniel Schneemann, Nolan Jones and others. No one has really taken hold of the spot and the Guards are going into 2026 with some outfield uncertainty, a common position for them in recent years.
Kwan will be locked into a spot somewhere. The top options for the other two slots could be George Valera and Chase DeLauter, who both received promotions late in 2025. Valera appeared in 16 regular season games and three postseason contests, splitting his time between right field and designated hitter. DeLauter hasn’t even appeared in a regular season game, as he was promoted to make his big league debut in the Wild Card round of last year’s playoffs.
Valera doesn’t appear to be an option up the middle. He has some minor league experience there but his last regular action at that spot was in 2023. He only logged nine Triple-A innings in center in 2024 and was kept in the corners last year. DeLauter did play some center for the Guards in the postseason last year but that seemed to be a sort of emergency plan to get his bat into the lineup. He actually didn’t play any center in the minors last year. His most recent regular run there was 86 1/3 innings of Double-A ball in 2024.
The Guards seemed like a good fit for a center field addition this winter but didn’t land one. They’ve had an extremely quiet winter, with their most notable signing being a $5.5MM deal for reliever Shawn Armstrong, followed by $1.5MM for reliever Colin Holderman. That lack of spending comes in spite of José Ramírez deferring some of his guarantee as part of his new extension. The Guards are also unlikely to pay Emmanuel Clase due to his gambling investigation.
With the lack of offseason activity, the Guards go into the season with Kwan, Valera and DeLauter as their three most exciting outfielders but someone will have to play center. The designated hitter spot could be used for extra flexibility but first basemen Kyle Manzardo and C.J. Kayfus could be sharing that spot.
If Kwan can handle center, it could help the Guards add some thump to a lineup that has been lacking in recent years. They won the American League Central last year mostly due to pitching and defense, as the team as a whole hit .226/.296/.373 for an 87 wRC+, better than just the Pirates and Rockies. Kwan has a .281/.351/.390 line and 112 wRC+ in his career. Valera hit .255/.346/.457 for a 114 wRC+ in Triple-A last year while DeLauter slashed .278/.383/.476 at that level for a 130 wRC+.
It’s also possible that Kwan doesn’t take to center and ends up back in left where he’s comfortable. The Guards could try DeLauter or Valera there but, as mentioned, neither has played a lot of center in recent years. If all three end up as corner guys, that would leave center to guys like Martínez and Schneemann while DeLauter and/or Valera could be battling Kayfus for at-bats in the DH slot. Martínez has a .226/.277/.353 line and 77 wRC+ in his career with Schneemann at .210/.290/.358 and an 84 wRC+.
Guys like Kahlil Watson and Petey Halpin could also get some playing time but are probably behind Valera and DeLauter on the depth chart. Watson is a converted infielder who has only been playing the outfield for a couple of years, though he is considered to be making good progress on the grass. Halpin’s offensive prowess is considered a bit behind the rest of the guys in this group.
Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images
Guardians Notes: Kwan, Bullpen, Valera, Rocchio
As expected, it has been a quiet start to the offseason for the Guardians. Their only major league moves thus far have been to re-sign backup catcher Austin Hedges and add middle reliever Connor Brogdon. Cleveland rarely attacks free agency, and they seem generally unlikely to make major moves on the trade front in either direction this winter.
The Guardians heard teams out on Steven Kwan at the deadline. They didn’t find an offer to their liking, and they’re less inclined to sell after making a surprise late-season run to another AL Central title. Unsurprisingly, ESPN’s Buster Olney wrote this morning that while the Guards aren’t going to close themselves off to offers, they’re currently inclined to hold him into next season.
An offseason trade would be selling at a bit of a low point. Kwan had a .700 OPS or worse in each of the final four months. His overall .272/.330/.374 line was league average, but that was carried mostly by a fantastic April. It’s primarily a reflection of a drop in his batting average on balls in play. BABIP volatility is to be expected for a player who rarely hits the ball hard but is one of the sport’s five best pure contact hitters. The bat-to-ball skills and plus defense in left field give him a solid floor, and both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference valued him around three wins above replacement.
