Giants Designate Will Brennan For Assignment
The Giants announced that left-hander Reiver Sanmartin has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Right-hander Tristan Beck has been optioned to Triple-A Sacramento as the corresponding active roster move. To open a 40-man spot, outfielder Will Brennan has been designated for assignment.
Brennan, 28, was a free agent this offseason after being non-tendered by the Guardians. The Giants scooped him up by signing him to a major league deal, a split contract that paid him $900K in the majors and $400K in the minors. He is still optionable and the Giants have made use of that, as he has already been optioned four times this year.
He has performed well in the minors but not the majors, which continues a trend for him. He has been sent to the plate 23 times at the big league level this year, with just two hits, both singles. Dating back to his time with Cleveland, he now has a .263/.301/.365 line in 889 major league plate appearances. That leads to an 86 wRC+, indicating he has been 14% below league average offensively.
He has taken 117 plate appearances at the Triple-A level this year and produced a .364/.393/.467 line and 126 wRC+. That’s propped up by an unsustainable .396 batting average on balls in play but is nonetheless a much more encouraging performance than what he has done in the big leagues. He now has 745 Triple-A plate appearances dating back to 2022 with a .324/.368/.464 line and 122 wRC+, though that is bolstered by a high .355 BABIP.
Brennan has some wheels and could have some appeal as a speed-and-defense depth outfielder, though the bat is more of a question mark. Even when he puts up good marks in the minors, he does so with a low walk rate and generally relies on batted-ball luck.
He now heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Giants can take as long as five days to see if there’s any trade interest. Since he is still optionable, perhaps he would hold some appeal to a team looking for extra outfield depth.
If he were to clear waivers, he would have the right to elect free agency but probably wouldn’t exercise that right. Players with at least three years of service have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of the open market but have to forfeit their salary commitments unless they have at least five years of service. Brennan is just a bit over that three-year line and would have to walk away from the remaining money on his deal if he elected free agency.
Sanmartin, 30, was claimed off waivers from the Reds in November. He suffered a hip flexor strain in March that was expected to cost him about three months, a timeline that has proven to be pretty accurate. He logged 84 1/3 innings with the Reds from 2021 to 2025, allowing 5.66 earned runs per nine. His 19.2% strikeout rate and 11% walk rate in that span were subpar but he induced grounders on 53.6% of balls in play. He’ll be making his debut as a Giant as soon as he gets into a game.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Giants Release Ryan Borucki
TODAY: The Giants have released Borucki, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. Borucki is now a free agent and free to sign with any club.
May 31: The Giants have designated left-hander Ryan Borucki for assignment and selected the contract of outfielder Jonah Cox from Double-A Richmond, according to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser. Outfielder Will Brennan has also been optioned to Triple-A, with righty Tristan Beck recalled in his place.
After being cut by the White Sox near the end of Spring Training, Borucki quickly caught on with the Giants on a big league contract. The results haven’t been there for Borucki in his ninth MLB season, as the southpaw has a 4.94 ERA, 14.4% strikeout rate, and 8.7% walk rate across 23 2/3 relief innings. Just when it seemed like Borucki was getting on track after a shaky start to the season, he gave up five earned runs over his last three outings and 5 1/3 innings of work.
As usual, Borucki has drastic splits, as left-handed batters have only a .550 OPS against him this season (while righty batters have a whopping 1.085 OPS). A team in need of southpaw relief help could be inclined to claim Borucki off San Francisco’s waiver wire, but the likelier scenario is that he’ll clear waivers and then be outrighted to Triple-A. Borucki has been outrighted in the past, so he can elect free agency rather than accept that assignment.
The 24-year-old Cox will be making his Major League debut whenever he appears in a game, and Cox will get his first taste of the Show before even getting a look at the Triple-A level. It seems like Cox’s superb performance in Richmond couldn’t be ignored, as Cox is hitting .400/.453/.644 with six home runs and 27 steals (in 34 attempts) over 183 Double-A plate appearances.
Cox has never posted anything close to these numbers in his previous three minor league seasons, and he is surely getting a lot of help from an eye-opening .464 BABIP. That said, Cox’s elite speed has helped him generate large BABIPs in the past, and he has drastically cut back on his strikeout rate to 16.9% in Double-A ball.
