The Guardians have designated outfielder Ramon Laureano for task, tweets Zack Meisel of The Athletic. In his place, the crew is selling outfield prospect Johnathan Rodriguez for his MLB debut. Rodriguez is already on the 40-man roster, so the transfer additionally frees up a 40-man spot for Cleveland. Guardians Potential first reported that Rodriguez was getting the decision to the massive leagues.
Laureano, 29, got here to the Guardians early final August after the A’s positioned him on waivers in hopes of discovering a taker for the rest of final season’s wage. The Guardians obliged, hoping that Laureano would offer a lift down the stretch as they tried to maintain tempo within the American League Central. The veteran did present a little bit of offense, hitting .243/.342/.382 following the declare (106 wRC+), however the Guards wound up lacking the postseason.
It was one thing of a shock to see a budget-conscious crew like Cleveland tender Laureano a contract this winter. He wound up agreeing to a $5.15MM wage, which amounted to a good portion of the Guardians’ very restricted offseason assets. The crew made that dedication regardless of Laureano having turned in a bleak .224/.304/.371 slash (91 wRC+) on the season general — and a .218/.296/.373 batting line in 2022-23 mixed (93 wRC+).
The choice didn’t go in any respect because the Cleveland entrance workplace or the participant himself hoped. Laureano’s strikeout charge has completely erupted to a career-worst 38.6% this season. He’s hitting simply .143/.265/.229, albeit in a small pattern of 83 plate appearances. Simply 4 of his 10 hits have gone for additional bases (one homer, three doubles). The Guardians could have per week to attempt to commerce Laureano, place him on outright waivers or launch him.
Given the pronounced nature of Laureano’s struggles on the dish and his comparatively notable wage, they gained’t discover a commerce marketplace for his companies. Laureano is overwhelmingly unlikely to go unclaimed on waivers resulting from that wage and can thus seemingly clear and turn out to be a free agent. He has sufficient service time to retain all of his wage even when he rejects an outright task in favor of free company.
Earlier in his profession, Laureano was a high quality common in Oakland. From 2018-21, he turned in a sound .263/.335/.465 batting line (119 wRC+) with 49 homers and 34 steals over the lifetime of 1257 plate appearances. That got here whereas enjoying sturdy protection throughout all three outfield spots. Laureano was an oft-rumored commerce candidate and may effectively have been a part of Oakland’s fireplace sale, however an 80-game PED suspension halfway by the 2021 season tanked his worth. That proved all of the extra pricey, as his suspension absolutely performed a job in pushing the A’s to half with left-hander Jesus Luzardo to accumulate Starling Marte from the Marlins in a rental deal whereas Oakland made a push for the postseason.
As for the 24-year-old Rodriguez, he’ll step into the Cleveland outfield for his MLB debut after hitting .276/.389/.449 in 185 Triple-A plate appearances this season. The 2017 third-rounder entered the season ranked twenty third amongst Guarda farmhands at Baseball America, sixteenth at MLB.com and thirtieth at FanGraphs.
The 6’0″, 225-pound Rodriguez attracts reward for his plus uncooked energy but additionally some skepticism for his penchant to chase and whiff. He’s walked in an enormous 15.7% of his plate appearances in Triple-A Columbus but additionally fanned at a 25.4% clip. That’s a suboptimal mark towards Triple-A pitching but additionally a marked enchancment over 2023’s 32.4% strikeout charge in 202 Triple-A plate appearances. Rodriguez is a former switch-hitter who now bats solely from the suitable aspect of the plate. He popped 29 homers between Double-A and Triple-A final season, and he’s already slugged seven lengthy balls on the season.
Strikeouts will seemingly proceed to be part of his recreation, however in all probability to not the extremes that Laureano skilled this season. Rodriguez may even add some reputable thump to a Cleveland lineup that lately has been mild on energy however is popping a nook this season. Thanks partly to an enormous step ahead from rising star Josh Naylor, the Guards rank ninth within the majors with 51 large flies on the season. Rodriguez offers them one other energy bat. He gained’t be almost as sturdy a defender within the outfield corners as Laureano was, however MLB.com pegs him as a doubtlessly common proper fielder and Baseball America touts his plus throwing arm.