Kwan is under team control for two seasons. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for an $8.8MM salary. The Guardians don’t have much on the books beyond the well below-market José Ramírez contract. They’re not under any financial pressure to move him. Even if other teams value him just as highly as they did over the summer, a trade would remove the only established outfielder from Stephen Vogt’s lineup. Rookies Chase DeLauter, Petey Halpin and George Valera and the out-of-options Nolan Jones are currently in line to divide the center and right field playing time. The Guards already need to add to the outfield, and a Kwan trade would only push that further.
Cleveland is also in the market for multiple relievers, Vogt told reporters at the Winter Meetings (link via Tim Stebbins of MLB.com). “We need depth in the bullpen,” the two-time AL Manager of the Year said. “We have four, maybe five guys in our bullpen, and we need eight.”
It’s safe to assume Emmanuel Clase isn’t coming back. That keeps Cade Smith in the closer role. Hunter Gaddis is a quality setup arm from the right side. The rest of the group is in flux. Brogdon and Matt Festa are out of options and probably set to open the season in middle relief. Neither should be ticketed for leverage spots. There’s even less certainty from the left side. Tim Herrin and Erik Sabrowski have each shown promise but struggled to throw strikes. Even if a depth starter like Joey Cantillo or Doug Nikhazy ends up in long relief, they need more trustworthy arms.
Additionally, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports that the Guardians have been granted a fourth option year on both Valera and second base prospect Juan Brito. Players can typically only be optioned to the minor leagues in three separate seasons after being added to the 40-man roster. After that, teams need to pass them through waivers and outright them off the 40-man to send them down.
Exceptions are made for players who have less than five full seasons (90+ days) on an MLB or minor league active roster. That usually occurs because the player took a while to reach full-season ball — especially for international signings who signed their first contract at 16 — and/or missed chunks of a season to injury. Valera didn’t play a full minor league season until 2021 and missed most of this past season working back from knee surgery. Brito didn’t play a full season until 2022, so he’d have been eligible for the fourth option even if he were fully healthy. He missed most of the ’25 season because of thumb and hamstring issues.
Valera and Brito could each be in the mix for Opening Day roster spots. The Guardians have the flexibility to send them to Triple-A Columbus for another season, though both right field and second base are open in the short term. There’s probably more pressure on Brito to break out, as top prospect Travis Bazzana has already hit his way to Triple-A. Bazzana has the higher ceiling and is viewed as the long-term second baseman, meaning Brito might not have much runway even if he breaks camp.
Vogt told reporters that Brayan Rocchio will play a lot of shortstop during Spring Training. They’ll move Gabriel Arias around in a utility role, leaving the door open for Brito or Bazzana to play their way into the second base job early in the season. Rocchio divided his time evenly between the middle infield spots this year, though he was mostly at the keystone in the second half. He’s out of options and probably isn’t in jeopardy of losing his roster spot, but he’s a .222/.293/.327 in more than 900 plate appearances over parts of three seasons. He’s entering his age-25 campaign and in a bit of a make-or-break spot himself if he’s going to remain an everyday player.
Guardians Select George Valera
Active rosters expand from 26 to 28 today. Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports that the Guardians are calling up outfielders George Valera and Jhonkensy Noel as well as right-hander Zak Kent. Infielder Will Wilson is being optioned to open a third active roster spot. Valera wasn’t on the 40-man but the Guardians had vacancies there.
Valera, now 24, was once one of the top prospects in baseball. He crushed his way through the lower levels of the minors. He was eligible for the Rule 5 draft back in the 2021-22 offseason but the Guards made the easy decision to give him a 40-man spot and protect him.
More recently, some injuries and Triple-A struggles dropped his stock. Hamate surgery and a hamstring strain limited him to just 79 games in 2023. Another hamstring strain limited him at the start of 2024 and then that season was later ended by surgery to address a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee. As the recovery for that procedure was going to carry into 2025, the Guards decided to non-tender Valera. That opened a 40-man roster spot for the offseason, when there’s no injured list, but ran the risk of Valera signing elsewhere.
Thankfully, the Guards were able to get him back via a minor league deal for 2025 and he has seemingly gotten back on track at the plate somewhat. Over those injury-shortened 2023 and 2024 campaigns, he slashed .235/.343/.427 in the minors for a wRC+ of 99. Here in 2025, he has been able to appear in 28 Triple-A contests with a .255/.346/.457 line and 113 wRC+.