The bat has been the only question mark about Cox’s game, as his defense and speed were already seen as ready for primetime. Those plus skills alone make Cox a viable bench piece for the Giants and perhaps a platoon partner for Drew Gilbert in center field, even if there’s bound to be a learning curve as Cox makes the big jump from facing Double-A pitching to big league arms. The Giants rank last in baseball in stolen bases, so Cox should provide an immediate boost on the basepaths.
Baseball America ranks Cox 21st on their list of Giants prospects. Cox was a sixth-round pick for the Athletics in the 2023 draft, and he was dealt to San Francisco in the February 2024 trade that sent Ross Stripling to the A’s.
Giants Place Heliot Ramos On 10-Day Injured List
9:44 PM: Vitello said that Ramos will miss a minimum of two weeks, but more likely a “handful of weeks,” according to Justice de los Santos.
5:44 PM: The Giants are placing outfielder Heliot Ramos on the 10-day injured list, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Per Justice de los Santos of The Mercury News, Ramos has a right quad strain. The team is also activating Erik Miller from his rehab assignment, optioning Tristan Beck to Triple-A, and recalling Will Brennan.
Ramos suffered the injury in the fifth inning of yesterday’s 5-2 loss to the Athletics. He attempted a sliding catch on a line drive from Jeff McNeil and came up short, with McNeil reaching on a single. Ramos looked uncomfortable in his at-bat in the sixth, striking out swinging before leaving the game with a trainer. Casey Schmitt replaced Ramos in left field.
Ramos underwent an MRI today, and evidently the quad strain was severe enough to warrant a trip to the injured list. It’s only the second time Ramos has been on the IL in his career. The first was in 2023, when he missed two months with a right oblique strain. As for his current injury, Ramos can expect to miss a couple of weeks for a mild quad strain, or several months if it’s severe. The precise timeline should be known in the coming days as the team reviews the test results.
In the meantime, the Giants will be without their everyday left fielder and a slightly above-average bat. Ramos broke out with a 120 wRC+ in 121 games in 2024. He declined to a 106 wRC+ last year, though he still hit 21 home runs and was still plenty productive. Ramos was out to a similar start this year, with a .267/.307/.424 line in his first 176 plate appearances. That amounts to a 105 wRC+, indicating Ramos is 5% better than average at the plate. Even accounting for his poor defense (-9 Outs Above Average in left field last year), Ramos is a serviceable all-around player for the Giants.
The team has a few options for left field in Ramos’ absence. Drew Gilbert was a first-round draft pick by the Astros four years ago, but he has a 70 wRC+ through his first 189 career plate appearances. Utilityman Jesus Rodriguez hit well at Triple-A last year, though he’s a catcher by trade and only has 41 innings of outfield experience at Triple-A (and only nine innings in the Majors). Brennan is now up from Triple-A, but he’s only taken 22 big league plate appearances since the start of 2025, so he won’t be trusted with regular at-bats.
It’s telling that the Giants turned to Schmitt in left after taking Ramos out of the game. It was reported a week ago that the club was considering using Schmitt in the outfield to keep his bat in the lineup. Schmitt has a team-leading 129 wRC+ at the moment, so the struggling Giants are playing it smart by exploring all options for him. Statcast has Schmitt’s arm strength and sprint speed as above-average, so his athleticism and current offensive prowess make him an appealing option compared to Gilbert, Rodriguez, and Brennan. Indeed, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports confirms that Schmitt will be part of the left field mix, based on comments from manager Tony Vitello.
Meanwhile, Miller returns from a minimum stint on the IL with a lower back strain. The 6’5″ lefty has thrown 108 2/3 innings as a reliever and opener since debuting in 2024. Miller has a 3.15 ERA in that time, with a solid 27.4% strikeout rate but also a 13.9% walk rate that’s worse than average. In light of those metrics, Miller thrives by leveraging a high-90s sinker to generate groundballs 50.2% of the time, which is well above league average.
Miller’s return will be a boon to the Giants’ bullpen. In his place, Beck will go back to Triple-A five days after being recalled. The right-hander showed impressive control in 56 2/3 innings last year but had a middling 4.61 ERA. Beck only made two appearances during this latest stint in the Majors, allowing two hits in three scoreless innings and striking out one. He’ll serve as depth at Triple-A and is likely to be called up again at some point.
Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images
Giants Place Harrison Bader, Jared Oliva On Injured List
The Giants have placed outfielders Harrison Bader and Jared Oliva on the 10-day injured list, per a club announcement. The former is dealing with a hamstring strain, while the latter was diagnosed with a hamate fracture, likely pointing to a somewhat notable absence. Bader’s IL placement is retroactive to April 12. Fellow outfielders Will Brennan and Drew Gilbert have been recalled from Triple-A in their place.
Bader, 31, has gotten out to a dismal start in his new environs. Signed to a two-year, $20.5MM contract in free agency, he’s started his Giants tenure with a .115/.145/.192 batting line and a glaring 30.9% strikeout rate in 55 turns at the plate. The longtime defensive standout had one of his best seasons at the plate in 2025, slashing a combined .277/.347/.449 with a career-best 17 homers in 501 plate appearances between Minnesota and Philadelphia.
It’s obviously a bit early to sound the alarm, but it’s a brutal stretch of 15 games for Bader, who hasn’t experienced strikeout troubles of this magnitude since 2018 with the Cardinals. Bader’s chase rate on balls off the plate is up six percentage points this year, while his contact rate on balls within the strike zone is down more than three percentage points. He’s been extremely aggressive early in his plate appearances and has too often found himself behind in the count as a result.
The Giants haven’t provided a firm timetable, but Bader will be down for the next week-plus at the very least. If it’s a lengthy enough stay on the IL, he could require a minor league rehab stint. For the time being, San Francisco can either slide Jung Hoo Lee back to center field or give some of that workload to Gilbert and Brennan. Lee hasn’t graded out well in his time as a center fielder in the majors — which was surely part of the Giants’ motivation in signing Bader, who perennially ranks as one of the game’s top outfield defenders. Gilbert has played all three outfield slots in Triple-A this season, spending the bulk of his time in center. Brennan has played the corners only in 2026 but has nearly 1800 professional innings in center.
As for the 30-year-old Oliva, this is his first big league action since 2021 with the Pirates. He’s appeared in seven games but been primarily a defensive replacement and pinch-runner. He’s had seven at-bats and tallied one single in that time.
Oliva impressed the Giants with plus speed and outfield range in camp this spring. In 20 games/46 plate appearances, he swiped a ludicrous 14 bags while also turning in a robust .375/.444/.550 batting line. That was more than enough for Oliva to earn a spot on the roster, even pushing out-of-options former top prospect Luis Matos out the door in the process.
Hamate fractures typically require surgery and come with a recovery period between four and eight weeks. Every instance is different, of course, but that general framework is at least worth noting. It’s doubtful Oliva will be back any earlier than mid-May, and his absence could push into early-to-mid June. Assuming Bader returns to the fold before Oliva, Gilbert stands as a natural option to fill the backup outfield role that Oliva has held throughout the season.
Giants Sign Will Brennan To Major League Deal
1:38pm: The Associated Press reports that Brennan’s deal is a split contract that pays him $900K when in the majors and $400K in the minors.
11:11am: The Giants announced this morning that they’ve signed outfielder Will Brennan to a one-year, major league contract. Brennan was non-tendered by the Guardians back in November. Right-hander Rowan Wick was placed on the 60-day injured list to open up a spot on the 40-man roster for Brennan.
Brennan, 28, was sidelined throughout 2025 by surgeries on his left UCL and groin, but Justice de los Santos of Mercury News reports that Brennan is full-go entering camp with no restrictions. An eighth-round pick by Cleveland back in 2019 who made his big league debut in 2022, he’s slashed .267/.307/.373 (90 wRC+) in parts of four seasons in the majors but has just 269 games in the majors thanks to an injury-plagued start to his young career.
Looking at Brennan’s last mostly healthy season in 2024, he slashed .264/.309/.388 (98 wRC+) in 114 games for the Guardians that year. That’s roughly replacement level production, but a closer look reveals that he was actually considerably more effective when healthy. Brennan slashed .256/.314/.415 (107 wRC+) prior to a bout of rib cage inflammation that sent him to the injured list, and when he came back in July he didn’t look quite right and struggled badly with a nine-game hitless streak. After being optioned to Triple-A for a couple of weeks, he returned in early August and slashed .330/.349/.408 (117 wRC+) the rest of the way.
