There was baseball news this week as teams had to set their 40-man rosters to protect minor leaguers from the Rule 5 Draft at the winter meetings and the deadline to decline to offer players contracts for the 2026 season also took place.
The Cleveland Guardians allowed three players to become free agents on Friday, and all three, OF Will Brennan, and relief pitchers Sam Hentges and Nic Enright are coming off injuries.
Brennan missed most of last season due to Tommy John surgery, getting just 11 at bats with the big-league club, and Enright had the same procedure towards the end of the season. Hentges had a shoulder problem.
Our guess is the front office will try to keep all three with Brennan and Hentges being offered minor league deals with invitations to spring training. Enright likely won’t pitch at all in ’26.
Cleveland also added pitchers Yorman Gomez and Austin Peterson as well as shortstop Angel Genao and OF Khalil Watson to the 40-man roster. Genao, a switch-hitter, is regarded as a top 100 prospect.
However, reviewing the current roster, there are some very easy decisions for Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff to make if they make a trade bringing back more players than they dealt or if they sign a free agent.
It kind of says a lot about the talent level of the big-league team that there are so many players that can easily be identified.
Matt Festa was signed for next season, and his best talent is probably his rubber arm. He made 63 appearances after being acquired from Texas at the end of April, but he also had a 4.12 ERA.
David Fry was a no-brainer to bring back as he battled through after having elbow surgery after the 2024 season. He probably was put on the major league roster too soon, as he hit .140 in his first 43 at bats (445 OPS), and had just one homer. After that, the average still wasn’t good (.184), but he had 7 dingers.
Nolan Jones was also signed for ’26, despite hitting .211 with a 600 OPS. It is looking more and more like Jones’ 2024 campaign (20 HR, 931 OPS) is the outlier. Since then, he is hitting .218 with just eight homers. We just aren’t sure what the attraction is from the Cleveland front office.
In addition to Jones and Festa, the Guardians still have players like Jhonkensy Noel (643 career OPS), Johnathan Rodriguez, Zak Kent, and even Daniel Schneemann still protected.
The latter is versatile, but will also be 29 next season, and in two years with the Guardians, has batted just .210 with a 648 OPS. You have to think you can get a player like that from the minor leagues or from another organization.
With players like Chase DeLauter, George Valera, and even Juan Brito knocking on the door, you have to wonder what the future is for all of the players we mentioned. The Guardians didn’t have to protect Travis Bazzana yet, which probably saved some of these players, but that may just be temporary.
The point is heading into the Hot Stove season, the Guardians have a lot of flexibility. The question is, will they use it?
Cleveland Sports Perspective 