Though he spent two years on Cleveland’s 40-man, this is his first time getting called up to the show. He is in today’s lineup, batting seventh and serving as the designated hitter, and will make his major league debut in the process.
The Guards are hanging around the playoff race, currently just four games back of the final Wild Card spot, and will add Valera into the outfield mix alongside Noel, Steven Kwan, Daniel Schneemann, C.J. Kayfus, Nolan Jones and Ángel Martínez.
Going forward, Valera could spend more time in Triple-A next year if the Guards don’t have big league playing time for him. Given how much time he has missed due to injury, he would ideally get regular playing time somewhere. He spent three years on the 40-man and therefore burned three options but the Guards could apply for a fourth for 2026. A team is sometimes granted a fourth option for a player who has missed significant time due to injury.
Photo courtesy of Adam Cairns, Imagn Images.
Guardians Re-Sign George Valera To Minor League Deal
The Guardians announced they’ve brought back former top outfield prospect George Valera on a minor league deal. He’ll get an invite to big league Spring Training as a non-roster player.
Valera, 24, was a notable international amateur signee back in 2017. He raked in the low minors and got to Double-A at age 20. Valera’s offensive promise made him one of Cleveland’s most touted minor leaguers. He landed in the back half of Baseball America’s overall Top 100 prospects entering both 2022 and ’23. The Guardians made the easy call to put him on the 40-man roster after the ’21 season rather than expose him to the Rule 5 draft.
The left-handed hitter’s stock has dropped significantly over the past couple years. While Valera had an impressive age-21 season at Double-A, he hasn’t carried that over to the top minor league level. Over parts of three seasons with Triple-A Columbus, he owns a middling .229/.336/.424 batting line. He has walked at a strong 13.5% clip but gone down on strikes in 26.7% of his 865 Triple-A plate appearances.
A litany of injuries hasn’t done him any favors. Valera has missed time with hamstring issues and underwent surgery to repair a hamate fracture in his right hand over the 2022-23 offseason. His ’24 campaign was cut short in September, as he injured his right knee and required patellar tendon surgery. That came with at least a six-month recovery timeline, so his availability for Spring Training games is in question.
Cleveland no longer felt they could carry that profile on their 40-man roster. They designated Valera for assignment last week as they added four players to the roster to ensure they wouldn’t lose them in the Rule 5 draft. The non-tender deadline allowed the Guards to cut Valera loose without putting him on waivers. He had a few days to gauge the market but seemingly didn’t find any team springing to offer him a 40-man spot. Valera returns to the only organization he’s known but will need to play his way back onto the roster as he tries to reach the majors.
American League Non-Tenders: 11/22/24
The deadline to tender a contract to arbitration-eligible players is tonight at 7pm CT. Here’s a rundown of the players on American League teams that have been non-tendered today. This post will be updated as more decisions are revealed. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected salaries for all players eligible for arbitration last month. All players who are non-tendered before this evening’s deadline go directly into free agency, where they’re eligible to sign with any of MLB’s 30 clubs.
Onto the transactions…
- The Angels announced that they have non-tendered left-hander Patrick Sandoval, infielder Eric Wagaman, as well as outfielders Jordyn Adams and Bryce Teodosio. You can read more about those moves here.
- The Astros tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
- The Athletics announced that they did not tender a contract to right-hander Dany Jiménez, who was projected for a $1MM salary. He posted a 4.91 in 25 appearances for the A’s in 2024. He struck out 21.4% of opponents but gave out walks at a 16.2% clip.
- The Blue Jays are planning to non-tender righty Dillon Tate, per Ben Nicholson Smith and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (X link). Tate was just claimed off waivers at the start of September and had a projected salary of $1.9MM. He’s a former fourth overall pick with some good numbers in his career but he missed most of 2023 due to injury and then posted a 4.66 ERA in 2024. The Jays are also non-tendering righty Jordan Romano, which you can read more about here.
- The Guardians have non-tendered outfielder George Valera and right-hander Connor Gillispie, per Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com (X link). Both players were designated for assignment earlier this week.
- The Mariners are going to non-tender outfielder Sam Haggerty, per Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 (X link). He was limited to just eight games in 2024 due to a torn achilles. He was only projected for a salary of $900K but the M’s have decided to move on. They also non-tendered infielder Josh Rojas and righties Austin Voth and JT Chargois, moves that are covered with more depth here.