All of that is to say Brennan has flashed impressive potential at times but struggled to stay healthy for long enough to put it all together. That makes him a worthwhile roll of the dice for a Giants team that already has a full outfield (featuring Heliot Ramos, Harrison Bader, and Jung Hoo Lee) on paper but could certainly make room for another big bat if Brennan manages to hit his way into the lineup. His contact-oriented, low-strikeout profile is a familiar one to a club that already employs Lee and Luis Arraez, and it’s easy to look at Lee’s 2025 season (107 wRC+, 2.4 fWAR) as the sort of campaign Brennan might be hoping to put together in 2026.
Brennan has options remaining and could be sent to the minors in the event that he struggles or is otherwise squeezed off the roster, making the deal a fairly low-risk one for the Giants. For now, he’ll look to prove he’s healthy and compete for a bench job with the Giants alongside fellow outfielders Drew Gilbert, Luis Matos, and Grant McCray.
As for Wick, the righty was signed by the Giants last week to a big league deal following an impressive run in Nippon Professional Baseball with the Yokohama DeNA Bay Stars. The former Cubs reliever underwent Tommy John surgery during his time with the Bay Stars and is not expected to pitch in 2026, so his placement on the 60-day IL is hardly a shock.
American League Non-Tenders: 11/21/25
Every American League team has officially announced their non-tender decisions. It was a quiet evening in terms of subtractions, with only the Rangers parting with any marquee players. All players who were non-tendered are free agents without going on waivers. A few teams dropped pre-arbitration players from the back of the 40-man roster. It’s possible they preferred not to expose them to waivers and are hopeful of re-signing them to non-roster deals.
Here’s a full list of today’s activity in the AL, while the National League moves are available here. All projected salaries are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
- The Angels announced they’ve non-tendered outfielder Gustavo Campero and catcher Sebastian Rivero. Campero is a depth outfielder who has hit .202/.272/.346 over the past two seasons. Rivero operated as the club’s third catcher for most of the season but spent the final few weeks on the active roster. Neither player had been eligible for arbitration. All their arb-eligible players were easy calls to retain.
- The Astros technically made one non-tender, dropping infielder Ramón Urías after he was designated for assignment earlier in the week. He’d been projected at $4.4MM.
- The Athletics officially non-tendered outfielder JJ Bleday, the club announced. He’d been designated for assignment on Tuesday, so this was inevitable unless they found a trade partner. Bleday had been projected at $2.2MM.
- The only non-tenders for the Red Sox were first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and reliever Josh Winckowski, each of whom had been designated for assignment on Tuesday. Lowe was projected at $13.5MM, while Winckowski was at $800K.
- The Guardians non-tendered outfielder Will Brennan and relievers Sam Hentges and Nic Enright. The latter had been designated for assignment on Tuesday. Hentges hasn’t pitched since undergoing shoulder surgery in September 2024. He underwent a right knee procedure a few months ago and will be delayed this offseason. Brennan only appeared in six MLB games this year and underwent Tommy John surgery while in the minors in June. He’d been projected at $900K.
- The Mariners non-tendered reliever Gregory Santos, reports Francys Romero. He’d only been projected at $800K, narrowly above the MLB minimum, so the move was about dropping him from the 40-man roster. Seattle acquired the 26-year-old righty from the White Sox over the 2023-24 offseason. He has only made 16 MLB appearances with a 5.02 earned run average over the past two years because of lat and knee injuries. Seattle also non-tendered relievers Trent Thornton and Tayler Saucedo (the latter of whom was designated for assignment on Tuesday). Thornton had been projected at $2.5MM and is coming off a 4.68 ERA through 33 appearances. He suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in August.
- The Orioles non-tendered swingman Albert Suárez, the team announced. Everyone else in their arbitration class was offered a contract, surprisingly including first baseman Ryan Mountcastle (as first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan). Suárez, 36, was a solid depth starter in 2024. He was limited to five MLB appearances this past season by a flexor strain but is not expected to require surgery.
- The Rangers non-tendered each of Adolis García, Jonah Heim, Josh Sborz and Jacob Webb. MLBTR covered those moves in greater detail.
