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Matt Festa Matt Festa Avoids arbitration
Fri, Nov 21, 2025, 5:57 PM
Festa agreed to a one-year, $1 million contract with the Guardians on Friday to avoid arbitration, Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
Analysis: Festa pitched a career-high 54.2 innings in 2025 while also maintaining a solid 1.08 WHIP with a 56:15 K:BB. He also racked up 12 holds and should line up for a high-leverage role out of the bullpen once again in 2026. |
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David Fry David Fry Lands contract from Cleveland
Fri, Nov 21, 2025, 5:52 PM
Fry (face) agreed to a one-year, $1.38 million contract with the Guardians on Friday to avoid arbitration,Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
Analysis: Fry had a tough 2025 season, initially sidelined until the end of May while recovering from an elbow injury. His season ended in late September after being hit in the face by a pitch, though that isn't expected to affect his 2026 campaign. In between, Fry struggled to a .171/.229/.363 line across 157 plate appearances. |
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Nolan Jones Nolan Jones Agrees to deal
Fri, Nov 21, 2025, 5:45 PM
Jones (oblique) agreed to a one-year, $2 million contract with the Guardians on Friday to avoid arbitration, Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
Analysis: Jones' season regular-season ended a few days early due to an oblique injury, an issue that also sidelined him for the postseason. He spent the entire 2025 season in the majors and accrued 403 plate appearances, though he managed only a .600 OPS with five homers and eight stolen bases. |
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Nic Enright Nic Enright DFA'd by Cleveland
Tue, Nov 18, 2025, 6:24 PM
Enright (elbow) was designated for assignment by the Guardians on Tuesday, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.
Analysis: Enright loses his 40-man spot on Rule 5 deadline day after undergoing Tommy John surgery shortly after the end of the 2025 regular season. He will miss all of 2026, but Enright showed real promise before going down with a 2.03 ERA and 1.16 WHIP over 31 innings out of the Cleveland bullpen, numbers which may attract a team on the other end of the competitive spectrum. |
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Emmanuel Clase Emmanuel Clase Indicted on gambling charges
Sun, Nov 9, 2025, 12:39 PM
Clase was indicted Sunday on multiple federal charges related to rigging bets on pitches thrown in MLB games, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
Analysis: Cleveland's former closer missed the final two-plus months of the 2025 season while being investigated by MLB, and he and teammate Luis L. Ortiz are now formally being charged in federal court, with Ortiz already having been arrested. The indictment alleges that the pitchers were paid to intentionally throw balls so bettors could wager on the pitches being a ball or a strike. Clase, who is a three-time All-Star and led the majors in saves in each of the 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons, is facing up to 65 years in prison if convicted on all charges, per Passan. |
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Luis L. Ortiz Luis L. Ortiz Arrested in gambling probe
Sun, Nov 9, 2025, 12:34 PM
Ortiz was arrested in Boston earlier Sunday after he was indicted on charges for his alleged role in a scheme to rig bets on pitches thrown in MLB games, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
Analysis: Fellow Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase has also been indicted, though he has yet to be taken into police custody. Citing a statement from the Department of Justice, Zack Meisel of The Athletic relays that Ortiz and Clase are facing charges of "wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, and money laundering conspiracy" after the two pitchers were accused of intentionally throwing balls in games so that bettors could wager on the pitches. According to Passan, prosecutors allege that Clase's involvement in the betting scheme dated back to as early as May 2023, while Ortiz was included at a later date. Ortiz has remained on administrative leave since July 3 while MLB has conducted its own sports-betting investigation. If MLB concurs with the accusations levied against Ortiz in the indictment, the 26-year-old right-hander's time in affiliated ball would most likely be over. |
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Andrew Walters Andrew Walters Activated from IL
Thu, Nov 6, 2025, 7:44 PM
Walters (lat) was activated from the injured list Thursday, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports.
Analysis: The move was procedurally required, but Walters is still recovering from lat surgery. It's unclear when he'll be able to return to the mound, but he had not started a rehab appearance prior to the end of the season. |
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Sam Hentges Sam Hentges Activated from IL
Thu, Nov 6, 2025, 7:35 PM
Hentges (shoulder) was activated from the injured list Thursday, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports.
Analysis: Hentges is recovering from a pair of surgeries, the more serious of which was on his shoulder, which cost him the entire 2025 season. He is expected to be ready for spring training, though his timeline may be a bit volatile given the seriousness of the injury. |
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Will Brennan Will Brennan Back from IL
Thu, Nov 6, 2025, 7:27 PM
Brennan (elbow) was activated from the injured list Thursday, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports.
Analysis: Brennan underwent sports hernia surgery in September, amidst his rehab from Tommy John surgery. He is expected to be ready for the start of spring training. |
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Will Wilson Will Wilson Booted from 40-man roster
Thu, Nov 6, 2025, 7:12 PM
Wilson was outrighted to Triple-A Columbus and elected free agency Thursday, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports.
Analysis: Wilson made his big-league debut and picked up 91 plate appearances with Cleveland this season. He had only a .511 OPS and will now look for another opportunity around the league. |
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Carlos Hernandez Carlos Hernandez Inks minors deal with Cleveland
Thu, Nov 6, 2025, 11:05 AM
The Guardians re-signed Hernandez to a minor-league contract Thursday, Aram Leighton of JustBaseball.com reports.