- The Orioles plan to non-tender right-hander Jacob Webb, per Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner (X link). Webb was projected for a salary of $1.7MM next year. The righty tossed 56 2/3 innings for the O’s in 2024 with a 3.02 ERA and 24.5% strikeout rate, but an 11.4% walk rate.
- The Rays announced they have non-tendered outfielder Dylan Carlson as well as left-handers Tyler Alexander, Colin Poche and Richard Lovelady. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relayed the news (X link) prior to the official announcement. Carlson once seemed like a building block in St. Louis but his offense has declined for three straight years now and he was projected for a $2.7MM salary. Alexander was projected for $2.8MM and had a 5.10 ERA this year. Poche had a solid 3.86 ERA but was projected for $3.4MM. Lovelady was designated for assignment a few days ago.
- The Rangers tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
- The Red Sox announced that right-handers Bryan Mata and Isaiah Campbell were both non-tendered. Those two had been designated for assignment earlier this week.
- The Royals tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
- The Tigers announced that they have non-tendered infielder Eddys Leonard as well as right-handers Ricky Vanasco, Brendan White and Wilmer Flores. Three of those four were designated for assignment earlier this week. Flores, the lone exception, is the younger brother of the same-named Wilmer Flores of the Giants. The younger Flores was once a notable pitching prospect but was injured for most of 2024.
- The Twins tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
- The Yankees have non-tendered infielder Jon Berti, per Robert Murray of FanSided (X link). He was projected for a salary of $3.8MM. He was injured for much of the year and only got into 25 games. The Yankees also announced that they have non-tendered left-hander Tim Mayza, who was projected for a $4MM salary but had a 6.33 ERA in 2024.
- The White Sox will non-tender first baseman/outfielder Gavin Sheets, which MLBTR covered earlier today. The Sox later announced Sheets and also that they non-tendered right-hander Enyel De Los Santos as well. De Los Santos was projected for a salary of $1.7MM but posted a 5.20 ERA this year.
Guardians Designate Three Players For Assignment
The Guardians added four players to their 40-man roster before tonight’s Rule 5 deadline: pitchers Franco Aleman, Nic Enright, and Doug Nikhazy and outfielder Petey Halpin. To open 40-man spots, Cleveland designated former top outfield prospect George Valera and relievers Peter Strzelecki and Connor Gillispie for assignment.
The most notable piece of news here is the club opting to part ways with Valera. The 24-year-old is just a couple of years removed from being a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport but has been plagued by injuries over the past two years. Valera underwent offseason hand surgery prior to the 2023 season and ultimately did not make his season debut until May of that year, ultimately playing just 11 games prior to June 17 of that year due to additional injury woes. Overall, he hit just .211/.343/.375 despite an excellent 16% walk rate last year.
Things improved in his age-23 season with the Guardians this year on offense, as he hit .248/.337/.452 with 17 home runs, a major step in right direction after slugging just ten the year prior. Unfortunately, Valera was once again limited by injury and played just 90 games in 2024 before going under the knife again back in September. That surgery came with a six-to-nine month recovery timetable, which left him poised to start 2025 on the injured list and likely not be available as a potential big league contributor until the second half of next year at the earliest.
Given the former top prospect’s injury woes and relatively modest production at Triple-A, the Guardians evidently decided to cut him from the 40-man roster. Now, Valera will be available for any interested club to claim off waivers. If he manages to clear waivers, the Guardians will have the opportunity to outright him to the minor leagues and retain him in the organization for 2025. Importantly, Valera does not have minor league options remaining so any acquiring club would either need to carry him on their active roster or sneak him through waivers themselves later in the offseason.
As for Strzelecki, the 30-year-old right-hander has appeared in the majors in each of the past three seasons but only arrived in Cleveland back in March. Prior to this year, Strzelecki made his big league debut for the Brewers back in 2022 and pitched quite well with a 2.83 ERA and 2.94 FIP in 35 innings of work. The right-hander suffered a down year in 2023, however, as he pitched to a 4.54 ERA in 35 2/3 frames for Milwaukee before being swapped to the Diamondbacks at the 2023 trade deadline in exchange for southpaw Andrew Chafin. Strzelecki made just one appearance in a Dbacks uniform last year where he threw 1 1/3 scoreless frames.