- The Rays only non-tendered outfielders Christopher Morel and Jake Fraley, each of whom had been designated for assignment earlier in the week. Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times reported last night that the Rays were open to bringing back Fraley at a lower price than his $3.6MM arbitration projection.
- The Royals non-tendered outfielder MJ Melendez and reliever Taylor Clarke, per a club announcement. Melendez, who’d been projected at $2.65MM, was an obvious decision. The former top prospect never developed as hoped and is a career .215/.297/.388 hitter over parts of four seasons. Clarke isn’t as big a name but comes as the more surprising cut. He’d been projected at just $1.9MM and is coming off a 3.25 ERA with a 21.4% strikeout rate over 55 1/3 innings out of the bullpen.
- The Tigers are non-tendering utility player Andy Ibáñez, according to Romero. He’d been projected at $1.8MM. The righty-hitting Ibáñez had been a solid short-side platoon bat for Detroit between 2023-24. His production against southpaws dropped this year (.258/.311/.403), limiting his value. The Tigers optioned the 32-year-old to Triple-A in early June and kept him in the minors until shortly before the trade deadline. Detroit also dropped the six pitchers they’d designated for assignment earlier in the week: Tanner Rainey, Dugan Darnell, Tyler Mattison, Jason Foley, Jack Little and Sean Guenther.
- The only Twins non-tender was outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr., who’d been designated for assignment this morning to make room for the Alex Jackson trade. Everyone in the arbitration class was brought back.
- The White Sox non-tendered outfielder Mike Tauchman, as first reported by Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. The lefty hitter turned in a solid .263/.356/.400 line in 93 games this past season. Tauchman has gotten on base at plus rates in three straight years but was also non-tendered by the Cubs a year ago. The 34-year-old (35 next month) had been projected for a $3.4MM salary. The Sox also announced they’ve dropped lefty reliever Cam Booser and first baseman Tim Elko. Neither had been eligible for arbitration. The former posted a 5.52 ERA in 39 appearances after being acquired from the Red Sox last winter, while the latter hit .134 in his first 23 MLB games despite a 26-homer season in Triple-A.
- The Yankees announced five non-tenders. Relievers Mark Leiter Jr., Scott Effross, Jake Cousins and Ian Hamilton were all cut loose, as was pre-arbitration righty Michael Arias. Leiter, who’d been projected at $3MM, never clicked in the Bronx after being acquired at the 2024 deadline. He posted a 4.89 ERA in 70 innings as a Yankee. Hamilton, Effross and Cousins were all projected just above the MLB minimum but are cut to clear roster space. Hamilton was on and off the active roster and posted a 4.28 ERA in 40 big league frames this year. Effross was limited to 11 appearances and has been plagued by various injuries for the past three and a half years, while Cousins is working back from Tommy John surgery. Arias has never pitched in the big leagues and could be brought back on a minor league deal.
The Blue Jays tendered contracts to all unsigned players on the 40-man roster.
AL Central Notes: Ragans, Sewald, Olson, Brennan
Cole Ragans is set to begin a rehab assignment on Sunday, with a scheduled two-inning start planned with Triple-A Omaha. It has now been over three months since Ragans was sidelined by a rotator cuff strain, and if the southpaw is able to make it back to the Royals rotation before the season is over, it won’t be in a full-fledged starting role. “We know we don’t have the time to get him built up to five or six innings,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro told reporters (including Jaylon Thompson of the Kansas City Star), indicating that Ragans would still be a starter, but perhaps in a piggyback capacity or as the lead pitcher of a bullpen game.
Seth Lugo was just placed on the 15-day IL earlier this week due to a back strain, and Kris Bubic‘s season was ended by a rotator cuff strain in late July. Despite these and other injuries, the Royals’ pitching staff has still been the biggest factor in keeping the team afloat in the wild card race, as Kansas City’s offense has remained inconsistent. If the Royals can stick around in the playoff hunt until late September, getting Ragans back in even a limited capacity might be a huge boost in helping K.C. return to the postseason.
