Cleveland Guardians reacquire former top prospect from Rockies

A familiar name is coming back to Cleveland. The Guardians have agreed to terms on a deal that sees them acquire Nolan Jones while Tyler Freeman is heading to the National League West to join the Colorado Rockies.

It's funny how things work out sometimes. Just a few years ago the Guardians traded Jones to Colorado for the recently optioned Juan Brito, only for Jones to end up back in Cleveland. Jones only had a handful of appearances with the Guardians before Cleveland decided to trade him in November of 2022.

Jones should figure to be part of the Guardians' outfield mix this season, the only question is, in what capacity? Left field is locked down with Steven Kwan while Lane Thomas occupies center and the combo of Jhonkensy Noel and Will Brennan are expected to share time in right. Perhaps this is a precursor to a full-time platoon in both center and right with Brennan shifting back to center and Jones taking his spot in right. This would provide a tandem power threat with Noel that would be hard to pass up.

Another thing to consider, besides the seller's remorse that the Guardians' front office more than likely felt after Jones hit 20 home runs, 22 doubles, and slashed.297/.389/.542 en route to a 140 OPS+ in 106 games for the Rockies in 2023, is that there may be some concerns about their non-Kwan long-term outfield options. Kwan is the only proven full-timer, while the rest are best suited to be part-time/platoon players, and that is before mentioning the most recent injury to Chase DeLauter.

This trade could be a way to help mitigate the injury proneness of DeLauter and give them a fallback plan should his injury issues continue and possibly prevent him from being the impact player the Guardians need him to be. More than likely, Jones is not an actual solution for Cleveland but rather a way to prevent another offensive black hole from occupying an everyday spot in their lineup.