The righty was squeezed off of Arizona’s 40-man roster in the run-up to Opening Day this year in order to make room for the addition of Tucker Barnhart, and the Guardians pounced on the opportunity to bring him into the fold. He served as an up-and-down reliever for Cleveland this year and pitched quite well in a limited sample with a 2.31 ERA and 3.77 FIP in 11 2/3 innings of work, though that wasn’t enough to earn a more permanent spot in a loaded Guardians bullpen. With Strzelecki set to enter 2025 without any option years remaining, the Guardians opted to part ways with the right-hander, who could garner interest from rival clubs on the waiver wire now that he’s available.
Gillispie, meanwhile, made his big league debut with the Guardians just this year. He pitched to a 2.25 ERA in eight innings of work in the majors to go along with a rather pedestrian 4.05 ERA in 27 appearances (15 starts) at Triple-A. The 27-year-old will enter the 2025 campaign with options remaining, which could make him particularly attractive to a pitching-needy club as an optionable young arm with the ability to pitch both in the rotation and out of the bullpen.
As for the quartet of prospects, each will be protected from the Rule 5 Draft next month now that they’re on the 40-man roster. Aleman, 24, turned in a dominant season in relief at the Triple-A level with a 1.99 ERA and a 36.6% strikeout rate in 24 appearances. The 27-year-old Enright was picked in the Rule 5 draft one before by the Marlins but was eventually returned to the Guardians. A two-way player for much of his career, the right-hander turned to pitching full-time in 2024 and looked quite good in a small sample as he posted a 1.06 ERA in 17 innings of work with an incredible 49.2% strikeout rate. Nikhazy, a 25-year-old lefty, split 2024 between the Double- and Triple-A rotations and posted solid numbers with a 2.98 ERA and 25.4% strikeout rate in 123 2/3 innings of work, potentially putting him on the radar for big league starts in 2025. Halpin is the lone position player the Guardians protected, and the club’s third-round pick in the 2020 draft and slashed .233/.314/.399 in 90 games at Triple-A this year.
Guardians’ George Valera To Undergo Patellar Tendon Surgery
Guardians outfield prospect George Valera is headed for season-ending surgery, tweets Mandy Bell of MLB.com. The 23-year-old sustained a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee while trying to make a catch at the wall in Triple-A. The procedure comes with a six-to-nine month recovery timetable, so it’s likely Valera will open next season on the injured list.
Injuries have sapped some of Valera’s value. The lefty-swinging outfielder appeared at the back half of Baseball America’s top 100 prospect lists in both 2022 and ’23. Valera underwent hamate surgery during the 2022-23 offseason and has had brief injured list stints because of hamstring issues in the last couple years. He’d been healthy between the start of May and the middle of September this year, spending the entire time on optional assignment to Triple-A Columbus.
Valera had hit very well through Double-A. His Triple-A numbers are closer to average. He’s a career .229/.336/.424 hitter in 205 games at the level. That includes a .248/.337/.452 line with 17 homers in 374 plate appearances this year. While Valera has a strong 12% walk rate, he has gone down on strikes at a lofty 27% clip. A center fielder early in his career, he has played all but nine innings in the corners or at designated hitter this year.
Cleveland has carried Valera on the 40-man roster going back to the 2021-22 offseason. He has spent the past three seasons on optional assignment. Most players can only be optioned to the minors in three separate seasons. MLB sometimes grants teams a fourth option for players who have less than five full seasons on a minor league or MLB roster.
Valera, who didn’t play a full season at an affiliate until 2021, could be a candidate for a fourth option. That’d afford the Cleveland front office an extra year of flexibility. If Valera is out of options going into next season, Cleveland would need to carry him in the majors or make him available to other teams once he is ready to return from the injured list.
AL Central Notes: Twins, Miller, Valera, Carpenter
The Twins brought back four players from the Mariners in exchange for Jorge Polanco last month, though Minnesota’s first target was right-hander Bryce Miller, Adam Jude of the Seattle Times reports. Miller and fellow rookie Bryan Woo were among the most sought-after trade targets of the winter, yet the Mariners weren’t eager to move either pitcher, or anyone from their crop of young and controllable starters. While Polanco fills a big need for Seattle at second base, he is only under team control through the 2025 season, so any kind of Polanco-for-Miller swap would’ve needed to be much different on Minnesota’s end to land Miller’s services.