More from around the AL Central…
- Paul Sewald began a rehab assignment with the Tigers‘ high-A affiliate on Thursday. Sewald hasn’t pitched since July 11 when he was still a member of the Guardians, and his placement on Detroit’ 60-day IL means that he can’t be activated until September 10 at the absolute earliest. Though Sewald remains on the mend with a right shoulder strain, the Tigers felt comfortable enough in his ability to return this season that the righty was acquired from the Guards at the deadline. Shoulder problems have limited Sewald to only 15 1/3 innings this season, and he has a 4.42 ERA over his last 55 MLB frames with Cleveland and Arizona during the 2024-25 campaigns.
- Turning to another pitcher on the Tigers‘ 60-day injured list, Reese Olson has started a throwing progression as he works his way back from his own right shoulder strain. Ramping up throwing work now might give Olson a chance at making a playoff roster — he was placed directly on the 60-day IL on July 28, so he is only eligible to return for the last couple of games of Detroit’s regular-season schedule. Even the slightest setback would almost surely shut Olson down for 2025 entirely, and even if healthy, it remains to be seen if the Tigers would entrust a playoff roster spot to a pitcher coming off such a long layoff. Olson has pitched well as a starter over his three seasons in Motown, but would likely be used as a reliever in the playoffs since he doesn’t have enough time to fully rebuild his arm strength.
- Guardians outfielder Will Brennan underwent a sports hernia surgery to correct a lingering groin injury, according to MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins. Brennan’s 2025 season was already over due to a Tommy John surgery back in June, but even after the TJ procedure and his latest surgery, Brennan is expected to be ready for the start of Cleveland’s spring camp in February. The outfielder played in 252 games with the Guardians in a part-time capacity in 2023-24, but after starting 2025 in the minors and then getting injured, Brennan appeared in just six MLB contests this year.
Guardians Reinstate Erik Sabrowski, Transfer Will Brennan To 60-Day IL
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
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 Option Brayan Rocchio
The Guardians announced that outfielder Will Brennan has been recalled from Triple-A Columbus. Infielder Brayan Rocchio has been sent the other way, optioned to Columbus as the corresponding move.
Rocchio, 24, heads to the minors for the first time since the 2023 season. He spent the entire 2024 campaign in the big leagues as Cleveland’s primary shortstop. He appeared in 143 games and stepped to the plate 442 times. His offense wasn’t great, as he hit just .206/.298/.316 for a 79 wRC+, indicating he was 21% below league average on the whole. He did steal 10 bases, but was also caught six times. His glovework was well regarded, as he racked up 11 Defensive Runs Saved and six Outs Above Average.
Put all together, FanGraphs considered him to be worth 1.1 wins above replacement on the season, with Baseball Reference a bit more generous at 1.9. That’s obviously not outstanding production but fine value for a guy making modest pay since he’s in his pre-arbitration years.
It was enough for him to open the 2025 season back in that role, but his performance has tanked and he has gradually ceded playing time to others. Through 102 plate appearances this year, Rocchio is hitting .165/.235/.198. His .208 batting average on balls in play is quite low but he’s also not hitting the ball with much authority. His average exit velocity, hard hit rate and barrel rate are no higher than the 11th percentile of qualified hitters, per Statcast. His 4.9% walk rate is less than half of last year’s 10% clip. The defensive metrics have also soured on him, with OAA having him at league par and DRS at -3.
In recent days and weeks, Gabriel Arias has been taking more of the shortstop time. He has a .264/.319/.416 line and 110 wRC+ on the year, with solid defense to boot. Presumably, he will take over as the regular shortstop now that Rocchio has been optioned. Arias and Daniel Schneemann had previously been sharing second base, so perhaps Schneeman will get more playing time at the keystone as he’s hitting .273/.356/.532 for a 154 wRC+ this year. Ángel Martínez and Will Wilson are on hand to step in to the middle infield, if needed, though Martínez is currently the club’s regular center fielder.
For Rocchio, instead of sitting on the big league bench, he can get some regular playing time with Columbus as he tries to get out of his recent funk. Getting his offense back to a more acceptable level could put him in position to return to the majors when an opportunity arises. He is still young and it’s certainly possible that there are better days ahead for him.
How long he spends on this optional assignment could impact his financial position in the future. He came into 2025 with one year and 37 days of service time. That put him on track to qualify for arbitration after 2026 and free agency after 2029, though those timelines will no longer be possible if he ends up spending several months down on the farm. He also has just one option season left, so he’ll be out of options next year if he spends at least 20 days in the minors this season.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images