Analysis: The Guardians were one of three teams Hernandez pitched for in 2025, as he held a 6.23 ERA, 1.66 WHIP and 39:22 K:BB over 43.1 innings between Philadelphia, Detroit and Cleveland. With an average four-seamer velocity of 97.7 mph, Hernandez remains one of the hardest throwers in the game, but he's been an unreliable bullpen arm. |
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Austin Hedges Austin Hedges Re-signs with Guardians
Tue, Oct 14, 2025, 9:16 PM
Hedges signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Guardians on Tuesday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.
Analysis: Hedges slashed just .161/.250/.277 with 10 RBI and 13 runs scored across 180 plate appearances in the regular season. However, the 33-year-old is great defensively behind the plate, so Cleveland will keep him around for another year to serve as a backup behind Bo Naylor. |
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Nic Enright Nic Enright Set for Tommy John surgery
Tue, Oct 7, 2025, 2:33 PM
Enright will undergo Tommy John surgery soon, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.
Analysis: Enright has been sidelined since early September with an injury to his pitching arm, and it's been determined surgery is the best course of treatment. The right-handed reliever will not be ready to pitch in games again until 2027. Enright held a 2.03 ERA and 30:12 K:BB over 31 innings for the Guardians this season. |
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David Fry David Fry Nasal surgery scheduled
Tue, Oct 7, 2025, 2:28 PM
Fry will undergo surgery Tuesday to repair nasal fractures, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.
Analysis: Fry suffered nasal and facial fractures when he was hit by a 99 mph fastball thrown by Tarik Skubal back on Sept. 24. He's expected to be fully recovered by early-to mid-November, so Fry should have a fairly typical offseason. |
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Slade Cecconi Slade Cecconi Records seven outs in Game 3
Thu, Oct 2, 2025, 6:25 PM
Cecconi didn't factor into the decision during Thursday's loss to the Tigers, giving up one earned run on two hits and a walk while striking out three batters across 2.1 innings.
Analysis: Cecconi kept the Tigers off the board through the first two innings of the game with little trouble, but back-to-back singles from the Tigers in the third were all manager Stephen Vogt needed to see to take his starter out of the game after just 47 pitches. Reliever Tim Herrin allowed one of the inherited runners to score, preventing Cecconi from finishing his Guardians postseason debut unblemished. With Cleveland now shifting its focus to the 2026 campaign, Cecconi should have a good chance at cracking the Opening Day rotation after turning in a 4.30 ERA and 1.19 WHIP across 132 innings in the regular season. |
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Bo Naylor Bo Naylor Pops first career playoff homer
Wed, Oct 1, 2025, 4:07 PM
Naylor went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in Wednesday's victory over the Tigers.
Analysis: Brayan Rocchio broke a tie with a solo shot with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning and Daniel Schneemann tacked on an additional run with an RBI double. Naylor then added some big insurance runs with a three-run blast off lefty reliever Brant Hurter. It was the first hit of the wild-card series and the first career postseason home run for Naylor, who hit a career-high 14 out of the yard during the regular season. |
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Brayan Rocchio Brayan Rocchio Go-ahead homer as Guardians survive
Wed, Oct 1, 2025, 3:49 PM
Rocchio smashed a go-ahead, solo home run in the eighth inning of Wednesday's 6-1 victory over the Tigers in Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series.
Analysis: Rocchio was in a 0-2 hole against Troy Melton with one out and no one on, but he got a center-cut fastball and didn't miss it, putting the pitch over the right-field wall to send the crowd at Progressive Field into a frenzy. The Guardians tacked on an additional four runs in the frame and forced a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday. It was the second career postseason homer for Rocchio, who slashed .306/.390/.444 during the 2024 playoffs. |
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Tanner Bibee Tanner Bibee Holds Tigers to one run in Game 2
Wed, Oct 1, 2025, 3:41 PM
Bibee yielded one run on five hits and three walks over 4.2 frames Wednesday, taking a no-decision in a win over the Tigers in Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series. He struck out six.
Analysis: Bibee had to pitch out of a jam right away, with the first two batters of the game reaching on a single and an error. He was up to the challenge, fanning the next three hitters. He permitted one run in the fourth on a Javier Baez RBI single and was spared from being charged with another when Zach McKinstry ran into an out on the bases. Bibee was unable to get through the fifth inning after issuing a two-out walk to put a second runner on, but the Guardians' bullpen then shut things down the rest of the way in a 6-1 win. The righty was trending in the right direction late in the regular season with a 1.30 ERA in September, and he kept it going in his first outing of the postseason. |
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Gavin Williams Gavin Williams Tough-luck loss in Game 1
Tue, Sep 30, 2025, 2:57 PM
Williams permitted just two unearned runs on five hits and one walk over six-plus innings but was saddled with a loss in Tuesday's 2-1 defeat to the Tigers. He struck out eight batters.
Analysis: The Tigers plated their first run in the top of the first inning thanks to a pair of two-out singles and an error, and they added another in the top of the seventh on a squeeze bunt after Williams was pulled from the game. That turned out to be enough, as Tarik Skubal and the Tigers' bullpen kept the Guardians in check. Williams accrued up 19 whiffs on his 88 pitches, picking up where he left off after closing out the regular season on a high note. He would likely pitch Game 2 of the ALDS versus the Mariners on Sunday, should the Guardians advance. |
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Bo Naylor Bo Naylor Taking seat in Game 1
Tue, Sep 30, 2025, 9:43 AM
Naylor is absent from the lineup Tuesday in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series versus the Tigers.
Analysis: With lefty ace Tarik Skubal toeing the slab for the Tigers, the left-handed-hitting Naylor will begin the contest on the bench. The Guardians are going with Austin Hedges at catcher Tuesday. |
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