More from around the AL Central…
- Guardians outfield prospect George Valera will miss “several weeks” after suffering a left hamstring strain, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (X link). Valera missed a big chunk of the 2023 season due to hamstring injuries and a hamate surgery, and the result was an unremarkable .220/.349/.397 slash line over 338 minor league plate appearances, mostly at the Triple-A level. Valera had been a regular on top-100 prospect lists prior to his 2023 disappointment, and his readiness for the start of the Triple-A season could now be in question depending on how much time he misses with his latest injury.
- Kerry Carpenter is also dealing with a strain to his left hamstring, though the Tigers slugger is only slated to miss a few days for now, manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press). Hinch described the situation as “precautionary,” and Carpenter didn’t think he was going to be out for long. Over his first two MLB seasons, Carpenter has hit .273/.334/.474 with 26 homers over 572 PA, and is expected to play a key role as the Tigers’ regular designated hitter in 2024.
Guardians Notes: Naylor, Valera, Rotation
The Guardians briefly added top catching prospect Bo Naylor to the big league roster as the 27th man in yesterday’s doubleheader, but he’s already been sent back to Triple-A Columbus and will continue to get regular playing time there, it seems. Cleveland’s offense is out to a dismal start to the 2023 season, and the catching corps, in particular, has been quite poor at the plate so far.
Naylor’s .257/.391/.507 slash in Triple-A Columbus is strong, but manager Terry Francona noted to Bill Ladson of MLB.com that Naylor’s throwing numbers in Columbus have been rough. He’s just 7-for-49 in cutting down base thieves this year (14.3%). Francona added that some of that could be due to minor league pitchers doing some experimenting of their own (perhaps at the cost of some quickness to the plate), it seems the organization would understandably still like to see some improvement in that aspect of his game. To his credit, Naylor had a much stronger 32% caught-stealing rate in the minors last year.
One other near-MLB-ready prospect who could come up this year in hopes of providing some offensive help will be sidelined for the second time this year. Outfielder George Valera, who missed the first seven weeks of the season due to hamate surgery, is heading back to the injured list after just five games, per Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com. This time, the 22-year-old is dealing with a strained hamstring. It’s not yet clear how long he’s expected to miss.
Valera went 3-for-16 at the Triple-A level in his brief five-game activation between IL stints. Last year’s .221/.324/.448 output in Triple-A doesn’t immediately stand out, but that also came as a 21-year-old against much more advanced competition and was only across 179 plate appearances. Valera spent the majority of the season in Double-A Akron, where he posted a heartier .264/.367/.470 batting line. Between those two stops, he mashed 24 homers over the course of 132 games.
Valera ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects at MLB.com (No. 51) and Baseball America (No. 72) heading into the season, and the organization surely hoped he could hit his way into the big league mix before too long. Health hasn’t cooperated to this point, though the Guardians have at least avoided injuries to their position player corps at the big league level.
That’s not the case on the pitching side of things, where Cleveland has faced prolonged absences for both Triston McKenzie (teres major strain) and Aaron Civale (oblique strain). McKenzie embarked on a minor league rehab assignment over the weekend and will make at least one more outing before the team considers activating him, writes Hoynes, citing Francona. The Guards are aiming to build both righties up to around five innings and 80 to 90 pitches before reinstating either from the injured list.
McKenzie’s first rehab outing lasted three innings and 52 pitches; he can’t be activated until May 29 at the earliest, due to his status on the 60-day injured list. Civale also pitched three innings in a rehab game last week.
As it stands, the Guardians only have one clear opening in the rotation. Righty Hunter Gaddis is up from Columbus to make today’s start in place of the injured Peyton Battenfield. One of McKenzie or Civale could step into that spot, but Cleveland has Shane Bieber, Cal Quantrill and thriving rookies Tanner Bibee and Logan T. Allen also in the rotation currently. Situations such as this tend to work themselves out — injuries are inevitable on the pitching front — but at some point it’s possible the Guards will need to make the tough call to send one of Bibee or Allen back to Columbus. Speculatively speaking, Cleveland could also look into a six-man rotation or perhaps bump a more established starter like Quantrill or Civale to the bullpen, but however it shakes out there’ll be some decisions on the pitching front in the near future.