The Guardians have sent reliever Pedro Avila outright to Triple-A Columbus, according to the transaction log at MLB.com. Cleveland had designated him for assignment a week ago when they signed Paul Sewald. Avila has been outrighted once before in his career, which gives him the right to elect minor league free agency.
Avila, 28, was a bullpen workhorse this year. He took the ball 54 times and tossed 82 2/3 relief innings between the Padres and Guardians, fourth in the majors behind Ryan Yarbrough, Derek Law and Luke Weaver. While most of Avila’s work came in low-leverage relief, he managed solid results. Avila turned in a 3.81 earned run average with a decent 23.2% strikeout percentage and 45% grounder rate. The righty had a slightly higher than average 10.2% walk rate, but he was generally an effective bullpen piece for skipper Stephen Vogt. He added four scoreless innings during the postseason.
That was Avila’s second straight decent year. He provided San Diego 50 1/3 innings of 3.22 ERA ball while striking out nearly a quarter of opponents in 2023. That makes it somewhat surprising that he didn’t attract any interest on the waiver wire. Avila is out of minor league options, though, so any team that claimed him would’ve needed to keep him in the MLB bullpen or designate him themselves. Apparently no team was willing to commit him a roster spot.
As mentioned, Avila now decides whether to stick with the Guardians or test the market. That he went unclaimed on waivers suggests he’d probably be looking at a minor league deal with a non-roster Spring Training invite if he elects free agency.
Nooooo!!!! They can’t do that to Pedro Avila!
Mets should take a flyer on him!
With no options? It’s hard to figure who he’s an improvement on now that Stanek’s been signed.
@jackStrawb Griffing cannon
It’s getting pretty difficult to understand some of the moves the Guardians have made or haven’t made this offseason. It’s supposed to be a major league team. Run it as such or find a buyer who will.
Indianfan;
Huh?
They’re one of the lowest revenue teams in MLB, and got to the
AL Championship Series in 2024. Their FO clearly knows what they’re doing.
However, rather than complain, here’s how YOU can help……
Buy 2-4 season tickets. Have your friends and relatives do the
same. That administration has shown in the past that when
they bring in more revenue they spend more on payroll.
Of course, to expect them to compete equally with teams
from Boston, NYC, LA, Philly, etc. for FA players isn’t realistic.
The Guardians play in MLB. Not the NBA or NFL.
Why do you take the bait?
@Indianfan
What does outrighting Pedro Avila to the minor leagues have to do with “supposedly being a major league team”? Why is it so difficult to understand that Cleveland has better options on its roster for relievers than Pedro Avila currently? And why would any fan call into question Cleveland’s wisdom–the team with the best bullpen in baseball last year–when NO OTHER BASEBALL TEAM WITH WORSE BULLPENS bothered to claim Pedro Avila?
The only truly difficult thing to understand is why, after so many years of excellence, people still don’t get how Cleveland does it. And insist on betraying their ignorance by publicly bitching and moaning about it.
As of the morning of January 30, 2025, this is still a free country with free speech, and that includes bitching publicly. Maybe that all changes by the afternoon.
Bitching isn’t particulary interesting to read. Bitching is an unconstructive, emotional complaint that focuses on venting frustration rather than seeking solutions, whereas criticism is a structured evaluation aimed at improvement. While bitching often reinforces negativity and stagnation, criticism provides actionable feedback that fosters growth and change. Ultimately, criticism engages with issues productively, while bitching merely amplifies dissatisfaction without resolution.
So the problem isn’t the person bitching. The problem lies with the person who wastes their time reading it and then complains about it. Censorship never turns out well.
@Indianfan
I’m a lifelong Cleveland fan and I know a lot of us complain about how the Dolans run the team on the cheap. But one thing Paul Dolan fails to get credit for is hiring the right people to run the team and staying out of the way. Nine playoff appearances, three ALCS appearances, one World Series (which we should have won), and the seventh best record in ALL of baseball in the last 25 years. Piss and moan all you want but the FO’s track record speaks for itself. Not all of their moves are gonna work out but they win more than they lose.
@Indianfan What a lazy comment.
Wouldn’t be surprised if the Padres give him another shot
I’m pretty shocked nobody took a flier on him given how well he pitched out of their bullpen last year. Pleasantly so. That being said, I wouldn’t blame him for sticking with the Guardians now. They have already shown they know how to use him.
Although you could argue, with him now slated to start in the minors, they *could* stretch him out as a starter again. He was a starter basically until he ran out of options and had to convert to swing man/long relief middle of last year. Theoretically that would bolster some of their depth at SP (they don’t have much) for the early season, and you can always move him back to the bullpen after.
I’m starting to think all our games are blacked out on the other owners TV subscriptions. If they would just upgrade to that premium package
I must be missing something on Avila. His numbers look quite good over the past two seasons and he threw a ton of innings as well. Above average K rates and a slightly elevated walk rate but not overly concerning. There are many other bullpen pitchers with much worse results but yet no one puts in a claim for Avila to try and improve their club? I don’t believe salary is a concern here so what am I missing? Teams could have had him for free. Is there a personality concern with him? Is his Sierra much higher than his ERA? Enquiring minds want to know.
I would assume that Avila will select free agency and try his luck elsewhere unless Cleveland has a deal in place with him to recall him quickly to the majors. Cleveland still has a few holes in its lineup so more transactions should be coming soon as Spring Training starts in 2 weeks!!!
Avila’s ERA is misleading He’s a reliever with a WHIP of 1.331 in 2023-2024. who had some luck on fly balls not turning into HR.
I’m not surprised one of the best bullpens in the game is moving on without him—a little surprised, though, that no team could use him given he’s a pre-arb guy with options remaining.
He is out of options, which is probably why no one claimed him.
Padres need arms… Wha??? AJ wants more shortstops?
Could be some other teams are figuring they might be able to avoid giving him a 40 man spot & still get him as an NRI?